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 Book 1: No Signposts in the Sea by Vita Sackville-West Having read and loved All Passion Spent, I was looking forward to reading this. Unfortunately the book didn't live up to my expectations. No Signposts in the Sea is the story of Edmund, a man with a terminal illness who spends the last months of his life on a cruise that he decided to take in order to be with Laura, a woman he secretly loves. Of course, a book written about someone moving towards death is bound to involve contemplations on and regrets about the character's life but I felt that Edmund's thoughts didn't go very far. He makes no deep analysis beyond noting that he hadn't made a space for love in his life. I'm sure lots of people don't make a thorough analysis of their lives, but then I probably wouldn't want to read 156 pages about their final thoughts either. I recently read Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively which I think is a much more effective work about someone who is near to death, so perhaps No Signposts in the Sea suffers from me making a comparison between the two works. The character of Laura was much more interesting to me. Victoria Glendinning, who writes the introduction, and a couple of reviewers on LT have suggested that she is a stereotype of a perfect, unattainable woman. I agree with that, but this actually made me want to find out more about her. Why had she chosen to take a 4 month cruise? I like to think that she has an interesting backstory of forbidden love, particularly as she makes reference to the lesbian relationship of an 'aquaintance'. Much is made of her reserved nature and I'm sure there is more to her than we know. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:38am.  Book 2: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (for book club, chosen by Hazel) Wow. Wonderful. I am in love with Atticus Finch. What I enjoyed most were the dry humour and the small, sparse comments that convey a wealth of meaning. My favourite: '...Aunt Alexandra woul have been analogous to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there'. Nothing else needs to be said about Aunt Alexandra. I also really liked the way that issues of gender, race and class come through so clearly but without any tub-thumping. This book also has the honour (?) of being one of the few that has made me cry. The parts where Dill gets upset at the court house and when the black community show their gratitude to Atticus by leaving food for him really touched me. (In case you're wondering, the other books that made me cry are Gobbolino the Witch's Cat and The Women's Room) Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:38am.  Book 3: Cousin Rosamund by Rebecca West The third book of an unfinished series about an impoverished middle-class family, following the narrator from chilhood through to middle age. There was to be at least one other instalment but Rebecca West died before she started work on it. Cousin Rosamund has been put together from chapters and notes she had written previously. I enjoyed the first book, The Fountain Overflows, but found the second and third to be harder work. I think this is because the characters are all quite odd in their way and in the first book this made sense because the narrator is recalling her childhood and most of the characters are children. It seemed like a fantasy world. But by the third book, I found it harder and harder to understand the near-magical qualities of the narrator's cousin Rosamund and brother Richard Quin. I also think that much of West's thoughts on music and art have been lost on me. I really need to have another read through and think about it all more deeply. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:39am.  Just time to post about my most recent book before I go away tomorrow... BOOK 4: The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek An unfinished account of the adventures of a Czech soldier, Svejk, serving in the Austro-Hungarian army during the First World War. This is kind of a fore-runner of Catch 22 - Hasek shows the absurdity of war, the ridiculous bureaucracy of the army and the enduring pettiness of people. Officers and army chaplins come off pretty badly - they seem to spend all their time drinking and whoring! On the surface, Svejk is an imbecile who gets into and out of a long series of scraps often due to the incompetence of senior officers. But really he is very clever and manipulative. He uses a bland innocence to get away with constant insubordination. I bought this in Prague about 6 years ago and have attempted it a couple of times, but the length of the book has always daunted me. I was reminded of it by a menion in urania1's thread. I did enjoy the book but I don't think it should be read straight through in the way I did. There is little development of the characters and it can feel that the jokes start to wear a bit thin after 700+ pages of it! Having a break now and then would help you come back to it with a fresh eye. The book ends abruptly beause Hasek died in the middle of dictating it so we never find out if Svejk actually makes it to the battlefield. I would be interested to know how Hasek would have tackled this. It was interesting to think about another side of WW1 - the eastern front - which we don't learn much about in the UK. Also, some of the incidents feel very current - friendly fire and ill-equipped troops for example. Hasek himself sounds fascinating. He was a true Bohemian, living hand to mouth, often sleeping rough, wandering the country. Yet he married into a respectable family. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:39am.  Book 5: Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood Atwood is my favourite author so I may be slightly biased when i say that I really enjoyed this book. I have owned it for ages but have put off reading it because I thought the subject matter of bullying may be upsetting. I didn't find it so. I was really interested by the subject of relationships between women, something that is also tackled in my all-time favourite book, The Robber Bride. Elaine states that she's more comfortable in male company than in female company. Does this mean that she is betraying the sisterhood? Does a sisterhood exist? Or is it an entirely contrived concept? I also enjoyed the power shifts between the two girls/women, although I'm not entirely convinced when Elaine seemed to completely forget that she had been bullied. I guess it was some kind of denial? I was intrigued by how Atwood wrote and ending for Stephen (I'm trying not to spoil it for those who haven't read it). What happens to him is so completely unusual and I'm not sure why she chose to do it that way. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:39am.  