bwl 29 - April 2005
Fiction
| Vikram Chandra - Red Earth and Pouring Rain
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| Sanjay makes a pact with the Indian God of Death, Yama. He must tell a story and retain a captive audience to escape death. Thus begins this incredible tale which plunges us into India's past and its long struggle for identity. Between magic and realism, poetry and battlefields, the novel shifts from Calcutta to London to modern America. A dense but powerful story, well worth reading. (Pamela Jaunin)
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| Jane Gardam - Old Filth
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| Long ago, Old Filth was a Raj Orphan sent 'Home' to be fostered and educated in England. Gradually his story unfolds, each incident slotting jig-saw fashion into place to finally reveal the unspeakable childhood event which determined the man he would become. One question runs throughout: can children, starved of affection, ever be capable of meaningful relationships, however much they try? I couldn't bear to let this book go, and found myself reading it twice. (Jenny Baker)
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| Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
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| A deep childhood friendship between Amir, son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, and Hassan, son of their household servant, is torn apart by jealousy and suspicion, and finally destroyed as the boys go their separate ways. Years later, in America, Amir determines to return to Kabul to make amends for a decision that has haunted his life. Husseini is a compelling storyteller and paints a vivid picture of Afghanistan before and during the Taliban rule. (Jenny Freeman)
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| Lee Jackson - A Metropolitan Murder
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| I like a good detective story, especially those of the Holmes variety, where story and character lead and the atmosphere follows. This story turns that formula round with its emphasis on recreating Victorian London, its sights, sounds and idioms, and leaving the story trailing somewhat in its wake. It nearly lost me at one point but it did improve when the story gained momentum. It's an OK read but I think I'll stick to Holmes... (Clive Yelf)
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| David Leavitt - Martin Bauman
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| Not the best from Leavitt but very absorbing. Set in literary Manhattan of the eighties, it depicts the formative years of a young writer very similar to Leavitt himself. It's a good read for a rainy spring weekend. (Laurence Martin Euler)
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| David Lodge - Author, Author
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| An ingenious fictionalised biography of Henry James in which the author tells the story of the novelist's unsuccessful attempt to prop up his finances by launching out into writing plays for the London stage. Much research must have been involved in producing this convincing picture of the background with its portrayal of contemporary figures such as Du Maurier of Trilby fame. Good on James's celibate bachelor existence and the servants who looked after him. (Jeremy Swann)
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| Daniel Mason - The Piano Tuner
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| London 1886, unassuming Edgar Drake is summoned by the War Office to travel to the jungles of Burma to tune a rare grand piano owned by an enigmatic Surgeon-Major. As he journeys, familiar ties are loosened and he surrenders to the captivating spell of the places he encounters and the people he meets: soldiers, story-tellers, bandits, a mysterious woman, the doctor himself. Nothing is as it seems, only the piano is a constant. Intensely readable. (Jenny Baker)
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| Geraldine McCaughrean - Not the End of the World
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| What was it really like at the Flood? Timna is Noah's daughter - she doesn't appear in the traditional story, but she was there. Then there is the family - tyrannical Noah, his long-suffering wife, her insufferable brothers and their wives. Their views present an alternative vision of a familiar story. This is an uncomfortable book aimed at young readers but well worth the effort. McCaughrean is a good writer who is not afraid to be different. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Ian McEwan - Saturday
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| Whether it's squash, music, neurosurgery, road rage, family relationships, unpredictable violence or 2003's massive anti-war demonstration in London, this life in the day of neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, is told by a master storyteller. It begins with a plane on fire witnessed through a bedroom window and describes the events of a day which should be just a normal Saturday but turns into one when Henry's attitudes and everything that he holds dear must be re-evaluated. (Jenny Baker)
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| David Nicholls - Starter for 10
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| Anyone who was at university in the mid 80s, as I was (albeit on a different continent) will probably enjoy this just for the memories it brings back. Brian, obsessed with the beautiful Alice, decides that achieving greatness on University Challenge will win her heart. Silly, but fun - a bit like student life. (Siobhan Thomson)
