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Willoyd's Reading 2022


willoyd

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On 25/02/2022 at 4:57 PM, France said:

 

I'm with you totally about Harold Fry though.

 

12 hours ago, Madeleine said:

I haven't read Harold Fry but read one of her other books "The Music Shop" and felt the same way about that as you do about Harold Fry.

 

I've found it interesting that, whilst there are hordes of high rating reviews, there is only a very small proportion of low rater ones. Yet, when I start talking to people, literally or virtually, there seems to be a lot of people who aren't exactly fans!  Sort of relieved I'm not alone on this (although that's never stopped me before!).

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March reviews

5 books this month - a bit of a slowdown compared to previous months, but bolstered by some other incomplete reading which will get listed next month probably.  2 more books towards my Read Around the World too.

 

The Department of Sensitive Crimes by Alexander McCall Smith  *

A book group read - I wouldn't read a McCall Smith book otherwise after previous goes, and this proved exactly why.  Described as quirkly and pleasantly off-beat by one of the other members of my group, it's an attempt to gently spoof Scandi-noir, being described in the blurb as 'Scandi-blanc'.  I found it trivial, bland, tedious, with the most fragile of plots - more a series of episodes - and shallowest of characters.  I don't think I'll bother again, even if selected for a book group again - there's surely more to life than this. 

 

 His Excellency Eugene Rougon by Emile Zola ***

Not as engaging as other Zolas I've read, but still eminently readable, with some interesting insight into the politics and social machinations of Second Empire France.  Everybody's on the make and take! A relief, at least, to read this after the previous book.

 

In The United States of America by Abdourahman Waberi ***

My second book for my Reading Around the World challenge, this for Djibouti, and the second book translated from French this month - two heavily contrasting novels!  An interesting concept, where Africa is the first world continent, and the USA and Europe make up the 'third world', one which I would have liked the author to more fully develop, although there were some nicely humorous touches (the Arafat rather than Nobel prize for instance!).   The narrative centres on a white girl, renamed Malaika, adopted into a black African family, who is in search of her own sense of identity, culminating in a visit to the slum city of Paris in search of her birth-mother.  Written in a strongly poetic style, occasionally rather overblown for my taste although that may have just been the translation, it required careful reading to keep a hold of the sense.  I suspect it needs a reread to get the most out of it, but it certainly provided the variety to my usual reading that I started this challenge to find!

 

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin ***

A book group choice that took a good hundred pages to really get my head into, being well out of my usual reading comfort zone, and one where I really started to ask myself why it was regarded as a classic of its type - and which a suprising number of sci-fi fans said that they found less than gripping too.  However, once I learned to just let it all wash over me, even if I didn't fully understand what was being described or said, it definitely grew on me, and by the end I was glad to have read it - and pretty much all of what I'd been unclear about was sorted out! The last hundred or so pages, effectively a study of the relationship between the two main characters as they traverse the planet's ice cap completely isolated, was both fascinating and evocative of place.  Thought provoking, and right on the topical nail even given its age, particularly in the issues of gender fluidity that it raises, although I think I enjoyed it most for that relationship study (which the gender question strongly affected).  

 

Beloved by Toni Morrison *****

Another book group choice, and another classic of its type where I started to wonder a bit why it was regarded as such, but which grew on me to the extent that by the end I was distinctly wowed!  Interestingly, I was the only member of this particular group to feel that way, and almost a third of the group failed to finish it.  I do have to acknowledge that I needed to start again more than once, and found the opening pages both more understandable and involving when I returned to reread them having finished the book, but for me it turned out to be a powerful, challenging read, that opened my eyes to aspects of slavery that I'd never really taken on board before - a slow burner that truly came to the boil!  It rewarded careful reading, ensuring I didn't skip or skim!  Morrison does not pull any punches.  This was also my choice for the USA book in my Read Around the World, and by the end this. at least in my book, certainly warranted its place. 

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April Reviews

A little while coming, but this covers the books read in April, a month dominated by the two chunky reads from David Fairer

 

Chocolate House Treason and The Devil's Cathedral by David Fairer ******

The first two books in what is intended to be a trilogy, the third coming out in the autumn.  The author is an ex-professor of 18th century English lit, and his knowledge of and enthusiasm for this period shines through these books.  They are chunky reads, both over 600 pages, but that's as much down to the generous typesetting, making for easy reading, as for these being 'big' books.  In fact they both read very easily, and the second slipeed down in 3, maybe 4, sittings.  Set in the early years of the 1700s, they are centred round a 'chocolate house' in Covent Garden, the residents/regulars of which find themselves embroiled firstly in a highly political murder mystery, and secondly in one centred more on the theatrical world (Drury Lane Theatre being literally just around the corner).  i found it very easy to immerse myself in this world, and was gripped trhroughougt, as much by the atmosphere of time and place as by the plots themselves.  I find it a mystery why the author had to effectively self-publish - these are far better than so many of the so-called thrillers/mysteries that get churned out, but it was interesting to get some insight into this when the author did a session on the second of the two books with my book group (all of whom rated this highly).  I'm really looking forward to number 3 coming out, and have already bought the first as a birthday present for various readers I know! Inidividually 5 stars, but collectively this series is a good 6.

 

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett ***

Read as a 'jubilee choice', this is classic Alan Bennett: a superficially light and easy read that burrows inside the human skin and provoked so much discussion on a variety of topics in the group.  This was a reread, and I actually enjoyed it more second time around.