Book 6: White Noise by Don DeLillo (book club, chosen by Mark) This was not a popular choice! Unfortuately I missed the discussion as I was away. The main premise of the book is that a middle-aged couple are both afraid of death, particularly of one of them dying first. They have a number of children from their marriage and various previous relationships. These children speak in the most unnaturally mature and academic way which is very off-putting. They just don't seem real. Actually, all the characters speak in this way and they just seem pretentious! For people who talk to each other a lot and constantly ask each other questions, the family members seem distant from each other. But I did enjoy thinking about how people react to life-threatening situations. Again, the number of incidents that happen to this family seem improbable and again makes the book seem unreal. I think DeLillo was making some interesting points, but I can't remember what they were - sorry that's not much help! Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:40am.  Book 7: The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy The tale of an American woman in 1950s Paris trying to live a Bohemian and modern lifestyle. Sorry - my memory fails me on this one although I know I enjoyed it! Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:40am.  Book 8: The Night Watch by Sarah Walters Women in 1940s London during the Blitz. A good holiday read, but not much else to say. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:40am.  Book 9: The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple This tells the story of the 1857 mutiny in which Hindu and Muslim soldiers in the British army mutineed after numerous incidents of cultural and religious insensitivies committed by the British. Dalrymple focuses on what happened in Delhi during this period. The atrocities committed on both sides were horrific - Christians massacred and then Delhi's citizens massacred in revenge. I like Dalrymple's writing style and he uses a good range of primary sources. He also does good foot and end notes! One of the most interesting aspects of this book was understanding how closely Hindu and Muslim culture have been linked in the past. This was something we noticed in India - a mosque including Hindu scuplture, for example. I'd be interested to know to what extent this exists today. I think the media present Islam as incredibly insular and hostile to outside influences, but it obviously wasn't always so. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:41am. .jpg) Book 10: Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds Verity Auger is an archaeologist from 2266 who specialises in Earth artifacts. She is sent on a mission to a hidden planet that is a copy of Earth in 1959, albeit with a few differences - there was no World War Two so none of the technological advances that results happened on this other Earth. Auger is tasked with finding out what happened to a dead colleague. Part sci-fi, part detective story. Probably not enough sci-fi for me. It's an easy read, but the events and coincidences that carry the plot forward feel too contrived. It was easy to guess what was coming next. Also, one of the characters is taken from the 1959 Earth into the 2266 reality and doesn't really seem that shocked by it. We don't really get any sense of his thoughts or feelings. This is the third Reynolds book that I've read and all three have lead female characters all of whom, if I remember rightly, are strong but flawed. It's good to see women in male-authored sci-fi. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:41am.  BOOK 11: Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin (book club, Zoe's choice) Johnny Grimes is a 14 year old boy living in Harlem in 1935. He has a difficult relationship with his father, a preacher. Johnny is expected to follow in his father's footsteps and preach the word of God. Much the action takes place during the course of a night in which Johnny's world changes. During this night we are also told the stories of his father, mother and aunt - tales of black people growing up as the first generation who were not enslaved. Andrew O'Hagan is quoted on the back cover: 'A beautiful, enduring, spiritual song of a novel soaked in the Bible and the blues'. Well, I don't think I quite got it. A lot of the dialogue is couched in religious language - two main characters go through religious conversions that I, as an unbeliever, found hard to get to grips with. I'm not convinced that a man who has sinned greatly, can suddenly find God and everything is fine. I'd be really intersted to understand how people who have found God feel about Baldwin's portrayal of this. But this novel (I say novel, but there are many elements that are common with Baldwin's own life and religious awakening) did have an impact on me. It made me both angry and sad. Angry that religion is so often tied up with hypocrisy and secrets. Sad that this is the case. And sad that the women in the story are subjected to such treatment by men. (edited to add that other readers on LT seem to have got much more out of this book than I did. The book club discussion on Monday should be interesting) Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:41am.  BOOK 12: Fire and Steam: How the Railways Transformed Britain by Christian Wolmar Having read and enjoyed Wolmar's history of the London Underground, I was very pleased to receive this book from Christmas from Mr Charbutton. He knows how to keep his geek girl happy! Wolmar gives a comprehensive overview of the development of Britain's railway system. It's very interesting, particularly the section on privatisation which I was too young to fully understand when it happened. I also hadn't realised how heavily the railways were used during the wars and the impact these two periods had on the system - no investment or real repair work happening despite the unprecedented levels of use, and a similar story in the immediate post-war years. Most interesting was the number of missed opportunities and the wrong emphasis in policy that stopped trains from effectively competing with cars/lorries. As Wolmar writes, government 'expenditure on roads has always been deemed to be investment, while rail spending has been classified as subsidy'. My only criticism is that I don't think the book does actually explain properly 'how the railways transformed Britain'. He does touch on the development of towns and suburbs because of the railway, the new leisure opportunitites that opened up to the working class and the development of railway unions. But I think much more could have been included such as personal accounts of people using trains for the first time and perhaps a case study of an area that was transformed, rather than a brief mention of several locations where this happened. I accept Wolmar's explanation that there is much missing from the book because the subject is so large, but the book is only 318 pages long so I think there was room for more social history. (touchstones not working) Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:42am.  