It is nearly two years since I listed the books that I had read – or at least started to read – during the previous year, so I thought I should repeat the exercise – only this time covering nearly two years. The list is not in chronological (or any particular) order and may not be complete.
Small Island – Andrea Levy
I came across the title of this novel in a list of “best novels in the last n years”, though I understand that it has been serialised by BBC radio. I am very glad I found it. It is very topical and relevant in the light of the “Windrush generation” debate. The story is told from three viewpoints, two of them being Jamaican migrants coming to England in the 1940s, and one an English landlady who – to her neighbours’ dismay – is prepared to let her rooms to black people. The novel captures the language, the attitudes, the naive but disappointed expectations, the racism and discrimination of the period. A particular incident that sticks in the mind is the riot that ensues when our Jamaican hero tries to sit with his white companion in a cinema where the white American GIs are strictly segregated from the black GIs.
Although community relations are still far from perfect in the UK today, we have come a long way since the attitudes and behaviour depicted here were prevalent (as recently as the 1960s in my own memory). I thoroughly recommend this book.
Things fall apart – Chinua Achebe
Again I came across this book in a list of recommended “best novels” – this time the BBC’s “100 most inspiring novels”. It describes the unsuccessful struggle of a Nigerian village wrestler/farmer to maintain the Igbo culture and way of life against the British colonialists imposing their alien religion and culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I was amazed that, despite having been first published in 1958, the book is so little known in mainstream English literature studies. Perhaps it is because it is written in a rather naive pedestrian style and deals with unfamiliar customs and objects, but it is a powerful indictment of British (and other European) colonialism. Arguably, it also holds lessons for more recent attempts to impose western ideology and culture on unreceptive peoples (cf. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya).
The Valley of Bones – Anthony Powell
Marjorie is an admirer of Anthony Powell and returns every few years to re-read his magnum opus, “A dance to the music of time”. This is a sequence of twelve novels described by Wikipedia as “an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in English political, cultural and military life in the mid-20th century”. The seventh novel in the sequence, “The Valley of Bones”, deals with the hero’s experiences in the second world war, and is comparable with Evelyn Waugh’s war trilogy “Sword of Honour.” I found this volume amusing and the character development convincing, but Powell deals primarily with a level of society (upper middle class, landed gentry, minor aristocrats) that I find distasteful, and I don’t think I could enjoy reading another eleven novels about them.
Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart
I am sceptical about the Booker Prize, which I think is primarily a sales promotion exercise (and/or makes awards on political or non-literary grounds), so I was not impressed by the fact that “Shuggie Bain” won the Booker in 2020. However, my interest was aroused since it was described as being about a young boy growing up in working class Glasgow (my favourite city).
I am glad that I read it as I found it a moving account of Shuggie (Scotspeak for Hugh) struggling from a very early age to care for his alcoholic mother in the face of hostility from siblings, neighbours and former and current partners. Highly recommended.
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
You don’t approach Thomas Hardy expecting a laugh a minute or a happy ending, and Jude doesn’t disappoint. I think I may have read it once before many years ago, but I did not remember it and came to it as fresh. Like other Hardy novels it involves unlikely coincidences and characters who disappear and then reappear years later. I also found the character of Jude’s cousin difficult to believe in, but despite this I thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems extraordinary and very sad that the novel was so badly received (on moral grounds) by the 1900 literary establishment that Hardy gave up writing novels and devoted himself to poetry.
Kipps – HG Wells
HG Wells has been regarded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century, but I had only read one of his (The War of the Worlds) and as Kipps is regarded as his masterpiece, I was hoping to enjoy it. However, I didn’t find it very entertaining – rather pedestrian in fact. I think its value is in its observation of the English class system rather than in the actual plot. I only read to about 1/3 of the novel and resorted to skim reading in order to finish it.
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
I had of course read this as a child but wanted to see how I would find it today. It retains its appeal as a schoolboy/girl yarn and I can see why it appealed to previous generations. I wonder if it is still recommended as a children’s book – it is still referred to as if it is a story that everybody knows. It is unintentionally racist in its attitude to “savages”, especially its assumption that the natives would be likely to be cannibals, but in this Defoe was presumably reflecting the misconceptions of 18th century Europeans. If it is still widely read by children, I hope they get some guidance warning them not to imbibe the underlying attitudes.