 

Ice Rivers by Jemma Wadham ***

A combined memoir, told through a series of accounts of field expeditions, and introduction to aspects of glacial geology.  Theoretically this should have been right up my street (I have a background in geography-geology), but I actually found this all too ordinary.  It was easy enough to get through - it's fairly slim and the writing was readable enough - but it never grabbed me, and I could have put it down at any time and walked away without regrets.  Good enough to be rated 'OK', but actually rather disappointed.

 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ***

A novella which has received rave reviews on so many fronts.  It was certainly readable and there was much to appreciate in the writing and the treatment of such a 'tricky' subject as the Magdalene laundries in Ireland,  Bill Furlong makes a thoroughly credible and interesting protagonist. However, unlike for others, this never really hit the high spots for me - a good read, but not enough to be 'great'. I think it's simply because there really isn't enough: it's too short for me, being over almost before it's really begun. It's why I've never really been a short story fan, almost always coming away feeling I want so much more. But what there is, is very good!

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Three months of reading!

It's a very long while since I posted here, so a big one to catch up on three months of reading!  It's been a busy year, and I've not got as much reading done as I usually do, but three months worth is still a fair pile of books, so here goes. With so many to get through, will keep it short and snappy!  (Star ratings out of 6).

 

The Horseman by Tim Pears *****

Read for one of my book groups.  Beautifully written, and very evocative of pre-war rural England - very much in the mould of Thomas Hardy (for Wessex, read Somerset!). For some reason, this took me completely by surprise  Loved this, and intend to read the rest of the trilogy.

 

The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark ****

Another book group read, and in style couldn't be more of a contrast. Classic Spark - very sharp, strong satire, shifting the Watergate affair into a convent, with devastating results.  Not exactly laugh out loud, but darkly very funny.  Her books are almost all very slimline, but she packs a lot into those pages, with some of the leanest writing I know. 

 

The Odyssey by Homer *****

A book I've long intended to read.  As I said on the book activity thread, this took a week or two to read, as it was not one to be rushed.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Macfarlane translation, which had a wonderful rhythm to it.  Took me rather by surprise, as I expected it to be dominated by Odysseus's travels, whilst in fact most of it was set on Ithaca itself, the early chapters well before he even gets there, and with his peregrinations mostly in flashback.  The tempo did seem to flag a bit around two-thirds of the way through, but overall this was a superb read.

 

No Nettles Required by Ken Thompson ***

An interesting, pretty matter of fact, slim volume on a research project investigating garden wildlife, and the effectiveness of different methods of gardening.  Basically, the outcome is that most gardening will have a positive impact, with some of the more 'fancy' techniques perhaps not as productive as one might think - very much the 80-20 rule applying here I think.  Key really is to avoid artificial pesticides, herbicides etc.  A touch repetitive at times, but some interesting insights and myth-busting.

 

The Dutch House by Anne Patchett ****

One more for the book groups.  I really wasn't inclined to read this for some reason, but settled down late one afternoon and found myself reading it through in pretty much one sitting - it's a while since I did that with a book this size!  Compulsive and really well written, with some real insights into families and compulsive behaviour.  I really must try more of this author's books - one to add to a tottering pile of to reads! 

 

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa ****

The first European book in my Round the World challenge (and also read for a book group - my nomination for an Italian book in translation). This rather grew on me. Initially I found it a mite stodgy and it felt a bit over-written, but the lushness of the writing gradually drew me in. almost overwhelmingly so.  The emphasis not just on colour but on such rich colouration, only served to underline the intensity of the decline of the Leopard's family, and Italian nobility in general.  The ending not only took me completely by surprise, but came almost abruptly - because the book I was reading had some further writings of di Lampedusa at the end which I was unaware of, I hit the last page much earlier than expected!  The last line was an absolute classic.  A book I really need to reread.

 

The Republic of San Marino by Giuseppe Rossi ***

My second European read, this time for San Marino.  Very little is published from this country, and almost none in a language I can read, so I find myself making do with the same book that Anne Morgan did in her Year of Reading Round the World (my inspiration for this challenge).  It's a fairly straightforward short history and guide to San Marino, characterised by some distinctly florid translation, which gives the book a certain character!  Not exactly great literature, but an interesting read and insight to a country I've not had any experience of before.

 

Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann *****

And the third European read on the trot, this time for Germany.  A fictional reconstruction of a relationship between two of Germany's greatest scientists: Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Gauss.  Both come over as fascinating if rather obsessive individuals (Kehlmann paints them as almost autistic in their behaviour), and I'm not sure if the relationship itself isn't fictional in itself, but I loved the characterisation and the narrative.  Compared to my previous German reading, this was a lot easier going than normal! 

 

The Vegetarian by Han Kang *

This may have been a very slim volume, but I found it comfortably the hardest work of any book so far this year.  My first Asian book going round the world (South Korea), and it proved decidedly peculiar, centred as it was on a wife's total rejection of meat and descent into anorexia, as seen from three different standpoints (husband, brother-in-law, sister), with some equally obsessive behaviour from certainly the male characters, and reflective of a thoroughly patriarchal society (is South Korea really like this?).  I can't say I enjoyed this book, and found it hard to appreciate too. 

 

Walking Home by Simon Armitage ***

The author walks the Pennine Way north to south, homeward bound towards Marsden, working his way along through poetry readings.  His descriptions are as poetic as they should be from the poet laureate, and this was a very enjoyable, very easy read, although I wasn't so sure of his feelings towards others - he was rather too quickly inclined to dismiss or judge. One reading in particular, when he pretty much dismissed some younger members of his audience, was particularly toe-curling, although he did acknowledge that himself on this occasion!  I found his other book Walking Away a rather better read.