BOOK 13: The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley At just over 800 pages this collection of letters, covering the period 1925 to 2003, is a long but very interesting read. The Mitford sisters were born between 1904 and 1920. They are Nancy (writer), Pamela (rural, farming type), Diana (fascist), Unity (Hitler-adoring fascist), Jessica (communist) and Deborah (Duchess of Devonshire). Crude descriptions of each but these are the ones that Charlotte Mosley uses to help the reader quickly recognise who is writing to whom. I've started the next part of this review several times - it's so hard to decide how to tackle a work that covers so many subjects and involves so many people. So...I'll just put down random thoughts as they come and see how that goes. The letters provide a fascinating insight into family relationships and reinforce the adage that you can't choose your family. Up to about 1960 there is little emotional detail in the letters, even when children die and divorces happen. Of course there are major political disagreements between the sisters but it is only as Nancy and Jessica being to publish their memoirs that more emotional thoughts come to the forefront. I think this is the most interesting aspect of the book for me. Nancy and Jessica both write about their horrible childhood experiences and are scathing about their parents. This does not accord with the remembrances of Diana, Deborah and Pamela (Unity died in 1948). They feel that N and J have been deeply disloyal, a feeling that lasts well into old age for all of them and is reinforced by various Mitford biographies that repeat these semtiments over the years. However, in 2000 Diana revisits some of Pamela's letters from 1925 and is surprised by "how unfairly strict Muv seems to have been". Memories of childhood are so subjective. I also enjoyed seeing how the relationships between the sisters changed over time and distance. For example, once Nancy has died Deborah and Diana become much more critical about her and often discuss her dishonesty and other dislikeable character traits that were merely hinted at when she's alive. The sisters' relationships with men are also interesting. Diana and Nancy fall deeply for men with very strong and really quite unpleasant characters, but they stay true to them and defend them to the last. Many of Diana's letters talk about her efforts to deflect criticism of her husband, Oswald Mosley. The breadth of experiences the sisters have is astounding. Diana spent time in Holloway prison during the war because of her husband's political activitites. Jessica elopes with a communist. Deborah turns into a skilled business women and transforms Chatsworth House into one of the UK's most visited tourist attractions. Nancy receives the Legion d'Honneur. They all eventually publish books. And they knew so many people, from Evelyn Waugh to JFK to Nicki Lauder. I suppose one can't review this book without mentioning fascism. Unity was absolutely obsessed with Hitler and engineered a meeting with him in 1935 that led to a friendship that lasted until 1939 when Unity tried to kill herself after the declaration of war. It's so hard to understand her. In 1935 she wrote "the Fuhrer was heavenly...he talked a lot about Jews, which was lovely". I found this absolutely chilling. I'm surprised that only Jessica condemned Unity's behaviour outright. I suppose that, as with Diana's relationship with Oswald Mosley, Unity found Hitler to be very charasmatic and she agreed with much of his politics. I guess she wasn't the only one. I feel like I haven't even begun to do justice to this collection, but hopefully it has given a flavour of the women and their letters. Message edited by its author, Mar 22, 2009, 5:42am.  BOOK 14: A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor Not the most amazing book I've ever read, but enjoyable. Set in a small English seaside town that has seen better days, the story focuses mainly on the lives of the women of the town, their loves, sadnesses and hopes. What I liked most about Taylor's writing was that I immediately felt the suffocation of living in such a small place where everything you do is noted by everyone else. Also, the sexual and emotional frustrations of many of the characters make the pages almost throb in parts! Message edited by its author, Mar 24, 2009, 12:07pm.  BOOK 15: Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple Whipple seems to divide opinion - some people love her, some people don't. Unfortunately I think I am part of the second group. Someone at a Distance is the story of an English middle-class family soon after World War Two. Ellen and her husband Avery live a blissful life in the country with two wonderful children. However a young-ish French woman, Louise, comes into their lives and upsets the tranquility. The story follows the family before, during and after its breakdown. My quibble is that the characters are so one-dimensional. Ellen is naive and domestic; Avery is selfish and complacent; Louise is manipulative and cruel; the children are happy and loving. There is no surprise about Avery's behaviour or the fact the ultimately his wife forgives him. There's no emotional depth. Having said that, I did find it engrossing as the crisis happened, although my interest waned quickly afterwards. There was one stand-out quote. Louise is left by herself for a day in Ellen and Avery's house and proceeds to search through all their belongings. Whipple describes the house as 'defenceless' against this action. It conjured up a wonderful image of the house mentally shrugging its shoulders as if to say" well what do you expect if you leave some like her here alone". I also got a bit annoyed about Persephone Books as they all seem to be focused on the middle or upper middle classes. Perhaps this a reflection of the owners' tastes? Surely there must be some undiscovered or forgotten working-class writers from the early 20th century who are worth publishing??  BOOK 16: Palestine by Joe Sacco Sacco spent a couple of months in Palestine in the early 1990s during the first intfada. This book is a collection of the comic strips that he wrote about that experience and the stories he heard. Overall this was an interesting read and it certainly depicted the relentlessly grim lives that Palestinians live. It also shows up the absurdities and injustices of the occupation. The main questions I had when reading this were about Sacco himself, rather than the subject of Israel/Palestine. He is asked by several people what good he thinks his book would do; he doesn't really answer this. I'm not sure that there is a simple answer, but I would like to know how he justifies asking people to relive very traumatic memories for the sake of his comic. I'm not sure what impact a book like this has - isn't he just preaching to the converted? It reminds me of Michael Moore's books - do they really change minds or do they only appeal to those who already think like him? I also had difficulties with Sacco's authorial 'voice'. The thoughts he express are mainly about his journalistic interest - trying to get eye witness accounts, looking for the goriest stories, always aware of finding scenes that will look good as a picture. Perhaps the stories were too horrific and too numerous to absorb and he had to create some kind of emotional distance. Having said all this, Palestine did have an emotional impact on me and, a few days later, I'm still thinking about the stories he presents and the kind of lives people have to live there. It's also prompted me to look up some histories of the region paticularly about British involvement which I know very little about.  