bookswelike

bwl 27 - December 2004

Fiction

Jack Adrian (editor) - Detective Stories from The Strand Magazine

Famous for championing Sherlock Holmes, The Strand was also home for writers such as Huxley, Christie and Chesterton, all keen to prove their worth as writers of detective fiction. For variety, ingeniousness and style this anthology is hard to beat. Dénouements are flourished like magicians' hankies and a real sense of time and place pervades - and then, to round it off, a couple of lesser-known Holmes stories thrown in at the end. Lovely stuff! (Clive Yelf)

Beryl Bainbridge - Every Man for Himself

Morgan - young, rich, Edwardian - narrates the hopes and plans of the first class passengers during the four days before the 'unsinkable' Titanic ended in ghastly catastrophe. Bainbridge writes flawlessly, in language he would have used, neither too impersonally nor sentimentally - with very well-researched descriptions of the floating hotel with its engine rooms - evoking the emotions and reactions of passengers and crew in ice-bound desolation. (Joan Jackson)

Colin Bateman - Divorcing Jack

Fast-moving, fast-talking thriller set in a desperate Northern Irish landscape of betrayal, routine murder and bribery. The main character is an alcoholic reporter (surprise, surprise..) who enjoys a full range of human frailties and who, for the most part, I found frustrating and irritating. For a thriller I thought the 'How?' was fairly weak but where it really scored was the 'Why?' and it was this that kept me reading to the wee small hours. (Clive Yelf)

Sybille Bedford - Jigsaw

For those whose lives span the 20th century, this novel-cum-memoir is a poignant reminder of how time flies. For the young 'uns, it's a beautifully written life, whizzing along in top gear, to and fro through Germany, Italy, France and London, full of pathos and touching fun. For all the speeding years, Billie - whose life we follow - has time, in her own words, for 'revealing and necessary details' . . . and she 'stops and stares'. (Joan Jackson)

Peter Carey - The Tax Inspector

Maria Markis, tax inspector, comes to audit the Catchprice Motors family firm just as it is collapsing thanks to Granny Frieda, the worm that turns, daughter Cathy who wants to be a singer and grandson Benny who believes he is an angel. The unexpected knock-on effects of their interaction left me breathless....This decidedly weird novel may not be to everyone's taste but I found it a gripping, if disturbing, black comedy about dysfunctional families. (Annabel Bedini)

Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

A BIG book that has been much hyped. I was not disappointed; I loved every word and there are a great many, including footnotes. Clarke's prose looks to the past: the young Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, both in style, which she captures excellently, and in approach - discursive. Described as 'fantasy' this is rather a fairytale, with its dark, surreal twists, humour and social comment, set against the real background of the Napoleonic wars. (Ferelith Hordon)

Don Conroy - Saiorse the Grey Seal

Saiorse loses his family when humans invade their island and he strays from the shore, though trying to survive the sea on your own isn't easy. The main characters are: Saiorse and his family, Seafra, An Orca, Lutra and Gyprus. I thought it was a brilliant book. The illustrations made the story easier to understand and gave me a real picture in my head. I recommend the book for 9-11 year olds. (Eloise May)

Sue Grafton - R is for Ricochet

Kinsey Millhone is back with another adventure and some romance. . . . The story may not be of great significance but Sue Grafton's work never disappoints. An ideal read if you want to spend a nice afternoon forgetting about the real world. (Laurence Martin Euler)

Philippa Gregory - The Other Boleyn Girl

If you like historical novels, read this. It paints a vivid picture of the Tudor court powered by the King's desperate need for an heir and the wiles of the Howard family who are determined that one of their girls will become Queen. Mary at aged 14, captures his eye and becomes his mistress, but it is Anne who wins him, leaving Mary to chronicle her sister's rise and fall and her own escape. (Jenny Baker)

Philippa Gregory - The Queen's Fool

And after having been embroiled in the intrigues of Henry VIII's court, you might care to enjoy this sequel. This time the narrator is a young Jewish girl who with her father has escaped from the Spanish inquisition to England where she becomes Holy Fool to Queen Mary. It speeds along at a tremendous pace and is an extremely palatable way of learning some history. (Jenny Baker)

Alan Hollinghurst - The Line of Beauty *

Nick Guest is a young gay PhD student staying in the house of an adored friend, whose father is a rich, rising Conservative MP. Through the family he is drawn into a dangerous world of ambition and indulgence. It is a vivid evocation of the 1980s: the politics, family life, cocaine-fuelled parties and the gay scene. Hollingshurst lingers rather too long at Hampstead Ponds for me, but the pace gathers towards a dramatic ending.