 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus ***

Elizabeth Zott is a scientist, a chemist, but this is the 1950s, and she is struggling to get a thoroughly male dominated American world to take her seriously as an academic and researcher.  She lands up hosting an afternoon TV cooking show, and subversively teaching cooking science (and a way of thinking) to her fellow women. Garmus writes with humour and so much zest, that as a reader I was carried along on a wave, almost without pause, to the end.  Not my usual read, but I did enjoy it!  Plenty to think about too, not least in how recent these attitudes were (and how some of them are still hanging around).

Later Edit: Hmmm.  One of those books that doesn't wear well on reflection - I'd liken this to Ultra-Processed Food, i.e. initially tastes great but, whilst addictive, you realise it's not very satisfying, if at all.  The more I thought about this (and that's a positive point - it is a book to make one think - the more I felt that the more the characters felt to be stereotypes (see with the 'benefit' of 21st century hindsight) rather than rounded individuals, and the more it all felt one-dmensional in its message.  It didn't help that there were flaws in the time setting - for instance DNA tests simply weren't available at that time. However, I can't get away from the fact that I did enjoy this at the time, so maybe just one star removed.  3 stars.

 

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker ****

I picked this up after a recommendation on the Book Club Review podcast: both book and author completely unknown to me previously.  The writing is simply superb, the author so adept at bringing the internal life of Janet as she grows from childhood into her teens, a 'problem' at every stage.  And yet, I could never quite get away from the fact that we know from the outset that she has been murdered (it's in the blurb!), and that this is all going to end very badly. It's an interesting take, but for me it overshadowed everything just too much.  But, I can absolutely see why this is regarded by some as a classic - it thoroughly deserves to be regarded as such, and I'm glad to have read it as my Scottish (and eighth) book in reading around the world.

 

 

 

 

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Another long gap!

 

I've not been very good this year at keeping up to date with reviews, and this post represents another (almost) three months worth of books.  I've found this year a bit of a struggle for some reason - although maybe it's simply that I've just slowed down a bit after three or four years fairly frenetic reading.  Anyway, a list of the books read since the last post, with a few comments to bring me up to date.

 

A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin **

This really isn't my sort of book, and was read purely for a book group, although I found the author's diaries of his time in politics to be fascinating.  IMO, he should stick to diary writing. This was fortunately not a long book (so many 'thrillers' are), but it still proved fairly tedious, full of cardboard cutout characters, and little to engage.  It's topicality and that relevance just about earned it a second star, but overall I was distinctly underwhelmed.

 

Somewhere Towards The End by Diana Athill **

Another book group read, but this time of an author I've intended to read for a while, given the positive reviews she's received.  On the evidence of this book, though, I'm not sure why she is so acclaimed.  Superficially a series of essays on life as an older person, it wandered all over the place, was utterly self-centred (self-obsessed?), and majored more in reminiscence than anything genuinely enlightening or analytical.  Another tedious read, fortunately short.

 

The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf ******

Thank goodness for that! After two dullards, a genuinely fascinating and well written book - a biography of Alexander von Humboldt, read as a follow up to Daniel Kehlmann's excellent Measuring the World.  It helps that von Humboldt was such an important figure in 18th/19th century science, and that his life was full of activity and interest, but that should take nothign away from the author's own skill in writing.  One of the highlights of the year so far, fact or fiction, and only my second six star read for 2022.

 

Real Bloomsbury by Nicholas Murray ***

An historical guide to Bloomsbury - pretty much what it says on the tin!  I had this as a companion to a couple of very pleasurable days exploring (walking) the area, and it added so much to the trip. It's also a good read in its own right, lively and engaging, with much interest and personal insight within a relatively slim volume. 

 

The Instant by Amy Liptrot **

What happened?  I absolutely adored the author's first book, The Outrun - a book of the year for me - and was really looking forward to this as a book group choice.  Sadly, it proved a huge disappointment, with none of the flair, positivity or natural history (in spite of it being up for the Wainwright prize) of the earlier book. Instead, this felt horribly overwritten, totally self-centred, and thoroughly miserable.  The Outrun exuded a sense of place, especially after the author's return to the Orkneys, this had none of that.  Set in Berlin, this could have been any metropolitan area anywhere in Europe. And as for the natural history - it was farcical, with the author seeming to expect it all to come to her instantly on a plate, and surprised when it didn't; and that was when she wrote about it at all in between her obsessive relationship with one particular man, a relationship that verged on stalking.  In fact that insight was possibly the one strength of the book, but a thoroughly unpleasant one.  A total letdown.

 

One Moonlit Night by Caradog Prichard ******

Read as part of my Read Around the World (RAW) challenge, my book for Wales.  I was surprised to realise that this was my first ever book translated from Welsh.  The story of a young boy's upbringing in a North Wales town (based on Bethesda) told in hindsight when an adult.  There's much that is utterly grim here, but it's seen through the eyes of someone who knew no different, and thus much of the grimness is implied rather than spelt out, and there's much humour and pleasure present.  A humungous twist, which I never saw coming, puts a completely different complexion on things though, and helped raise this from the merely very good to the outstanding.  I'm no fan of mis-lit - which this might be seen to be but only superficially - but thoroughly enjoyed, or rather appreciated, this, and can totally see why this is regarded as a classic by so many.  The very sort of book I'm doing this challenge for!

