A Book Blog by Books do Furnish a Room 2014

[Books do furnish a room]

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

This is a wonderful novel and I would recommend it. The speech is not easy to follow initially, but is easy to get the hang of if you persist and is well worth the effort.
The story of the life and loves of Janie Crawford; told in her own words and in a strong clear voice. It has had a mixed history in terms of reviews. Ralph Ellison criticised its “calculated burlesque” and others regarded it as not being serious fiction. Then there was the debate about racial uplift and improving image; an approach Hurston rejected. She presented rounded characters with faults and desires and aspirations. Male authors like Ellison and Powers did not seem to “get it” initially; being doubtful it was serious fiction. But that it certainly is. There are autobiographical elements and Hurston had also done her research when she collected folk songs and tales a decade before. The cadences in her writing show she knew what she was about. It is a shame that Hurston did not live long enough to see how appreciated her work would be.
This one has been reviewed to death and I’ve nothing new to add; but the story carried me along and I cared about what happened to Janie. The men came and went. Teacake, the best of them, stood out because he didn’t beat her too often! That may be a little simplistic, but for Janie the price of love was clearly, at times, painful.  However painful, this is a celebration of life and love/loves against the odds.
I have the virago version with a brilliant introduction by Zadie Smith and I think Hurston’s novel has finally found its place in the hearts of readers and the acclaim it deserves

9 out of 10

Starting The White Bird Passes by Jessie Kesson

[Kylie]

So many great reviews! It looks like there are a number of books I need to bump up my TBR pile...especially the Regeneration trilogy.

[Books do furnish a room]

Thank you Kylie; I would highly recommend the Regeneration trilogy.

Memoirs of the Forties by Julian Maclaren-Ross

Sharp and well written; Maclaren-Ross recollects his memories of Soho in the 1940s and throws in half a dozen short stories at the end. He is pretty much forgotten now; although his only novel “Of Love and Hunger” and his short stories are a little known in bookish circles. He was a celebrated raconteur, well known in the local pubs and clubs where he held court. His biographer Paul Willets describes his perorations around the edge of poverty and mental ill health. He moved continually to avoid creditors and landlords. Alcohol and drugs were a major influence and contributed to his early death. He was memorably the model for X Trapnel in Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time series of novels. Willets comments that Maclaren-Ross makes Kerouac and Bukowski seem like “models of stability and self-restraint” in comparison. Yet no one doubts that he could write; his admirers included Cyril Connolly, Waugh, Powell, Lucien Freud and Dylan Thomas.
The back cover of the book sums up the memoirs;
"Why don't you try to look more sordid? Dylan Thomas advised Julian Maclaren-Ross, aghast at his cream silk shirt and silver-topped cane. They had just begun to write a Home Guard film script which steadily degenerated - between hangovers - into an eccentric comedy thriller. But Maclaren-Ross was a man who went about with the same sartorial dash whether up the BBC or down the Labour. He was a man who broke off from selling vacuum cleaners to have lunch with Graham Greene, who sniffed out Woodrow Wyatt in his army camp to talk modern fiction, who discussed a Horizon story with Cyril Connolly at the Cafe Royal and managed not to mention he was destitute.”
This is a mirror on a world long gone with insights into figures like Dylan Thomas, the marvellous and incredible Tambimuttu and various assorted artists (John Minton, Gerald Wilde, Macbryde and Colquhoun). However Maclaren-Ross is at his best when he is writing about his time in the army. He spent time in the army in the early 1940s, staying in England, and he brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the barracks and the life of the common soldier. The petty power struggles, idiotic officers, meaningless regulations and the variety of characters thrown together and mostly bored.
The memoirs are good; the short stories a mixed bag. The army stories are excellent and he also has a go at Empire in “A Bit of a Smash in Madras”, which captures very well the attitudes of middle ranking colonial staff (as did Orwell in Burmese Days).
Maclaren-Ross is a good writer, who wrote in a broad arena; novel, reviews, journalism, radio plays, magazines and primarily short stories. He was very talented and sadly wasted much of that talent. He is still worth reading though.

7 and a half out of 10

Starting The Calas Affair by Voltaire
 

[Books do furnish a room]

Whole of a Morning Sky by Grace Nichols

Grace Nichols is a Guyanese writer, now working from Britain. She is primarily a poet and children’s author. This is her first novel published in 1986, and I have the virago edition.
Nichol’s writing and poetry focuses on social issues, especially in relation to women and immigration and being away from ones roots. She also writes with great humour, which she can use very sharply when making points about body image.
“Look at the frozen thin mannequins
Fixing her with grin
And de pretty face salesgals
Exchanging slimming glances
Thinking she don’t notice
Lord is aggravating..”
From The Fat Black Woman’s Poems
She has also written poetry about slavery which is very moving; which I must review at some point. She challenges stereotypes about African women.
The novel is about a childhood in Guyana seen through the eyes of Gem, a girl who we follow into her early teens. Her father teaches in a village school, but when she is about 10 retires to the capital Georgetown. We are taken through the death throes of Empire and through the internecine violence between the Black and Indian communities. It is autobiographical and Nichols captures the language, culture and food remarkably well. It is a wonderful evocation of childhood, looking at all the odd things that adults do and capturing the feel of a time of great change and upheaval as independence loomed. The descriptions of the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh are priceless and the descriptions of the riots chilling.
It is beautifully and poetically written as you would expect; especially the afterpieces for each chapter. Again I picked this up from a local bookshop.  I am surprised it has been so little read, because it is so good. As well as being a wonderful evocation of childhood, it captures the uncertainties of the end of Empire. Thank goodness for virago press. Highly recommended.