*Winner of the 2004 Man Booker prize. (Victoria Grey-Edwards) * Winner of the 2004 Man Booker prize

John le Carré - Absolute Friends

After The Constant Gardener (bwl 8) which I loved, I found this disappointing though there is good stuff in it, in particular his portrayal of the two main characters: Ted Mundy, a British officer's son born in the newly independent Pakistan, and Sasha , the son of an East German pastor. They are caught up in 1960s Berlin rioting, then in Cold War espionage and finally in contemporary horrors.Worth reading if you like this sort of thing. (Jeremy Swann)

Jill Paton Walsh - A Desert in Bohemia

The history of a corner of Central Europe from 1945 to 1990 is told through the lives of nine interconnected characters. But this is not merely history, it's a complex and moving account of loss and exile, conflicting ideologies and moral philosophy. As in Knowledge of Angels (bwl 5) Paton Walsh combines marvellous story-telling with a deep knowledge of the human spirit. And this time she allows us to be optimistic! (Annabel Bedini)

Byron Preiss (editor) - Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe - A Celebration

This attempt to capture the essence of the world's best-known 'gumshoe' through the minds of 'some of the world's leading mystery authors' allows them to explore their own preoccupations, with sometimes little more than a nod to Chandler. The plots of the stories may work quite nicely as individual entities but constant 'reinterpretation' means Marlowe himself comes across as a fractured and incomprehensible individual. Enjoyable hokum but a reminder of how great the original was. (Clive Yelf)

Bernhard Schlink - The Reader

A fifteen year old boy is drawn into an intense relationship with an older woman which will haunt him forever. For this is 1950s Germany and Hanna has a past which she, and ultimately he, cannot avoid. Their story is a metaphor for a post-war generation trying to confront and understand how quite ordinary people went along with and took part in the Holocaust. Not a comfortable read but one that lingers long in the mind. (Jenny Baker)

Barbara Trapido - Frankie & Strankie

This strange book, purportedly a novel but surely a thinly disguised memoir is set in 1950s South Africa. Told through the eyes of a young, white girl growing up at a time when racial laws are being tightened, it is not only a chronicle of the often hilarious pains and pleasures of childhood, adolescence and early adulthood but provides an inside view of the attitudes and politics which led to the insidious growth of apartheid. (Jenny Baker)

John Updike - Marry Me

It's so perceptive and honest. It's the story of two couples, Ruth and Jerry and Sally and Richard. One day Sally and Jerry begin an affaire. They think they're in love, they want to marry each other but they are already married to other people! It's a book every person on the verge of divorce should read. It shows the mess it brings to them, to their other halves and to their children. (Laurence Martin Euler)

John Updike - Villages

A disappointment. I was looking forward to Updike's latest book but was irritated by Owen Mackenzie's lack of willpower! Here is a man at the end of his life trying to convince you that it was never his fault he was unfaithful to his wife but it was always the 'other' women who initiated the affaires. Who is he kidding? (Laurence Martin Euler)

Richard B Wright - Adultery

This absorbing novel is about a happily married, middle-aged editor who attends the Frankfurt book fair and has an affaire with a younger colleague. On their way back to Toronto, they spend a weekend in England where, on a lonely beach, they make love. While Daniel sleeps, Denise leaves the car and is never again seen alive. The majority of the book depicts how people survive such enormous tragedies and, despite them, carry on. (Polly Sams Plant)

Non-Fiction

Martin Amis - Experience

Amis writes about his route from precocious school-boy through to established novelist and father of three (or is it five?). He offers a fond insight into Kingsley's work and life, the family's relationship with him, their mother, and many friends (e.g. Philip Larkin, Saul Bellow). Also a lot about teeth, inevitably. It's a delight to read about people with such a love of words and, although Amis sometimes tends towards self-mythology, who can blame him? (Annabel Bedini)

Noam Chomsky - Hegemony or Survival - America's Quest for Global Dominanc

Chomsky provides a detailed interpretation of the history of American foreign policy right through to the events leading to the War in Iraq. He argues that the US pursuit for global dominance will be at any cost, which makes his predictions alarming, to say the least. A fascinating read for all those interested in American foreign policy. (Claire Bane)

Hillary Rodham Clinton - Living History

Although it can be tedious reading about every dignitary she has met, I could not help feeling that Clinton's life centres on a deep sense of commitment to both family and social issues. Some might accuse her of name-dropping, but this book is more concerned about meeting women in African villages, setting up health clinics and micro-credit institutions in Asia, and fighting political enemies in America...If you want gory details about Lewinsky, you'll be disappointed! (Pamela Jaunin)