Later Edit: promoted to a full 6 stars as a 'favourite' - a book I'd return to in an instant, even knowing what the twist is!

 

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis ***

Part of my continuing tour of the United States, being the book for Minnesota.  A fairly gentle satire on small-town life in midwest America of the early twentieth century.  Newly wed doctor's wife Carol Kennicot is brought back to the the doctor's home town of Gopher Prairie determined to help bring it in to the twentieth century, but comes up against small-town attitudes and life.  Widely regarded as something of a classic, I can sort of see why, but I found it overlong at almost 450 pages, rather repetitive, and generally in need of a good edit.  I'm not a great one for satire anyway (with some notable exceptions!), but for me good ones tend to be short and sharp (Animal Farm, Cold Comfort Farm).  It proved just about OK enough to plough my way through, but overall tedious is the main adjective to spring to mind.

 

A Question of Upbringing / A Buyer's Market by Antony Powell ***

The first two volumes of A Dance To The Music of Time - which I hope to complete by the end of the year.  Not exactly action packed, but full of characters and relationships as they grow up in the inter-war years.  I'm already finding it challenging keeping track of the cast, and am using Hilary Spurling's guide to help me.  It's a societal group I'm not sure I'm that interested in, and I do find parts quite heavy going at times, but I've been reading it in fairly short bursts which has disrupted any real sense of continuity and not helped me get 'into' the narrative.  There's enough of interest, and enough promise, to keep me going though, so will continue with the third volume (of 12) later this month.  Basically, the jury is still very much out on this one!

 

Cycling At The Speed of Life by Chris Bolton ***

Short and sweet, this is a brief and personal introduction to longer distance audaxing, with a focus on the London-Edinburgh-London (held every 4 years).   I helped as a volunteer at this year's LEL in August, and met Chris at the control point we were both helping at.  The laid back, amiable, but informative style of the book definitely reflects the man himself, who was a fount of knowledge!  For me in my position of contemplating extending my riding, this was a useful and pleasurable, read!

 

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov ***

Read both as a book group read, and as my book for Ukraine in my RAW challenge.  Another, rather more modern, satire - distinctly bleaker amd more absurdist than Main Street, with the central protagonist Viktor, getting by in post-Soviet Ukrainen as a jobbing journalist who lands up preparing obituaries for a local newspaper. He lives with a king penguin, Misha, acquired from the local zoo who has been giving away animals it can't afford to keep.  Viktor soon finds that his obituaries are being used as hit list for the local 'mafia'.  This is one of those books where I can sort of appreciate why so many people regard it so highly, but which, to be honest, I really don't enjoy reading.  Everybody in the group talked about the (dark) humour, but, as so often, I really didn't find it funny, and the whole thing left me cold.  I can see what he's getting at, but I just find books like this, where characters are deliberately just ciphers and the emphasis is all on the message, tend to do nothing for me..... 

 

The Trees by Percival Everett *****

......So why did I find this, another satire set in deep south America, so engaging - absolutely riveting reading?!  Shortlisted for the Booker, the whole premise of this book grabbed me from the go when reading this for a book group.  This was one where I found the humour, in spite of the grimness, even horror, of the subject material, absolutely laugh-out loud (and utterly black).  There was no missing the message either.  This raised so many topics for discussion in our group, and the meeting fair buzzed along, especially as one member was in my usual position of really not getting the humour, and not overly impressed overall either. I think the difference for me was in the quality of the dialogue and the stronger and more varied characterisation.  The ending proved controversial, with people split sharply into two camps (positive and negative), but for me it made complete sense, even if unanticipated!  Provocative, sharp, funny, grim, almost horrific.  A book that I ordinarily would not have expected to like, but which proved the exact opposite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This Sovereign Isle by Robert Tombs ***

Robert Tombs is a rarity amongst academic historians, in that whilst almost all voted to remain in the Brexit referendum, he decided to vote to leave.  On the surface that might seem surprising - his area of expertise is French history, he is married to a Frenchwoman (who voted to remain apparently) and is a citizen of France - one couldn't really get more 'European'.  He covers some of the reasoning why in his introduction.  This book, a slim volume, is his explanation as to why history pointed towards the Leave decision, and his account of why it all makes sense.  Which is why I read it - as a natural remainer, I'm trying to understand the reasoning behind why people voted to leave.  Having read this book, I do feel rather more illuminated.  Whether it makes sense though?  Well, the first chapter, an overview of our archipelago's relationship with the mainland, certainly does - this was a lesson in succinct and clear explanation.  After that, though, things become a bit murkier, as we appeard to transition from historical analysis to political polemic, complete with some key contradictions (how can he rely on the unsubstantiated claim that Europe is a declining continent having just claimed that the British perception of ourselves as a declining country was exaggerated at least, and wrong at most?). Certainly, the author's explanations made sense, but only in terms of what a leaver's perception might be (and, I suppose, perception is what it's all about), but what are those perceptions are based on?  I don't know enough to debate the full range of arguments he puts forward, but several sets of figures (eg volume of trade between UK and Europe) flatly contradict others I've seen elsewhere - so who's accurate? His claim that Northern Ireland was 10-20% better off than the Republic (and thus a united Ireland just wouldn't be possible) is just plain false - he has completely misquoted the paper he cites - which doesn't leave me confident in his accuracy. His argument that the Supreme Court couldn't find Boris Johnson' proroguing of Parliament as illegal is not substantiated in the text (and if the supreme court is not supreme...?).

