bwl 50 - March 2009
Fiction
| Pat Barker - The Regeneration Trilogy (Regeneration; The Eye in the Door; The Ghost Road)
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This is absolutely addictive fiction which explores, among other equally controversial issues, the various personal, moral and social consequences of the Pacifist movement at the time of the Great War. It is particularly poignant relating the stories of War Poets, Seigfried Sassoon, and Wilfred Owen, sometimes using actual notes and biographically accurate depictions of their physicians and therapists, and the treatment processes. I couldn't wait to begin each succeeding volume!
Editor's Note: The Ghost Road won the 1995 Booker prize. (Margaret Teh)
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| Chris Cleave - The Other Hand
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| This is the story of two very different women: one a successful, white business-woman, the other a Nigerian immigrant. The two meet, part, meet . . . well, read what happens after that and stay thinking about such situations for a long time after finishing this very powerfully written book. (Ange Guttierez Dewar)
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| Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone
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| I probably wouldn't have bothered to read this if it hadn't been for the reading group - and what a deprivation that would have been! Called "The greatest mystery story" (or words to that effect), I'm not sure I would agree, as the plot is somewhat contrived. But the writing is absolutely
delicious. One of the sentences I most loved was one of Miss Drusilla Clack's worthy charities: "The British-Ladies'-Servants'-Sunday-Sweetheart-Supervision Society". And many
more. Unmissable!
(Julie Higgins)
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| Michael Cox - Glass of Time
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| Cox is a master at spinning a tangled web and this sequel to The Meaning of Night (bwl 36) doesn't disappoint. It's another splendid gothic tale of secrets and lies which its heroine seeks to unravel when she becomes lady's maid to the 26th Baroness Tansor, formerly Emily Carteret. Much that was unexplained now becomes clear but this second novel also stands on its own and like its predecessor encourages much burning of the midnight oil. (Jenny Baker)
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| Glen Duncan - I, Lucifer
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| When you've led a rebellion against the Big Guy and suffered millennia of pain as a consequence, you can be forgiven for being slightly suspicious when he offers you a second chance. All you have to do is to live a blameless life for a few months in the body of a mortal. It's a chance for reflection, explanation and justification as well, but who's really pulling the strings? The Devil never sounded as plausible . . . (Clive Yelf)
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| Dick and Felix Francis - Silks
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| The latest from the Francis stable, and though perhaps not quite up to the standard of such vintage titles as "For Kicks", "Risk" or the Sid Halley thrillers, it is not a bad addition. There is the link to racing - the hero, a barrister, is also an amateur jump jockey - there is a nasty villain and an ingenious scam. There are satisfying details and a suitably violent climax.. A good armchair read. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Robert Hough - The Stowaway
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| An engrossing adventure story of a Romanian stowaway on the "Maersk Dubai", and the Filipino crewman who hides him and protects him from the ship's officers. The book is based on what really happened in 1996; however, though it is mostly fact, there is some fictionalization of characters. I found it a most interesting and compelling novel, with some very heart wrenching moments . . . (Polly Sams Plant)
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| Virginia Ironside - No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club
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| Written as a diary spanning 9 months, the author makes it appear quite personal. Her descriptions of being more than middle-aged are brilliant - she describes especially well the realisation that we actually experience feelings which we assumed we never would. It's funny, it's poignant and, at times, brutally frank. I laughed out loud, I shed some tears, and I thought "How true". (Polly Sams Plant)
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| Sadie Jones - The Outcast
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| A first novel by this young writer, it is the story of abuse in a middle-class, churchgoing community in the 1950s. An unstoppable read, rather like a stream of consciousness coming out from somewhere, it compels one to keep going. It's hard to see a shattered boy struggling to cope with his neglected grief, while those around him remain in blind denial. (Polly Sams Plant)
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| Henning Mankell - Kennedy's Brain
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| If you're a fan of Henning Mankell, this novel will be a complete surprise though not a disappointment in the least. Completely different from his previous books, this is still full of suspense and mystery and concerned with far deeper matters that obviously involve Hankell's life. It was a relief not to read about the constant snow and mist in his other books but harrowing to read about the suffering of Aids victims in Africa. (Ange Guttierez Dewar)
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| Sandor Marai - Esther's Inheritance
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| Written in 1939 and recently translated into English this is a tale of lost love. Esther lives a reclusive life until an old love turns up and throws her life into disarray. Esther is frustratingly too passive for today's tastes perhaps but the story is beautifully put together.
