Books do furnish a room

Thanks Frankie; that is much appreciated; Jon Mcgregor is doing the rounds of Waterstones bookshops at present. I have finished Anthem by Ayn Rand; As far as dysopian literature goes; this does not convince. We do not just uninvent technology; Orwell and Huxley understood that; Rand obviously did not. The collecivist future just does not convince because human beings are not like that and would not conform in the way described. Men and women do not behave in the way the characters in the book present themselves. Complete bilge; 1 out of 10. I must stop sitting on the fence; write 100 times!!! I have started Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst

Breakfast at Tiffany's didn't take long; hospital waiting rooms are wonderful places for reading! I have always loved the film and have put off reading the novella as I realised that it would be very different, and it was! Audrey Hepburn manages to make Holly quirky and likeable. Capote portrays her as damaged and damaging. The restlessness of youth and the fear of being "caged" is clear and will be recalled by many of us. Holly's solutions leave her pursued by many but understood by few. The book and film do not detract from each other because they are so different. The film is for the romantic; the book is more thought provoking and even today Holly is shocking in her nihilism (slightly stretching the meaning of the word). 8 out of 10 Staying in America for the next one; Anthem by Ayn Rand

I have finished "Even the Dogs" by Jon McGregor; here are my thoughts This is not an easy book. It concerns a man found dead in his flat and the circle of friends/ acquaintances who surround him. It has elements of stream of consciousness and can be disjointed. In former times it would have been called gritty and "real". It is about the underbelly of our society; alcoholics and drug addicts; the abandoned and hopeless who can be found in every town and city in this land. Some of the characters in the book are ex-military who cope with post traumatic stress by substance abuse and violence; some never had a chance. We see the lead up to the death and the perspectives of those who knew Robert, all are self absorbed and utterly lost. These people exist and die on our streets every day; I know I come across them in my work. They are mostly unreachable and always uncomfortable to be with. McGregor paints an accurate portrait of the underclass who are expendable. And hey; guess what? These are the very people whose services are being cut by local councils and who will soon have even less contact with help and assistance they desperately need. So much for the Big Society!!! This is a chilling account of the desperation all too evident in the human beings we ignore on the streets because the are uncomfortable and dangerous. An excellent book. Sorry for the rant but seeing what is happening to services so badly needed reminds me why I am a socialist. 9 out of 10. Read it; it's true Starting Breakfast at Tifffanys

Raided Waterstones!! Finally bought 1001 books you must read before you die. Had a skim through and found myself disagreeing already. Any list that misses out the Iliad and the Odyssey is incomplete!!

Doris Lessing; Briefing for a descent into Hell. This was a bit of a struggle at first as my naturally ordered mind desires chapters and parts of this are stream of consciousness and hard work. The tale of a man found wandering in London having lost is memory. The first part of the book seems to be about about what is going on in his mind and is about the wanderings of a man in a fantastical world. The roles of the two doctors and the nursing staff are interesting and they follow the psychological theories of the time. We learn the man is an academic who teaches amongst other things Greek mythology and this illuminates the earlier part of the book (The influence of The Odyssey is strong). In the second part of the book we meet his wife and various other friends and colleagues and learn something of his past. Trying not to give too much away the man has a choice (via treatment) as to whether to retrieve his memory or to stay with his new reality, which is the only one he knows. Both choices are shown to involve loss. What is it about? There are many layers of meaning; but madness is clearly seen as a social construct and sanity isn't all it's made out to be! It is worth the work and does pull together at the end. 7 and a half out of ten. I am starting Moravagine by Blaise Cendrars

If you like the truly wierd try Maldoror by Lautreamont. Published in 1868 two years before the author's death at the age of 24. It is surrealist before the word was coined and makes American Psycho look like Winnie the Pooh. A truly strange book.

I have finished The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. Here are my thoughts; An undemanding read and a clever mystery novel. It portrays Britain in the 1940s and its idiosyncrasies very well. The dilemmas of the more impoverished middle classes who could not now afford servants are documented without judgement. The story concerns a mother and her middle aged daughter who are accused of kidnapping and beating a 16 year old girl with a view to forcing her to work as a maid. They are defended by a country solicitor who takes up their cause. They are pilloried by the tabloid press and the liberal left and the cause looks lost. The ending has some loose ends, which I did not expect as I thought that all the plot lines would be tied up tight. I liked the book the better for that. I was uncomfortable with the characterisation of the young girl as having absolutely no redeeming features; the court case scene was too contrived. If you ilke mystery/howdunnit books; then you might enjoy this. 6 and a half out of ten I have decided to read Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm

I have finished William Hague's autobiography of William Pitt and here are my thoughts; A good solid political biography. It couldn't be much else given Pitt's almost total devotion to politics for most of his life. I have always been more of a fan of the father rather than the son. The book is comprehensive and well researched. However I would have liked more analysis of the policies leading to the political repression in the 1790s. Pitt's focus on power and its maintenance is also not analysed closely enough until the last chapter. He could have pushed through the abolition of slavery, given his longstanding support for it; it took his death to precipitate its abolition and probably could have been done up to 10 years earlier. The economic case was clealry there. For Pitt it wasn't something he wished to go out on a limb for. It could also be argued that given the strength of his position and the weakness of the opposition, it wouldn't have been so much of a limb. Nevertheless it is an interesting and readable book. 6 out of 10 I am starting Maharanis by Lucy Moore

Try "The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe or possibly anything by Ken Kesey. There are plenty more and I will have a think.