Overall, I found this a thoroughly readable book, which helped me understand the mindset of at least one prominent leaver.  I had hoped to find reason to think there is a positive way forward now we are where we are, but given that Tombs seems fairly trenchant that the only way to leave is to not just leave the EU, but also the single market and the customs union, and seems to think that our future lay primarily with the 'Anglosphere', I was anything but convinced.  For someone who reckons that "place is not important", to then argue that our sense of rootedness in the nation state (surely a place?) seems, to put it mildly, inconsistent.  I just hope to goodness he is right and I am wrong; the problem is that events since his book was published have not been promising.

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Been on a bit of a book acquisition binge lately, helped by a birthday!  Additions since the beginning of October include:

 

The Ladies of Lyndon by Margaret Kennedy

The Quickening Maze by Adam Fould

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

Black England by Gretchen Gerzina

The Astronomer and the Witch by Ulrinka Rublank

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen

Geography is Destiny by Ian Morris

I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Perceval Everett

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

Scott-land by Stuart Kelly

 

Phew!  Better get reading!

 

 

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Two 'big' books:

Two books from two different continents, both fairly slimline in terms of size, but big when it comes to impact and quality:

 

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers *****

My choice for Georgia in my Tour of the USA, and quite a choice it proved too.  McCullers' debut novel, she was only 23 when she wrote it, centres on deaf-mute John Singer, living alone in a boarding-house after the institutionalisation of his close friend and house-mate Spiros Antonapoulos (also deaf-mute), and the lives of four people for whom Singer becomes something of a lynch-pin: a young girl (12+), a diner owner, an itinerant labour radical, and a local black doctor.  All are isolated and lonely in their own ways, and McCullers examines the impact this has on them, as well as the influence of Singer, who in his own insular world, doesn't appreciate the effect he has - he remains focused on the remnants of his relationship with Antonapoulos and struggles to understand the world around him.  It's a powerful and immersive meditation that gripped me from start to finish.  McCullers' writing is based on remarkably short and straightforward sentences which paint a vivid picture - the writing feels more complex than it actually is - and gets deep inside the five characters and their lives.  It's not a happy book, but is both thoughtful and thought-provoking.  If I had one tiny criticism, it would be that the deaf-mute device was possibly a bit heavy-handed??  On the other hand....! Whatever, it's yet another book (or, indeed, author) on this tour that is a local (or at least American) classic, but that is far less known here in the  UK - I'm really not sure why.  This challenge is proving rather an eye-opener, even more than I expected!

 

A Grain Of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o *****
This was a book group choice, taken from the Big Jubilee Read list, although I already had it down as my likely choice for Kenya.  It's a fairly short read, just over 240 pages long, but packs a huge amount in to such a short space.  Set in the days leading up to Kenyan independence in 1963, the main plotline covers the plans by local elders to expose, at they independence celebrations, the traitor responsible for the capture and death of a local Mau Mau leader.  Other sub-plots examine the relationships of members of the same village, in particular the younger sister of the leader and her husband, himself interned for 6 years as a 'rebel'.  Themes of betrayal and redemption, isolation and unity, religion and empire are interwoven in a narrative that, whilst progressing towards the denouement, shifts time and perspective sometimes almost without noticing, as one gets inside the minds of the various protagonists to see events from their viewpoint, whilst occasionally being drawn away to see the overall picture.  It's complex, and it's deep, provoking an intense and very interesting discussion in our group, especially as we had members of our group with experience of both immediate post-colonial Kenya and knowledge of the author at at the time of his writing the book (we didn't find this out until the discussion!). One of my strongest reads of the year, and of the challenge so far.

 

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More Book Reviews for October-November

 

An Honest Deceit by Guy Mankowski *

A book group read from Bradford Libraries, and I really struggle to understand why one earth this is in their reading group selection.  As the rest of the group agreed, this read as an early draft of a novel that had some potential, but as it stood was appallingly edited, and horribly overwritten.  Spelling, grammar and orthographic errors abounded (starting with the first paragraph), whilst the author seemed to thing that every noun needed at least 2 adjectives, often repeated from earlier on in the sentence.  I struggled to get beyond the prologue.  The basic premise of the book depends on a substitute teacher (not a supply teacher, which is the term that would normally be used in this country) coming in to assist on a school residential, who is found to be a sexual predator, yet no mention of DBS checks, safeguarding etc (and in my experience, any supply teacher who comes in would work in school whilst regular staff would accompany the residential). Equally, the children all go on an outdoor activity on crags where no school I know would let any child near without qualified supervision - the plot was just not credible as it stood. To cap it all, it was a British book by a British publisher, yet written in American (was the author actually American, and was he pulling on American school experience? Don't know).  All in all, I really couldn't see how this even got close to being published as it stood, and is comfortably the worst book i've encountered this year, possibly for some years.

 

Curlew Moon by Mary Colwell ****

The author undertakes a walk across Ireland, Wales and England, to promote and investigate the plight of the curlew, a massively endangered bird in lowland areas in these countries, with numbers plummeting everywhere.  A fascinating, really well written book.

 

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi **

Voted the best science book ever written by the Royal Institute, this is essentially an autobiographical memoir written in a series of 'episodes'/chapters, themed on chemical elements, the author being a chemist.  It's thus apparently a classic of its type, but I found what I read of it rather dull and singularly unengaging. Maybe it suffered in translation, but the language felt rather simplistic and stilted. There was too much else that I want to read at present for me to finish it, even if it's a book club choice. 