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| Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
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| An extraordinary book which took some getting into, but I could not put it down by the end. Deeply in love with Clare whom he marries, Henry - due to a clinical disorder - travels into the past and the future. His ability to know the future (his own death for example) and the anguish caused by his frequent disappearances makes for an intricate and poignant story. Best read in large chunks, rather than dipping into! (Veronica Edwards)
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| D B C Pierre - Vernon God Little
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| Vernon Little's best friend has murdered several of their classmates before turning the gun on himself. In a small Texas town that thirsts for vengeance, 15 year old Vernon is in the firing line. A conniving wannabe media star, a passive-aggressive mother and a host of other largely unsympathetic characters people Vernon's tale of attempted escape and search for the truth. Irreverent, agonising and hilarious. (Siobhan Thomson)
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| Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk about Kevin
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Eva Khatchadourian writes to her estranged husband her version of their sons Kevin's upbringing till that fatal day when he killed nine people just three days before his sixteenth birthday! It is constructed like a thriller and often you gasp at what you learn. It makes you think hard: what makes a monster - his parents? his upbringing? himself? A very interesting read indeed.
* Winner of this year's Orange Prize. (Laurence Martin Euler)
* Winner of this year's Orange Prize. |
| Zadie Smith - The Autograph Man
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| Alex-Li Tandem, a Chinese-Jewish professional dealer in celebrity autographs, has been writing weekly letters to reclusive actress Kitty Alexander for 13 years. At last, an autograph arrives in the post. Is his end achieved, or is this only the beginning of another quest? An entertaining examination of the effects of celluloid culture, though rather more dark than the dust jacket would have you believe. (Siobhan Thomson)
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| John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
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| Imagine a mixture of Oliver Hardy, Brian Sewell and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Self-important, intellectually arrogant, a moral and physical coward with a fear of sexuality and a sense of destiny, trailing chaos in his wake: this is Ignatius J. Rielly, devotee of Boethius and an indignant man at odds with everything and anyone. A wonderful comic character dropped like a bad egg into the sweaty flesh pots of New Orleans. Recommended! (Clive Yelf)
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| Sue Townsend - Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction
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| Adrian Mole is back! This time he's writing to Tony Blair, asking for confirmation about Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction. His aim is to retrieve his holiday deposit from a stubborn travel agent's adviser! And by the way, could Tony's wife come to their writing group's (3 people) Christmas dinner? And the worst is to come when he lets the terrible Marigold Flowers become engaged to him. So funny! (Laurence Martin Euler)
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| K R Usha - The Chosen
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| Nagaratna, a proud young woman oppressed by the tawdriness of her life in Bangalore, seeks to escape into a more refined world. She is lucky to find a job in a progressive school led by an enlightened headmistress. A gradual stripping away of illusions follows in this humorous and highly ironic novel. A brilliant portrayal of Indian society. (Pamela Jaunin)
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Non-Fiction
| Madeleine Albright - Madam Secretary, A Memoir
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| Very interesting to read about the author's background: her Czech origins, her emigration to the United States, her acquisition of American citizenship and ultimately her climb to become President Clinton's National Security Adviser before being appointed Secretary of State. She comes across as a kind but tough 'cookie'. However, although she claims to have severely cut her original manuscript, I found her account of her time at the top too detailed to make relaxed reading. (Jeremy Swann)
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| Andrew Bridgeford - 1066 - The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry
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| Was this famous tapestry a faithful recording of the Normans' version of events leading to William the Conqueror's invasion of England or does it have a subversive sub-text which suggests the whole enterprise was based on a series of lies? Whether you've seen or hope to see the original or have enjoyed the Victorian copy in Reading Museum, this book makes intriguing reading as it attempts to unravel the truth, image by image. (Jenny Baker)
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| Bill Bryson - Mother Tongue
