March 2011 Archives
Betrayal: of self; of others; of trust; of hope.
Amazon.co.uk link: Your Blue-Eyed Boy - Helen Dunmore
Stewart Lee's explanation of the genesis and inner workings of his stand up routines, matching the period during which Phil introduced me to both halves of Lee and Herring.
Other parallels within Stew's own life and mine: growing up in Solihull in the 70s and 80s, and a parent who moved out from the Birmingham suburbs to the rural world of Hereford and Worcestershire.
Amazon.co.uk link: How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Stewart Lee
Based in Beijing, and covering the period between 2001 and 2007, Peter Hessler has drawn on his six years as the holder of a Chinese driving licence to write Country Driving, whose three sections - road trip, village and factory - combine to form one fascinating book revealing the day to day workings and impact of politics, economy, society in China in the early 21st century.
One of the best books I've read for a while, as the speedy read attests.
PS Don't pay too much attention to the Chris Patten quote they've put on the cover of the paperback. I finished this book in tears.
Amazon.co.uk: Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory - Peter Hessler
I recall loving Snow Falling on Cedars, which prompted me to pick this up when last in Barbican Library. A slow story, and the setting and focus on a young man's search for solitude and meaning, brought to mind Into the Wild. Thankfully The Other is without the selfishness and stupidity inherent in that story. My only irritation with this novel was towards the end, with the sudden shift of narrator to John William Barry's father.
A read for quiet, contemplative times.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Other - David Guterson
Set in Lyme Regis at the start of the European fascination with fossils, the Remarkable Creatures of the title are not only the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, but also Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpott, two women with the eye for finding them. A great read combining history and science, evolution and religion, women and society in the early 19th century.
Amazon.co.uk link: Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier
Now finished.
An odd style in part 3 (combined with losing the book back to the library last November only half read) led to me thinking there were too many characters to follow. The style continues in part 4, stunnedly appropriate to the events it tells of the wreckage caused by the Great War, and the need for so many bodies comes into sharp focus.
A powerful telling of the late Victorian and Edwardian age revealing personal experiences of women's emancipation, Anglo-German relations, the English class structure, the Arts and Crafts movement, education.... a telling that leaves you thinking.
Amazon.co.uk link: The Children's Book - A S Byatt
There are lots of dead souls in Inspector Rebus's 10th outing: psychotic serial killer Cary Oakes, Rebus's old Fife flame Janice, Janice's disappeared son Damon, recently released paedophile Darren Gough, retired policeman Alan Archibald obsessed by his search for his niece's murderer, the unexplained suicide of fellow cop Jim Margolies ... and more. Not much of Siobhan though - maybe because she's not a lost soul!
Excellent.
Amazon.co.uk link: Dead Souls - Ian Rankin