BOOK 17: Vida by Marge Piercy Vida is a miltant social activist on the run in the early 1980s after her involvement in bombing campaigns in the 70s. We follow part of her life on the run and get flashbacks of her life as an activist and her early experiences underground. Overall a good read - I was interested in her story. But I did find Vida annoying and frustrating. She puts up with some really unattractive behaviour in her men. She hooks up with a young man who is irrationally jealous and possessive and I don't understand why she stays with him. I also found her politics difficult - she seems to dismiss her sister's women's group because they focus on rape as an important issue. She doesn't feel that this is relevant to her life, despite her experience of being forced to have sex with her husband. I also became frustrated with the power plays going on between various members of her underground network and the attitudes of male members to their female colleagues. But that's probably a realistic representation of how things were! Message edited by its author, Apr 19, 2009, 9:44am.  BOOK 18: The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt A beautifully written book that explores grief, memory, family, love. Erik, Davidsen, the narrator, is coming to terms with his father's death. Erik is going through his father's papers and discovers a letter that hints at a dark secret. We follow Erik as he explores his father's life, and as his sister deals with the repercussions of her husband's death. I really enjoy Hustvedt's writing, although I think a lot of the psychology and deeper meanings are lost on me. This is a post-9/11 book, the attacks are witnessed by Erik's grand-daughter and have a profound affect on her. Is the book then about a wider grief, one felt by American society in the wake of this event? But I might be reading too much into it. I'd like to read more books written after 9/11 to understand more about how authors are addressing it.  BOOK 19: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (book club, Yashoda's choice) This is a ficionalised account of a murder and subsequent trial that took place in Savannah, Georgia. An awful book. I don't understand why it was so popular. The characters are one-dimensional caricatures that I can't believe they are based on real people. It's like a tick-box exercise of 'edgy' characters. Troubled teen? Tick. Secretly gay man? Tick. Drag queen? Tick. Loveable rogue? Tick. What I found most annoying was the lack of a narrative voice. The book is written in the first person, presumably John Berendt, an outsider who is immediately (and so unbelievably) welcomed into the arms of Savannahian society. We see all the characters through his eyes and yet we are given none of his thoughts. We never know whether he believes in the guilt or innocence of the murderer. All we know is that he is interested Savannah. I can see that he could want to present an objective view that allows readers to make up their own minds, but it just doesn't work for me. Also as John Berendt is a journalist, I'm surprised at his lack of investigative interest in the potential stories in the town. He seems to take everything that he is told at face value. For example, he visits a housing estate founded by a rich local for poor black people. Berendt and the founder talk to a black woman who expresses he pleasure at living in the area. Why doesn't he go back and talk to people independently? I know this isn't the focus of the book, but it could have given more depth to the work. We did have an interesting discussion at book club, and everyone felt pretty much the same although one of my friends really like the drag queen character to the amazement of everyone else!  BOOK 20: Blood in the Fruit by L.Timmel Duchamp The fourth in the Marq'ssan Cycle of five works which recount the events after the Marq'ssan, an alien race, intervene to prevent the human race becoming a trans-galactic aggressor. Prior to the Marq'ssan's intervention, the Executive was the transnational ruling elite, a system in which gender behaviour and sexuality are strictly delineated. After the intervention and series of wars, alternative 'political' systems develop around the world. One of these is the Free Zone, a co-operative based around Seattle. The Zone is 'run' by a committee of feminist anarchists (I'm not sure you can say that anarchists run anything, but can't think of a better word!). Book 4 follows a member of the Executive world who has turned renegade and escaped to the Free Zone. Except she hasn't converted to the Zone's ideas, she is simply re-grouping to launch a takeover of the Executive. However, the 'leaders' of the Free Zone help her and provide her with access to the Marq'ssan, in return for help in freeing politcal prisoners. As in the previous three books, Duchamp poses interesting questions (I've posted a review of the third book, Tsunami on LT which details some of the key points raised in that book). How far should the Free Zoners co-operate with the renegade to further their own aims? I think they're involved in a deeper and more dangerous game than they realise. This did feel a little bit like a filler before the final instalment, but I still enjoyed it and can't wait to start book 5. Message edited by its author, Apr 19, 2009, 10:07am.  BOOK 21: The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West An enjoyable book about the life and loves of a young Edwardian man as he comes of age and begins to question his role in the world. V S-W gently pokes fun at London society of the early 1900s, while pointing to the profound political and social changes that were on the horizon. A couple of phrases stood out for me. The first: "Truth was a germ that should only surreptitiously be let loose on an unvaccinated world. Then, it might usefully breed, and kill." The second, a mother's authority "shrivelled as muslin in a fire". A very striking image! V S-W's mentions of Jewish people did bother me though. The Jewish characters are welcomed into the London elite only because of their wealth. There are a number of disparaging remarks about them and I seem to remember the same kind of thing in another of her books (No Signposts in the Sea maybe?). I don't know enough about V S-W to know if these comments represent her views or she was simply reflcting the opinions of the type of people she was writing about. Either way, it's unpleasant to read. Message edited by its author, Apr 19, 2009, 10:26am.  