8 and a half out of 10

Starting Women Artists and Writers by Bridget Elliot and Jo-Ann Wallace
 

[Books do furnish a room]

The Castle of Otranto by Hugh Walpole

Shovel loads of gothicness with a daft plot and formulaic characters; this is regarded as the first gothic novel. Walpole tries to create a new genre quite consciously by combining the new romance style of eighteenth century novels and the older tradition of fantastical tales. Walpole also introduces a number of gothic tropes for the first time; strange and eerie goings on, things that go bump in the night, rapacious and predatory men, beautiful and endangered heroines and a spot of ghostliness. He uses the Shakespearean idea of making the ghost the teller of truth.
So it’s really a case of nice ideas, shame about the plot. The plot revolves around Manfred, Lord of the Castle of Otranto, his long suffering wife Hippolita, his son and heir Conrad (killed in the first chapter by an oversized helmet; the reason for the whole dreary tale), Conrad’s intended Isabella who becomes the object of Manfred’s lascivious intentions once he realises he is heirless, Matilda the daughter of Manfred; Theodore, a mysterious peasant who keeps popping up at opportune moments and who isn’t all he seems (Oh really!!), Father Jerome, a cleric who is also not all he seems, Bianca the comic relief servant (I think Walpole had read too much Shakespeare!) and finally Frederic, a mysterious knight who turns up to reveal a secret.
As you may have sensed it didn’t really engage me, apart from the fact that it is an interesting period piece. The plot works its way through and some loose ends are tied up; with the odd untimely death and the realisation that as always the rich can get away with murder!
It is groundbreaking, but later attempts at gothic are much better (Mary Shelley for one).

5 out of 10

Starting Fludd by Hilary Mantel
 

[Books do furnish a room]

The White Bird Passes by Jessie Kesson

One of the best evocations of childhood I have ever read. It is autobiographical, heartbreaking and why, oh why haven’t I heard of or read Jessie Kesson before? Her biography; well, born in 1916 Jessie Kesson was Scottish and born in Inverness in the workhouse. She never knew her father and was brought up in by her beloved mother. Her early childhood was spent avoiding the rent man and the Cruelty Inspector (who had the power to remove children to the orphanage if they were being neglected).
Kesson describes her life with her mother in “The Lane” a slum where she grew up. The rulers of this slum were strong women led by The Duchess, who provided a commentary on all that went on. It is the story of Janie and her mother Liza. Janie’s descriptions are without emotion and capture the thoughts of a child with remarkable precision. Early in the book a black woman (probably unusual in 1920s Scotland) commits suicide by hanging. Janie finds the body and her descriptions of the events capture the essence of the sadness of what has happened. It is difficult to capture the way the writing does this without being sentimental or over dramatic; it is writing of a high order.
The whole book continues in this manner; Janie and her mother are finally cornered by the Cruelty Inspector and the court concludes that Janie is being neglected and should be sent to an orphanage. Again the descriptions of Janie’s separation from her mother are all the more heart-rending for being described in the manner of a nine year old. Janie has also been deeply affected by her brush with death and she asks her mother (and at the orphanage when she writes) to promise her that she will not die. Time passes at the orphanage and Janie’s mother visits; she is accused of being drunk by some; Janie knows better because she has seen  her mother’s doctors certificate and she eagerly explains to her mother’s detractors that she has a proper medical condition called chronic syphilis.
It doesn’t get any better; as Janie grows she discovers a talent for English and for writing and she desires to write great poetry and to go to university; she is intelligent enough to do so; her English results are the best in the county. However the Board of Trustees examine her situation and decide that someone of her condition and upbringing should not be allowed to go to university (remember this is all true) and a more appropriate outcome should be a domestic position as a maid. This all happened to Jessie Kesson. She married a cottar (a Scottish smallholder) when she was 17 to escape service. She began to write in her 40s, novels, short stories and plays. She moved to London and worked in radio, producing the BBC programme Woman’s Hour for a number of years. She died in 1994.
Kesson was a long time admirer of Virginia Woolf, but unlike Woolf her upbringing had been tough and centred around poverty. Her writing clearly shows the situation of women in poverty and hardship, battling hardship and patriarchy; she was punished for her gender by being denied further education.
This is a powerfully accomplished work, brilliantly written and I have to ask why have so few people heard of it and why is it not on any list of great writers (male or female), not on any 1001 list and out of print? If you read anything that I’ve ever recommended let it be this book.

