July
I like this reissuing of old adventure classics. I see things in book shops that I wouldn't usually look at. This was no exception. I really enjoyed it. Yes, there was "interesting" biological explanations, excess anthropomorphising the animals in it, and embarassing racism, but other than that it was a very readable adventure story. The movie Graystoke presumably encompassed the first couple of books, rather than just this one, which was a good thing, as it prevented me from thinking of Christopher Lambert at all when reading it. Good stuff.
Underground
I tried to find this last time I was in London, but my copy seems to have gone walkabout. I bought a new copy the other day after reading something on Aum Shinrikyo somewhere on te internet when bored. The interviews in the book are extremely interesting, more as testimonies on the Japanese mind rather than the attacks themselves. It's shocking how many people, even when hearing it was a gas attack and feeling sick themselves, still decided to go to work. Says a lot. It's also slightly unnerving how many of the "quiet" students I teach I can see in the ex-Aum renunciates. It could certainly happen again.
June
After reading Engleby (see below), I really wanted to read a few of Faulks' other books, especially this, which I remember being very highly thought of. It didn't disappoint. The sections in the past were uniformly excellent, and my only complaint would be that I would have liked there to be more of them. The parts from the 70s were also excellent, although I would have wanted a little less of them. It made me wonder again why no-one has yet made a WW1 film along the same lines as Saving Private Ryan. Someone should. Generally excellent.
A History Of Modern Britain
My mum gave me this after urging me to read for ages with entreaties of how ill-educated I was in British History. I enjoyed this history a lot. I like Andrew Marr, and his writing was very readable and had a lot of the interesting anacdotes that make narrative histories enjoyable. The book was long, but then trying to squeeze 50 years of history in 600 pages cannot have been an easy task. It was also admirable how unbiased Marr managed to stay throughout the book, with a relatively straight view on what was "better for Britain". Interesting stuff.
Ransom
While there are some flaws in his descriptions of Japan and the Japanese, it's still interesting to read McInerney's tale of a foreign English teacher in Japan, 30 years before I arrived, and interesting to see how little has changed from 30 odd years of foreigner-lead English instruction. The writing is, as ever with McInerney, very good, and the story itself is also absorbing and well-thought out, although perhaps slightly more shallow than some of his works. Nonetheless, it was a refreshing read after the pretty low-quality book I read before.
May
I hadn't read any of the previous novels in Martin Cruz Smith's Renko Series, but my Dad had left this one in Japan after his visit and urged me to read it. I have to say that I was a little disappointed, or at least a little bit confused. I found the book average, but certainly not as readable as other authors in the similar my-Dad-is-a-fan-of-field, like Michael Crichton. There were also sections of the novel that I plain didn't understand - and it felt like they had just been badly written or badly edited. Alright, but no where near as good as the previous book.
Engleby
My mum sent me this and recommended it highly. I really enjoyed this. The writing was excellent and the characters, particularly Engleby himself are completely believable. The only thing that I found strange about it was the reviews, which said that it was a very black comedy. The only thing that I can see what they mean would be that Engleby comes across as more sane than a lot of the people around him, but that could just mean that I'm also a little odd. Nice to "discover" a new author. Looking forward to reading more of Faulks' works, including his take on Bond.
King Leopold's Ghost
This was a brilliant account of Leopold's purchase of the Congo and his subsequent rape of the rubber and the lives of the lives of the population until its discovery by a simple shipping clerk. The story is true and yet is more extraordinary than most fiction. Leopold comes across as a vile creature, and E.D.Morel seems to be one of the few people in the world who does the right thing for the simple reason that he can and that he knows that it is the right thing to do. The research and argument seems very balanced. More than this, it is an exceedingly readable account of the largest single massacre of people before the Holocaust. Everyone should be made to read it.
April
I thought that this was pretty good, although not as good as some of the other books that hve also failed to win the Booker Prize. The main character comes across relatively realistically, although his actions are sometimes a little too far beyond the pail to be explainable by his just being a child and so he comes across as a little shit, which doesn't really help the story. The political events are portrayed as too complicated for the child to understand which is fair enough, but they seem satisfyingly vicious to the more familiar reader. On the whole, not bad, but the ending felt too rushed for a satisfying conclusion
Alexander - The Ends Of The Earth
The third of the books is also good, but, unlike the previous two, feels a little rushed. This isn't especially surprising considering that it runs from Alexander's conquering of Eqypt until his death, but the really interesting period in India is far too brief, as are the two conspiricies and his romance with Roxanne (who is only introduced about 100 pages from the end of the book). Unlike the other two though, I think it deals with the politics of Alexander in a far more appropriate way, especially the tension caused by his desire to join the Argead and Achmeanid empires. Not popular with the Macedonians. Considering the scope though, and excellent end to an excellent trilogy.
