bwl 91 - Winter 2019
Fiction
| Pat Barker - The Silence of the Girls
|
| The siege of Troy is viewed from the perspective of captured women. The main voice is that of Briseis, a queen who becomes Achilles' prize, an object to be used and abused. Barker tells of the women's experiences in the camp, their mutual support and fears. She truly brings alive the chaos and boredom of the encampment. However, as Briseis says, this is still Achilles' story. Troy stands for all wars where women are so treated, including today. A wonderful read. (Christine Miller)
|
| William Boyd - Love is Blind
|
| Yes, it's a love story but so much more than that. Set at the end of the 19th century, we follow the fortunes of Brodie Moncur, musician and piano-tuner, as life takes him to Paris, St. Petersburg, Edinburgh and beyond. If you enjoyed Any Human Heart (bwl 59 & 63) this book should delight you with the added bonus that at the end you will feel you might be quite good at tuning a piano. I found it riveting. (Jenny Baker)
|
| Anna Burns - Milkman
|
| Through the young female narrator you sense the destructive force that male violence, fear, unfounded rumour and enforced boundaries can have on a community during 'The Troubles' of the 1970s. The worst thing is to be noticed, as she is through reading while walking (!) and the unwanted attention of an older paramilitary man. I was amused by its dark humour and, after the initial adjustment to the style, completely drawn in by the narrator's voice. (Christine Miller)
|
| Graham Greene - The Power and the Glory
|
| 1930s Mexico, the suppression of the Catholic church is at his height, the hunt is on for the last remaining priest who is secretly criss-crossing the country, hidden by the villagers, saying Mass, giving absolution. The priest is a sinner with a penchant for whisky, plagued with doubts and fears yet knowing he has no choice but to follow this certain road to Calvary. Classic page-turning Graham Greene. (Jenny Baker)
|
| Simon Mawer - Prague Spring
|
| Two mis-matched Oxford students hitchhike their way into Prague where their lives cross with an English diplomat and his lover, Lenka. But this is 1968, Russian forces are gathering to suppress Dubček's soft socialism. Atmospheric, with vivid descriptions but with characters so stereotypical that they fail to engage - though they're forever engaging physically. I expected so much more from the author of that other novel set in Czechoslovakia - The Glass Room (bwl 55 & 63). (Jenny Baker)
|
| Jon McGregor - Reservoir 13
|
| A thirteen-year-old girl goes missing from a village under the moors. Seamlessly intertwining snippets from the lives of the villagers with minute observations of the natural world over the course of the next ten years, McGregor weaves a sort of intricate, cumulative tapestry which becomes deeper and richer as the seasons go by and the lives of the villagers evolve, the shadow of the missing girl nagging at the edge of memory. Absolutely magical. (Annabel Bedini)
|
| Madeline Miller - Circe
|
| We all know of Circe, the enchantress who magics the companions of Odysseus, transforming them into pigs. But what do we really know of her story? Madeline Miller in this novel fills us in, taking us from Circe's childhood to a satisfying conclusion. It is a richly coloured story drawing on Miller's extensive knowledge of the Homeric world and I found it an enjoyable, absorbing, imaginative read that I would recommend - Circe is brought to life. (Ferelith Hordon)
|
| Catherine Gilbert Murdock - The Book of Boy
|
| For those looking for somethIng for an 8 - 10 year old with an adventurous attitude to reading. Meet Boy - often shunned, mocked and taunted for his seeming difference - his posture a permanent stoop. He longs to be seen as a normal boy, so when the strange traveller Secundus turns up on his way to Rome where prayers may be answered, Boy joins him. But neither Boy nor Secundus are as they seem and "the key to hell picks all locks". I loved it. (Ferelith Hordon)
|
| Soseki Natsuma - I Am a Cat
|
| Written in Japan between 1905 and 1906, the author used the feline 'voice' of a nameless kitten who was adopted into a household of humans to make his own critical observations of behaviour during the social upheaval of the Meiji era. The book originally began as a serial in a literary magazine. The more popular this cat became, the thicker the finished book became. An amusing read. (Sharron Calkins)
|
| Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient
|
| This complex, seductive novel - set in Italy in WWII as the Germans retreated towards Rome leaving bombs and booby traps in their wake - is so much more than the love-story portrayed in the film. Yes, there is the badly burnt pilot but as important are the lives of his young Canadian nurse, the Sikh who she loves and the thief turned intelligence agent, Caravaggio. I thought it one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. (James Baker)
|
| Sally Rooney - Normal People
|
| A contemporary novel with the timeless theme of two young people falling in love. We follow them from teenagers in a small Irish town, to students at Dublin University. The agony and ecstasy, insecurities and awkwardness as their fascination develops and their very different personalities emerge. At times heartbreaking it is honest and believable. I was left wanting to know how their future lives will unfold, yet somehow knowing that they will always be shaped by the impact of their tender relationship. A young novelist to watch! (Mary Standing)
|
| C J Sansom - Tombland
|
| The latest 'Shardlake' was a disappointment. The historian has taken over the novelist to produce an 800 page slab - to the detriment of the usual well-researched detective story. Half way through we leave the central plot in virtual abeyance and by the time we get to the slightly perfunctory ending, I had rather lost interest. Instead we get a lot on Kett's rebellion, the realities of which may be under-appreciated but could have been more economically woven into the story and the historical appendix expanded. A minority view? (Tony Pratt)
