bwl 59 - Winter 2011
Fiction
| Paul Auster - Sunset Park
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| Mike Heller, a Trash-out worker in Florida during the dark months of the 2008 economic collapse, falls in love with Pilar, an underage teenager. When her sister threatens to report him to the police, he flies back to New York, his past and his divorced parents, where he settles in a squat with other young people in Sunset Park, Brooklyn . . . but he wasn't meant to end well . . . a good Auster. (Laurence Martin Euler)
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| Honoré de Balzac - Colonel Chabert
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| If you're looking for a short read (80 pages) but one that stays long in the memory, this is it! Chabert, a colonel in Napoleon's army, was left for dead on the battlefield. After years of amnesia he returns to find that France's aristocracy is again in power, his wife has remarried and that he has lost his money, his reputation and his name. A haunting story about the importance of identity. (Denise Lewis)
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| William Boyd - Any Human Heart
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| Logan Montstuart's story and that of the 20th century is told through the diary he kept intermittently from 1923 to his final years in France. It is so cleverly crafted that encouraged by the discreet footnotes, the list of his works and the index at the back you could be forgiven for believing this is not fiction but a real diary written by a real person. If you enjoyed the recent TV dramatisation, the book is even better. (Jenny Baker)
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| Lee Child - 61 Hours
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| This most recent Reacher novel is certainly up to standard. This former army MP does not seek violence or want 'to put the world to rights'. He just doesn't 'like people who put the world to wrongs'. So the good guys always win but only after an enthralling, breathtaking read. This time it is North Dakota in a terribly cold winter, almost freezing the reader, and Jack is revealed as more vulnerable and fallible than he believed. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Lee Child - One Shot
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| A sniper randomly kills five people in a shopping mall and is later arrested on clear evidence, no question. In prison he is terribly beaten up and taken to hospital. All he says are "you've got the wrong man" and "Find me Reacher". Here begins one of the best in the Reacher series. Fast, taut, well-constructed, believable and, quite unusually, with a prominent human element. The professional details of weaponry and shooting anchor this firmly to the military. A winner. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Clare Clark - Savage Lands
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| Louisiana, 1704, 20 young women arrived from Paris as wives for some of the migrants. Clarke tells the story of one of these women and her charismatic but treacherous husband whose lives become entwined with that of a young boy, Auguste. An absorbing read which compellingly evokes this hostile colony of swamps and marshes, its unbearably humid summers and freezing winters, pervaded by the shadowy presence of the Indian tribes and the looming threat of the English. (Jenny Baker)
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| Michael Cunningham - By Nightfall
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| Set in Manhattan, a mid-forties couple, Peter and Rebecca seem to have everything: the career, the money, the loft in Soho and the happiness. But then Rebecca's younger brother, Mizzy, shows up - just back from rehab - and everything changes for them. A very good read. (Laurence Martin Euler)
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| Margaret Elphinstone - The Sea Road
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| Based on Icelandic Sagas of Viking explorations, this fascinating historical novel tells of a life's adventures seen through the eyes of Gudrid, dictating her story to an Icelandic monk in Rome, who translates and writes them down. I struggled with the numerous Icelandic names, but there is a helpful list of characters at the beginning, and a map! Reading it during the December freeze created ambience. A very hard life, a very readable book. (Mary Standing)
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| John Fante - Wait Until Spring, Bandini
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| This is the first book in the Bandini Quartet, about an Italian family on the breadline in Colorado (presumably in 1938, when it was written). The father is an unsuccessful and frustrated bricklayer whose wife's only real passions are him and her religion. Their three sons are left to themselves and mostly unable to cope with their circumstances and dysfunctional parents. This book is beautifully written and completely heartbreaking. I will read the rest immediately. (Julie Higgins)
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| Gayle Forman - If I Stay
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| One morning, a happy family of four in Oregon takes the car to see friends. There's the father, the mother, their seventeen year old daughter, Mia, and their 7 year old son, Teddy. A few minutes later only Mia is still barely alive. Based on a true story, it's an intensely moving book. (Laurence Martin Euler)