10 out of 10

Starting The Card by Arnold Bennett
 

[Books do furnish a room]

Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Winner of the Booker Prize in 1975; this is actually quite good. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is an interesting character; her parents fled the Nazis in the late 1930s and she lost many family members in the Holocaust. She lived initially in Britain and then married an Indian architect and moved to India in 1951. She remained there until the 1970s when she moved to the US where she continued her already creative relationship with the Merchant Ivory team and had a hand in a great many of their films. She is a perceptive writer, but is something of an outsider. Her work has been praised widely, but I think Rushdie’s comment about her being a “rootless intellectual” is most perceptive because it sums up the positives and negatives that have been expressed about her work. Keen observation, but the sense of distance.
This novel jumps between India in the 1970s and India in the 1920s. It revolves around Olivia in the 1920s, a new bride in India; married to a middle ranking and starchy civil servant and her step granddaughter (who is unnamed) in the 1970s who is trying to find out about Olivia. There are lots of parallels between the two stories. There are comparisons to be drawn between the two women, between the two India’s, between their two lovers.
The colonial servants are caricatures in many ways; and yet .... in 1983 I was training to be a priest (part of my disreputable past) and I was working in a parish in a wealthy area of Birmingham. I came across a very old couple who were ex- Indian colonial service/military police. They would have slotted into the 1920s section of this book quite nicely. There was no remorse (regret that we had let India go) and no understanding of what Imperialism and Empire was about. It was like stepping back in time. The Nawab in the book is certainly a caricature and has a lack of subtlety; he seems to be a composite of everything that might possibly be wrong with the Indian upper class. 
However the portrayals of the two women, I found interesting and the character of Olivia was very good and she deserved a better backdrop. Her reactions to the stifling colonial community and her gradual rebellion were well written. The descriptive passages relating to the heat especially are good and you can feel the building tension in Olivia’s story. It is difficult to understand why Olivia falls for either of the men she falls for; but (apparently) power is a great aphrodisiac. In contrast the two men in the 1970s are entirely different; a hippy/aspiring holy man and a lower middle class unremarkable husband; quiescent in a way the 1920s men were not. Both of the British men fail to cope with India in entirely different ways and both women stay. As you may sense I am a little conflicted in what I think about it and am sitting firmly on the fence!
To conclude, I think I wanted more, but I’m not sure what.

6 and a half out of 10

Starting The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield

[Books do furnish a room]

What is slavery to me? by Pumla Dineo Gqola

I must admit; I know far too little about modern South Africa and how the debates about race and gender have proceeded since the end of the Apartheid regime. Hence my interest in this book.
It is an excellent analysis of slave memory in South Africa, from a post-colonial feminist perspective. There are all sorts of interesting leads and asides and one of the great strengths of this book is the depth and breadth of the scholarship, with an excellent bibliography and chapter notes. It certainly hasn’t done my “to be read” list any good! There is s good deal I would like to follow up on.
Gqola covers topics like the Cape Malay Diaspora, with an analysis of the role of food and some very interesting thoughts on spice; this is linked to the artistic work of Berni Searle (a South African artist; she works in film, video and photography amongst other mediums). There is an analysis of slavery in relation to Christianity and Islam and the way it differs in the two religions, especially in relation to the South African context. There is also a chapter on how the notion of whiteness has changed since the end of apartheid.
One aspect of the book which I found interesting was the chapter relating to Sarah Bartmann. I wonder how many know her story. She was a Khoi woman who was taken to Britain for exhibition purposes in 1810 (she was known as “The Hottentot Venus”) and was shown if freak shows for some years. She was then sold to a French owner. She died in France in 1815. After her death her body was dissected and then her skeleton and preserved brain and genitalia were displayed in a Paris museum until 1974 (when they were replaced by casts. There was a campaign for her remains to be returned home; and they were in 2002. Ihad heard of Sarah Bartmann; I had a rather unusual history teacher pre university who took his (sometimes reluctant) students to places that the curriculum didn’t always direct or recommend. He told us about Sarah Bartmann and the horrors she had been subjected to, showing us the nature of racism, pointing out the importance of the story and the awfulness of her remains still being in a museum. His approach was unorthodox at the time, but it was important in setting me thinking about the world and about injustice (In 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, he got into a good deal of trouble for giving out “Stuff the Jubilee” badges!) This book brought him back to mind. That was a bit of a diversion. Gqola addresses this issue from an African feminist perspective; the writing is taut, scholarly and powerful and at times gave me goosebumps, it was so good (that’s not strictly an academic term, but it was the best one I could come up with to describe the feeling).
Gqola uses quotes and often poetry to open each chapter and I noted she referenced two of my favourite authors, Grace Nichols and David Dabydeen.
It is a well argued and passionate piece of writing which I would highly recommend.
9 out of 10

Starting A History of the Indians of the United States by Angie Debo

[Books do furnish a room]