(Christine Miller)
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| Edward Marston - The Excursion Train
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| This is another story from the Railway Detective series. It takes you back to the old fashioned ways of solving crime, but specialising in ones that involve the railway. It is an easy to read book, but keeps you in suspense until the very end and captivates you with its twists and turns. The historical detail of Victorian England has been well researched and brought to life. (Shirley Williams)
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| Carson McCullers - The Member of the Wedding
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| 12 year old Frankie is lonely and bored during the long, hot summer in her racially divided, dull town. Days are passed with the family's maid and Frankie's younger cousin. War is raging in Europe and the Far East. Frankie feels disconnected with life till she has a startling idea to make her feel connected again. McCullers' more famous work is The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The Member of the Wedding is well worth reading. (Diane Reeve)
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| Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
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| This is a decidedly slim volume and it's typical of McEwan's faultlessly crafted work, not a spare word or muddled thought. It tells the brief story of a young couple on their wedding night, both pathetically ignorant - typical of the 1950s when the story happens - and scared of what is expected of them. I won't give away the ending, but 'poignant' is an unavoidable adjective. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Charlotte Mendelson - Daughters of Jerusalem
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| This is a beautifully written story of a dysfunctional family set in the seething cauldron of Oxford academic life. It is a jolly tale of self harm, adolescent sex and marital betrayal laced with wit and the telling phrase. It makes me think how lucky I was to be spared the lofty spires and end up treading the boards. (David Graham)
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| Julian Roach - The Discreet Interventions of Verdon James
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| Verdon James, bright but suspect; unfocused yet determined; keen to serve but medically unsound; Bertie Wooster with Jeeve's brain. Above all loyal - to friends, country and ideals. Verdon nudges things that need nudging and these stories follow him from undergraduate to octogenarian and his final determined act of loyalty to a lover murdered under cover of the Blitz. An evocative and intriguing book, despite the odd jarring note both in the history and the characterisation. (Clive Yelf)
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| Philip Roth - The Human Stain
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| This is a book mainly about secrets, cruelty, pain and destruction, some of which I found so shattering that I had to stop reading for a day or two. Much of it confounds the reader as to what is going on/has gone on/will go on. By the end I was not completely sure about some of what Roth was trying to tell me. But it is well worth the journey. I loved it. (Julie Higgins)
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| Emma Smith - The Far Cry
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| To evade her mother's clutches, Teresa, aged 14, is taken by her father to India to live with her half-sister. But this novel was written in the late 40s, so no planes, but train, boat and more trains and when they arrive, things are not as expected. Journey and events slowly unfold with evocative descriptions of people, place and landscape. India breathes, as do the characters. This gem, recently re-published, is worth seeking out. (Jenny Baker)
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| Andrew Taylor - The American Boy
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| I have a particular fondness for the "Victorian" novel that is so fashionable. I enjoy the rich, often dense mixture of romance and thriller. This is an excellent example full of labyrinthine twists. Even the title is misleading; the American boy is Poe - but he is the "hinge" factor; his presence allows Thomas Shield to become involved with the Frants and Carswells, a subtle influence. A strong setting, a suitably authentic style: a good read. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Carol Topolski - Monster Love
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| The topic is difficult (child murder by deliberate neglect) but treated by a better author it would have made an interesting if not enjoyable read. For me it left a bitter aftertaste. The book uses different voices to tell the story but the drama is served up early and not maintained sufficiently. (Christine Miller)
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| Elizabeth von Arnim - Elizabeth and her German Garden