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| Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question
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| Julian Treslove, in search of an identity, becomes obsessed by the desire to become Jewish like his old school friend Finkler and aged professor Libor. Treslove's doomed excursions into Jewishness are a vehicle for Jacobson to analyse what it's like to be Jewish in the present day. Often funny, occasionally moving, this story of identity and obsession might, perhaps, be a little too obsessive itself? Deserved the Man Booker prize? I'm not sure, but worth reading. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Karl Marlantes - Matterhorn
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| Not for the faint-hearted, this is a brilliantly uncompromising tale of the horror and confusion of the conflict in Vietnam. American readers may be more familiar with the language and behaviour of the main characters, members of Bravo Company, US Marines. To a non-American, what is quite shocking is the gulf of misunderstanding and distrust not only between officers and men but between the officers themselves. Was it really like this? I fear it was. (Jeremy Miller)
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| Val McDermid - Clean Break
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| Kate Brannigan is a private detective, brisk, no nonsense, lots of get-up-and-go and a quirky use of language. The hunt for art thieves - who break into stately, but not TOO stately mansions, for just the one floggable art treasure - leads her across Europe, as if a parallel case didn't take up all her time. Not top-drawer but amusing and readable, lots of pertinent remarks on human peculiarities. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Georges Simenon - Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets
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| Unjustly, Simenon has dropped out of sight. One of the first Maigret stories. Has Maigret's humanity and insight, a gripping game of cat and mouse with the perpetrator of an unknown crime and Simenon's matchless economy in giving a sense of person and place. The green second-hand paperbacks slip perfectly into the pocket for a train journey. Smaller than a Kindle! (Tony Pratt)
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| Peter Temple - The Broken Shore & Truth
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Having recently read The Broken Shore, a fast-paced totally engaging story about a police investigation in Melbourne, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next offering from this writer, and was lucky enough to receive Truth - which won the 2010 Miles Franklin Award* - as a Christmas present. The Broken Shore has a flawed but not unattractive cop as its main protagonist, and one of the strengths of the new novel, Truth, is that it focuses on and develops one of the earlier book's characters. This is a great hook and the little nod of familiarity is very satisfying. Once over the confronting use of the colourful vernacular, one recognises a distinct if awful lyric gift in this author. A good duo, especially if you are snowed in!
*Editor's note: This annual Australian award is comparable to the Booker Prize. As Margaret says: Not usual for Crime to even get a look in.
(Margaret Teh)
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| Sarah Walters - The Little Stranger
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| Whilst Walters evoked the period beautifully, I did find it slow. A measured unraveling of the story was probably supposed to be a virtue, but it was too much for me. The study of the Ayres trying to maintain standards that were no longer possible was sensitively drawn, as were the other characters. Supernatural events maintained the sense of unease but had it been written by a lesser author, I might not have got to the end. (Christine Miller)
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| Deborah Willis - Vanishing and other Stories
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| I think Deborah Willis is a young Canadian writer to watch - rather in the vein of Alice Munro. This group of short stories gives readers insights into the moments that ordinary people share and the randomness with which people come and go in our lives. The stories are well crafted and I enjoyed every one. I look forward to reading more of her work. (Christine Miller)
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| Emile Zola - L'Assommoir
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| Recently arrived in working-class Paris, Gervaise is a young mother who struggles to provide for her family and find happiness for herself. She manages to build a successful business as a laundress, only to lose everything because of her desire to impress and her eventual addiction to alcohol. The characters and powerful descriptions of the poverty and squalor in which they live are totally convincing and utterly memorable. (Denise Lewis)
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| Emile Zola - Nana
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| Nana (daughter of Gervaise - L'Assommoire) grew up working as a prostitute on the streets of Paris. Her beauty propels her onto the stage and she becomes the Second Empire's Helen of Troy. However, she represents Zola's belief that heredity, environment and the dynamic momentum of a particular period determine personality and is therefore portrayed as a disease, infecting and destroying everyone she touches - a symbol for his denunciation of moral corruption in society as a whole. (Denise Lewis)
