Willoyd's Reading 2023

[willoyd]

Two more to finish October off:

 

The Meaning of Geese by Neil Acherson ****

Returning home to north Norfolk after 10 years working in South America and elsewhere as an eco-guide the experience of which has led him to reject flying as a transport option, the author is plunged straight into lockdown. He decides to spend more time on his first nature love, the wild geese that winter on the coast near his home, borrowing his grandmother's bicycle and cycling the 25+ miles return journey most days of the winter of 20-21.  Framed in a diary format, this book represents his account and thoughts - very much a personal experience as the subtitles suggest. 

This proved a good read, but only occasionally, at least for me, tipped over into a 'great' read.  As with so many nature writers, I felt that he was at times trying too hard, and the descriptive language all got rather too much - one doesn't need an adjective in front of EVERY noun, and certainly not a barrage of two or three each.  When he was at his best, was when he focused on the background to the geese, talked about the work and his relationship with other birders, or spent some time filling out a related topic - perhaps because this came more naturally to him?  Having said that, reading other reviews suggests that quite a few readers found his book almost too technical, and felt that this was a bird mainly aimed at fellow birdwatchers. So, overall, I suspect what actually happened is that this book actually falls a bit between two stools.  It certainly could have benefited from some decent illustrations (even line drawings) to support the bird descriptions (brants and brents, pink-footed and white- fronteds etc) to help those unfamiliar with the multitude of species present in Norfolk, and, by biggest gripe with so many of these books, some decent maps. I read this book next to my phone, which has both the Collins Bird Guide on it and the Ordnance Survey app - and I was constantly swapping from book to phone and back.  Both of these enhanced the book enormously, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, feeling I learnt a fair bit (and certainly it's increased my desire to spend some time down there in the not too distant future!), but what could have been a 'great' book, proved, in the end, to be merely 'good'.

 

 

Mr Weston's Good Wine by TF Powys ***

In the opening pages of this 1920s novel, published by Vintage Classics, Mr Weston arrives in the fictional Dorset village of Folly Down, a travelling salesman for his various 'wines', accompanied by his assistant Michael. Something is very odd - children trying to steal whatever the contents of his car are, are scared almost to death, and run off screaming.  The contents of the car?  We found out much later. But what we do find sooner is that there is a host of decidedly 'interesting' (read, odd) characters inhabiting Folly Down, with much carnal activity and mysoginistic abuse (particularly from one female character!) - the writing is light, but the undertones are very dark. It rapidly becomes apparent that Mr Weston is, in fact, God, that Michael is, of course, his archangel, that supernatural things do happen (like Time stopping), and that this is a religious allegory on the fight between good and evil. 

This book may have been written in the 1920s (and set in 1923), but the writing, at least initially, felt quite modern, and it was an easy book to get going on  However, it wasn't too long before I found myself foundering somewhat, and by halfway (even earlier) this was proving a difficult book to finish.  The multitude of characters didn't help - there were far too many introduced in too short a time for me to keep a grasp on them without notes (yes, I found myself making notes!), and there was absolutely no subtlety - I felt that everything, be it character, moral, idea, was driven home with a sledgehammer.  I have to admit, that I did wonder, at least to start with, if this wasn't so much a religious allegory, as a commentary on rural fiction of the time in the mould of Cold Comfort Farm, the character were so cartoonish (one of them was even largely confined to the woodshed!).  Equally, there was no light and shade in the language itself, and that 'moden' feel, with its mock-biblical edge, gradually became monotonously tedious.  This book was only 240 pages long, but it felt much longer. And yet, it still managed, at least in part, to get under my skin, and having breathed a sigh of relief at finishing, I did find myself browsing back through it, interested enough to check up on the precise details of what happened and how things worked in the way they did.  It was hard work though!

Edited November 1, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Catch up time!

 

La Curee (The Kill) by Emile Zola *****

The third (in the reading order recommended by Zola) in the Rougon - Macquart sequence, focusing on the financial shenanigans surrounding property development in Paris during the Second Empire, and the redevelopments carried out by Baron Haussmann, much of it reflecting real life dealings.  Whilst I'm not making swift progress here, I'm loving each book as it comes - Zola's writing is so rich, so evocative, his detailed descriptions (too much for some) painting a fantastically vivid picture.  As with all Zola's 'wealthy' novels, it's the Rougon half of the dynasty at heart, Aristide (brother of Eugene and son of Pierre and Felicity) now coming to the fore, under his adopted name of Saccard.  The main protagonist is, in fact, his second wife Renee, and the plot focuses on her relationship with her stepson Maxime and its outcome, with Saccard keeping multiple plates spinning, Renee's dowry being a crucial element - very much a marriage of financial convenience.