BOOK 22: The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence by Martin Meredith God, what a depressing book. Meredith presents the story of African independence as unremittingly grim. The barbarity of colonial powers, the dictatorships, civil war, genocide, starvation, poverty seem to have been repeated in nearly every single country. I don't know anywhere near enough about African political history to know if Meredith's accounts are objective, but his book seems like a good place to start my African journey as it covers many countries. The thing I keep coming back to is that immediately after independence so many countries espoused socialism/Marxism yet their leaders, the so-called Big Men, raped and pillaged their countries perhaps more than colonial powers. Why did African's substitute one imported power structure (colonialism) for another imported theory (socialism)? I can understand the attraction of a theory that calls for equality after oppression of the majority. But why didn't Africa develop its own structures suited to its political and social environment? I suppose the main reason was that Africans played so little part in the administration of their countries that no one had had the opportunity to experience power or civil service at first hand. Meredith mentions that at the time of independence one country (can't remember which) had only 8 black accountants. Secondly, what was it about African countries that led so many of them to become one-party dictatorships? The rule of the Big Men is grotesquely fascinating. It's so hard to understand how the people in power siphoned off billions of dollars (I'm not not holding up the 'West' as an example of perfect economic management, far from it). And why after espousing the rhetoric of equality and liberation, were these leaders so oppressive and cruel? Meredith's work has provided a good platform from which I can go forward and try and find some answers. One criticism I do have is that while Meredith mentions Botswana as 'a unique example of enduring multi-party democracy with a record of sound economic management...free of corruption' yet the story of this country is not told. It would have been really interesting to read about Botswana's story to try and understand how that country seems to have taken a very different path to those around it. Message edited by its author, May 4, 2009, 3:56pm.  BOOK 23: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (book club - my choice) I don't think I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been my African summer as it's about a man in a rural setting - not where my usual interests lie! It took me a while to get into, but I ended up really liking this book. Briefly, it's the story of Okonkwo, a well-respected warrior living in a West African village at the time that white men were beginning to 'civilise' the continent (so anywhere from late 18th to mid-19th century?). The book is simply written with a basic plot, but is still interesting. Achebe touches on many issues - patriarchy and paternalism, tribalism, religion and the impact of colonisation. I'm still thinking through what Achebe is saying about Africa/Nigeria through this work and I need to do some more research on what was happening in Nigeria at the time and on Achebe himself. So my thoughts are kind of unformed at the moment. One point that has struck me is about leadership in the book (following on from the previous book and thinking about the 'Big Men'). In Okonkwo's tribe, there are elders (all men of course), but there seems to be no one leader. So the Big Men may not come from a tradition of chiefs which I thought would be the case. I wonder if Okonkwo is representative of leadership in Africa/Nigeria - once the white men appear, African leadership structures die and that is one of the roots of the dificulties experienced after independence. The gender dynamics of the tribe are interesting, if not that surprising. Male members are often condemned for showing what are considered to be feminine traits. Oknonkwo's wives wait on him hand and foot. Although the language Achebe uses is simple, there are some really lovely touches in the dialogue. In one example, Okonwo's friend Obierika has brought him money he is owed: Okonkwo: I do not know how to thank you. Obierika: I can tell you. Kill one of your sons for me. Okonkwo: That will not be enough. Obierika: Then kill yourself Okonkwo (smiling): Forgive me, I shall not talk about thanking you any more. I thought that was lovely, showing the friendship between the two men. Another example comes when a women is talking about her ten year old daughter saying 'She has been well for some time now. Perhaps she has come to stay'. I thought this precisely expressed the fears these women must have gone through each time they had a child, never knowing for years if they would live or die. Message edited by its author, May 9, 2009, 8:39am.  BOOK 24: Jungfrau and other short stories This is a collection of short stories by African writers including the works that won and were shortlisted for the Caine Prize in 2006. The prize is awarded to 'an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere...“An African writer” is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, or who is a national of an African country, or whose parents are African, and whose work has reflected African sensibilities.' I don't usually read short stories and I found that by the end, I was yearning for a long, complex novel to dive into. I think I should not have read it in one go. Perhaps one story a week would have been better and would have allowed each to have a greater impact on me. I think I will revisit these over the next few months and give each story the time it deserves. I did enjoy the stories but don't feel, at the moment, that any were amazing. Many are concerned with childhood, all seem to revolve around some kind of violent/sad/destructive event. The story I remember most clearly is The Fanatic by Laila Lalami, a Moroccan writer. Larbi is a middle-class professional whose daughter, Noura, is destined to do well in her exams and go to a foreign university as her brother has done. However, Noura develops a friendship with Faten, a girl from her school who follows Islamic codes much more closely than Larbi's family. Noura becomes fervently interested in Islam, decides to cover her head and announces that she's not going to NYU because "American's hate us". A classic case of rebellion against her parents relaxed attitude or is it something deeper than that? Larbi is in despair at the changes that come over his daughter and that he doesn't understand and that he is powerless to stop - a universal story of being the parent of a teenager! In the UK I think the issue of the indoctrination of young Muslims is often presented as a problem specific to the Muslim community - it's THEIR problem that only THEY can solve, because the fear of cultural imperialism prevents US from interfering. True, but aren't there enough parallels with the challenges that all parents face for it to be something that society as a whole can work together? I'm not sure I have an answer to that (a combination of community-specific work and wider support?) but I enjoyed that this story made me think about it.  BOOK 25: This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun This one gets 5 bloomin' stars! The story of Salim's 18 year imprisonment in a pitch black cell in a Moroccan desert prison after his involvement in an attempted coup d'etat in 1971, based on a man's real-life experience, this should be a depressing read. Yet it isn't. It's a story of survival, faith and family as well as a tale of inhumanity and death. Ben Jelloun uses a sparse yet effective style that effectively conveys the complexities and ambiguities of Salim's character. I found this sparseness difficult to get into for the first few pages but after that felt entirely drawn into the story. So much so that I started and finished it today. I read Les yeux baissés (With Downcast Eyes) by Ben Jelloun for an A Level course when I was 18. I had no appreciation of what I was reading. It's a shame that it's taken me 15 years to rediscover him. Many thanks to avaland (I think!) for pointing me in the right direction. Message edited by its author, May 23, 2009, 2:01pm.  