Books do furnish a room

I've thought of another one; Romanitas by Sophia McDougall which is based on the idea that the Roman Empire never fell and is still in power

Try "The plot against America" by Philip Roth; imagines Roosevelt did not win the presidential election and America did not enter the war

Finished "A Visit from the Goon Squad" Having read some of the hype I was not sure what to expect and was preparing not to like it, especially the chapter written in power point (I kid you not). The narrative jumps in time from the late 70s to 2020, not sequentially. It revolves around the lives of Bennie Salazar, a music executive and his PA Sasha. There are a lot of minor characters whose lives intersect at various and it is difficult to follow what happens to them. Egan also has a way of setting a scene and its characters and then telling us that teenage Joe Bloggs goes on to have brief fame and blow his brains out at 27! (Not a spoiler, by the way, but this sort of description is used for several characters). Having said all that this is an excellent read. The power point chapter works well, especially as the narrator is a teenager. It is about how past and future inersect, about how we all get old, often without realising what happened. It is about the power of youth and its energy; it is also about lost youth and having to grow up (or not). All aging punks and rockers should read this. Great fun, thought-provoking, if a little confusing. 8 out of 10 Starting The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey

Watching some dodgy western on BBC2!! and surfing the net

The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favourite books of all time; I read it when I was at university about 30 years ago and still have vivid memories of it.

I've finished "In a Free State" by V S Naipaul There are three novellas with a very short piece at the beginning and end. The focus is on being in a foreign/strange land. The longest novella deals with Africa at the end of empire; two white colonials travelling across an African state (possibly Uganda) at a time of change. It highlights their fears, prejudices and feelings about the future. There is a strong sense of threat (real or imagined; you decide) as they travel and a sense of something ending. The story about an Indian in Wshington DC and his adjustment to a new culture and a foreign land is moving. Tell Me Who To Kill with its brooding sense of alienation is also very good.I know Naipaul is not really in vogue at the moment, but I enjoyed this. 7 and a half out of 10 I am starting Victoria by Knut Hamsen

I've finished My Lives by Edmund White This is an exceptionally well written book and is easy to read. I liked the way the chapters were arranged with a chapter on important groups and individuals. There is a chapter on mother and father, but the first chapter is entitled My Shrinks! There are other chapters on hustlers, women, blondes, Genet and so on. It is a remarkable chronicle of gay history pre and post AIDS. However, there are a lot of very graphic sexual descriptions in this book and at times, as White says himself, there is Too Much Information. White is being brutally honest about his body, his obsessions, sexual practices and the men in his life. The S and M interludes are interesting, as the the power relationships in the chapter concerning a master relationship. However I wonder how honest it is possible to be when writing in this sort of way. Is there a small part of the mind on the potential audience. White is also a name dropper and he has plenty to drop; he seems to have met everyone!! I would have liked to know more about him in relation to those he met and more about ideas and arguments. 6 out of 10 I am starting a biography of Walter Sickert by Matthew Sturgis

I've finished Can you Forgive Her? by Trollope This is an excellent, if long, read. Trollope tells a good story and I think his female characters are stronger, better developed and more believeable than any other male Victorian novelist. He is still conventional (apart from the novel Marion Fay perhaps) but he has a strong empathy with his female characters and they tend to be better drawn and have more depth than his male characters. The novel revolves around the romantic adventures of three women; Alice Vavasor, her cousin Kate and Lady Glencora Palliser. Alice has to chose between dull, reliable and loving in the form of John Grey and exciting, dangerous and unscrupulous in the form of George Vavasor. Her choices cause problems, hence the title. Lady Glencore, my favourite character, is torn between a seemingly loveless marraige and a handsome previous suitor who wants to run off with her. She is very tempted to do so. The minor characters are marvelous with some wonderful comic creations; the love triangle of Mr Cheeseacre, Captain Bellfield and Aunt Greenow. Trollope works it all out in the end. Tolstoy rated Trollope very highly and the more I read of him the more I understand why. Incidentally, a clergyman wrote to trollope to complain that he had been forced to stop his daughters reading this novel; what better recommendation could you have!! 8 out of 10 Starting the next Palliser novel, Phineas Finn

As well as all of the above; there is R K Narayan (a nobel laureate). I have just read The Guide and that was excellent.