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| Often funny, often provocative, Bryson examines, with his usual panache, the English language from its earliest roots to the present day. Everything from pronunciation and spelling, changing meanings, borrowings, illogicalities and local usage come under his critical gaze. I found myself disagreeing hotly at times but I was never bored. If only I could remember half of the fascinating snippets of information he gives... (Annabel Bedini)
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| Christy Campbell - Phylloxera
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| Essential reading for anyone with more than a quaffing interest in wine, engaging for anyone interested in botany, entomology, and late 18th century French social history and a fascinating detective story. Impressive research by Christy Campbell, journalist and Sunday Telegraph feature writer, makes this account of the 30 year fight against phylloxera entertaining and very readable. A walk through the vineyards will never be quite the same again. (Jeremy Freeman)
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| Armand Coppens - Memoirs of an Erotic Bookseller, The
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| Although published in the 60s, there's little 'free love' ethos to be found in these engaging memoirs as the only love on display is in the pursuit and capture of rare, beautifully bound copies of esoteric erotica. The author's Gallic roots are evident in philosophical musings that punctuate the text, exemplified by a discussion on free-will by participants at an orgy. The cast of bizarre and faintly ludicrous characters makes for an enjoyable read. (Clive Yelf)
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| Brendan Gill - Here at the New Yorker
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| A hilarious retrospective to celebrate the New Yorker magazine's first fifty years by one of its long-time contributors. Consists of portraits and anecdotes of writers and artists, starting with the founder-editor Harold Ross and going on to Thurber, Perelman, Dorothy Parker and numerous other legendary American names. Many reproductions of cartoons and covers by Peter Arno, Charles Addams and others. Available from Amazon UK at - believe it or not - £0.65 ... for a real feast. Enjoy! (Jeremy Swann)
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| Ross King - Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
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| Ross tells the story - or to be more accurate, the history - of the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling as an easy-going but information-packed narrative, his deep knowledge of his subject blending seamlessly with contemporary anecdote and gossip. He is particularly illuminating on the psychological tug of war between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II - neither of them the easiest of characters - and the shenanigans of the Renaissance papacy. Fascinating. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Tessa Kiros - Falling Cloudberries
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Tessa's colourful family includes a Russian great-grandmother, Finnish mother, Greek Cypriot father and an Italian husband, not to mention a Peruvian housekeeper, all of them passionate cooks. The result is this sumptuous recipe book, with tantalizing snippets of her childhood thrown in. Beautifully illustrated and nostalgically written this may, at £25*, not be something you would buy for yourself but if, like me, you are lucky enough to have a generous daughter-in-law, I strongly recommend it.
*Editor's Note: But Amazon has it for £17.50! (Jenny Freeman)
* Editor's Note: But Amazon has it for £17.50! |
| Mary Laven - The Virgins of Venice
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| Venice in the 16th century had more convents than any other city in Europe.....This beautifully-written book explores who the nuns were, how they got there, how they lived their lives (did you know that the first thing visitors often met on entry was chickens?) and above all the stratagems they adopted to maintain contact with the outside world as Counter Reformation policy attempted to force enclosure on them. A gem of scholarship lightly worn. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Adam Phillips - Monogamy
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| Phillips, the psychoanalyst of 'small' things, here turns his gaze on the topic of monogamy, on which he places great significance. His collection of aphorisms expose the complexity in the choices we make, the expectations we have and the fears that underlie them. Deceptively simple, his comments are loaded with insight. I'm still grappling with much of the content but that which I do comprehend certainly resonates. A slim, but weighty volume that demands re-reading. (Clive Yelf)
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| Denton Welch - I Left my Grandfather's House
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| A short account of the author's walking tour to Devon in the 1930's and prior to the accident that would cripple and, ultimately, kill him. This knowledge lends it great poignancy as his obvious enjoyment of the physical, revelling in not only his own body, but those of others can be seen as the idealised reminiscences of an invalid. It is well written though, with an air of being polished like a much loved memento. (Clive Yelf)
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