BOOK 26: At the Still Point by Mary Benson At the Still Point tells the story of Anne Dawson, a journalist who returns from London to the turmoil of 1965 South Africa. Much of the story focuses on the trial of Beatrice Qaba, a woman accused of trying to raise funds for the ANC. This book was inspired by Mary Benson's experience of writing about political trials in the Eastern Cape in 1964 and she explains in an afterword that several of the characters are based on real people. On the whole I enjoyed this book. Benson effectively portrays the horrors and injustices of the apartheid system. I also enjoyed the conflicts between the 'radical' white population and those who chose to ignore what was happening to the black population. She raises interesting questions about the complicitness of the white English community. They consider themselves to be removed from the decisions of the Afrikaans, but are complicit in the continuation of the system - 'To witness, and not to protest - was this not to participate?' I think it is hard to write a book like this without the reader feeling that anything not about apartheid is tacked on to make it into a novel rather than a non-fiction work. I found the characters of Anne and Matthew Marais, a radical defence lawyer, and their relationship, to be a bit flimsy. Matthew is the symbol of white resistance with his unwavering belief that the system can be destroyed, if not by his actions then by those of future generations. He seems to be too good - never a crisis of faith, never questioning his actions. Anne's role is to enable us to learn about apartheid as she does and as she questions Matthew's devotion to the cause. She has just come out of a difficult relationship and he has come out of a traumatic divorce - it's a bit too obvious that they are destined to be together. Overall a good read. Message edited by its author, May 28, 2009, 5:30am.  BOOK 27: The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński This is the first book by Polish foreign correspondent Kapuściński of what would have been a trilogy of works about absolute power (Shah of Shahs was published in the 1980s; the third book about Idi Amin is unfinished). The Emperor recounts a series of interviews Kapuściński conducted with members of Haile Selassie's Ethiopian court after its fall in 1974, interspersed with some observations from Kapuściński. It provides a fascinating insight not only into the absurdities of the regime and the amazing levels of manipulation and misinformation that were required to keep it going, but also into the approaching downfall of the monarchy and the reaction/inaction of the emperor and his courtiers. I particularly enjoyed the details of the Emperor's daily routine - the early morning walks when ministers submitted reports to Selaisse while he fed his lions; the Hour of Assignments when he gave out promotions, prizes and demotions; the Hour of the Cashbox during which subjects would line up to put their case for money to the emperor. The cult of personality that reigned is also really interesting. The courtiers interviewed continued to call Selaisse 'His Merciful Highness', 'His Benevolent Majesty', 'His August Majesty' and many other extravagant titles after his downfall. The country's constitution stated that the emperor was a direct descendant of Solomon. There is a strong sense from those interviewed of shock that anyone could challenge the authority of a man who tried so hard to help his country. While this is a work of non-fiction, the extreme and ridiculous aspects of the regime mean that the story of Selaisse's court often reads like a satire of absolute rule. Message edited by its author, Jun 1, 2009, 7:25am.  BOOK 28: Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Wizard of the Crow is a scathing satire of African politics, religion and ideas of masculinity and Western development policies. It also encompasses a love story and sorcery. The book is set in the fictional Free Republic of Aburiria, a country governed by the Ruler. The story starts as it is decided that a tower will be built that reaches right up to Heaven, elevating the Ruler to the same level as God. We follow events as this project falls apart and a small group of activists begin to challenge his rule. The story is full of absurdities, coincidences and unbelievable incidents that should make it unreadable, yet it works really well. I think that is it wasn't set up as a satire, I would have found it more difficult to enjoy. Magical realism (which I think this is classed as?) isn't really my thing. At over 700 pages, this book covers a great deal and I can't do it justice here. Suffice to say that it's funny and thought provoking. Wizard of the Crow reminds me very much of the beginning of The Master and Margarita (which I love). It has also been compared to Midnight's Children (which I hate beyond measure). It's certainly been an interesting follow up to The Emperor. While the intrigues and excesses of the Ruler's dictatorship seem unbelievably extreme, it isn't much different to the realities of Haile Selassie's regime! Interesting note: Ngũgĩ translated this from his Gĩkũyũ version. Following a discussion about this on rebeccanyc's thread, I've e-mailed him to ask about this process. Did he write the two versions side by side, or did he revisit the Gĩkũyũ text? If the latter, was he able to approach the task dispassionately or did he make changes to the text? I await a response... ETA: I did really love this book and know that I will be going back to it again and again. Message edited by its author, Jun 6, 2009, 4:56am.  BOOK 29: The Bell by Iris Murdoch (book club - Christina's choice) The Bell is set in a religious community of nuns and lay members in 1950s rural England. Two new people come into the community - Dora, who is coming to stay with her estranged husband, and Toby, a 18 year-old who is about to take up a place at Oxford. We follow their, and others', experiences over a summer. I enjoyed this more than I expected to but I think that the deeper philosophical points are lost on me. I need to do some more thinking about the symbolism of the nuns and the bell itself. A couple of the characters feel very dated. Michael, the founder of the community, is a gay man and teacher with a penchant for young men - a typical caricature of gay men being at the mercy of their libidos. I'm not sure if this is an indication of the time the novel was written or whether Murdoch was homophobic. Probably the former? Dora's character also tends to be what one might expect from a 1950s novel. She is happiest when she has left behind her sexual promiscuity and is playing housekeeper for Michael, although there is hope for her as she heads off to a new independent life.  