Isak Dinesen - Letters from Africa 1914-1931

(Karen Blixen) A re-discovered masterpiece. Mostly to her mother, these letters track Blixen's progress from optimistic young bride through the disillusionment of her marriage, the hopes for and, ultimately, the failure of her coffee plantation, her illness, the tragedy of her love for Denys Finch Hatton and her departure from the place she loved so much. Forget the film! These letters are hauntingly the true voice of a courageous woman of great spirit and dignity. (Annabel Bedini)

Robert Hughes - Goya

This account of the turbulent life of this extraordinary artist with his penetrating portrait studies of Spanish Bourbon royalty and terrifying etchings and paintings of the effects of Napoleon's invasion of Spain in his series 'Disasters of War' who became totally deaf at 46 years, is made more poignant by Hughes' own near fatal car accident which painfully crippled him. Very well illustrated, it makes you want to fly to Madrid and the Prado pronto. (James Baker)

Nigella Lawson - Feast

This is more than a cookery book. It is a series of feasts for just about any event. Nigella writes about food and occasion in a charming and unpretentious way. Chocolate cake lovers will pay great attention to the 'Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame' chapter. A sumptuous book! (Claire Bane)

Giles Milton - Samurai William - The Adventurer who Unlocked Japan

This is a swash-buckling tale of derring-do. In 1611, spurred on by a letter to London merchants from an English mariner who had been marooned in Japan for more than ten years, seven adventurers were dispatched to find him and use his skills to exploit the riches of this forbidden country. But when they arrived, they found he had gone native. Fantastic research, page-turning writing, absolutely my sort of book. (Tony May)

Rageh Omaar - Revolution Day - The Human Story of the Battle for Iraq

From the beginning to the official end in 2003 of the war in Iraq the author was the BBC's main television correspondent reporting from inside the country. The most striking feature of this account is Omaar's ability to convey how it was for the perfectly ordinary people caught up in the horrors of war. His affection for them makes his descriptions tellingly poignant. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. (Jeremy Swann)

Michael Redgrave - In My Mind's Eye

Ever since I saw the author in the title role in Richard II at Stratford over 50 years ago, I have enjoyed vivid memories of his masterly performance. While this book is largely autobiographical, he is particularly interesting on solving technical problems on the stage and the interpretation of characters. Good too on the difference between acting techniques before a movie camera as opposed to on a stage. (Jeremy Swann)

Mark Urban - The Man who Broke Napoleon's Codes - The Story of George Scovell

This is the story of the 19th century's very own Enigma code breaker. Major Scovell served in the Peninsular War and successfully broke the French 'Great Cipher', allowing Wellington to prevent the combining of two mighty French armies into an irresistible force. Wellington's reputation and the need to hide the fact that the code was broken led to Scovell's role being played down and his vital contribution ignored. Fresh insights, revelations and a riveting read! (Clive Yelf)

Feedback

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Carol McClure writes:

I found Tracy Chevalier's The Lady and the Unicorn (bwl 21) disappointing as a book but totally fascinating about the tapestries. I thought her attempt to write in the first person as a man was a failure and the French painter came over to me as a pantomime boy - i.e. a girl slapping her thigh as Dick Whittington! But her description of the making of the tapestries made up for the shortcomings of the book, so much so that seeing them was my highest priority on a brief visit to Paris this year - and wonderful they were.

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Jeremy Swann writes:

A kind friend recently brought us a copy of Lynne Truss's amusing and helpful book on punctuation Eats, Shoots and Leaves (reviewed in bwl 22). In addition to giving the first explanation I've seen of the 'Oxford comma', the author delighted me by referring to and quoting from quite one of the funniest books I know: James Thurber's The Years with Ross (Ross being the co-founder and editor of the New Yorker and a maniac for good punctuation and clear writing). This title originally appeared in bwl 2, in March 2000 but I have no hesitation in putting it forward again. It's a bright star in what sometimes seems a cloudy sky. I read it again every year ... as a tonic!

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Re The Da Vinci Code

Claire Bane writes:
I disagree with the comments in bwl 26's Feedback. A clever thriller that moves at lightning speed as the main character tears around Paris to 'unravel the secret at the heart of Christianity'. There is certainly some heavy criticism of the Catholic church and the geography of Paris is indeed inaccurate. Does it matter? I think not, it's just a cracking good story.
Veronica Edwards writes:
The first half of the book had me enthralled but thereafter I felt it became rather James Bondish and silly and I was relieved to finish it. It was a thrilling yarn in many ways but the characters were very flat; it was a very factual book.

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