I've finished The Guide by R K Narayan; The writing is quite spare and there is little description of the backdrop of the novel, apart from what is necessary. The Guide is about Raju, who tells his story in the present and past. He has been in prison and has taken refuge in an empty temple by a river. The locals begin to believe he is a holy man. Interspersed is the story of Raju's past, his childhood, his time as a tourist guide. Then his affair with a married woman and its consequences. Raju is a rogue who is often self serving, but has some likeable qualities. The end is left open; has Raju really become a holy man as he fasts for rain. There is a strong comedic element in the book, but it is also a fable. Human issues are addressed rather than politics directly and critics have pointed out that there is little to relate the book to a time or political background. Hence, I think the fable element. It has been suggested that Narayan is easy to read and hard to understand. He is certainly easy to read, but the end of the novel is enigmatic; The Guide is certainly thought provoking. I suspect I will be thinking about it for some time. 7 and a half out of 10. I am starting The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda

I like the dark!! I suppose I am more likely to be bothered by films than the written word.

Poppy; I really can't imagine Henry Fonda as Pierre!! I've read Moravagine by Blaise Cendrars; written in 1926. What to say about this. I know it is highly rated as a modernist classic; and make no mistake it is very inventive with some fantastical scenes and stories. Many reviews I have seen rave about it and compare it to Burroughs' Naked Lunch. Even Henry Miller loved it. I can understand all that and I know it careers through the early twentieth century taking apart many sacred cows and exposing much hypocrisy. However I did not like it. The title sets the tone; Moravagine means Death to (or by) vagina and the books tone is mercilessly misogynistic. It is about a young psychiatrist when discovers a prisoner in an institution (Moravagine) who has various deformities who is there because he murdered his fiancee. He decides it would be a good idea to let him free so they could have adventures together because the fellow is interesting (and a son of the King of Hungary). They then travel together for the rest of the book moving through Europe, Russia (where they attempt to organise a revolution in 1905 as part of what appears to be an anarchist grouping), the US, South America and back to Europe. The novel concludes in the First World War. Periodically during their travels Moravagine rapes and murders women (no vivid descriptions, it is all very matter of fact and part of his condition) and the female characters are treated abominably. The author appears to have no opinion on this aspect of his character. Maybe he is making a point, maybe there is a deeper meaning which I am missing. Actually it is just unpleasant and pointless. It is as though the victims (mostly unamed and undescribed) have no importance or significance; they do not matter. Moravagine is portrayed as the next stage in human evolution and is above normal considerations (I've heard that sort of superiority argument before; Master Race!!). I know it is only a novel and I am not as a rule squeamish about what I read, but there is such a deep level of unpleasantness here, especially towards women that, for me there was just no point ot it. Rant over. 3 out of 10 I'm starting In a Free State by V S Naipaul

I've finished The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes I loved this book. Written in the 1550s in Spain before Don Quixote it is a classic picaresque novel and satire. It is anonymous and there is no doubt much scholarly debate about who wrote it. It is about a boy, Lazaro who is abandoned and has to find work with a series of masters. He is abused and ill-treated and learns to adapt, beg and steal to survive. It is a very clever satire on those in authority, especially the church. The book reminded me of Erasmus and his attack on simony and indulgences in "Praise of Folly". Only it is a lot funnier, bawdy and much more entertaining. Initially I felt the later part of the book was weaker, but on reflection I think this is maybe meant to reflect Lazaro growing up and becoming what he satirised. Having learnt to live by his wits, to steal and cheat when he has to and to trust no one, he decides his best career is in government. As he says "nobody really thrives except those who have positions of that nature". He learns to be a rogue and so goes into his natural home, politics. No lessons to be learned there then!!!! This is a classic and deserves to be better known than it is. 8 and a half out of 10 Just begun A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

At last! Finished War and Peace. What to say about War and Peace. Epic and massive are words that spring to mind. Is it the greatest novel of all time? Not for me, but I enjoyed reading it; in a "because it's there", sort of way. I disliked the epilogue; way to preachy. I wish the novel had ended in 1812 and not taken us so briefly over the next few years so we could see where they had all ended up. Tolstoy is also very repetitive at times. Having said all that the scale of the novel is impressive and Tolstoy describes the "fog of war" very well. The relationships and romances which intertwine the events draw the reader in and there are some genuinely touching and funny moments. I vaguely remember one of the film versions where I seem to remember Audrey Hepburn played Natasha, which strikes me as good casting; it's a long while since I've seen it though. I wouldn't read it again and I don't rank it with my all time favourites like The Magic Mountain, The Brothers Karamazov or Far From the Madding Crowd. This has been on my tbr pile for many years; now it's finally gone!! 7 out of 10 I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm starting Ulysses by James Joyce.