I loved this book; one of the best historical novels I have read. I studied the Tudors many years ago and this made it them come alive. The only problem with the sequel will be that I know the ending!!! But I suppose the fun is in the getting there.

Finished Room by Emma Donoghue; This book does seem to polarize and people seem to love or hate it. The premise is a good one and cleverly set up and I felt it was a sound attempt at looking at a tragic and brutal situation. It has been well publicized so I'm going to assume you know the story. I'm not sure that the author does capture the voice of a five year old that well; this 5 year old I feel is too sophisticated. Five year olds are wonderful, but a whole book written by one would be hard work and this wasn't. Despite that the descriptions of Room and life in it are well worked and realistic. The second half struggled a little because the scope was too big and the characters less believeable. Despite that it is worth reading and is a testament to have human beings cope with adversity. A study of surviving evil through the eyes of a child. 7 out of 10 I've begun The Help by Kathryn Stockett on the recommendation of my wife.

Completed Romanitas by Sophia McDougall; This is a thriller set in the Roman Empire; in the present day. It never fell and is one of three world empires; Rome being the biggest. Technology has progressed in some areas (electricity, cars, a form of TV) but possibly not in others (flight?0. There is still an emperor and slavery is still in existence. Against this backdrop there is intrigue in the Royal family and the heir to the throne and his wife die in a car crash. An interesting idea, but there were too many gaps for my liking and limited explanation. However there is a good thriller type storyline. The characters were not one-dimensional, but were underdeveloped and jumps were made which did not make sense to me. If you like historical fiction with a twist; then this is for you. Will I read the second one; probably, but not yet. Six and a half out of ten. I am starting "even the dogs" by Jon Mcgregor

I have finished The Siege of Krishnapur by J G Farrell This is an excellent read and captures well the British in India in the nineteenth century with historical accuracy. There is great wit and humour in the book and some genuinely funny moments; however it is also a very brutal book with some grim scenarios. It captures well the British approach to empire in the characters of those caught in the siege and watching their gradual deterioration physically and mentally is fascinating. One of the characters has many antiques and artifacts from the Great Exhibition, which to him represent the future, rationalism and progress. Towards the end of the siege they are broken apart and used as cannon shot to fire at the natives/sepoys; a very clever reflection on modernity and progress. The changing role and perception of the women is very interesting and the futility of religion is well represented by the rather bizarre figure of the padre. A very stimulating read. Jane Austen meets Lord of the Flies!! I am starting Room by Emma Donoghue

Finally finished Middlemarch What can I say about Middlemarch; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts because the subject matter is small town life and mundane everyday stuff. However the characters are believeable and all of life is there. It is very well written and holds the attention. On the surface some of the characters are irritating, but that's life. My main quibble was the last chapter; I wish she had left it out!! I feel the book did not need a chapter at the end which explains how the characters got on in the years ahead. The ending would have had more punch without it. Do others feel the same way? Or is it just me, I didn't want to know as it leaves more to the imagination. I liked this book much more than The Mill on the Floss. I scored it 8 out of 10. I'm now starting the first of the Palliser novels by Trollope; Can You Forgive Her?I intend to read them in order! I hope to finish before I retire.

Listening to the cricket

I have finished The Cider House Rules and here are my thoughts; I loved this book; it is thoughtful, intense and moving with some very humourous moments. The characters are real, flawed, believeable and Irving makes you care about them. The pro-life, pro-choice debate is well handled as are the other hefty topics like being in love with two people, family, betrayal, the nature of home and belonging and the brutality of life. There are graphic scenes in it and in the middle of the book a couple of the minor characters disappear rather suddenly. These are however minor quibbles. I will certainly be reading more Irving; if his other books are this good then in the pantheon of American novelists he will be close to Philip Roth (for me that is saying a lot) One of the minor characters Melony for me was the most haunting and the most honest and puts the whole book in perspective at the end. there is also a quote relating to her by Dr Larch which I loved; "Dr. Larch pointed out that Melony had taken Jane Eyre with her; he accepted this as a hopeful sign- wherever Melony went, she would not be without guidance, she would not be without love, without faith; she had a good book with her. If only she'll keep reading it, and reading it, Larch thought" Nine out of ten. I have started The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

I'm not sure any books have completely changed my life, but several that influenced me; The Age of Reason by Sartre The Making of the English Working Class by E P Thompson The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky Hiroshima by John Hersey Far From the Madding Crowd by Hardy The Bible Markings by Dag Hammerskjold There's a story behind each one!