 

The Eight Week Blood Sugar Diet by Michael Mosley ***

A reread of a book I read a year or two ago, simply to revise some of my dietary knowledge.  Interesting if primarly functional reading.

 

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch by Rivka Galchen **

Another book group read!  Set in 17th century Wurttemburg (southern Germany), this is a fictional take on the true story of the prosecution of Katherina Kepler for witchcraft, and her defence by her son, the scientist Johannes Kepler. the topic was potentially fascinating, but sadly there were just too many flaws in this novel for me to really enjoy it.  This starts on the first page where the main protagonist is playing backgammon - a game not mentioned anywhere historically until some years after the date of the action, and then in Britain, as an offshoot of another game, not Germany.  The anachronisms otherwise, at least those I spotted, were all in the language, with the author choosing to keep that distinctly modern. Aside from the superstition, the characters didn't seem that 17th century either.  Much of the storyline is toldl through (fictionalised) court documents, but these for me rapidly became somewhat repetitive and tedious.  The ending just fizzles out - and so on and so on.  Overall, whilst the book piqued my interest historically, I found the novel rather frustrating and generally unsatisfying.  So I moved on to the real world......

 

The Astronomer and the Witch by Ulinka Rublack ****

This was the non-fiction book upon which Rivka Galchen drew in writing her novel, and it proved a totally different kettle of fish, being an absolutely fascinating read.  Whilst it told the real story of Kepler's defence of his mother (sans invented characters etc), it also delved into Kepler's own life, southern German society at the outset of the Thirty Years War, the situation of older women in that society, and the broader prosecution of witchcraft at the time (far more structured and legally controlled than I had appreciated). The result was a detailed, vivid picture of the lives of both the main protagonists and the world they lived in, well researched and documented.  The ending was also far more satisfying in its completeness!  Overall, a really good piece of micro-history - and worthwhile reading the earlier book to discover and be introduced to this one.  My advice, though,to anybody interested in the subject would be to head straight for the real version and skip the fiction.

   

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10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak **

Warning: this review briefly discusses a few aspects of the book in its later stages. Not a true plot spoiler, but for those anxious not to know anything beyond the introductory blurb, it might have that effect (I worked on the basis that it wouldn't have affected my reading).

A book group choice, and whilst not my original choice for Turkey in my Read Around the World, it fitted neatly enough for my 12th book in that project. The premise was interesting - the main protagonist Leila, having just been murdered, 'lives' through the first 10 minutes 38 seconds of her death with her dying brain each minute experiencing sensations that in turn evoke key instances of her life (the idea was apparently based on a scientific paper that reported brain wave activity in a body for that period post-death). Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that this was just a 'different' way of telling a fairly standard story, the life of a girl growing up in an increasingly repressive Muslim household and how she 'escapes' and lands up working as a prostitute in Istanbul, complete with religious fanatic father, repressed mother, a sexually abusive uncle etc etc. All pretty predictable, and little different to so many other similar narratives (even if the story deals with important issues). The second half experienced a complete change of pace as Leila's friends (the story of how they became so having been told as part of the first part) work to honour her and ensure that she receives an appropriate burial (she's scheduled for a virtually unmarked grave in a pauper's cemetery). The narrative descends into virtual slapstick, and the ending was near farcical (in the literal sense). Whilst in some ways more interesting than the highly predictable first section, the juxtaposition of the two sections jarred - it almost felt like reading two different books that had been roughly stuck together
Overall, this was a rather underwhelming read. It certainly left me wondering why the rave reviews and the Booker shortlisting?

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo ****
The second book from the Big Jubilee Read for one of my book groups, and something of a contrast to the other, A Grain of Wheat. The latter was founded very much in the reality of colonialism. Whilst The Night Tiger is set in the 1930s, during the colonial period, there's a strong streak of magical realism in it that gives it rather more of a fantasy feel. Altogether a lighter book, but no less readable.
There are 2 strands to this novel, which are told alternately, and which gradually interweave more and more. Ren is an 11-year old houseboy tasked by the doctor he serves on the latter's deathbed with retrieving the doctor's amputated finger within 49 days of death, to ensure the doctor's spirit isn't left stranded in this world. In the meantime, Ji Lin is a young woman frustrated in her apprenticeship as a dressmaker when she wants to work as a nurse or doctor, who is also working as a dance instructor/partner (a rather less than polite job) to earn enough money to pay off her mother's gambling debts. She acquires an amputated finger in a vial from one of her clients....
At it's heart this is very much a yarn to be enjoyed. Providing a rather different twist, it is suffused with Malaysian/Chinese beliefs and myths, particularly in the dream experiences of Ren and Ji Lin, which appear to be all too closely mixed up with the real world. Also underlying the narrative are suspicions of supernatural influences, including were-tigers and some improbable events and coincidences. And then there is, of course, Ren's objective.
At 470 pages it's a longer than average read, and there was a point just before halfway when I wondered quite how the author was going to spin things out to fill the space, but that brief longeuse was quickly replaced by a positive gallop to the finish which had me enthralled. My one caveat was on the historical element: whilst this was set in the 1930s and certainly reflected some of the social mores of the time and place, it never really felt fully settled in that period. I can't quite place why, but whilst it all felt 'correct' (at least as far as my very limited knowledge goes), there was something intangible missing - it just didn't fully breathe it for me. Not a spoiler though, and overall a definite like!
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what the rest of the book group feel about it, particularly on that latter point (we have a writer of meticulous historical fiction in the group). Knowing me, I may well change my mind on some aspects after the discussion, but if I do, I'll edit and note the changes!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Michel the Giant, An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie *****