BOOK 30: The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta Back in Africa... Starting in early 1900s West Africa, we follow the life of Nnu Ego, from her conception to her death. This is a story of gender, poverty and change in Nigerian society. Emecheta describes the expectations placed on women and the physical and emotional strains of motherhood. Nnu undergoes the humiliation of childlessness but goes on to have nine children, learning along the way that wifehood and motherhood do not automatically confer happiness and security. Nnu comes from a village and has clear expectations from a husband that become irrelevant when she arrives for a new marriage in Lagos. Her new husband is a house servant who takes great pride in cleaning his mistresses clothes - demeaning and emasculating work in Nnu's eyes. There is a continuing clash between Nnu's rural upbringing and the reality of city living. We also see the impact of changes in Nigerian society. For example, by the time her children are grown up and should be providing for her (as would have happened in the village), they are trying to escape the grinding poverty of their childhoods, seize the new opportunities that are available to them and reject their parents' values. One daughter, for example, marries a Muslim from another ethnic group - an unforgivable action. This was an interesting read, but I found Emechta's writing style difficult to enjoy. It very much feels like a book written to make a point about gender in Africa. She often uses her character's thoughts/speech to unnecessarily emphasis the points being made. This feels heavy handed and I think it would be better to leave this to the reader. Also, the narrative voice uses sophisticated language that jars with the simplicity of the character's speech. For me, a book like Things Fall Apart addresses both of these issues much more successfully. Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2009, 4:52am.  BOOK 31: The Weather in Africa by Martha Gellhorn Three absorbing novellas about Europeans in East Africa. On the Mountain: two sisters return to run their parents' hotel on Kilimanjiro. One is selfish and rebellious and embarks on what becomes a masochistic relationship with a black man. The other, quieter, more obedient daughter becomes pregnant out of wedlock (it's set in the 70s). This was a great story to follow The Joys of Motherhood as it explores parents' expectations and how children do, or do not, live up to these. By the Sea: a lovely but tragic story of a woman who escapes to Africa after the death of her son and the break up of her marriage. Gellhorn shows how grief cuts across ethnic divides. My favourite of the three. In the Highlands: a troubled former POW finds solace through an African farm and an African child. Through each novella Gellhorn skilfully highlights the constrictions and the racism of European society in East Africa without detracting from the main action of the stories themselves. Message edited by its author, Jun 14, 2009, 4:57am.  BOOK 32: Deadlock by Sara Paretsky An easy book for a lazy Sunday. I read little detective fiction, but I do enjoy Paretsky's series about the PI, V I Warshawski. Warshawski is a Scotch-drinking, fallible woman who doesn't like housework. She always cares too much - her cases developing because of her interest in the victims or just can't curb her curiosity. I like her. Sure, the stories are formulaic, but that's OK by me. The settings are always interesting. This one focuses on the dockyards of Chicago, and I've learnt a lot about shipping!  BOOK 33: My Driver by Maggie Gee Vanessa Henman is an English writer invited to an international writers conference in Kampala, Uganda. While there she intends to make a surprise visit to see Mary Tendo, the woman who used to be her cleaner. Meanwhile Mary has invited Vanessa's ex-husband, Trevor, to Uganda to help fix in her village. Trevor and Vanessa don't tell each other about their trips, and for much of the story they are either turning up in the same place within a few minutes of each other or they see but don't recognise each other. Their story is interspersed with Mary's, that of her lost son who has become a child soldier and V & T's son and grandson in London. The threat of war between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo is always in the background - Gee reminds us that the scramble for Africa's rich resources continues unabated. This was an enjoyable book, but it didn't blow me away. The 'will they meet/won't they meet' aspect of V & T's story felt contrived after a while and the huge coincidence at the end tied things up too nicely to be believeable. I did enjoy Vanessa's character although she is a hard woman to like. Her delusions of grandeur about her status as a writer, her anxiety to be liked and respected and her fears about travelling alone in Africa may make her seem arrogant and unpleasant, but they are very human frailties and the more I think about her the more I feel for her. The other characters had much less depth, except Mary. But I feel like I didn't quite get to grips with her, perhaps because she is a very abrasive woman. Or perhaps because her experiences (colonialism, post-colonial life, losing a son, having to work as a cleaner) are not my experiences and never will be and it's easier for me to identify with Vanessa? But that hasn't stopped me empathising with other protagonists during my African summer, so I'm probably reading too much into it. Message edited by its author, Jun 17, 2009, 1:53pm.  BOOK 34: The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer The Pickup is the story of Julie, a white South African from a wealthy family, and Ibrahim, an illegal immigrant who fixes her car when it breaks down in a dodgy neighbourhood. They start a relationship but the authorities catch up with Ibrahim and he is forced to return to his home. Julie decides to go with him, he insists they must marry and then they head off to a small village in an unnamed Arab country. At this point I expected the story to follow Julie's problems settling into a new culture. However, Gordimer takes us down a different road. This is a tale of the reasons for emigration rather than the problems of immigration. Ibrahim finds his return to village life difficult and wants to get out again as quickly as possible. Julie finds the peace and purpose that was lacking in her old life. By the end it is clear that Ibrahim has been Julie's ticket to a new life just as much as she has been his - the pickup worked for both of them. This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. Gordimer explores emigration and immigration without resorting to cliches, stereotypes and politicised comments on either culture. I liked that it surprised me. Message edited by its author, Jun 20, 2009, 4:14am.  BOOK 35: Tropical Fish: stories out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana Tropical Fish consists of eight short stories told by three sisters, Rosa, Patti and Christine, growing up in Entebbe, Uganda. The stories are well-written. I particularly enjoyed following Christine as she moved to Los Angeles and then returned to Uganda years later. Her isolation in LA reminded me of when I first arrived in London.  