Just to add to the above review; there is a very good portrayal of grief in a man; unusual because it is written by a man in times when showing emotions was somewhat frowned on in men. Incidentally can anyone tell me how to quote from another post in those nice green boxes? I'm a bit useless with computers!!

Kylie; this is my first Doris Lessing; I have every hope it will be better than The Life of Pi!!! I have finished Marion Fay by Trollope; Not one of Trollope's better known books, but I enjoyed it and there is more to it than meets the eye. It deals in part with consumption (we can forget it was incurable at the time and it's effect has been compared to the AIDS epidemic). It also deals with love and marraige between classes and here Trollope does push the boundaries. Class is important in English history and Trollope toys with class sensibilities. It deals with radicalism in the upper classes and conservatism in the lower middle classes; with jealousy and hatred and is centred around two love stories. The characters are not one dimesional and they all have their faults and irritations and you want to give onr or other of them a good talking to at regular intervals. On the whole this is a good read and deserves to be better known. 8 out of 10 I am starting The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

Just finished Dark Debts by karen Hall; Where to start? It's a book about Demon possession in the Exorcist tradition. It's about the sins of the fathers/grandfathers being visited on the children. It's also rather earnest with a good smattering of violence. Some spoilers coming up here; One of the female characters (Randa) discovers her ex boyfriend has killed himself after killing someone and finds out there is a family history. She tracks down last remaining brother to return photographs. He is dangerous and interesting. Do they end up in bed? (What do you think??!!) Meanwhile a disillusioned and rebellious Jesuit with a girlfriend and a guilty conscience(did I mention rebellious), is struggling with belief. Enter the demon into both sets of lives ... wait for collision. Does good triumph over evil (Again; what do you think?!!) Well written but complete tripe. What also annoyed me that 2 minor characters died horribly at the hands of one of the main characters while the demon was in control. This is apparently ok and the police were deceived and justice avoided because the police would not have believed the story. This left a nasty taste in the mouth; murder is justified because the devil made me do it. Am I getting picky in my old age; there were more holes in the plot than a sieve. 2 out of 10 Just starting Romanitas by Sophia MacDougall

I feel I'm about to commit a mortal sin here; but this is my review of Life of Pi; I wanted to like this book and I quite enjoyed the first part; particularly the flirting with the major religions. However after the ship sank I felt increasing irritation with the storyline and the floating menagerie. Some of the descriptions of survival were very tedious. I know it's probably supposed to be a parable and the alternative ending is clever and I'm supposed to suspend belief but I really couldn't. I can manage it with The wind in the Willows or Lord of the Rings and be entertained, but not with this. I'm not sure why. As it went on I kept hoping the tiger would eat him; sadly he didn't. I'm glad I read it, but not sure what all the fuss was about. 4 out of 10 Just starting Briefing for a Descent into Hell by Doris Lessing

This is not an easy one. The title of an Agatha Christie book was changed to remove the same word; is that any different? Also I think there is a line somewhere. If you look at the German propaganda about the Jews in the 1930s; could this be published as stand alone "literature"? I know this is not literature in the same way Huck Finn is; but ... who makes that decision? On the whole I would not be in favour of changing it. Interestingly my wife would be (she is black). She came to this country in 1976 and says that before then she never realised that the n word referred to her; until it was used against her on the streets of this country. To her it is a more personal issue.

Hi Frankie; in relation to the Burgess book, I only changed my view in the epilogue at the end and nearly gave up several times before I got there!! Lewis knew Burgess for many years and as a young man seemed to have had a high opinion of him (the footnotes in the biography are very illuminating). Lewis is also an academic and the level of scrutiny he puts his subjects under would expose the flaws in any character. This isn't the reason I changed my mind (you didn't want to know that!) but was all part of the picture. Interestingly Lewis did a similar hatchet job on peter Sellers (haven't read that one though). He has also written about Charles Hawtrey in a book called The man who was Private Widdle; rather bizarre!

It's ok Janet; I'm quite happy to start again and make this a yearly thing! I have just finished Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kinsolver; This is the sequel to The Bean Trees, but it stands alone. The story concerns a cherokee child being raised outside her tribe after being given away. All the characters are portrayed with great sympathy and are entirely believeable. The conflict centres around whether Turtle (the child) is better off with her adopted mother; whom she adores or with her tribe and heritage. The story is so well written that both sides arguments are plausible and passionately argued. The resolution is satisfying and illuminating. The main negative is that I would have liked more and felt it could have been a much longer book without losing anything; but maybe I'm being greedy. There is a warmth and humour here that I found very attractive and I will read more by this author; 8 ot of 10. Starting something completely different; Dark Debts by Karen Hall.