I've finished Dark Matter by Michele Paver Atmospheric ghost story about a fictional expedition to the arctic in 1937. The main part of the book is the journal of one of the men on the expedition. Five men plan to go to the arctic to monitor weather, wildlife, geology. Two are forced to drop out before they arrive and the other two have to leave temporarily following an accident. Jack is left with the huskies as the winter draws in and permanent night sets in. In the darkness he realises he is not alone. Has some similarities to M R James. The landscape is at the centre and is well described and there is a good build up of tension. It is not a substantial book and the very beginning does not work well for me. However, that said I enjoyed it and read it in three sittings. A good account of our fear of isolation and the dark combined cleverly together. Any fans of a good ghost story will enjoy this. 7 and a half out of 10. Starting The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes by our old friend Anon.

I've finished Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm This is an oddity. It was Beerbohm's only novel and is a satire of university life at Oxford in the very early twentieth century. There is no need to worry about spoilers, the book does that for you very near the beginning. Most of the characters are as shallow as puddles. There are bursts of magic realism occasional ghosts, Greek gods and lots of style with no depth. The story is about a young woman who is very beautiful; she has a successful conjuring act (although she is not very good at it). She visits her grandfather who is warden of an Oxford college. All the undergraduates fall in love with her, except one. She obviously falls in love with him. When he returns her love she quite obviously falls out of love with him. He despairs and declares he will dies for her. Eventually the whole undergraduate population (all male of course) commit mass suicide for her in the river after the rowing. The Oxford colleges don't notice they are missing and carry on. Zuleika heads off to Cambridge at the end of the book. Completely mad and very funny in parts with lots of classical references; wonderfully satirical account of romantic love. This is a particular type of humour and is an acquired taste, I can understand why some people might hate it or find it boring. 7 and a half out of 10 I'm starting Count Bellasarius by Robert Graves

I've finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett I was aware of the hype about this book and tried not to let it influence me. It was an easy read and the story held the attention. It is the story of a group of women in the deep south; black maids and their white mistresses at the time when the civil rights movement was developing; the early 1960s. One of the white women and some of the maids collaborate to produce a book about the experiences of the maids. The characters are engaging and likeable and I can see why it has been such a hit; there is a warmth and humanity there. However I had some qualms. The language did not ring true and the white women seemed to speak good english with little trace of dialect. The ending was a let down; white girl made good and got out. There was a very limited sense of danger about the process, which I feel was probably not the case at the time. It was written by a white women; I know it is possible to write outside one's culture and experience, but I'm not sure this quite pulled it off. But I still enjoyed it. 6 and a half out of 10 Fancy a ghost story next; so I've started Dark Matter by Michele Paver

I have finished Maharanis by Lucy Moore. An interesting account of Indian aristocracy/royalty through the life stories of 4 remarkable women. A journey from the Raj of the late nineteenth century through the struggle for independence to almost the present day. It is a remarkable tale but can be a little confusing and I found some of the relationships difficult to follow. It is very much the story of rich upper class women and there is little of the grinding poverty of much of the rest of Indian society. I think I understand more the power and influence the Maharajahs and Maharanis had and some of their allure, but htere was a hollowness at its centre. I never did realise how many of the male members of the families died of alcoholism. It was interesting to read of the struggles against purdah that some of the maharanis championed. On the whole a mixed bag. The privilege left a bad taste in the mouth. 6 and a half out of ten. Poppy; I look forward to the TV adaptation of The Night Watch; I do hope they don't mess with it too much! I am now starting My Lives by Edmund White

I have read The Devil in the Flesh by Raymond Radiguet. Very brief novel about teenage love, The protagonists are 16 (he) and 19 (she). She is married to a soldier at the front (set in WW1). Captures wonderfully the angst, passion, selfishness, obsession of teenage love. The boy is sometimes like a toddler having a tantrum and yet the subjects are much more serious. It is a looking back novel and he continues to wonder how selfish and stupid he has been and how little he understood. Yet this was written by a teenage boy. Radiguet wrote 2 novels, was a protege of Cocteau and was dead by the time he was 20. A remarkable achievement, this novel, for one so young. Worth tracking the book down, and for those of us of more mature years a chance to look back and ask if it was really like!! 8 out of 10 I am starting The Guide by R K Narayan