My second non-fiction book for my Read Around the World, this one for Togo, but still a 'modern classic'; or, at least, one deemed worthy of the Penguin Modern Classic imprint. And I cannot disagree!  As a teenager, the author, brought up in a traditional Togolese family, develops a near obsession to visit Greenland, to such an extent that he runs away and, over several years, makes his way up the west African coast into Europe and then, finally, sails from Denmark to Greenland. I say 'finally', but whilst his life in Togo occupies a couple of fascinating chapters, his life en route, although occupying several years, takes up only a couple of dozen pages.
The main focus of the book is a searingly honest (or so it feels) account of Kpomassie's time spent in the country. Many Greenlanders have never seen a black person before, never mind one who towers some 8 inches or so above them. It's a real eye-opener, and not for the faint-hearted - to a 'soft' Westerner, this is a completely alien culture. In fact, it seems, with some of his comparisons, that Kpomassie's own upbringing has far more in common than our own - although some of the sexual freedoms and his experiences with food (much of it eaten raw) definitely take him by surprise! The word 'raw' feels appropriate for much else of his experience too - not least the relationship between man and dog, where the latter are as much a threat as a friend.
However, as much as his preconceived ideas may have been largely washed away (much of life was more squalid and less exotic than he anticipated), and however alien life might have been, it's obvious that Kpomassie remained in love with the Inuit and with Greenland as a whole throughout his stay, and since. I loved his descriptive writing, and his openness  as to his feelings and emotions, with all his faults (he's a human, and no saint). I suspect that much, if not most, of his account is of its time (the 1960s), and wonder how much of the culture and life remains, but it is no less interesting and relevant for that, given the state our world is in today. A thoroughly immersive real, all too real on occasions!

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As ever at this time, reading and completed books coming thick and fast.  Will add some reviews in the near future, but in the meantime, a list of titles in the past week:

 

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner **

Shortlisted for the Booker, and a book group choice for January.  It's many years since I read any Garner, and my reading has moved significantly away from their myth and legend based fantasy - from fantasy of any sort in fact - so I'm probably not the best person to rely on for a review. However, I did read The Dark Is Rising a couple of years with much pleasure (a full 6-stars), so there may still be a soft spot for this style of novel. 

Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed some of the initial magical-mythical elements, and the atmosphere created around Treacle Walker himself; the idea of a magical world oozing into our 'real' one was classic Garner, as was the precision and depth of description.    But as things progressed, so they started to feel increasingly wobbly, and the 'coming to life' of the comic book characters, Stonehenge Kit and Whizzy the Wizard, proved the final straw - for me they were just thin, frenetic and out of place, although seen through the eyes of a child who believed in them, maybe they wouldn't have been?  Whatever, any sense of suspense or tension instantly evaporated, and things just all came over as rather silly. I'm sure - I absolutely know - I missed much, but for me this never really hung together, and ultimately just felt a bit of a mess.  Maybe the length was a factor, too rushed?  Maybe not - I don't think those cartoon characters, and their comic book behaviour,  would have ever really worked for me. 

 

 

Samuel Johnson, A Biography by John Wain *****

Having tried several times to read the 'original' biography of Dr Johnson, the one by James Boswell, and failed miserably each time - I find it utterly unreadable - I asked the curator at the Dr Johnson House in London what biography he recommended. He suggested this one. A few hours later I was browsing one of my favourite second-hand bookshops in London (Judd Books in Marchmont Street), and lo and behold, there it is on the shelves!  I grabbed it, and am very glad I did too.  Whilst not a true 'academic' biography (as I was 'warned'), or perhaps because it isn't, it's  a highly readable but noticeably knowledgeable narrative which carried me along absolutely enthralled to the very end.  Wain certainly brings the humanity of Johnson out, and I really felt I got to know him as a person, warts and all.  It did everything I could ask of a biography - leaving me feeling well satisfied, but wanting to know yet more.

 

Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal ****

 My book for the Czech Republic in my Read Around the World.  Writing this a few months later, all I can say is that I know I really enjoyed the book at the time, found it utterly readable, and yet I can now remember barely a thing about it.  Ooops!  It's such a short book, I feel I really need to reread it and see why I thought what I did.  To be returned to!

 

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner ******

My book for Mississippi in my Tour of the USA.  I approached this book with some trepidation: Faulkner's reputation as a 'difficult' author is positively fearsome, but I needn't have worried.  It's told through a multiplicity of narrators - each chapter recounted by a different character - so even though every one is 'unrelialble', or at least sees events through their own eyes - a rich and detailed picture is built up rather like a patchwork embroidery.  The result is one of the most brilliant reads I've had in ages - totally engaging, immersive, full of character, humour and a strong sense of time and place.  Not in terms of pure geography or history, but as a microcosm - you feel you are there with the characters as and when it all happens.  Just loved it from start to finish, and the finish is a stonker, literally the very last line.  More, please!

 

The Chimes by Charles Dickens ***

Very much in the mould of Christmas Carol, although this time the revelations in the Christmas 'dream' sequence serve a slightly different purpose, and an enjoyable read, but perhaps by its very nature of being in that same mould, it doesn't pack quite the punch or have quite the same sense of drama and depth.  Glad to have got back into reading some Dickens though after an all-too long layoff. 

