bwl 45 - April 2008
Fiction
| Kevin Brooks - Black Rabbit Summer
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| Kevin Brooks does not disappoint in his latest novel. The reader is treated to an atmospheric thriller in which the protagonists are not supermen - or super-boys - but typical adolescents, chilling out with drink, dope and cigarettes. Then there are all the emotional undercurrents as friendships shift and change. When two of the group disappear the tension becomes tangible. This is what Brooks does so well - tough, realistic novels for young adults (and old). (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Tracy Chevalier - Burning Bright
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| Chevalier vividly reconstructs 18th century London, particularly Lambeth - you can almost smell it. Jem and Maggie, bordering on adulthood but from different backgrounds and experiences, form the connection with Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience'. Blake is their neighbour and influence. Whilst the book is beautifully written and researched, I was not completely satisfied by it, perhaps because, having seen the Blake exhibition, I wanted more about him and should have read a biography. (Christine Miller)
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| Timothee De Fombelle - Toby Alone
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| Toby is on the run, hunted by his own people. This sounds a promising start for a thriller. But Toby is no more than one millimetre tall and his home is the Tree. Translated from the French (the sequel is already out in France), this is an exciting adventure for young readers with a strong ecological theme that those who have been brought up on 'The Borrowers' - and those who haven't - will relish. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| John Dickinson - The Lightstep
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| Look out for this novel when it is published later this summer if you like an intelligent historical novel. This is no swashbuckling adventure, though the setting is tense. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, in war-torn Rhineland, the old and new orders form an uneasy alliance in the face of invasion. I wished I knew more of the history but Dickinson creates sympathetic characters that ensured I wanted to follow their story. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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| Nine-year-old Oskar finds a key which he believes that his father who died in the 9/11 disaster left as a hidden message for him. But there are 162 million locks in New York and the quest is daunting even for inventive clever Oskar. As he travels around the city he is drawn into a moving family mystery. The story is fascinating but the typographical twists left me unconvinced. (Diana Davies)
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| Batya Gur - The Saturday Morning Murder
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| This Israeli novel is more a whodunnit than thriller. It is largely set in a Jerusalem psychiatric institute where the body of a leading psychiatrist is found shortly before she was due to deliver a lecture to an international group of specialists. Commissaire Michael Ohayon, the hero of all the author's detective stories, has the task of unravelling the mystery to find the culprit. A gripping story with an interesting local background. (Jeremy Swann)
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| Eva Ibbotson - The Dragonfly Pool
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| Think Ruritania and Sound of Music - this is the flavour of Ibbotson's new novel for children. While not perhaps her best, nevertheless it has all her trademark touches: a charismatic heroine (Talitha or Tally), an eccentric setting (a progressive school), an Eastern European kingdom and the Nazi threat. Characters abound: heroic teachers, truly villainous villains, loyal retainers. There is an assassination, horrible relations and a happy ending. Curl up and enjoy. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Catherine O'Flynn - What Was Lost
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| Kate is a lonely child of 10 who devotes her entire daytime hours when not in school studying to be a detective, using the book her beloved father gave her as a guide and her favourite toy monkey as companion and accomplice. It is this devotion to duty which shapes her future, and unravelling her mystery pulls in an assembly of disparate people all concerned with the local shopping centre. Extremely well written and unputdownable! (Julie Higgins)
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| Jill Paton Walsh - The Bad Quarto
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| Cambridge college nurse Imogen Quy solves a murder mystery involving academic rivalry, life-threatening dares and an amateur production of the Bad Quarto of Hamlet. The plotting is excellent and the characters extremely believable. Apparently a far cry from the Paton Walsh of Knowledge of Angels (bwl 5), but her intelligence and erudition are nevertheless lurking beneath the surface, producing, to my mind, a very pleasing read. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Elizabeth Redfern - The Music of the Spheres
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| This is an intriguing tale of murder, espionage and the search for a hidden planet. 1795, an English army has been defeated by the French Republicans in the Low Countries. In London intelligence is being leaked through the public mail. What is the connection between the murders of young prostitutes, an exiled French brother and sister, a group of astronomers and the search for the hidden planet? This is a good read. I enjoyed it. (Diane Reeve)
