bwl 52 - July 2009
Fiction
| Justin Cartwright - The Promise of Happiness
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| Set in the United States and Cornwall, this is the story of five people - all one family - and how they each cope with an incident that affects all their lives. The characterisation is excellent (you may recognize traits in yourself or in your friends). The writing is almost blank verse, though you wouldn't know it, so fine does it flow. (Joan Jackson)
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| Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea
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| At last - a book that lives up to its reviews! This short novel is funny, clever, wonderfully written and amazingly well thought out. What the reviews don't say is that it is also rather frightening and a parable for the world and the times we live in, and it doesn't bode terribly well. Written as a series of letters, it is oddly about language, treachery, misery, love and friendship. I recommend it hugely. (Julie Higgins)
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| Sue Gee - The Mysteries of Glass
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| 1860, winter, Darwin has recently unleashed The Origin of Species, a young curate arrives in a small town in Herefordshire. Idealistic but vulnerable and lonely, his love for a married woman and his discoveries of hidden cruelties and hypocrisies plunge him into a crisis of faith. Strong characters and a uncanny evocation of time and place kept me enthralled until the end. (Jenny Baker)
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| Helen Grant - The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
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| Bad Munstereifel: everybody knows everyone - and the details of their lives. Not the place for mysteries, one might imagine. Then a young girl vanishes, and eleven year old Pia seems to be the last to have seen her. This is the start of an excellent debut novel for teenagers- but adults could enjoy it too. A mystery, a family story... and local folklore to add colour, this is a page turner. (Ferelith Hordon)
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| Romesh Gunesekera - Heaven's Edge
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| A cautionary tale about the perils of chasing dreams, Heaven's Edge tells the lyrical and semi-mythical story of an island ravaged by war. Everything, from the whitewashed underground city of Carnival to the lofty paradise of Farindola, is rendered in exquisite detail, and while the narrative may seem to miss out big chunks of explanation, you find it only adds to the magic of a deeply compelling love story. Right up to the explosive finale. (Theo Hobson)
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| Zoë Heller - The Believers
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| I thought the beginning interesting enough to carry on reading, but the initial impetus didn't last - not for me, at any rate. I read to the end to see if it would get better; it didn't. A cast of hopeless characters, with the main one being one of the nastiest I've come across in many years of reading. The reviews say "a subtle, funny family farce". I fear I found it tedious, unamusing and unpleasant. (Julie Higgins)
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| Kazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of Hills
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| This is Ishiguro's first novel recently reissued by Faber and as elusive and as captivating as his later works. The narrator, middle-aged Etsuko, shifts between her present life in England and her memories of one hot summer just after WW II in Nagasaki which conjure up her relationship with a mysterious woman and her strange, little daughter. As in a dream we are never quite sure what is happening or quite who anyone is. (Jenny Baker)
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| Yasunari Kawabata - Thousand Cranes
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| A short novel in which the main protagonist, Kikuji Mitani, reflects on his dead father's love life and becomes embroiled in the machinations of his father's mistresses and his love of the tea ceremony. Passive in character, he thoughtlessly has an affair with one of the mistresses and then her daughter whilst also being drawn to a proposed bride. Told with restraint and sensitivity. (Christine Miller)
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| John le Carré - A Most Wanted Man
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| A failing British banker, a half-starved Russian and an idealistic civil rights lawyer; only le Carré can weave such disparate characters into an intriguing and claustrophobic tale. le Carré has always been 'good' on Germany. In this novel, the action takes place almost entirely in Hamburg - but a Hamburg that becomes the focus of the rivalry between American, British and German intelligence. A return to form after some recent disappointments.
(Jeremy Miller)
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| Penelope Lively - Beyond the Blue Mountains
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| A collection of fourteen short stories with very different subject matters, but a humorous humanity links them all. I particularly liked the title story, along with 'The Butterfly and The Tin of Paint' and 'Crumbs of Wisdom'. Lively can speak volumes in very few words. Perfect as a light summer read, and small enough to pop in a pocket. As three of the stories have a distinct seasonal theme (Christmas), perhaps a suitable stocking filler? (Mary Standing)
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| Amos Oz - Panther in the Basement
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| Panther in the Basement is a small book by a great writer - Amos Oz. What is dramatic is told in the simplest terms by a twelve year old boy and gives us an insight into what it must have been like to be a Jew in occupied Jerusalem in l947. We also get an insight into the adolescent problems of an intelligent and sensitive person faced with the accusation of being called a traitor. (Ange Guttierez Dewar)
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| Marilynne Robinson - Home
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Reverend Boughton - failing in health, now cared for by his youngest daughter, Glory - yearns for news of Jack, his favourite son, who disappeared years ago. Then the prodigal unexpectedly returns still trailing all his problems and emotional needs which Glory and their father long to assuage. A moving and beautifully crafted novel, which covers the same events but from different viewpoints to Robinson's earlier book 'Gilead' which I now can't wait to read.
Winner of the 2009 Orange prize (Jenny Baker)
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| C J Sansom - Winter in Madrid
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| This is an enthralling tale set at the beginning of WW II in the wake of the Spanish Civil War. It is long (550 pp) but the way the author interweaves the many plots holds ones attention and it is a "must" for anyone interested in the human side of history. A good yarn.