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Non-Fiction
| Diana Athill - Life Class: The Selected Memoirs of Diana Athill
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| Athill's four books of memoirs - published here in one volume - recount her life from privileged country childhood, through the sad years after she was jilted, fifty years as editor for André Deutsch and on into old age and approaching death. Her intelligence, honesty ('get it right') sanity and wisdom shine through, as does her delight in the world around her. A remarkable book by a remarkable woman. I can't recommend it too highly. (Annabel Bedini)
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| Gordon Corrigan - Mud, Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the Great War
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| If you base your understanding of the First World War generals on 'Oh What A Lovely War!' and 'Blackadder' then the author would like to take issue with what he sees as gross distortions and misunderstandings of what the war was about and how it was fought. Far from being dim, old butchers they emerge as efficient and dedicated individuals struggling with issues never before faced by a British army in the field. Truly eye-opening. (Clive Yelf)
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| Li Cunxin - Mao's Last Dancer
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| One of the best books I have ever read, simply and straightforwardly written, ideal holiday reading! The author, aged 11, was plucked from his peasant home in China and drafted into the Chinese National Ballet. Initially he is extremely homesick and loathes ballet but sees it as his one chance to escape his desperately poor life in Qingdao. With perseverance he overcomes the struggle, eventually becoming a star and defecting to the US. A most moving tale. (Veronica Edwards)
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| William Dalrymple - Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
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| It seems to me that everything Dalrymple touches turns to gold, in this case exponents of nine different religious traditions. Allowing them to tell their own stories, with only the lightest (and most lightly erudite) editorial touches, we are given a fascinating insight into the variety and strength of faith in present-day India. And the variety is truly amazing! Another book I can't recommend too highly! (Annabel Bedini)
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| Edmund de Waal - The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance
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| Edmund de Waal a potter and Professor of Ceramics has written a lovely memoir of the Ephrussi family originally from Odessa who achieved great wealth in the grain business and established themselves in Vienna and Paris. De Waal has interwoven through this narrative the story of a collection of Netsuke, Japanese wood and ivory carvings, gathered by Charles Ephrussi in Paris. The second world war and Nazi savagery smashed up this world; told with moving eloquence by this gifted writer. (David Graham)
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| John Fante - Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions it Aroused
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| The author has drawn from an impressive number of sources to present a vivid picture of the evolution of the tulip from its origins as a wildflower near the Himalayas and its spread via Central Asia to become a much-prized flower in the gardens of Turkish and 17th century Dutch enthusiasts. Growers produced numerous varieties and demand for the rarest ones led to a boom and speculation in Holland culminating in a famous bust. (Jeremy Swann)
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| Nick Foulkes - Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo
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| Considering all that has been published since 1815, it's a tall order indeed to write a book as original, lively, objective and yet as so scholarly as this recent addition to the historiography of Wellington and Waterloo. From Its frivolous title to its brilliant and illuminating epilogue, the author is awesomely at home in his subject and the breadth of his sources and the masterful way he deals with the smallest detail commands respect. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Robert H Frank - The Return Of The Economic Naturalist: How Economics Makes Sense of Your World
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| This collection of newspaper columns inhabits a similar realm to 'Freakonomics' (bwl 48) in that pure economic examinations of everyday problems can provide us with simple, if often counter-intuitive, solutions. Although looking primarily at American issues the examples given and the questions posed are still intriguing and relevant enough to provide a fascinating and informative book in bite-size chunks. Best of all there's not a graph or equation in sight which is always a bonus for some! (Clive Yelf)
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| Stephen Fry - Moab is My Washpot