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| C J Sansom - Dark Fire
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| In the second of Sansom's atmospheric, Tudor novels, plots abound, no one is as they seem. Shardlake, defending a girl accused of murder, is again inveigled to work for Thomas Cromwell. He has just twelve days to recover the formula for a legendary substance, which has been discovered in a dissolved monastery's library. On his success or failure hangs the girl's life and also Cromwell's favour with the King. A rollicking, good read. (Jenny Baker)
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| Isaac Bashevis Singer - The Family Moskat
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| Revisiting again . . . Warsaw from the beginning of the century up to 1939, a vast extended Jewish family and what they get up to before the dreadful end we know awaits them. Originally written in Yiddish, this rich saga is a wonderful excursion into another world - the complex characters, worldly embroilments coupled with religious agonisings, multiple divorces and re-marriages and above all the sense of life as a hurly-burly of passionate impulses. What a writer! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Isaac Bashevis Singer - Enemies
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| . . . and here he is in New York among disoriented holocaust survivors. Herman finds himself leading a double, no, triple, life, with three wives and a fake job, and his struggles to cover his tracks are very funny. But the underlying anguish of cultural displacement and loss of identity are not funny at all. Here again, though, powerful emotion rules behaviour - specifically Singer or a particular way of being Jewish? I'd love to know . . . (Annabel Bedini)
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| Alexis Wright - Carpentaria
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| A many layered, absorbing tale set in N. Australia's Gulf Country where multi-national mining interests disturb both the indigenous and white settlers' relationship with the land and the sea. The narrative uses the local vernacular which is gradually refined as the subjects become more complicated, culminating in some of the most beautiful and evocative writing I have ever read, reminiscent of Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude (bwl 41) or his Love in the Time of Cholera (bwl 20). (Margaret Teh)
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Non-Fiction
| Ishmael Beah - A Long Way Gone - The true story of a child soldier
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| This biography of a boy from Sierra Leone forcibly turned into a soldier is written in rather a factual way, a bit like a diary, nonetheless it vividly portrays the horrors he endured and the tasks he was forced to perform. The amazing thing for me was that he emerged from it all so normal and was not desensitized long-term, thus proving his point that one can recover from such an ordeal. Well worth reading. (Veronica Edwards)
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| Laurence Bergreen - The Quest for Mars - NASA Scientists and their search for life beyond the Earth
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| This very competent book explores the underlying issues (technical, financial and scientific) behind NASA's exploration of Mars. It also charts the influence of budget cuts as a shrinking NASA seeks to do 'More for Less' to justify its funding in post-Cold War America. The various scientists and their specialist teams are forced to jockey and compete for valuable space on the probes and the peer-group presentation of arguments, data and theories become ferocious intellectual bear-pits! (Clive Yelf)
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| Marcus Chown - Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You
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| Anyone who likes to try and keep abreast of the latest theories and discoveries in particle physics or astronomy would find this book interesting. It is short, readable, free from formulae and higher mathematics, and full of amusing analogies to help appreciate the more bizarre consequences of Quantum Theory and Relativity. You will be surprised what a weird universe we seem to inhabit. (David Truman)
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| Tim Clayton - Trafalgar - The Men, The Battle, The Storm
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| and Phil Craig (Clive Yelf)
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| Mark Crick - Kafka's Soup - A Complete History of World Literature in 17 Recipes
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| A Complete History of World Literature in 17 Recipes
Mark Crick's passion for literature, cooking and parody results in seventeen writers cooking their favourite meals - from Jane Austin's 'uniformly agreeable' Tarragon Eggs, to Chaucer's Onion Tart 'thinne pastry in a deep tinne' and de Sade's sinister Boned Stuffed Poussins. My favourite is Raymond Chandler's viciously prepared Leg of Lamb. Crick's illustrations, in the styles of Hogarth, Hockney, Picasso and others add extra flavour to each tale. A delightful book, and the recipes actually work. (Jenny Freeman)
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| Terry Darlington - Narrow Dog to Carcassonne