I was slightly bemused at the title, but I hadn't realised that 'The Kill' actually refers to the kill in a hunt, and specifically to the portion thrown to the dogs, so, actually, all too appropriate. And it's Renee who is all too clearly in danger of being La Curee, and torn to pieces.

 

The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter van Tilburg *****

The book for Nevada in my Tour of the USA.  The story of a 'posse' (of very doubtful legality, so closer to a lynch mob) pursuing a  group of rustlers, and the fall-out when events go horribly wrong.  The psychology of the mob and the impact it has on those involved sits at the heart of what turned out to be a far more thoughtful, deeper, novel than I had anticipated.  This is the third western I've read as part of my Tour of the USA (following on from Lonesome Dove and The Virginian,, and they have made an excellent trio. This may just about be the 'third' of the three, but it's well up there, and, having only ever read one other before (Cormac McCarthy's All The Pretty Horses), I'm up for more! 

 

The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad *****

From the West to East....A series of short stories, linked through the life of the 'Falcon', set in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border region, the author having worked much of his life as a Pakistani government official in the region.  The language is simply constructed but with a clarity that seemed so appropriate for a largely desert, mountainous, environment!  As a westerner (even though I've visited Pakistan) the culture was totally alien, but, with a strong sense of authorial sympathy for his characters and subject, I felt I gained much insight. I was certainly gripped - this is a short book and pretty much unputdownable.  (This was the book for Pakistan in my Reading The World project).

 

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams ******

Picked up on a whim, as the subject material interested me. Glad I did!  Esme is the daughter of one of James Murray's researchers in putting together the OED in the late 19th century. Motherless, she spends much of her  time at her father's feet (under the table!) in the Scriptorium, the heart of the project, and develops her own fascination with words.  Her life is one that is almost inevitably intertwined with the dictionary and its team, but other events and people have a profound impact too!  I just loved this book from start to finish, barely able to put it down.  The plot, the characters, the historical context all combined to make this an almost ideal read for me - perhaps not the greatest 'literature', but an absolutely stonking story, really well told.

 

Tall Man in a Low Country by Harry Pearson ***

Read as background to a visit to Brussels, mainly on the train getting there!  Initially promising, this actually proved a mild disappointment, even if scraping three stars.  I expected insight into Belgium from somebody who I was under the impression had lived there. In fact, it's really just the story of an extended holiday in Belgium (with flashbacks to a previous holiday!), and whilst there was the odd flash of insight, I felt it was written by somebody no more knowledgeable than I was about the country, and didn't ever really get beyond stereotypes and the superficial.  I've got another book on my Kindle by Alex Le Sueur on the same subject, although he does live in the country (his wife is Belgian), so I hope that's more rewarding (although the title, Bottoms Up in Belgium, is decidedly unpromising!).

 

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery ****

Shortlisted for the Booker, this is a set of interconnected short stories featuring American-born, Jamaican-descent, Trelawney and his family.  There is a thread of desperation that runs through these stories, with family relations always on edge, sometimes descending into breakdown, money tenuous, life in the margins threatening, all against an at best uncertain racial/cultural background. Actually, not background, but right to the fore, especially in the first story, with Trelawney struggling to develop any sense of identity, and the racial caste system in America sounding absolutely nightmarish!  Written in the second voice, this proved a rare example of it being the perfect choice. Splashdown, the central story, is the only one not to feature Trelawney of Delado (his brother), focusing on their cousin Cukie, but its position at the heart of the book, providing an alternative scenario and suggesting an all too plausible direction for the two brothers, was surely earned; it packs a fair old punch.  I found the writing vivid and lively, streaked through with a strong sense of humanity: at times endearing, these characters could also be quite appalling - it all depends on the perspective - but one felt one always understood why they did what they did, however desperate (except maybe some of Topper's later actions!).  An ideal book for a book club - so much to discuss!

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie ****

Read as follow up to Pip Williams's The Dictionary of Lost Words. The author is a lexicographer and ex chief-editor of the OED herself.  On the last day of her time at Oxford, she went into a previously unopened (at least by her!) file box in the OED archives, and discovered a notebook belong to the most famous editor, James Murray, containing the contact names and addresses of all the volunteers who contributed to the OED during his time, with notes on their contributions.  A phenomenal discovery, out of which grew further research into their lives and this book.  It's a fascinating and well written piece of history.  Each of 26 chapters (named after the letters of the alphabet) takes a theme or individual and dips into their lives and examines their contributions, highlighting what an incredible project this was.  It makes for compulsive reading.

