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A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark |
A Far Cry from Kensington is slight and quickly read but fun particularly for those of us who are old enough to remember the bed-sits, the coffee bars and the offices of London in the 1950s. Muriel Spark's characters are very well drawn and are truly representative of their time.
(bwl 47 September 2008) |
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A Stranger in Italy by Hubert Kubly |
Re-reading Hubert Kubly's autobiographical account of his post war journey through Italy confirmed that my original love for his book was not misplaced. At the same time I can see that while I find his characterisation to be brilliant there are those who may feel that they have entered an elaborate opera set in the 1950s. Italy may have changed since Kubly's day but the eccentricity, friendliness and generosity are still the same.
(bwl 62 Autumn 2011) |
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Autumn by Ali Smith |
I loved this novel. I was not prepared for its chaotic and disjointed structure but this did not affect my enjoyment of the book or my sympathy for its characters. What emerges is an account of London life, art and political events from the 1960s to Brexit and it made me take a new look at Pop Art along the way.
(bwl 87 Winter 2018) |
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Dominion by C J Sansom |
Dominion lacks the intense excitement and the sense of realism of Winter in Madrid. It is also not as well written as Sansom's other work. True characters drawn from the past, like Enoch Powell, are given new roles that are not always believable in this slightly 'Boy's Own' world of make believe. Having said all that the plot is compelling and Sansom's admirers should read this novel. A Modern History Dictionary is useful!
(bwl 67 Winter 2013) |
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Engleby by Sebastian Faulks |
I found Engleby a curiously uneven book. It is in turn interesting, intriguing, amusing but pretentious and sometimes downright boring. Look out for Stelling's dinner party which will remind you of invitations before we all had the confidence to refuse them. We have all met Laura and Clarissa. The drawn out ending left me with a feeling of ambivalence - I don't know whether I enjoyed this book or not!
(bwl 46 June 2008) |
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Exit West by Mohsin Hamid |
I found this to be something of an enigma. Although dealing with a situation of tyranny and war in an unspecified eastern country Exit West has the air of a fairy story written in almost Biblical language. Mohsin Hamid uses a simplistic approach to transport us into a world of fantasy that has parallels with Alice in Wonderland although his characters, perhaps intentionally, lack definition. I was left with much to think about.
(bwl 88 Spring 2018) |
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Jack Maggs by Peter Carey |
Peter Carey won the Booker Prize twice. Why? The Observer found Maggs 'Bold, gripping and wonderful.' I found it none of these things. The Guardian states that it is not a pastiche. I would argue that it is. When you can read Dickens why read Carey? Carey's aim seems to be to examine events from a post-colonial perspective. This is not achieved by adding 'f***' or 'mate' to nineteenth century dialogue.
(bwl 78 Autumn 2015) |
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Life Class by Pat Barker |
Life Class left me disappointed. The essence of sacrifice and despair in the First World War that Barker captured in Regeneration (bwl 19) is sadly missing. Instead we are given sex and gore. Life at the Slade is illustrated by repeated name dropping and by real and imagined Bloomsbury figures gathering unconvincingly at the Café Royal. The most interesting angle was the examination of art in War.
(bwl 42 October 2007) |
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Memories of Rain by Sunetra Gupta |
Gupta's stream of consciousness prose is at times reminiscent of Virginia Woolf but I found Gupta more accessible. Moni is a young Indian woman who marries an Englishman but the relationship is fraught with misunderstanding. She plans to return to her family in Calcutta but she has a small daughter whose life will be impoverished in a world of hardship and the ever present threat of the monsoon.
(bwl 84 Spring 2017) |
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Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers |
Do not be put off by the Miss Marple-ish title. You will soon forget St. Mary Mead as Miss Garnet wanders through the mystical streets of Venice. The discoveries she makes about good and evil, sexuality, art and religion all conspire to change her perspective of life. Salley Vickers' joyful combination of reality and the ethereal left me full of hope and with a longing to return to Venice.