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| A very 'Stephen Fry' sort of book which reads as though he's ". . . tucking you up, sweet thing, for a little dose of Stephen . . .". Which is fine if, like me, you like his voice and diction. His boyhood does seem more extreme than most though and he does seem a bit heavy on the self-loathing. How true the former is and how warranted the latter I couldn't say but I certainly enjoyed the read. (Clive Yelf)
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| John Glanfield - Devil's Chariots: The Birth and Secret Battles of the First Tanks
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| The day the first lumbering tanks spluttered and clanked their way into no-man's land must have seemed an impossible dream to those responsible for their development. From fantastic ideas for 'armoured landships' and portable infantry shields right up to the finished product, developers had to fight hostility, disbelief, new technology and an army which for the most part didn't want them. Post-war however (and having proved their point) the troublesome designers were soon sent packing. (Clive Yelf)
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| Max Hastings - Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-45
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| Not another book about Churchill? Yes, but worth it because this account of him in WWII is clear, notably balanced and prepared to highlight his many faults. Set against them his greatness emerges with new force. The largest human being, and the strongest willed, ever to occupy his office. (Tony Pratt)
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| Jackie Kay - Red Dust Road: An Autobiographical Journey
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| Her own story - "I couldn't have made it up" - by a woman of mixed race who was adopted by a wonderful Scottish couple. While she loves them wholeheartedly, she needs to discover her roots, and decides to search for her biological parents. She faces mixed reactions to her quest, but bravely continues to a mostly satisfactory conclusion. Being a poet, Kay's writing is often lyrical and emotional - the book makes for an interesting read. (Polly Sams Plant)
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| David Miller - Lady de Lancey at Waterloo: A Story of Duty and Devotion
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| The tragic story of one of the British Army's first professional staff officers and his young bride, Magdelene. Married just a week and blissfully happy, he had to join Wellington as his chief of staff, and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Waterloo. Magdelene nursed him through his last ten days and then wrote a careful memoir as a tribute to his memory. Miller puts the love story most capably in its historical context and reprints the memoir verbatim. (Kathie Somerwil Ayrton)
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| Roger Pearson - Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom
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| This has to be one of the best of all possible biographies! Although revered in his day, Voltaire was an outspoken critic of religious intolerance and persecution and his barbed wit and commitment to reason led to him being jailed twice and eventually banished by the King. His personal life was as colourful as his intellectual one and Roger Pearson's witty and erudite tribute is an eminently enjoyable read. Highly recommended. (Denise Lewis)
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| Hilary Spurling - Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China
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| After reading The Good Earth (bwl 58), I turned to this engrossing biography of the author. Her domineering father - an archetypal zealous missionary - dragged his sweet-tempered wife and young family to China but despite or perhaps because of the atmosphere of religious fervour, it was Pearl's empathy with the Chinese that shaped her imagination, leading her to become one of the greatest writers on the country which remained her spiritual home throughout her adulthood in America. (Jenny Baker)
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| Brian Winter - Long After Midnight At The Nino Bien: The Tango and Argentina
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| To understand the psyche of a country, learning it's national dance might seem a step in the right direction. That's what one young American thought as he spent a few years 'finding himself' in Argentina, the willing pupil of ageing yet legendary dancers who inhabit the world of the local dance hall. There are no great revelations or exciting escapades, just enjoyable impressions of a romantic young man immersing himself in dance and local colour. (Clive Yelf)
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| Feedback |
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| Annabel Bedini is not alone in enjoying Jim Crace - I read Signals of Distress recently (bwl 58) and really loved it. A friend recommended his novels to me a few years ago and I have read a few now - he is quite bleak - see 'The Pesthouse' and one about a couple murdered on a beach. Signals of Distress is lighter, both funny and interesting too, though as Annabel points out, with much poetic and atmospheric writing. Definitely recommended. (Victoria Grey-Edwards) |
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| Who has used the Kindle or Apple's i-pad? Can downloading a book on one replace the frisson of savouring a new hardback or paperback? Are books soon going to be obsolete? Help! What do you think? (Jenny Baker) |
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