(Veronica Edwards)
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| Mary Ann Shaffer - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
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with Annie Barrows
An enchanting and captivating novel. It comprises a series of letters which gradually reveal what life was like in Guernsey during the Nazi occupation, while also telling the heart-warming ongoing story of members of the eponymous group. The characters are beautifully drawn, and it manages to combine humour, tragedy and a love story brilliantly. It made me laugh and cry, and I almost couldn't bear to finish it. How sad the author died before writing more. (Annie Noble)
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| Christos Tsiolkas - The Slap
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| Winner of a couple of this year's Australian literary prizes. All I can say is that the judges must have very boring lives at the moment. Every few pages the characters experience spontaneous priapic eruption! This focus makes it hard to get close to them. When clothed, the protagonists could be anyone! A shame, because the social issues the book attempts to explore - multiculturalism and child abuse - tend to drop out of sight. (Margaret Teh)
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| Mark Twain - Huckleberry Finn
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| Being a bit wary of the label 'masterpiece' and stories written in the vernacular, I doubt I would have read this without my book group. My prejudice lingered over the first couple of chapters and then despite myself, I was gripped by the characters, humour and above all the setting of the Mississippi River. What can you say about a masterpiece, except if you haven't read it, put it on your list of must-reads? (Jenny Baker)
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Non-Fiction
| Jonathan Bate - Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare
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| This could be just another attempted biography with the usual frustrations of having no contemporary account of his life and barely any facts that would corroborate any gossip. Bate turns to the plays themselves to provide the clues to the important and personal events in Shakespeare's life and uses Jaques' 'Seven ages of man' from As you Like It as a guide and structural spine. His own formidable scholarship and imagination provide an illuminating account. (James Baker)
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| Alex Bellos - Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life
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| The Brazilians felt that 'Football ' was too anglicised so they invented their own name - and game! Don't worry though if you don't like football, this is a fascinating journey through a country's culture and psyche that asks why it is that this particular part of the world manages to gauge its national well-being on the performance of eleven men on a sports field - producing a totally absorbing and entertaining read in the process. (Clive Yelf)
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| Vivian Elliot - Dear Mr Shaw: Selections from Bernard Shaw's postbag
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| Sage, playwright and prophet, Shaw was both respected and idolised for his wide-ranging and alternative views. So much so that it seems everyone wanted to talk to him and this selection gives a fascinating insight into the preoccupations of the age as he collects far more than his fair share of 'characters'. Shaw's wit and sharp tongue shine through as his compassion and wisdom are carefully concealed by an abrupt, prickly and miserly self-protective persona. (Clive Yelf)
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| Rose George - The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste
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| All living creatures must do this every day, but only one-quarter of humanity can go to a toilet, wipe, flush, wash their hands, and get on with life. The other three-quarters of the globe . . . well, anywhere will do, with effort and time, disease and problems rife. Interesting places and people are described. Don't fear, it isn't all statistics! But if how the world works interests you, then read this book. (Joan Jackson)
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| Dave Gorman - Are you Dave Gorman?
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| Normally these 'extraordinary adventures for a bet' sort of books feel a bit contrived but this one does have a feeling of authenticity about it. Who wouldn't be tempted to track down and meet 54 other individuals with the same name as yourself? The fact that they managed a book, television series and a whole stand-up routine out of it is probably down to telling a simple tale with charm and humour - but without malice. (Clive Yelf)
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| Pico Iyer - The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto
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| Iyer goes to Japan to learn about Zen and to see if his romantic ideas about it are true. He meets Sachiko who dreams of all things American and through her begins to make sense of the contradictions of ancient and modern, East and West. First published in 1991 it seems a bit dated now but is still an enjoyable read. (Christine Miller)
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| Jake La Motta - Raging Bull: My Story
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| Both brutal and honest, Raging Bull is a more than fair description of La Motta's life as well as his boxing technique. In fact the ring career proved to be just an extension of his streethood persona and only someone both stubborn and unpredictable could have defied the Mafia for as long as he did. Not surprisingly perhaps it proved to be his closest friends who suffered most from his jealous, explosive and violent temperament. (Clive Yelf)
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| J C Masterman - The Double-Cross System
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| During WW II, Masterman was responsible for 'turning' foreign spies and putting them to work for the Allies. This is his account of how it was done, full of case histories, near disasters, successes, statistics. The subject matter is fascinating but, oh dear, Masterman's plodding approach is almost narcotically boring. I kept having to pinch myself to stay awake. A real pity, but interesting if you can keep at it. (Annabel Bedini)
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| James Morton - Supergrasses & Informers: Informal History of Undercover Police Work
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| Although looking like a 'Sunday Tabloid Shock Exposé', this is actually an interesting historic look at the inevitable reliance on informers by the Police. Written by a solicitor and going back to the Bow Street Runners, key cases are examined for the effect that collusion and confession has upon the legal system, leading inevitably to the miscarriages of justice caused by the 70s' 'Supergrass' trials. A candid and interesting book that belies its sensationalist presentation. (Clive Yelf)
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| Simon Schama - The American Future: A History
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| A spin-off from Schama's recent TV series, this is a curiosity in more ways than just its seemingly contradictory title. His intention is to build a history of American exceptionalism - 'the American difference' - through extended anecdotes about some interesting characters. Each is engagingly told in familiar Schama manner - he writes as he talks in short, punchy sentences - but in the final analysis, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Joan Wyndham - Love Lessons: A Wartime Journal
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| Good to see Amazon still has this listed as available, though originally published in 1985. It's a little classic of a period piece - falling in love, trying to be Bohemian, trying to be an artist, falling in love again.... Protected by her own innocence, Joan manages to navigate the shoals of dissolute artists, wild parties, falling bombs and - not least - perplexed sexual initiation, in her search for Love. A true gem. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Feedback |
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| Did you know that Oxfam is now the biggest seller of second-hand books in the UK, selling both through their shops and on line? Their website is very easy to use and operates very like Amazon. I've just bought my first book from them, it arrived beautifully packed, was in excellent condition and I see they even have a returns and refund policy. All the books they sell are of course donated, so when you buy you can have the added satisfaction of knowing that your money will be going to one of their many good causes. The website address is: www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/second-hand-books. (Jenny Baker)
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