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| In the best tradition of British eccentrics, Terry, wife and whippet Jim set off on a trip by narrow boat from Stoke-on-Trent to Carcassonne in southern France. And yes, they do cross the Channel in it, but the real fun of the book is Darlington's wry description of their adventures in less-travelled parts of France, and in particular the love-hate relationship between the English and the French. Great holiday read for Francophiles or Francophobes. (Kate Hobson)
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| Robert Elms - The Way We Wore - A Life in Threads
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| I'm the same age as the author so his fascinating personal odyssey through the recent history of male fashion should be one I can relate to. Sadly clothes weren't my priority so the importance of the Salatio box-top loafer and the Budgie jacket were lost on me. However I'm grateful to be educated by such a witty and readable guide even if my own rockabilly flirtation is dismissed as 'cool... for a couple of weeks'! (Clive Yelf)
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| Richard Eyre - National Service - Diary of a Decade at the National Theatre
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| Even if you don't normally read diaries try this one. Eyre's account of his decade (1987-97) as director of the National Theatre is a most engaging read and he is disarmingly honest about his frequent self doubts. Name-dropping is of course inevitable and the famous stroll across almost every page, but there are also insights into the craft of acting and directing and fascinating descriptions of what it takes to keep it all going. (Diana Davies)
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| Anthony Faramus - Journey into Darkness
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| Those who've read Agent Zigzag* will know that Faramus was Chapman's great friend in Jersey. They shared four years of imprisonment in Fort Romainville, Paris, but while Chapman was spying, Faramus was sent to Buchenwald and then to the even more infamous Mauthausen. Frequently at death's door, he survived the war and rebuilt his life. This book is the amazing tale of a survivor, whose varied adventures after the war included a year as Cary Grant's butler.
*see review - Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Anna Funder - Stasiland - Stories from behind the Berlin Wall
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| An account of Cold War Berlin, told through people on both sides of the political divide. Moving stories of victims of the regime are interspersed with the author's own investigations. But most chilling are the accounts of the perpetrators, which give a real insight into how the Stasi was so successful. If you enjoyed the 2006 film 'The Lives of Others', read this to find out why that story could never have happened. (Kate Hobson)
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| Atul Gawande - Better - A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
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| The words "Wash your hands" sum up this riveting book 'diagonising' the human condition, by famous young US surgeon (of Indian extraction), as he takes us behind the medical mask and helps us to understand the work he and his colleagues try to do to console and help humanity with his wide experience and philosophy. Makes for exhilarating, humane and very interesting reading.
(Joan Jackson)
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| Tobias Jones - The Dark Heart of Italy
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| This book should be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand modern-day Italy. It is an account of the author's three-year journey around the peninsula. His first impressions of Italy as a land of pastoral bliss are soon dispelled. From the terrorism trials of the Slaughter Commission to the corruption and scandals of the football world and the sinister all-pervading influence of Berlusconi, Tobias Jones explores Italy's darker side with candour and humour. (Diana Davies)
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| Paddy Kitchen - Gerard Manley Hopkins - A Life
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| As Hopkins rises up the poets' ranking - he recently overtook Tennyson in one listing - it is interesting to see how defensive his fans remained just twenty years ago. Kitchen is remarkably sure-footed in handling the complex verse, though less so in such areas as the Jesuit ethos and the poet's psycho-sexual constitution. The prologue on the Oxford Movement is truly excellent and at last I understand why The Month rejected The Wreck of the Deutschland. (Michael Fitzgerald-Lombard)
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| Ben Macintyre - Agent Zigzag: the Story of Eddie Chapman
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| A brilliant spy story - all the more riveting for being true, well-written, fully documented and illustrated - this book keeps the reader on the edge of his chair from the first page to the last. Chapman - a safe-blower, code name Zigzag - became one of Britain's most colourful and valuable double agents during WW II, out-foxing the Germans right up to the end. He died in 1997 at the ripe old age of 83. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Robert Massie - Dreadnought - Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War
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| Despite its nautical title, this immensely readable book gives a breathtaking overview of European history, from the rise of Bismarck to the eve of WW I. It also answers the legendary Schleswig-Holstein question which Palmerston famously said only three people understood: "The first was Albert, the Prince consort and he is dead; the second is a German professor, and he is in an asylum: and the third was myself - and I have forgotten it!"