Alexander - The Sands Of Ammon
The secons book in the trilogy is better than the first in that it chronicles the beginnings of Alexander's Asian expedition. The battles and the politics are relatively true to fact and the sexual politics of the age are refreshingly honest, without being draped in anachronistic modern labels like homosexual and bisexual. There is a lot that is left out and I am sure that the book's account of the undoing of the Gordian Knot was different to the version I studied at university, but not significantly so. I also do not remember Barsine character very much from University, but that is quite likely to be more of a fault of my memory than anything else. Overall, this is good stuff.
Alexander - Child of a Dream
I was clearing some books off the shelves in my apartment recently to send back to Blighty and found this serious of three among them. I read them quite a while ago and haven't read them again since and thought that it might be the time after two long, factual books. The first book of the trilogy tells of Alexander's childhood, education under Aristotle and rise to take the throne after the assassination of his father, Philip. The fact that it seems fictional is testamount to his exraordinary achievements. I challenge anyone to read this and not think they could have made more of their lives! Great adventurey stuff!
Congo Journey
A bit of a wierd one this. It took me a very, very long time to finish this book - almost a month. This was partly due to having a break when my Dad came to visit and also due to excess Zelda playing on the morning train leading to less book reading. The book was good, but was also quite slow. It was very interesting to read the account of a trip through the jungle that was based more on the flora and fauna and less on the politics (as Blood River had been), although the politics are more interesting to me. Still, a good book, well written and the character of Lary was hilarious!
March
Tim Butcher's insane overland trip across the Congo, following the route of Stanley makes for a pretty entertaining read in and of itself, but it is the history of the Congo that is the real draw in this book. The tragic past and the even more pathetic present are described in cutting detail, and the inability of the Congoans and the unwillingness (as ever) of the international community to do anything about the situation make for a fascinating read. A good book.
February
This was pretty good, I thought. It had no pretensions of being a serious weighty tome, but was well written and very pleasant and easy to read. It was also rather disturbing in parts and tragically funny in others, the combination of which actually worked quite well. I thought that it was quite a good example of how badly (in my opinion) books like Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code, should have been written. I just learnt that this too (like Revolutionary Road) will be turned into a movie, this one directed by Alfonso Cuaron. As yet, not sure who will star. Could be interesting.
The 39 Steps
This was great. I had read The Riddle of the Sands, another in the Penguin Red Classics series, late last year, and enjoyed the rip-roaring adventure style. This was even better albeit with the usual (it appears for the era), vicious anti-semitism and questionable morality. The story was told at an incredibly fast pace that covered up most of the plot holes and reached a satisfying conclusion with a great last paragraph. Strangely though, the more I read, the less I could remember either of the two movie versions. May have to dig them out and give them another go.
Revolutionary Road
This is exactly the kind of book that my Mum always recommends to me without reading! It was excellent. Brilliantly nuanced and perfectly paced. It was also incredibly depressing by the end! I always then tell my mum this and she acts surprised, as if she would never dream of recommending such a thing! I enjoyed particularly the way Yates describes a character or an event in such lush terms only to clinically lacerate it the next moment, stripping it off all its pointless social meaning. A very good book. I can aonly cringe at the news that the Wheelers will be portrayed in the upcoming film by Leo and Kate - reunited again! Can't imagine many people worse than Di Caprio for the part of Frank...oh well, what do I know?
Animal's People
This story of a city crippled by a chemical gas leak was recommended to me as the best of the Booker Prize nominees. It was very good, and I found it amusing how all the reviews noted the "bawdy" and "honest" nature of the book (meaning the characters swore a lot and talked about sex). The last 50 odd pages are a powerhouse display of writing talent that rather overshadow the rest of the book although I think the very conclusion lets the rest of the story down a little bit. Overall though a very well written book.
January
I thought this was good. The book is written from the perspective of the four members of a family, one section from each character, repeated 3 times for the beginning, middle and end. These four seperate voices were all defined and well differentiated from eachother. The character of Amber didn't seem so well written though, and the sections that seemed to be about her didn't really hold together so well for me. I also coudn't quite work out if the parents were correct in their insinuations about her later in the book, not that it made much difference.
On Chesil Beach
At first this book seemed quite light and airy, with a feeling of youthful foolishness floating above it. By the end it had turned into a dark, cutting and yet still poignant tale of how single moments can define entire lives, especially where the heart is concerned. Beautifully written and structured, the book that won the Booker this year must have been pretty special to have beaten this, and I've been told that other books on the list were better than both of them. Looking forward to reading them if they can compare with this.
The Naked and the Dead
I had read this years ago way before I came to Japan, and since Mailer had recently died the publishers had brought out a new version, which I decided to pick up and re-read. It is an excellent book, although the parts where they go into the history of the various characters can grate a bit. It is also very obviously influenced by the great Russians, who Mailer states that he read during the writing of it. Shocking though, and interesting to read an account of the second world war written with a style normally associated with Vietnam era literature.