The Calas Affair by Voltaire

An impassioned plea for religious tolerance by Voltaire, triggered by the execution of Jean Calas in Toulouse.
Jean Calas was a Protestant merchant in Toulouse who was sentenced to death for the murder of his son. All the evidence pointed to suicide by hanging and Calas was a frail man who would not have had the strength to murder his son in this way. Calas was sentenced to be broken at the wheel, a particularly brutal form of execution.  Voltaire heard about the cause and took up the cause for a posthumous pardon and compensation for the remaining family. It was a long battle and this treatise is part of the campaign.
The treatise is a run through of recent French history in relation to tolerance and especially the persecution of the Huguenots. Voltaire proceeds to look at Christian history, the early Church Fathers, the Bible, other religions and the ancient Greeks and Romans. Throughout Voltaire emphasises his own Christian credentials as a good Catholic; but his arguments, caustic wit and sheer scepticism point to him being distant from religious belief, or as much as he could be at the time. He is essentially a Deist.
Voltaire treats the reader to an entertaining run through some of the battier beliefs of the early church and examines the persecution by the Romans to show that this has been exaggerated and most of the time the church went out of its way to attract persecution. He also contrasts the bloodthirstiness of the Old Testament with the more tolerant approach of the New Testament. Of course Voltaire continues to make the point that if you are right you don’t need to persecute, just persuade. He also shows a preference for Eastern religions as opposed to the Religions of the Book (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
This is a very humane book, baffled by the inhumanity of the Church and arguing for the toleration and free thought. It feels very modern.
7 and a half out of 10

Starting The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

[Books do furnish a room]

Fludd by Hilary Mantel

One of Hilary Mantel’s early novels; this is quite an oddity and if you have a working knowledge of the Catholic Church, very funny. It is set in northern England in the mid 1950s in a mill town on the edge of a bleak moor. The Catholicism is pre Vatican 2 and very Latin; heavily laced with superstition.
The novel revolves around the parish priest Father Angwin who long ago lost his faith and believes only in the devil and tradition. He is plagued by the Bishop who is modern and trying to bring the Church into the twentieth century. There is also a convent with nuns who teach in the local school. The characterisation is strong and even the minor players are well drawn with substance, and it is the very human frailty of the characters that make them likeable. The nuns are making a tapestry of the ten plagues of Egypt; “Now we are up to boils”.
This is a very competent dissection of superstition, but it is done with warmth and without cruelty; and there are some great quotes:
“The Protestants were damned, of course, by reason of this culpable ignorance. They would roast in hell. A span of seventy years, to ride bicycles in the steep streets, to get married, to eat bread and dripping: then bronchitis, pneumonia, a broken hip: then the minister calls, and the florist does a wreath: then devils will tear their flesh with pincers. It is a most neighbourly thought.”
The centre of the story is Fludd, the new curate of the parish; he is an enigma and his effect on those around him; take for instance the priest’s housekeeper Miss Dempsey:
''Deep within her, behind her cardigan and her blouse and her petticoat trimmed with scratchy nylon lace, behind her interlock vest and freckled skin, Miss Dempsey sensed a slow movement, a tiny spiral shift of matter, as if, at the very moment the curate spoke, a change had occurred: a change so minute as to baffle description, but rippling out, in its effect, to infinity.''
He has a similar effect on a young Irish nun, Sister Philomena, who has had to leave Ireland for pretending her dermatitis was stigmata. The real question is who is Fludd? Is he an angel, or is he, more pertinently, the devil. He certainly is not a priest! The combination of humour and symbolism is a delight; it does help if you have some basic knowledge of the Catholic Church, but the questions are eternal ones. Sadistic nuns, an atheist priest, the saga of the buried statues (and their resurrection), devout (but ignorant) parishioners, a tobacconist who may also be the devil and the inscrutable Fludd. There is a great deal going on and it is fun and life affirming and about finding oneself.
7 and a half out of 10

Starting Out of It by Selma Dabbagh

[bobblybear]

Fludd sounds like an interesting read, so I have added it to my wishlist.  I hated Wolf Hall, which is the only other Mantel I have read/attempted, so will be interested to see what I think of this one.

[Books do furnish a room]

Fludd is quite fun bobblybear

The Card by Arnold Bennett

I’ve been meaning to get round to reading Bennett for some time, and picking up this rather slim comic novel cheap at my favourite second hand bookshop gave me the impetus required.
It is set in the Potteries; the five towns in Staffordshire renowned for producing china, porcelain and pottery (obviously). It concerns the career of Edward Henry Machin (known as Denry); “the card” of the title. A Card is someone who is clever in a knowing sort of way, humorous and possessing originality and flair.
It is told in the form of a series of individual scenarios over just over twenty years, from when Denry is twelve and finds a way to cheat his way into grammar. He goes through life with a certain verve, recklessness and dumb luck which is endearing and irritating at the same time. Denry becomes what might be called a “self-made man”. There is a level of satire which makes me think that Bennett knew men like this; it is mocking, but not malicious.
The character of Denry is such a strong one that the other characters in the novel are a little underdeveloped in comparison. I thought Ruth Darcy was an interesting character and felt a little cheated that she wasn’t more prominent. However there is a second novel, “The Regent” and I think I’ve enjoyed this one enough to read the second at some point.
It isn’t challenging or ground-breaking, but it’s fun and easy on the mind.

7 out of 10

Starting The Golden Lion of Granpere by Anthony Trollope
 

[Books do furnish a room]

Women artists and writers by Bridget Elliot and Jo-Ann Wallace

This is an excellent study of women who were part of modernism and their struggles for acceptance and equal treatment. There are those you would expect to be here; Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Gertrude Stein and Djuna Barnes; others less expected; like Marie Laurencin and Nina Hamnett. Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks also feature.