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| As obligatory reading-list material at school this bored me but rediscovering it now is pure delight. Elizabeth married the quintessential chauvinistic Prussian aristocrat and, moving to his estate in the far north of Germany, fell in love with the rambling overgrown garden, which she set about redesigning. Anti-conformist, irreverent and independent-minded, this almost entirely autobiographical account of troublesome guests, grumpy gardeners, stern husband and above all her beloved garden is delectably funny and wise. (Annabel Bedini)
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Non-Fiction
| Stephen Budiansky - Battle of Wits - The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II
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| If it wasn't for the fact that my eyes glaze over at even the whiff of an equation, I could praise this book to the rafters. As it is any topic that relies so much on mathematics for its existence shouldn't take much notice of my own numero-phobic issues. Luckily behind every code there's a human story and there's more than enough examples of heroism, personality clashes and rivalry to keep you turning the pages! (Clive Yelf)
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| Nicholas Crane - Clear Waters Rising - A Mountain Walk across Europe
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| Inspired by Leigh Fermor's epic journey to Constantinople in the thirties, Crane decides to walk from the Atlantic to Istanbul along the continuous chain of mountains that dissects southern Europe. Fanatical to avoid mechanised transport, he succumbs only once, crossing by ferry from Romania to Bulgaria near the Iron Gates where the Danube cuts a swathe through the lower Carpathians. The latter part of his mammoth hike, being perhaps less familiar, is the more interesting. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Chris Donald - Rude Kids - The Unfeasible Story of Viz
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| You have to marvel at the combination of luck, self-belief and cockiness that led to the publishing phenomena of the 1980s . . . and then marvel that it managed to survive in its original anarchic format for as long as it did. The author of this opinionated, forthright and entertaining history doesn't always come across as the most sympathetic of individuals, but this is to his credit and adds to the fascination and honesty of the account. (Clive Yelf)
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| Giles Milton - Paradise Lost - Smyrna 1922 - The Destruction of Islam's City of Tolerance
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| Giles Milton is an historian gifted with the common touch and in this account, which he unfolds through the memories of the survivors, he brings vividly to life the terrible fate that was inflicted in 1922 on Smyrna, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire. I found it almost unbearably harrowing and heartbreaking, not a book for the faint hearted. (Jenny Baker)
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| Andrew Roberts - Masters and Commanders - How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke won the War in the West
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| It will come as no surprise to readers of Bryant's memorable Alanbrooke diaries that of the four titanic figures that shaped the progress of the Second World War, this unassuming Ulsterman should take the honours as the greatest strategist. Andrew Roberts' seminal work covers familiar territory and poignantly charts the waning of British influence as American might and manpower subsumes Churchill's almost mystical command of the transatlantic alliance. (Jeremy Miller)
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| N A M Rodger - The Command of the Ocean - A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815
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| The second of Rodger's trilogy of naval histories, this is one of the most impressive, comprehensive and yet readable works I've had the chance to enjoy. From Cromwell to Nelson, the author defines each epoch in three ways - as Social, Operational and Organizational history. So it's not just about battles, it's about attitudes, politics, design and innovation. More importantly it's how they all came together to provide Britain with the means of achieving utter dominion over the oceans. (Clive Yelf)
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| Feedback |
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Annabel Bedini writes:
May I expand a little on the review of Barack Obama's books in bwl 49? First, I'd like to add that I was greatly struck by how well he writes, both as a narrative story teller in Dreams from my Father and in his analysis of American society in The Audacity of Hope. Then, especially in the second (sub-titled, significantly, Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream), I found the quality of his thinking as compelling as his literary skill so that this examination of what has gone wrong in areas such as politics, faith, race, foreign relations and so on are not only a pleasure to read, they are perceptive, knowledgeable and utterly sane, with his suggestions for remedies finding a rare balance between ideals (but never ideologies) and pragmatism. In fact, to my mind this book should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand what Obama's presidency is aiming to achieve. I ended up wishing him well with all my heart!
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