July 2007 Archives
In need of a change from travel writing, I picked up this novel from Returns shelf in the library. It turned out to be a good choice - a modern novel set in New York and sharing with us the life and thoughts of Leo Gursky, a lonely old man who fled from the Nazis leaving his family, friend and home in Poland, and teenager Alma Singer whose father died some years previously and who just wants her mum to find happiness with a new partner.
Whilst there are too many characters, connections and timeshifts to keep on top of (which I'll confess did irritate me rather a lot), it's the main characters you engage with, and whose sadness will bring tears.
Amazon.co.uk link: The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
My appetite for travel whetted by Colin Thubron's Shadow of the Silk Road, I plunged straight into Henry Hemming's account of his travels through the Middle East in the company of one/two fellow artists and a truck called Yasmine.
Whilst it's not fair to compare the writing of an established author with that of a first timer fresh out of university, the fact that both books featured Iran made this somewhat inevitable. What surprised me was the Henry Hemming didn't come off too badly - helped by two facts:
1. he and his friends were spending time in the region to make art, and this gave them entrees into the artistic communities in those countries, with the result that he encounters views and experiences that rarely feature in British newspaper coverage
2. they were there in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, and Henry and his pal Al still get to Baghdad.
Amazon.co.uk link: Misadventure in the Middle East: Travels as Tramp, Artist and Spy - Henry Hemming
I loved this book. Colin Thubron's reflections on his trip from China to Turkey bring to life the places through which he travels, the people that he meets, and gives well written, well researched context to both. Unlike accounts by some other travel writers, there nothing to cringe at or be embarrassed by, just page after page of observation and analysis that fascinates and enlightens.
An excellent, excellent book.
I'm definitely doing a Silk Road trip next year....
Amazon.co.uk link: Shadow of the Silk Road - Colin Thubron
An excellent historical novel from Elizabeth Chadwick, telling the (true) story of Fulke FitzWarin, growing from squire to knight to outlaw to Lord of Whittington in the Welsh Marches during the reigns of Henry II, absentee Crusader King Richard the Lionheart and treacherous King John.
The love story strand tells of his marriage to Maude le Vavasseur, the politics feature Llywelyn the Great, Hubert Walter, Ranulph of Chester, and the action takes place throughout the lands of the Angevin Empire, which stretches across the English Channel.
What I enjoyed most about this novel was the balance between the male and female characters - Maude le Vavasseur wasn't portrayed as a damsel in distress, predestined to fall into the strong arms of Fulke FitzWarin (having overcome some obstacles in the path to true love, naturally). Instead we get to see these two main characters develop from childhood to adults, carefully picking their way through the tricky politics of the period, maturing as individuals and developing relationships as one does in real life.
Amazon.co.uk link: Lords of the White Castle - Elizabeth Chadwick