There are lots of ideas and references to follow up and a good analysis of how each of the women were appraised and received at the time. The analysis of domestic, private and metropolitan spaces is interesting. It isn’t an uncritical study and the human contradictions are explored: Barney’s retreat into fascism and Barnes’s long isolation. It is a reconfiguration of modernism, looking at the superficial analysis of the women involved in the movement that pervaded the contemporary reports and even more modern analyses.

There is a poignancy about each of the women who play a part, centred on the trials and tribulations and abuse they each underwent. Woolf, of course stands out and I knew most about her; her feminism was more thought out and based on her years as a labour activist. Hamnett I had heard of from the memoirs of Julian Maclaren Ross, who captured her sad later years. Her first memoir and I have managed to find and intend to read soon; I think her story is the most poignant. However they are all fascinating and stand out as women of genius.

The illustrations are wonderful and all in all it was a joy to read about eight wonderful women; there’s plenty to argue with and much to learn and follow up on. The tensions and battles with the background of patriarchy are set out carefully and the range of sources is impressive. Anyone interested in modernism should read this.

9 out of 10

Starting Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon

[Books do furnish a room]

The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield

This was another chance find at my favourite book store in the Virago Modern Classics series. It is rather good and the author, who I knew little about, is a remarkable woman.

Born Dorothea Frances Canfield (after the Dorothea in Middlemarch). The list of her achievements is impressive. She was a strong supporter of women’s rights and racial equality and managed the first Adult Education programme in the US. Her husband fought in the first war and she followed him to France where she organised war relief work. Her primary energy was directed to education in her domicile, Vermont. She pioneered education in women’s prisons and fought for the pardoning of conscientious objectors. Her interests were wide ranging as were her friendships, including a decades long friendship with Willa Cather. She also spoke five languages and did a PhD thesis on Racine and Corneille.

Canfield wrote many novels, short stories and much non-fiction. Her novels tend to have some autobiographical elements and this one is no different. It is set in rural Vermont and centres on the character of Marise Crittenden, a woman probably in her mid-30s. Her youngest child starts school and this precipitates a crisis of sorts in her emotional life. The main players are her husband Neale, Mr Welles (a newly retired city man who has just arrived next door), Marise’s childhood friend Eugenia who has come to stay, Vincent Marsh (a charismatic friend of Mr Welles who is independently wealthy), Nelly and Gene Powers and their children and a number of minor characters. The three children are also strong characters in their own right; Paul, Elly and Mark.

Marise feels she has lost her way in her life and in her marriage and is very attracted to the charm and charisma of Vincent Marsh. It sounds like limited material for a 300 page novel, however it holds the attention from the first page to the last. It is a perceptive analysis of relationships, attraction, parenthood and most of all it is emotionally intelligent. Canfield had read Freud and applies his theories (not uncritically). The book revolves around Marise’s decision and the reasons for taking it; the thought processes (mental and moral) and the juxtaposition of two very different men. Throughout the novel the children are learning life lessons and Canfield’s interest in education and especially the Montessori approach are evident. The passage where one of Elly’s chickens dies and her sudden realisation of the nature and reality of death is a remarkable piece of writing. Neale is also a well-rounded character, real and believable. Vincent Marsh however is a little unlikeable and self-absorbed and could have been a little more subtle.

The novel as a whole is full of imagery relating to nature and the Vermont countryside and there is a good deal of gardening going on! However the central theme is an analysis of the Freudian idea that the sexual drive is primary in life and relationships. It is a good novel and well worth putting on the list.

8 and a half out of 10

Starting The world my wilderness by Rose Macauley

[Books do furnish a room]

Out of It by Selma Dabbagh

A novel about the conflict in Gaza, set at about the time Hamas was winning the struggle to take over from the PLO. It is written from the perspective of brother and sister Rashid and Iman. It starts in Gaza, moving to London, another unspecified country in the Gulf and back to Gaza.

Rashid and his friend Khalid run an information centre which sends details of casualties/atrocities to London. Rashid copes by smoking grass from his marijuana plant (Gloria) and dreaming of his girlfriend in London. Iman is disillusioned and tempted by more radical possibilities. Their elder brother Sabri is confined to a wheelchair when he lost his legs in an explosion which killed his wife and son. He is now an intellectual and writing a history of the Palestinian struggle. Their mother looks after them all and is a longstanding PLO member. Their father lives somewhere else in the gulf with his new wife. We discover the history behind this during the narrative. Rashid and Iman and completely immersed in the struggle; each reacting in a different way.

There is a great deal going on in this novel and keeping up with the plot takes some doing; but the writing is good and literary in style and it has great passion. There is a strong sense of place and the sections set in Gaza are particularly good. The characterisation is strong and subtle and I became attached to both of the main protagonists, despite their faults and differing approaches. The different approaches to the struggle didn’t detract from the brutality of life in Gaza and the uncertainty relating Israeli attacks. The periodic satirical and biting input of Sabri keeps the novel moving and gives it extra punch. It is inevitably political because of the content, but there are lighter, more comic moments; often relating to Rashid’s attempts at being a boyfriend.