(bwl 9 June 2001) |
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Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively |
This is a beautifully written account of a dying woman's life seen through her eyes and those of her family and friends. Lively slips easily between past and present as she develops the theme that no two people experience the same event in the same way, and that perhaps we are never truly known even by those closest to us.
(bwl 56 Spring 2010) |
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One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore |
Simon Sebag Montefiore is an historian and this novel, set in Stalin's Moscow, is based on a true incident. His Stalin is a seemingly avuncular character whose unpredictability creates a truly sinister atmosphere. In this mixture of fact and fiction we feel horror and tension as we fear for the children at the centre of the plot. This is a scary crime story that actually happened in our own lifetime.
(bwl 73 Summer 2014) |
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Spies by Michael Frayn |
'Spies' is the retrospective view of a Second World War childhood. Whilst creating a very real atmosphere of the 1940s it explores many apparently unsolvable dilemmas of the young in the same way as L.P. Hartley does in 'The Go-Between'. We begin to see through some of the mysteries early in the book but Frayn's novel is compulsive reading and it is not until the end that our suspicions are finally confirmed.
(bwl 13 April 2002) |
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Stoner by John Williams |
Stoner is a beautifully written account of the hopes, disappointments and failures of one man's life. In John Williams' novel I found parallels with writers as diverse as Strindberg in Stoner's wretchedly unhappy marriage and C.P. Snow in the rivalry and jealousy among the fellows of the college in the University. But the sadness of Stoner's life is redeemed by his love of literature and by his teaching.
(bwl 71 Winter 2014) |
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The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón |
I was disappointed by this book having enjoyed Zafon's Shadow of the Wind (bwl 28 and 47). Whilst he is able to create great atmosphere the intensely gothic approach of Edgar Allan Poe does not come off when set in the 20th C. The tale develops into farce by the end and I was left unsure whether this novel was a ghost story, a horror story or neither. The clumsy translation is also irritating.
(bwl 57 Summer 2010) |
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The Awakening by Kate Chopin |
First published in 1899, the critics of the time condemned this novel for the heroine's unrepentant drive for independence regardless of the happiness of her family. It had a re-birth in the bra-burning 1960s when it was received with great enthusiasm. I lost whatever sympathy I had with Edna because she is selfish and rebellious rather than persuasive. Chopin's description of music, birds and the sea created the mood that held my attention.
(bwl 83 Winter 2017) |
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The Horseman by Tim Pears |
The first of a trilogy about rural life in the West Country just before the WW I. This background has been used many times before but Pears's style of presentation is most unusual and he uses it to great advantage. The story opens with a detailed description of a boy carefully and lovingly grooming a horse. We are gradually introduced to the many other characters who work on the estate until the story slowly emerges.
(bwl 92 Spring 2019) |
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The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann |
This novel is not for the faint hearted. Mann uses The Magic Mountain as a vehicle in which to explore philosophical and political issues of the early 20th century. These topics are presented to the reader through the themes of the passing of time and of illness and death. There are only rare moments of humour in this voluminous book and I did not warm to the self-centred characters. I cannot take Mann's advice to read it twice.
(bwl 86 Autumn 2017) |
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The Savage Garden by Mark Mills |
The opening scenes of The Savage Garden have an air of Brideshead but the period is pure Philip Larkin. This novel is well written overall but with some slipshod passages. While Mark Mills is obviously well versed in his subject of Greek and Roman mythology he tends to labour his points and in doing so loses our attention. This mystery has a number of entertaining twists but I did not find them all entirely convincing.
(bwl 48 November 2008) |
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The Wanderers by Tim Pears |
This is the second novel in the West Country trilogy by Tim Pears. It is a vivid description of rural life in Devon and Cornwall just before WWI. Some things were familiar to me as my Cornish mother was born in 1908. What gives this novel authenticity is that despite the beauty of the language Pears does not spare his readers any of the harsh details of life at that time particularly when dealing with animal husbandry.
(bwl 93 Summer 2019) |
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