However, it's not faultless, and does at least partially fall into a couple of traps, not least that whilst the dictionary is a list of words, this tends to a list of people. Lots of interesting detail, certainly, but it does tend to the encycolopedic style of entry, one 'dictionary person' after another.  They are linked, there is a coherence, but I still came away feeling I'd read more of a series of (very interesting) biographical entries than an integrated book.  This was then exacerbated by the fact that, for pretty much evey entry, we always got a list of words (with abbreviated definitions) and how many slips they'd contributed.  Yes, I know that's at the heart of the subject, but after 20-odd chapters (with usually several people per chapter), it did tend to the formulaic.

This is not to belittle the interest of the quality of the work. It perhaps says more about the best way to read this book. For me, this is very much a book to dip into and out of, perhaps treating it as a series of 26 different essays. I think if I'd read it like that, I'd have graded it higher, and been keen to get stuck in right to the very end. As it was, reading this as a book over a few days, I did feel a slight sense of ennui and repetition by the end, and found myself counting the chapters down ("phew, I've reached V" syndrome).  Read as essays, I think this would have made for compulsive reading. I know I will go back and explore it further, and it's definitely staying on my shelves!

[willoyd]

A Hero Of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov ***

Read for one of my reading groups.  A short (barely 140 pages) novel set in the Caucasus of the early 19th century, featuring the somewhat amoral soldier Pechorin as the ironically titled 'hero'.  This reads like a series of 5 short stories, told from different perspectives, examining Pechorin's sense of alienation from the society around him, and his refusal to conform: is he heartless or just brutally honest?  I found this a difficult book to get into, really only grabbed by the fourth (and longest) of the five episodes - made all the more interesting (IMO) by the fact that it was told from Perchorin's perspective, thus seeing the world through his eyes rather than the rather mystified others around him.  But maybe it was made more interesting by the fact that we'd seen him through the rather non-plussed eyes of other, more conventional, observers first?  It'll be interesting to see what the rest of the group make of it.  BTW, I looked forward to reading the introduction for insight, but found it hard going. One ot be read in small chunks, or, at least, not late at night!

Edited December 27, 2023 by willoyd

[willoyd]

The Years by Annie Ernaux *****

A memoir/autobiography quite unlike anything I've ever read before.  Covering the whole of the post-war period, it may be autobiography, but it's all told in the third person, and is very much a life in the context of society as a whole covering key societal/political landmarks, if described from a personal perspective (on the left of the French political spectrum).  The story is not just an account, but told through descriptions of photographs and other media, in relatively short and often apparently unrelated paragraphs. I was gripped by the writing, but have to admit that on several occasions when picking the book up again, I had to go back and reread the previous dozen or so pages: at the time of reading, everything felt very real and vivid, but so little actually stuck.  I think this was primarily because so much of it was unfamiliar terrain - so many names that to a French man or women were probably commonplace, but to this British reader, completely unfamiliar (for instance, most French politicians other than the presidents!).  Midway through, I started Googling unfamiliar names as they occured, and my retention levels did start to improve!  As a result, I think that to fully appreciate this book, I will almost certainly have to reread it at some stage!  In the meantime, it's an easy 5, and probably should be a 6 (if I can get to better grips with French cultural history!).

[willoyd]

Two last books

 

Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson ****

A very enjoyable dozen stories with linking mini-essays that include some interesting recipes.  None of the stories were earth shatteringly original or different to the standard Christmas fair, but then this is Christmas!  They were still fun and, inevitably with this author, well written.  I suspect I'll save this for future Christmas reads too, and certainly for a couple of the recipes!

 

Frostquake by Juliet Nicolson ***

Purporting to be a social history of the snow-stricken 1962-3 winter and the impact it had on a changing society (or at least that's how I interpreted the blurb), this proved to be a readable but ultimately disappointing mish-mash of personal memoir and general cultural history of the the period, spreading rather a lot away from the winter itself.  Basically this was nothing that the likes of David Kynaston, Dominic Sandbrook, Peter Hennessy and others have all done so much better, and certainly more thoroughly researched and in-depth.  It just about achieved 3-stars because it was readable, and it was both the last book of the year and the Christmas season, but 2 beckoned, !  However, it has gone instantly to Oxfam!

[willoyd]

So, the end of the reading year.  A good year on the whole.  66 books completed,  the same as last year, even if the average page count was lower, but there were fewer disappointing books and a higher proportion of 4+ star books (mostly at 4 star level itself).  A more detailed review on my 2024 thread.