|
| Elizabeth Strout - Abide with Me
|
| Having enjoyed Strout's recent books I went for this early one, and was not disappointed. Tyler Caskey is trying to survive as Minister of a small town after his wife dies and his daughter retreats into herself. He struggles with his sermons, pastoral duties, role as father and then with scandal. Strout has an extraordinary gift for making her characters absolutely alive, real, recognisable. Beautifully imagined, beautifully written, a book to live inside. (Annabel Bedini)
|
Non-Fiction
| Anon - The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
|
| A society that does not adhere to the rule of law independent of government is not one I imagine most of us would like to live in, if we have the choice that is. This revealing book explains how criminal justice in the UK is in a complete mess largely due to the budgetary constraints which have accelerated since 2010. It is a damning indictment of government which is leading to inequity and injustice now. (Jeremy Miller)
|
| Stephen Bungay - The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain
|
| Difficult though it might be to produce both a gripping page-turner and a definitive historical account, I think the author might just have managed it with this volume. Although threaded with personal narratives from both sides of the conflict, it is in the dispassionate and comparative examination of the tactics, abilities, command structures and, most importantly, losses and replacement statistics that prove fascinating reading with so many myths and assumptions turned squarely on their heads. (Clive Yelf)
|
| Geoff Dyer - Broadsword Calling Danny Boy: On Where Eagles Dare
|
| Is it really fifty years since Burton and Eastwood made that daring raid to free an American General imprisoned in the Nazi fortress Schloss Adler? It was every young boy's dream film. Film critic Dyer was one of them and now, as a kind of tribute, he has written this funny scene-by-scene account of the impossible but thrilling escapades of its heroes. Never mind if you haven't seen it, read the book and for sure you will want the DVD! (Jenny Baker)
|
| Edith Eger - The Choice: A true story of hope
|
| This book is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit over unimaginable horror and adversity. Rescued by an American soldier from under a pile of bodies in Auschwitz she rebuilt her life in the USA to become a top psychologist and devoted her life to healing the bruised lives of others. One can only marvel at such a life which makes ones own life's problems shrink to the size of a pinhead. Thank you Edith Eger for this introduction to your life and work - reading it has been an education . . . (David Graham)
|
| Yuval Noah Harari - Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
|
| I thought that it would be fun to read predictions about where mankind was headed. It wasn't. It was very, very interesting, but I never smiled once. Certainly, reading this book was an 'adult' thing to do, and provoked much thought. I am now informed of the likely scenarios to come . . . and I am still not smiling. (Sharron Calkins)
|
| Lindsey Hilsum - In Extremis: The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin
|
| A life lived at the extreme both personally and professionally. Colvin took risks smuggling herself into war zones where all those who could, including reporters, were getting out fast. Often afraid she knew the risks and died too young in a rocket attack - brave, passionate - unforgettable. Powerfully told by a fellow war correspondent - except for her early life where she appears to have only been given bland facts with nothing that indicates what formed her. (Lynda Johnson)
|
| Michael Lewis - The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy
|
| His writing style is deceptively beguiling, drawing one along by the pacy narrative. Alas, whilst his subject "the combustible cocktail of wilful ignorance and veniality that is fuelling the destruction of the USA" is compelling, one can't help feeling he pulls his punches by choosing less than enthralling examples. Nevertheless, he does add to the understanding of what most political commentators in the US regard as a government under attack - by its own leaders. (Jeremy Miller)
|
| Maggie O'Farrell - I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen brushes with death
|
| O'Farrell has certainly had her fair share of brushes with death (though some, frankly, more danger than death) and this collection of incidents from her life build up into a compendium of examples of how precarious we all are, just a hair's breadth away from disaster. From life-threatening childhood disease to almost death by drowning via near decapitation and so on, we gasp but in the end participate in her almost matter-of-fact celebration of survival. Bracing! (Annabel Bedini)
|
| Thomas Ricks - Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom
|
| A Pullitzer prize winning account of two very different men who had much in common, notably that each stood out against his respective political mainstream with courage and eloquence. Both looked facts in the face and spoke out in ways which redounded to their ultimate reputations. Each admired the other for their work in the 1940's but they never met. An admiring but objective account which provides new insights. (Tony Pratt)
|
| Alfred Max Simon - Lest we Forget
|
A most intriguing book discovered by chance in my house; signed by the author - whose family history it records - it is basically the story of the alliance of the Simon family with the House of Moet & Chandon.The Simons were in the ship-broking business in the 1930s and would receive small consignments of Moet & Chandon for delivery to private consumers in the country and from there it grew into a thriving business relationship, which perhaps shows that being in the right place at the right time is correct.