 

Have also had an excellent 'haul' for Christmas: two books from my wishlist (The Golden Mole - Katherine Rundell; Wild Fell - Lee Schofield), and a fascinating collection of 12 second-hand books put together by my better half, themed around the months of the year:

 

The January Man - Christopher Somerville

Summer in February - Jonathan Smith

The Ides of March - Valerio Massimo Manfredi

April Lady - Georgette Heyer

Five Days in May - Andrew Adonis

Four Days in June - Iain Gale

July's People - Nadine Gordimer

August is a Wicked Month - Edna O'Brien

See You in September - Joanne Teague

October Sky - Homer H Hickham

The Coincidence of Novembers - Patrick Nairne

A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks

 

I've only read three of those authors before (Somerville, Heyer, Faulks), so there's some really new material and some very interesting prospects to explore!

 

 

 

Edited by willoyd
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10 hours ago, willoyd said:

...................... and a fascinating collection of 12 second-hand books put together by my better half, themed around the months of the year:

 

The January Man - Christopher Somerville

Summer in February - Jonathan Smith

The Ides of March - Valerio Massimo Manfredi

April Lady - Georgette Heyer

Five Days in May - Andrew Adonis

Four Days in June - Iain Gale

July's People - Nadine Gordimer

August is a Wicked Month - Edna O'Brien

See You in September - Joanne Teague

October Sky - Homer H Hickham

The Coincidence of Novembers - Patrick Nairne

A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks

 

I've only read three of those authors before (Somerville, Heyer, Faulks), so there's some really new material and some very interesting prospects to explore!

 

 

What a great idea! 

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16 hours ago, willoyd said:

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner ***

This is on my wish list! I’ll be interested to know why you only have it 3 stars.

 

16 hours ago, willoyd said:

12 second-hand books put together by my better half, themed around the months of the year

That is such a brilliant present idea.  
 

 

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2 hours ago, Hayley said:

This is on my wish list! I’ll be interested to know why you only have it 3 stars

I've posted a review now.  I'm actually inclined to go back and reread The Dark Is Rising now!

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I've been saving the points on my Waterstones loyalty card in anticipation of a New Year Sale.  They've been pretty decent ones in recent years, at least in the sort of reading I do, and this year has fortunately been no exception.  It's being run over very limited timescale this year - just 3 days - so I went into my local store today for a fairly substantial raid on the half price books. Coupled with a couple of book tokens, it meant I came out with a goodly collection and very little cash spent!

So, have now acquired the following hardback reading:

 

The Modern Middle East, A Personal History - Jeremy Bowen

The Reign - Matthew Engels

Land Healer - Jake Fiennes

The Story of Russia - Orlando Figes

Booth - Karen Joy Fowler

Cornerstones - Benedict Macdonald

The Lost Rainforests of Britain - Guy Shrubsole

Magnificent Rebels - Andrea Wulf

 

Interestingly, most of them didn't have half price stickers on, but fortunately I'd done the research into what books w ere in the sale on the Waterstones website beforehand, and the shop (as the norm) were happy to price match.  Just the one book I wanted which they hadn't got in stock, but then I  was glad to find the Shrubsole on sale when I thought it wasn't!

All in all, there's rather a lot of reading to do in the New Year!

 

Edited by willoyd
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Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabati **

If ever a book made me feel inadequate....! Acclaimed as a classic, regarded by many as the masterpiece of a Nobel laureate, I failed at pretty much every level to engage with this slim (thank goodness!) novel. As much as anything, I think this must be something of a culture clash, as I can't recall a single Japanese novel that I've enjoyed (I've not read many, but have tried a few now) - at least one reviewer has commented that one needs to understand at least something of the way the geisha system works (I admittedly don't). Even trying to allow for that, whilst I found some of the description of the landscape evocative, I never really felt there was much point to what I was reading, with 2 characters bumbling along going nowhere, either as people or on any form of narrative arc, and revealing about the same. I stumbled my way through this in a fog of incomprehension and bewilderment, but, unlike some difficult poetry, with no real 'hook' to movitate me to try and work it all out: I found the style of writing almost abrupt, too staccato and fractured, with dialogue where it was all too often difficult to identify who was speaking. I'm just relieved to be able to move on, although I will probably, once given a chance to draw breath, start to wonder what that was all about.

The sixteenth book in my Read Around the World, this one for Japan.

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Cottongrass Summer by Roy Dennis ******

A collection of short essays (many only 2-3 pages) on aspects of conservation work that the author, one of the most experienced in his field, has worked on. The book may be slim (just over 160 pages),  but it's stuffed with content .  He is a passionate promoter of ecological restoration (rewilding), having been involved with Osprey, red kite, sea eagle, and other reintroduction projects. Amongst much else, makes a strong argument for the same for the lynx in Scotland. He equally argues for the need to reverse the desertification of highland Scotland.  However, he's very clear eyed about the need for balance in nature and is pragmatic on issues such as the need for humans to carry out the predation that went missing with the extinction of top level predators, thus controlling deer and mid-level (largely generalist) predators.  He writes directly and to the point with elegant simplicity, the essays beautifully constructed.  I wanted to take my time over this, but in the end found it pretty unputdownable and galloped through the second half.  A book that needs to be returned to (there is also a sequel, Mistletoe Winter, that beckons!).

 

More About Paddington by Michael Bond ******

Classic Paddington Bear - read as a children's book set at Christmas (partly) for the Forum's Christmas challenge. A quick reread - but I like to read at least one Paddington book at Christmas anyway as he's such a delight, one who I've grown up with (the first Paddington book was publised the same month I was born).  There are very few children's books that I have any desire to return to, but he's one of them!

 

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