There is almost no mention of Israel and the focus is entirely on the ongoing struggle within the Palestinian people about how to shape the opposition and resistance. It is a very good first novel. I found the parts set in Gaza most convincing, but enjoyed the whole greatly. The abrupt and inconclusive ending wasn’t a problem for me as I think it reflects the ongoing nature of the situation.

8 out of 10

Starting Bringing up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

[Books do furnish a room]

The Golden Lion of Granpere by Anthony Trollope

This is one of the three novels Trollope wrote anonymously at the height of fame; all were set on the continent. Not oneof his greatest; it is a straightforward tale with little action and Trollope, as usual focuses on character and emotion

 

The Golden Lion of Granpere is an inn in the Alsace region. It is run by Michel Voss and Madame Voss, his wife.They havea son, George and Michel’s niece Marie also lives with them having lost all her family.George and Marie begin to fall in love and Michel does not approve. George moves to a neighbouring town to run an inn there, although both still love each other. Michel Voss, about a year later, decides it is time to marry off his niece.The working out of this is the novel

As usual with Trollope, the main female character is strong and the male protagonists are rather dense, if well meaning. Trollope explores the thin line between affection and tyranny in parenthood. The dramas of family life where lots of little actions occur which create pressure which can trap and suffocate. It’s well plotted and well told with an age old theme.

6 out of 10

Starting So I am Glad by A L Kennedy

[Books do furnish a room]

A History of the Indians of the United States by Angie Debo

A comprehensive and scholarly account of the history of Native Americans written with a good deal of passion by an author who cared deeply about her subject and who spent many years working and arguing for human and civil rights to be granted to Native Americans.

I was also intrigued by Angie Debo herself and her struggle for recognition. She got her degree in history in 1918; she had to do her Masters in International Relations as women were not allowed to major in history. She couldn’t get a teaching position in a history department because of her gender and taught in a teacher training college. Her PhD thesis won an American Historical Association prize. Her next book, And Still the Waters Run, published in 1936 was controversial. It was an account of removal of the five civilised tribes from their lands; the first proper historical analysis and showed the betrayal for what it was. There were consequences and many were upset by her conclusions. There were consequences and Debo was barred from teaching in Oklahoma for some years and never got a position in an academic history department. Recognition came later in life and this book was based on a series of lectures and was published in 1970. Awards began to come and recognition of the importance of her work; she even has a statue now. She continued writing until late in life and her last academic book was written when she was 85; she was 80 when this one was published! I have gone on a bit about Debo, but my first degree was in history and it was good to read a proper academic history book. Clearly Debo’s academic life was a struggle against discrimination and although now she has appropriate recognition, she was a pioneer.

This is a comprehensive tome and what struck me was the absolute horror of it all. It can only be described as a catalogue of genocide on varying scales lasting centuries. The Spanish and Portuguese began the process, followed by the British and French and finally the Americans themselves once independent, Debo describes the various betrayals in relation to land and treaties, brutalities and attempts to domesticate; the attempts by Native Americans to preserve their way of life and to comprehend what was going on. Debo’s research is detailed and remorseless and she explodes the theory of Manifest Destiny as driving the westward push: instead arguing that it was actually based on the exploitation of Native Americans.

This is an excellent work and well worth looking at if you are interested in the subject.

8 and a half out of 10

Starting In Parenthesis by David Jones

[Books do furnish a room]

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers 

This novel is quite an oddity; a very early example of the spy genre and very influential amongst later writers like Le Carre, Follett and Fleming and comparable to Haggard and Buchan. Its author a traditional example of the “stuff that made the Empire”. Of course, nothing is that simple and Childers went from being an ardent supporter of the British Empire, serving in the Boer War and being decorated in the First World War; to being an ardent supporter of Irish independence and member of the IRA and was shot by the British in 1922.

This novel was written in 1903 when Childers was still in his Imperial phase and at the very start of the novel there are a couple of instances of the contempt for other races displayed by imperialists of a certain type; it reminded me of Kiernan’s arguments in “The Lords of Human Kind”.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Carruthers is a minor official working for the foreign office; stuck in London when everyone else is away. He gets an invite to go sailing on the German coast by an acquaintance called Davies. When he arrives Davies has a tale to tell; he suspects the Germans are planning something shady in the area. This was in 1903 when war with Germany seemed unimaginable and the thought of invasion preposterous. Childers constructs a story to show it was possible and how it was possible. If you’re looking for an action-packed spy thriller this is not it. If you enjoy sailing and its technicalities (I don’t) then there is plenty of that. The relationship between the two men is developed quite well and Childers does build some tension quite effectively.

The novel was very influential after its publication and had an effect on British naval policy and the decision to build new naval bases, including the one at Scapa Flow. I must admit I was more interested in Childers’ own story and his move from supporting the establishment to being a member of the IRA.

There is a lot of sand, water, mud, cramped living conditions on small boats and descriptions of tides; you have been warned.