BOOK 36: Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison Another diversion from my African sojourn. This is a dystopian detective story written in 1966 and set in 1999, a time when there are water, food and power shortages and life seems basically appalling for the vast majority of the 35 million people now living in New York City. Andy Rausch is an NYC policeman tasked with finding out who murdered a well-connected gangster. The story is essentially a vehicle for Harrison to expound his belief in the need for the United States to actively pursue a policy of birth control before humans deplete natural resources and anarchy descends. And to be honest, there's not much more to it than that.  BOOK 37: God's Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene Sembene's most well-known work, God's Bits of Wood is set during the 1947-8 strike by the Dakar-Niger Railway workers who were demanding better pay, family allowances and pensions. We follow the men, women and children affected by the strike as the authorities' cut off their food and water supplies. Ultimately the strikers were successful in forcing the railway company to negotiate. Sembene was himself a union organiser and member of the Communist Party in France. Because of this I expected a lot of politicised speeches from the book's characters. However, he tackles his subject in a much more subtle manner - the injustices of the colonial system are effectively conveyed without heavy-handed diatribes. What struck me most was how the role of women in society changed during the strike because of the extreme situation they were in. At the beginning a girl is chastised by the women for going to the meetings where men were discussing the proposed strike, an unseemly place for a woman to be. By the end of the book, women were leading protests and riots and seem to have been much more active than men in organising militant action. I think this is because the privations of this time affected women much more - despite the food shortages they were still expected to provide for their families, and they were constantly confronted with the sight of their starving children or by not being able to produce enough milk for their babies. The book also illustrates the ambivalence experienced by those who are colonised, a common theme through my African summer. The colonial power is hated, yet its language and customs are appropriated often by young people for whom they represent sophistication and a way to get ahead. A young woman in the book is proud of her ability to speak French but it ultimately leads to her humiliation as she can understand the lewd comments made about her by French officials. Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 6:40pm.  BOOK: 38: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus is the story of a Nigerian family slowly falling apart alongside the political disintegration of their country. The narrator is Kambili, the 15 year old daughter of a well-respected, well-off, very religious man who unbeknown to outsiders beats his family on a regular basis. The lives of Kambili and her brother Jaja are closely regulated by their controlling father and they have little experience of life beyond school, church and home. The children go to stay with their aunt and cousins for a few days and begin to discover a different way of living that involves laughter, love and freedom. This is a wonderfully written book that fully immersed me in Kambili's life and her struggle to find her own voice after years of dominance by her father. Adichie skillfully despicts the contradictions of family relationships - Kambili loves her father and still wants to please him even after he beats her nearly to death. Purple Hibiscus reminded me of Go Tell it on the Mountain (book 11 in my list), with similar themes of oppression and patriarchy.  BOOK 39: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton This is a tragic, yet uplifting story that follows Stephen Kumalo as he searches the Johannesburg slums for his estranged sister and son. There is so much more I could write but I really don't want to spoil it for anyone new to the book. Suffice to say that I was practically in tears on the tube this monring and, as noted above, that's pretty unusual. While the novel undoubtedly has a political message about the inequalities of 1940s South Africa (the book was published before the implementation of apartheid), it does not impose uncomfortably on the story of reconciliation between fathers and sons - reconciliations that come too late - and shared grief. Whites and blacks are not shown exclusively as monsters or victims; humanity is possible across racial divides.  BOOK 40: If This Be Treason: Translation and its Dyscontents, a memoir by Gregory Rabassa Rabassa, a translator of South American writers including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, discusses his translations and the influences on his life that led him to literary translation. Unfortunately, he comes across as quite an arrogant man. His apparent awareness, as a child, of language, bird song, tone etc feels overexaggerated. He is very keen to assure us that writerts such as Garcia Marquez only moved on to other translators because Rabassa was far to busy to work with them. Garcia Marquez's name is dropped constantly. I haven't read any of the works he discusses (in fact, I don't think I have read much South American literature at all. Shameful) and do not understand Spanish or Portugese so I'm sure many of his points are lost on me. However, it is interesting to think about the problems of translation and how convey a sense of place and social and hsitorical context in another language simply through the correct choice of words. Debug test: your member name is: |
Touchstone worksTouchstone authorsChinua Achebe Lorraine Adams Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Margaret Atwood Margaret; Atwood Atwood Doreen Baingana James Baldwin J. G. Ballard Tahar Ben Jelloun Mary Benson John Berendt Roberto Bolaño Mikhail Bulgakov Anthony Burgess Octavia E. Butler Josef and Capek, Karel Capek Karel Čapek Vikram Chandra Ted Chiang William Dalrymple E. M. Delafield Don DeLillo Philip K. Dick L. Timmel Duchamp Elaine Dundy elizabeth taylor Buchi Emecheta Susan Faludi Maggie Gee Martha Gellhorn William Gibson Nadine Gordimer Ken Grimwood Joe Haldeman Harry Harrison Jaroslav Hašek Robert A. Heinlein Frank Herbert Siri Hustvedt Aldous Huxley Kazuo Ishiguro Tahar Ben Jelloun Ken Kalfus Ryszard Kapuściński Anna Kavan Laila Lalami Harper Lee Ursula K. Le Guin Penelope Lively Mary S. Lovell Paul J. McAuley Carson McCullers Sean McMullen Delafield E M Martin Meredith Claire Messud Walter M. Miller Nancy Mitford Elizabeth Moon Charlotte Mosley Iris Murdoch Pat Murphy Barbara Noble Flannery O'Connor Joseph O'Neill George Orwell Ousmane Sembène Sara Paretsky Alan Paton Marge Piercy Sylvia Plath Marcel Proust Gregory Rabassa Ayn Rand Alastair Reynolds Roberto Bolano Gregory David Roberts Salman Rushdie Mary Doria Russell Joe Sacco Vita Sackville-West Sarah Walters Neal Stephenson Elizabeth Taylor Sheri S. Tepper Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo Jessica Warner Sarah Waters Ngugi wa Thiongo Mary Watson Rebecca West Dorothy Whipple Geoff Wisner |