(Jeremy Miller)
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| Robert Massie - Castles of Steel - Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea
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| A worthy successor to his masterful Dreadnought (qv). Massie turns his attention to the unfolding story of naval warfare during WW I. Culminating in the titanic struggle that was the Battle of Jutland, the debate that followed this tactical defeat but strategic victory for Britain pays as much attention to the personal rivalry between Jellicoe and Beatty as it does to the broader conflict between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Lucy Moore - Liberty - The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France
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| This is a book not to read in bed, when you are tired. It follows the lives of six extraordinary French women from the beginning of the French revolution in 1789, to its end in 1811. All very different with in many ways separate ideals. She paints a picture of those terrifying years seen through their eyes, leaving you to judge whether women's lives improved as a result of their fight for a better existence. (Shirley Williams)
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| Jan Morris - A Venetian Bestiary
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| A delightful book, small enough to fit into a handbag or larger pocket and dip into over coffee or a drink in Venice or when dreaming of visits. It observes Venice and its history through the animals depicted in paintings and sculpture. I was transported by the imaginative writing which adds a deeper layer to your understanding of the city. If you are a Morris fan, you will want to add this to your collection.
(Christine Miller)
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| Annie Noble - Business English (Chambers Desktop Guides)
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| This dry title belies its contents. I bought it because the author is a friend, and fellow bookswelike contributor, but I am delighted to find it hugely useful and even entertaining. It is a reassuring reference book and an invaluable help in phrasing letters where a non-business brain might stumble. As a guide to good writing, in any situation, it is an ideal companion. (Jenny Freeman)
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| Vladimir Peniakoff - Popski's Private Army
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| The history of Britain's smallest fighting unit of WW II is fascinating for what it also says about the personality of the author. 'Popski' was a Belgian of Russian parents, in his 40s, working in Cairo when war broke out. That he could persuade the British to let him create an independent 'behind the lines' reconnaissance unit and also be 'delighted' when his hand was blown off shows some of the man's character and complexity. (Clive Yelf)
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| Flora Thompson - Lark Rise to Candleford
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| If you enjoy reading about life in the country in England long ago, this is a book you must not miss. The author, a retired assistant post-mistress with a gift for writing, describes how people lived and worked in her Oxfordshire village and nearby market town (both given pseudonyms) towards the end of the 19th century. I thoroughly recommend this classic which was originally published in several parts starting in 1939. (Jeremy Swann)
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| Peter Watson - Sotheby's - The Inside Story
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| Tipped off by a former employee with copious documentation, the author set out to discover the truth behind accusations that Sotheby's colluded with the illegal transportation of art and antiquities. By using a range of 'sting' operations he was able to prove that Italian grave robbers, desecrators of Hindu shrines and dealers in stolen paintings all had one thing in common - their eventual sale at Sotheby's. This is the full story behind the television documentary. (Clive Yelf)
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| Feedback |
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Elisabeth Parrish Gilleland writes:
In bwl 33 the reviewer says of Guillermo Martinez's The Oxford Murders:
"It's a pity the author never gives us the answer for the fourth member of his series 'M, heart, eight'. . . "
The fourth member of the series would look something like a trident (or an arrow, depending on how you write 4's) for it would be two numeral 4's facing each other - that is, one in normal orientation, the other a mirror image. The first figure (M) is two numeral 1's facing each other, the second figure (a heart on a line) is two numeral 2's, and the third figure (a numeral 8) is two 3's. There's no maths involved! As for the rest of The Oxford Murders, I haven't finished it yet, but am enjoying it so far - mostly for the new ideas I am encountering.
Thank you for an enjoyable web site.
To save looking up, here is the original review for The Oxford Murders:
The detective story has gone international and it is a sign of the times when an Argentinean mathematician writes a murder story set in Oxford. It's a pity the author never gives us the answer for the fourth member of his series "M, heart, eight" and in the end I wondered if the mathematics really was central to the plot or just a background and a diversion. Read to find out! (Patrick Fitzgerald-Lombard)
Editor's Note: For those interested, the blockbuster movie starring Elijah Wood is soon-to-be-released.
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Katherine Swann has added some more to the dialogue in our last two Feedbacks using bwl titles.
Mrs D: Now, we need to talk about Kevin. I saw him naked without a hat.
George: Shush, not in front of the servants!
Mrs D: Well, I don't want to lead my life as a fake, only pretending.
George: That would indeed be the immaculate deception!
Mrs D: So going back to Kevin, he was saving fish from drowning.
George: Isn't he the brother of the more famous Jack?
Mrs D: You mean the book thief ?
George: Yes, that's him. We are absolute friends.
Mrs D: I reckon you have disordered minds.
George: Marry me !
Mrs D: No way, that would only bring me a sea of troubles.
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