5 out of 10

Starting The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch

[Books do furnish a room]

Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon

 

This is the first of Siegfried Sassoon’s trilogy relating to the First World War; part of my reading for the anniversary this year. Although a novel, this is strongly autobiographical and there is no doubt that the protagonist, George Sherston, is Sassoon.

On the surface this is a picture of a rural idyllic England that was shattered by the war, a lost paradise of a particular middle class type. I have also read the criticisms of Sassoon’s work being anti-modernist and rather maudlin. The one interesting point about that criticism is that two of the great early Modernists Eliot and Pound, did not fight. Graves and Sassoon did fight and saw the chaos of war and the shattering of lives and they both went off on other tangents rather than embracing modernism. Not sure where that idea goes (if anywhere) and I am also reading David Jones at the moment and he may well contradict the above. However back to Sassoon. There was a moment when I suddenly realised that there was a great deal more going on than was immediately apparent on the surface. Sassoon’s message is clear and his evocation of the rural idyll has a double edge to it.

Sassoon is looking back in much the same way Proust did and having read Proust fairly recently the influence is clear. He picks out small incidents and reflects on them. The story of his aunt making tea on the train with a small spirit lamp is hilarious as is Sassoon’s own embarrassed reaction trying to pretend it wasn’t happening.

You cannot avoid the fox hunting in this novel, however there appears again to be ambivalence from Sassoon. Never once does he describe the death of a fox and all his focus is on riding and the horses. Stephen Colwood, Dennis Milden and Dixon are all sympathetic characters, but the rest of the hunting fraternity are a pretty grim set of cowards, bullies and reckless idiots. There are some colourfully drawn comic creations and Sassoon also includes those who expressed contrary opinions; clergy and farmers who were critical of hunting. Sassoon can also be self-critical;

“The mental condition of a young man who asks nothing more of life than twelve hundred a year and four days a week with the Packlestone is perhaps not easy to defend”

Not the attitude of someone longing for a lost past.

This volume takes Sherston into the war years, through training and into France. Sherston (and Sassoon’s) entry into the war was delayed by a riding accident. The novel ends at the beginning of Sherston’s time in the trenches, when the horror of it all was becoming clear. At one point Sassoon refers to the war as a “crime against humanity”, quite a modern turn of phrase. The term had only been coined about 20 years earlier and was confined to diplomatic paperwork. This may even be its first use in literature.

Sassoon fell in love in the army with David Thomas (Dick Tiltwood in the novel). Thomas’s death deeply affected him. He describes his reactions at the end of the novel when he says he no longer wanted to live. This led to a reckless disregard for his own safety and he was nicknamed “Mad Jack”. Robert Graves remembered Sassoon’s suicidal bravery in his own recollections. He took a German trench single handed, but instead of reporting back he sat and read poetry for over an hour. Sassoon was nominated for a Victoria Cross and was awarded a Military Cross:

“For conspicuous gallantry during a raid on the enemy's trenches. He remained for 1½ hours under rifle and bomb fire collecting and bringing in our wounded. Owing to his courage and determination all the killed and wounded were brought in”

All this, for the establishment, made Sassoon’s later outspoken opposition to the war all the more difficult to handle because he couldn’t be branded a coward. Hence the resort to mental illness. It will be interesting to see how Sassoon handles this journey in the second novel.

This is an interesting novel, not the simple evocation of a lost past that I was expecting; there is much more nuance and Sassoon was clearly expressing a good deal of ambivalence (sitting on the fence if I am being cynical). The asides make it more interesting as do the evocations of Proust.

Another thought on the tensions with modernism. Sassoon is essentially a rural writer and modernism is a little more urban. Max Egremont, in his excellent biography explains that after the chaos of the war Sassoon wanted a sense of order, which may be why he struggled with the “disorderly writing” of the modernists. The scars of war can show up in odd places.

9 out of 10

Starting the next in the trilogy; Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

[Kylie]

Oh dear. I have The Riddle of the Sands on my TBR pile. Thanks for the warning!

[willoyd]

Oh dear. I have The Riddle of the Sands on my TBR pile. Thanks for the warning!

I loved it, but it is perhaps less thriller as we know it in the early 21st century, and perhaps more adventure yarn in the classic, early 20th century/late 19th century style, with buckets of atmosphere.

[Books do furnish a room]

I think Riddle of the Sands may be an acquired taste, but I am glad I read it.

The World my Wilderness by Rose Macaulay

This is Rose Macaulay’s penultimate novel and she had begun writing novels almost 50 years earlier. The backdrop of the novel is post-war London and the ruins caused by the Blitz. Macaulay is an interesting character in her own right; her family tree is fascinating and includes academics, abolitionists and the great Whig historian T B Macaulay. She read history at Somerville College Oxford and was a lifelong feminist. During the Blitz her London flat was destroyed, including her library; she had to rebuild from scratch.

The inter relationships in this novel are quite complex. The central character is Barbary Deniston who is 17. In the summer of 1945 she is living with her mother Helen Michel in the South of France, where she has spent the war. Helen’s second husband, Maurice had been a minor collaborator during the war and had recently been drowned in mysterious circumstances. Barbary spends much of her time with her step brother Raoul (Maurice’s son). During the latter part of the war she and Raoul have been helping the Maquis and pretty much running wild. She has been packed up by the Gestapo and interrogated and, it is hinted, raped. Helen has a son by Maurice who is now a toddler. Barbary’s father, Gulliver, lives in London with his new wife Pamela.