Ed's Note: not to be confused with the recent book with the same title by Max Arthur (Shirley Williams)
|
| Rory Smith - Mister: The Men Who Taught The World How To Beat England At Their Own Game
|
| The extraordinary story of British football coaches, unknown and unappreciated in their home environment, who, starting a century ago, set the foreign game on the road to superiority. A gallery of diverse and sometimes extravagant personalities - mavericks and loners - and a humbling tale of English insularity. Some of that insularity persists, the author argues, but it is the account of the pre-war era which is the vivid heart of the book. (Tony Pratt)
|
| Oliver Tearle - The Secret Library: A Book-lover's Journey Through Curiosities of History
|
| Curiosities is the key word in this wunderkabinett of a book, which examines the often overlooked connections between books and the times they were created in. A chronological tale of broad chapter headings (The Classical World, The Victorians etc.) Tearle looks at the stories behind and around both well-known and obscure books, throwing light on the zeitgeist of the age. A romp of a read but serious enough to require a small but decent index. (Clive Yelf)
|
| Henry David Thoreau - Walden
|
| Thoreau was a young Harvard educated man who famously experimented with living a self-sufficient life in his no-frills cabin in the woods of Massachusetts. Throughout the book he extolls this back-to-nature lifestyle as being superior to the life lived in 'civilization', surrounded by an excess of possessions. Yet, after two years he walked away from his cabin and back to civilization. Throughout his lifetime, he gave no explanation. An "American classic" and a fascinating read. (Sharron Calkins)
|
| Colin Thubron - Behind the Wall: A Journey Through China
|
| Published in 1987, this book is worth a whole library of books on the subject of China after the devastation of the Cultural Revolution. Thubron is a fearless traveller, whether on foot, bicycle, or train. In addition, he learned to speak Mandarin before leaving home. "Behind the Wall" is a travel book of intelligence and wit, beautifully written. You will find yourself hoping to read other travel books by this author . . .
(Sharron Calkins)
|
| Anna Tomasson - A Curious Friendship: The Story of a Bluestocking and a Bright Young Thing
|
| A well researched book by a a new author who knows her subjects intimately. It is a moving, thoughtful and entertaining account of a friendship between a bohemian art student - Rex Whistler - and a sharp-witted, snobbish and comical spinster during the twenties and thirties amid the shadows of the looming war. The convention-defying friendship is enthralling.
(Shirley Williams)
|
| Isabella Tree - Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm
|
| A brave experiment: - facing bankruptcy a 3,500 acre Estate put nature in charge: fences removed, land left to revert to scrub, animals left to live off the land; neither housed nor fed. Eighteen years later wildlife is abundant and many rare species are breeding there. Hope at a time of environmental crisis. Interestingly while most conservation projects are managed with a view to reverting to a chosen state of nature - they just sat back to watch what nature could achieve - awesome. (Lynda Johnson)
|
| Tom Wainwright - Narconomics: How to Run a Drugs Cartel
|
| If you're interested in why the global "war on drugs" is failing so catastrophically, this is the book to read. Wainwright - of The Economist - examines how the cartels' business model compares to that of legitimate business - and how it differs. He argues cogently that only by seeing drugs trafficking in economic terms can we hope to combat it ('Just say no' isn't really enough). Fast moving and accessible, it raised many a wry grunt from me. (Kate Hobson)
|
| Rick Wilson - Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever
|
| This is a full frontal attack on Trump the person from an unexpected quarter - the right. Wilson - a lifelong political activist for the Republican Party - weaves a torrent of invective against the 45th President. He doesn't hold back. It is deliciously funny in a black humoured way but also tragic in that he exposes the unbelievable things that are emanating from the White House. Laughter and anguish alternate throughout. (Jeremy Miller)
|
Poetry
| Yoel Hoffman - Japanese Death Poems |
| This book is an introduction to the Japanese tradition of 'jisei', or 'farewell poems to life. Beginning with an explanation of the development of Japanese poetry, the author then moves on to the poetry itself. These recorded words of farewell - written by Zen monks, samurai and haiku poets - may be best understood as spiritual legacies for those left behind. I enjoyed the haiku, 'masterful' to the end. (Sharron Calkins) |
| Chris Riddell - Poems to Live Your Life By |
| As a child I loved poetry - still do - and a poetry anthology was always beside my bed. Here is one to inspire the young of today and I would hope would quickly become a book dipped Into frequently. Chris Riddell has chosen some of the poems that have coloured and inspired his life - not an overwhelming number but ranging from classics such a Ode to a Nightingale and A Road Less Travelled to contemporary works by Duffy and Neil Gaiman. The whole is embellished by Chris's art. Accessible, attractive - a book to treasure. (Ferelith Hordon) |
| Feedback |
| -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- |
| Just finished reading The Spy and the Traitor, reviewed in bwl 90. It really is an unputdownable, thrilling page-turner. (Jenny Baker) |
| -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- |
|