The murder of Professor Schlick
Despite its dramatic title, this is not a detective novel but an account of the interpersonal relations and arguments of a small group of philosophers who (oversimplifying for the sake of brevity) formed the Vienna Circle of logical positivists from ca 1920 to 1940. Moritz Schlick was the convenor of the group and he was indeed murdered in Vienna on his way to a conference in 1936.
The subject matter appealed to me because although logical positivism is now well out of fashion (indeed discredited) I was very attracted to it as an undergraduate student of philosophy, and I still adhere to some of its propositions. With this background I enjoyed it, but I doubt whether the general reader would find this story interesting.
Trotsky – Robert Service
In case the Labour Party is reading this, I should stress that I am not one of the dreaded “trots” that are claimed to have infiltrated the Party. Nor do I subscribe to world revolution. Nevertheless, Trotsky was a fascinating character. He was viewed by contemporaries as an outstanding writer and orator, but he did not attempt to rival or supplant Lenin – not least because he feared that his Jewishness would be held against him. In fact he made little attempt to cultivate personal popularity and remained somewhat aloof. Although he was the natural successor to Lenin, it was this lack of a personal following that allowed Stalin to overtake him and then exile him from the Soviet Union and eventually to order his murder in Mexico.
The Serpent’s Mark – S.W.Perry
This is a thriller in the genre "historical fiction". That is, it weaves a fictitious story around real people (e.g. playwright and alleged spy, Christopher Marlowe) and actual events in 1591. It posits a conspiracy that could have overthrown Queen Elizabeth I, with lots of religious fanatics, gruesome murders and bogus medical experiments. An ingenious plot, and you could almost believe that it really happened. I was slightly irritated by its jumpimg backwards and forwards in time - "nine months earlier", "next morning" etc. Modern tv dramas seem to do this a lot rather than telling the story in chronological order. Nevertheless I enjoyed it and might tackle some of Perry's other novels.
The Ayrshire legatees – John Galt
In the 1950s, my Uncle John used to live in a Council flat in Galt Avenue, Irvine (his and my mother’s birthplace). I had wondered at the origin of the name, Galt, and after some googling, was surprised to find that John Galt was a minor novelist in the early 19th century who originally came from Irvine although he mainly lived in Canada or Greenock. The Ayrshire Legatees is an epistolary novel about a family that unexpectedly inherits a large sum of money.
L’Etranger (The Stranger) – Albert Camus
If I am honest I read this short novel (in French) because I felt it was a gap in my education that ought to be filled - rather than because I thought it would be an entertaining read. The plot is slight, and the interest lies in the reflections of Meursault (the central character) as he awaits his trial and execution for a casual murder. Critics and commentators have found all manner of deep meanings in the novel, and it was voted by readers of Le Monde as the best novel ever, but I am afraid that I did not spend enough time or effort on it to fully understand it.
Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag – Eduard Morike
I decided to tackle this novel as part of my "brush up your German" project - that is, reading it in German - and also because I quite liked the poems by Morike that were part of the A-level syllabus in 1959. I have really only just started it and am finding it hard going, so I may comment on it later if/when I have made sufficient progress.
Life on our planet - Attenborough
This is Attenborough's moving account of the impending catastrophe that is about to engulf humanity and indeed all life on this planet - recalling his own changing role and perception and realisation of what is happening. He manages to find some grounds for hope that the catastrophe may be averted - but only if measures are taken that are far more radical than are currently contemplated by our political leaders. It should be essential reading for every politician in the world, but sadly most are not listening.
Journal of the plague year – Daniel Defoe
When the Covid 19 virus took hold in early 2020, I thought it would be interesting to read a contemporary account of the bubonic plague outbreak that swept Europe in the 17th century. With this in mind I started to read Defoe’s “Journal” and found it to be a graphic and quite scary account of the effect of the epidemic in London. However, I then discovered that it was not in fact an eye witness account but had been written nearly a century later based on reports written by others. In effect, it was “historical fiction” rather than contemporary history or journalism, so I gave up. Nevertheless it is convincing and well written.
Ashenden – Somerset Maugham
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
This was one of Jane Austen's six major novels that I hadn't read, and I enjoyed making good the omission.
Dead souls – Nikolai Gogol
Sir John Magill’s last journey - Freeman Wills Croft
I have some time for FWC. He was writing in the 1920s/30s, contemporary with Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey – that lot. His style is very pedestrian, with much laborious detail, but these details turn out to be critical for the unfolding of the story. I had been very impressed by “The Loss of the Jane Vosper”, which has a genuinely surprising and convincing ending, but “Sir JM’s last journey” does not live up to it. Although this has nothing to do with its literary merits, what I did find interesting is that in the 1920s the main railway route from London to Belfast was via the Stranraer-Larne ferry, so that the route from Carlisle-Dumfries-Castle Douglas-Stranraer (closed by Beeching) was in effect the main line.
Wuthering Heights – Charlotte Bronte
This is another novel that everyone is supposed to have read (or to read before you die), and as I had somehow missed out, I though I should catch up.
Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Dark adapted eye – Barbara Vine
Middlemarch – George Eliot
I had tried to read Middlemarch once before (as recommended
by Marjorie) but had found George Eliot’s erudite style (frequently referencing
obscure contemporary works of literature or art) quite pretentious and
irritating. So I only got as far as Dorothea’s marriage to Casaubon before
giving up – albeit feeling guilty at apparently not appreciating one of the
great novels of the 19th century.
However, in order to salve my conscience, I tried again this year and
this time found it well worth the effort and would concur with the judgement
that it is indeed a great novel. I
intend, after an interval, to tackle other works by George Eliot that I haven't previously read.
Fell Murder – ECR Lorac
The World of Yesteryear – Stefan Zweig
China – Culture Smart – Kathy Flower
I know that I read this, as it is on my Kindle app, but it didn't make much impression on me as I can't remember much about it.
Prosperity without Growth - Tim Jackson
Un cirque passé – Patrick Modiano
Original Sin - PD James
The author is a well regarded crime fiction writer, so I thought I should try her out. However, I am beginning to find these stories rather tedious and written to a predictable formula (mysterious unexplained death, suspects all have motive for his/her murder but all appear to have alibis, then doubt about one or two alibis, then a new unexpected motive emerges....etc etc). Usually not much character development. This novel is representative of the genre, and I wouldn’t spend more than a few hours (say, two evenings) on it.
The girl with the dragon tattoo – Stieg Larsson
This is apparently the original of the series that has been adapted for various television dramas etc. As crime/mystery/thrillers go it is very entertaining and holds the attention.
China in One Village – Liang Hong
This is a study of the changes (environmental, social, industrial, agricultural) in the Chinese author’s village from when she was a child 30 years ago to the present day, also touching on the chaotic yet authoritarian administration of the village and its region. It describes the appalling, indeed disgusting state of the rural village, the brutal lives of its inhabitants, the social and family problems created by the migration of parents to the city to work, leaving their children to be brought up by their grandparents – apparently on the understanding that they will be cared for in their old age by their own children. Oddly, there is no mention of the one-child policy, which did not seem to apply in the village as there are numerous siblings, cousins, uncles etc. Much of the original village has been demolished (or fallen down, as they were built with mud bricks), but elements of the squalor survive, inhabited by the dropouts and casualties of a very competitive and violent society. It does not seem to be a communist society as we would recognise it, as small scale private enterprise flourishes, particularly in order, for example, to pay school fees.
I would not recommend spending more than a day or so reading it, as it becomes rather repetitive, but I think it is a salutory background or antidote to the reports of China’s academic, industrial and military prowess.
The Plot - Jean Hanff Korelitz
This is a story of failed American writer/teacher who has a sudden success when he borrows/steals/plagiarises a plot from a former student - and the consequences that this leads to. Although I am normally easily distracted or diverted, I found it held my attention and I was anxious to get back to it to see what happened next. So it has something about it, albeit the actual plot would not withstand too much close analysis.
© 2021 Robin Paice
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