Eating People Is Wrong (Malcolm Bradbury)

Malcolm Bradbury
Eating People Is Wrong

Another book I got from the free bookshop in Stratford shopping centre by an author I'd not read before. The story's centred on a red brick university professor who seems to be very comfortable in his job and life style. It starts off at a fairly lazy pace introducing the various characters most of whom are in some way disconnected from the real world living in, or trying to enter, an academic bubble. The resulting relationships, formed and unformed, and misunderstandings, often unwittingly engineered by the very ones who are misunderstood, make for awkward yet absurd situations that at times are laugh out loud. Maybe it's the setting but it's a bit like a softer, yet no less enjoyable, Tom Sharpe without the crudity and without being led into unbelievable outcomes. That's partly the beauty of this book in that the outcomes are very real and ones that we have all felt to some degree. Although to be honest my time at a redbrick university was in no way alienating. If I had been a little more alienated instead of spending all my time socialising maybe I would've got a better degree.

As the story goes on the plot moves from gentle ha ha into a darker phase whereby the amusing situations have a harder edge and stronger effect on our heroes and those who live comfortably in the world counterpoint the feelings and actions of those who don't. The inevitable outcomes of the initial situations come home to roost bringing with them a pathos reminding me of Orwell (Coming Up for Air) or Hardy (virtually everything). Like both these authors Bradbury links the personal upsets and challenges of the characters to the wider societal changes both within their immediate environment (a college in this book) and in society. Along the way there are comments on the young angry brigade of writers and artists (this was written in the late 50s) which remind me of more recent attitudes to striking young artists. By the end of the book the transformation from comedy to alienation is complete and we leave our main man in a situation much further from any distance that he felt within the college. Indeed in a situation where thought is replaced by bodily function. Contrary to this another of the characters seems to have gone the other way whereby his mind has informed his body's condition. Either way the outcome seems similar. And inconclusive.

The book title comes from a sketch by Flanders and Swann that ends by likening eating people to fighting people. I guess the point of the title is that where you draw your line in relationships and society is a moving point and inevitably different from others. And also heavily informed by society at large. This chimes with my recent conversion to veganism (bar the odd cheesecake that I thought was made of tofu instead of ricotta) which has made me think deeper about how far I am willing to travel down the road of ethically and environmentally friendly food sourcing. Figuratively travelling personally but in actual miles too. Not eating honey (which was a surprise to me when I turned vegan but thought in for a penny in for a pound and gave it up) is one step down the road but now one of my greatest dilemmas is drinking almond milk as most almonds are grown in California and rely on the transport of millions of bees back and forth across the USA with resultant death and stress on those poor defenceless creatures. OK, not so defenceless if a swarm attacks you but I guess you know what I mean. Not sure how I got to this when reviewing a book about academic life but I'm sure that some sociologist out there (Matt?) will explain and add in the Comments section...

Couples (John Updike)

John Updike
Couples

Never read any Updike before, that I can remember, and I found this in a free bookshop in Stratford. Not an independent or underground bookshop - one that gives you 3 books free of charge. A no lose situation I thought, as one of Updike's characters may say. And that's the problem. His characters all seem a bit one dimensional and very irritating. And unlikeable. Add to that the descriptions of infidelity, not graphic but mainly from the emotional viewpoint, and other character's views of these shenanigans creates a very dated and boring novel. I guess it was written in the mid 60's and by all accounts it was pretty risque at the time so maybe this was a breath of fresh air east coast style. But reading now it falls between being provocative, sexy, titillating or illuminating. I thought at first that the style was something I could hang onto but even that becomes tedious and predictable. It's as if it's written for a magazine in a formulaic way. I got a third of the way through and whilst I found the book amusing, not funny amusing but it passed the time, I wasn't hooked. Pausing my evening's reading to make a cup of tea I came back and just couldn't face opening the thing up again. I was bored. Life's too short to read Updike, at least my remaining life is. Maybe I should've read it back in the 70's when it was only 10 years old and when I was a pubescent youth and open to a bit of titillation. But I'm sure he didn't write for frustrated British early teens. Christ, I'm beginning to write like him. I don't often give up on a novel but the bookmark is forever lodged between pages 158 and 159. Not enjoyable.

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)

Carson McCullers
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

An excellent book written with real pathos and empathy with the main characters. These characters are well built up and we see their strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are a sense of commitment to their beliefs those being ones that we can identify with. The weaknesses are an otherworldliness that distances them from those around them and in some sense from us as readers. The main protagonists, ironically given the way that Carson writes, don't seem to have empathy for others or understand how they cause distress for their loved ones and try to force their views on others. The hub of attention is a deaf mute who is used by others as someone to pour their hearts and dreams out to but turns out to be someone who truly doesn't understand them and is simply a person for them to use as therapy. I think the point Carson makes is that everyone needs a shoulder to lean on and not necessarily one that tries to help resolve your problems.

The stories weaved into the characters reminds me of Steinbeck's Cannery Row which is one of my favourite novels which I can go back to time and again. This book isn't as riotous and laugh out loud in it's anecdotes but has the same sensitivity to descriptions of outsiders with their flawed characters (aren't we all?)  There is at times an uncomfortable undercurrent of underage sex which is realised in a gentle and romantic way.

Overall a novel I really enjoyed, as did Debbie, leaving me wanting to read more by this young author (was at the time of writing) who had a troubled life. This was her first novel published 5 years before Cannery Row. Recommended.