The novel begins as Barbary and Raoul are being sent to London, Barbary to stay with her father and Raoul with his uncle. There is an almost unstated feel that Barbary and Raoul knew something about the death of Maurice. The implication is that Barbary will stay with her father for quite some time. Her mother Helen has maintained very few boundaries for her children and is something of a Bohemian. Her father is very different and she finds life in his household much more restrictive; she also dislikes his new wife. Barbary and Raoul discover the bombed out wilderness around St Pauls and spend time with its occupants, who are also often on the edges of society. They have an innate mistrust of authority and like those they meet do not wish to participate in conventional society. They take over an empty flat and Barbary paints in a ruined church. As time goes on Barbary becomes increasingly alienated from her London family and starts to fall foul of the authorities. An accident brings circumstances to a head and there is a denouement with a few interesting twists.

It is an enjoyable novel and Barbary is an endearing protagonist. The actual Church in the novel where Barbary takes refuge is St Giles Cripplegate. Barbary finds the ruins comforting and creates her own space, a home there and there is a redemptive and healing theme; in the sense of coming to terms with the past. For Barbary there is trauma relating to her time with the Maquis; things done to her and things she has done. The dislocation of the setting mimics Barbary’s own dislocation and its wildness attracts her as much as the order of her father’s household and social circle repels her. This is a beautifully written and nuanced tale and there is a good deal going on below the surface. There is a remarkable scene when an old priest stumbles into the ruined church, clearly still disturbed by his experiences in the Blitz; he flings himself to the ground and is clearly very distressed; he is rescued by a younger priest who comes to find him.

This is worth looking out and Macaulay makes one feel some sympathy, even for the more unsympathetic characters; an interesting read.

8 out of 10

Starting The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer

[Books do furnish a room]

Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

It’s a while since I read Wolf Hall, but Mantel does a good job of filling in gaps in my memory. This holds the attention as much as the first one does, but is narrower in focus, covering less than a year. Cromwell is as ruthless and manipulative as ever; but it is fascinating seeing things from his point of view. Being a bit of an old Tudor hack from my undergraduate days these books are a fascinating take on an era I know fairly well. For centuries Cromwell had been dismissed as just another political hack and it wasn’t until Geoffrey Elton’s revision of him in the 1950s that his significance in driving forward the English Reformation was articulated. Cromwell, it has been argued, was the developer of modern bureaucratic government (he has a good deal to answer for then!). Whilst I am no fan of Elton’s Rankian and empirical view of history, I think he was right about the importance of Cromwell.

Mantel’s genius is the way she makes Cromwell understandable, even sympathetic. She fills in the historical gaps in Cromwell’s life and in the historical accounts in an intelligent and believable way. The brutality of daily life and the religious tension is well captured. The prose is wonderful, clever and very funny. She puts some depth into those who surround Cromwell. Henry himself remains a little elusive and unpredictable and Cromwell knows he is always walking on a tightrope dealing with him. It is a fascinating analysis of the use and misuse of power; but most of all a great story, well told. Historical fiction at its best.

9 out of 10

Starting Four dreamers and Emily by Stevie Davies

[Athena]

I have Wolf Hall on my TBR and this one on my wishlist, I'm glad you enjoyed it .

[Books do furnish a room]

I loved them both Athena

So I am Glad by A L Kennedy

This is a difficult one to review and to categorise. It could be described as a fairy tale/fable, it is certainly satire; there is a love story thrown in (of sorts) and a touch of magical realism. The issues explored are serious ones, including child sexual abuse and its later life consequences for the protagonist Jennifer Wilson. It is set in Glasgow, with a brief foray to Paris.

Kennedy writes well and her prose is lyrical and sharp with some very amusing asides relating to the political backdrop (written in the mid-1990s). Jennifer is something of a lost soul whose body and emotions are missing any real link between them. Jennifer avoids emotions. Her much quoted description of the casual sex she finds herself having is illuminating;

“Like an inadvertent Irish dancer tied up in a hot canvas sack, like a mad traffic policeman tangoing through ink, like a killer whale fighting to open an envelope.”

Life begins to change when she and her housemates take in a man who has forgotten his name. Over time her remembers, he is Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac (yes that Cyrano). You are left to decide for yourself who Savinien is; ghost (he seems real enough and relates to all the other housemates and even manages to fight a duel in a Glasgow Park!), imposter or the real thing. Jennifer and Cyrano begin to have feelings for each other and there appears to be a healing process and working through going on. But, of course Kennedy is not so straightforward as to make this a redemptive novel and the ending emphasizes this.

There were some odd notes, especially the violent BDSM session with the ex-boyfriend; although for once the male partner was on the receiving end and it did fit with the response pattern that Jennifer had developed. There is a deep vein of humour, some of which ought not to be funny. The style is distinctive and I can understand why some people just don’t get along with it. I did find it insightful, although it took a while to engage my attention.

7 out of 10

Starting Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut