The Master And Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov)

Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master And Margarita

An odd tale involving the devil and his minions causing havoc in Moscow intertwined with the story of Pontius Pilot and the crucifixion. A fascinating story and very readable. Not being around when it was written in 1920s - 20s USSR I can only guess that it's somehow paralleling the biblical story of good and evil with the evolution of the revolution from a people's uprising into a tyrannical dictatorship and the resultant Stalinist purges. And possibly hitting out at contemporary religious superstitions in what was meant to be a country without religion. Plus a bit of sniping at the arts establishment I'm sure. A review of academics analysis will no doubt prove my take on the book wrong and I wrote this resisting the urge to have a look on-line. A great book and I'll have to read more by Bulgakov. This translation also has reference notes which is fairly essential to really understand the storyline.

White Bicycles (Joe Boyd)

Joe Boyd
White Bicycles (making music in the 1960s)

Very interesting and readable book about an American who comes over to the UK managing old blues and soul bands and then stays. He starts managing folk bands including Fairport Convention and sets up the UFO psychedelic club in the West End where Pink Floyd build up their following. He gets involved in a lot of the British folk and psychedelic scene and also in the States too. Oh yeah, he was a stage manager at Woodstock too. Lots of interesting anecdotes although no really salacious stories which is good really as with those you do wonder with those whether they're there simply to sell the book. The "American in London" stories are amusing too. All in all a good read and made me listen to some of the old folk bands. Unfortunately they still sound crap. Fun to read about though.

The Steel Flea (Nikolay Leskov)

Nikolay Leskov
The Steel Flea

A strange little tale, and it is very short, about Russian craftsmen bettering British crafts. Oddly written with sometimes nonsensical sentences and words which I assume this translation is attempting to match the original Russian feel of the book. It may be a tale mourning the loss of artisan craftmanship. Or maybe simply a weird little tale. Thoroughly enjoyable. I'll end this now or this review may be longer than the story.

The Wasteland and other poems

T. S. Eliot
The Wasteland and other poems

I can't really give a fair review of this as I find it hard to get to grips with poetry much as I try. Interesting enough but I tend to zone out of poems and forget what was going on. If anything was. I guess that shows why I don't "get" most poetry. A classic. Apparently.

Clock Without Hands (Carson McCullers)

Carson McCullers
Clock Without Hands

Another compelling read by CC which flies pretty close to the wind in it's language and at times I did wonder what people would think if idly reading over my shoulder on the tube. She is John Steinbeck like in describing awful or pathetic, or both, characters with pathos. The main character in a way is someone dieing but all around worse is happening and he is just an outsider bystander who has a sad life only realising his realistic potential when it's too late. Or because it's too late. Like Steinbeck there are lots of characters intertwined without necessarily having a major impact on the plot. Or plots. Or is there a plot. A pathetic, in the older sense of the word, story that incites both pity and hatred in equal measures. At the same time. As complex a tale as I've read in so few pages. I'd like to read her biography...

Wessex Tales (Thomas Hardy)

Thomas Hardy
Wessex Tales



A series of short stories showcasing the best of Hardy's humour, fondness for the common man and with his usual insight into our needs, wants, foibles and anxieties. Hardy's women come through particularly strongly in some of these stories and indeed the last story has an alternative ending suggested that Hardy would have preferred except that literary form insisted on the original. As always, readable, interesting and compelling.

The Member of the Wedding (Carson McCullers)

Carson McCullers
The Member of the Wedding

Whimsical story of a young girl about to go through puberty with a hard scary edge. Reminiscent of Harper Lee's descriptive style. And has a wild young girl. It's a sort of coming of age story darkly sinister in parts with strands of sexuality and naivity. Our heroine is unconnected to those around including close family but once she decides to go out into the world becomes connected to everyone. Philisophical in parts. The ending seems as if she's found herself and is happy but can we really see that she is or still playing fantasy games.

Future Perfect (Steven Johnson)

Steven Johnson
Future Perfect



An interesting book but ultimately his arguments are flawed by inaccuracies and handpicked examples that only really serve to undermine his thesis. For example was Kickstarter really the first to allow small companies to set themselves up with little capital? What about the indie record model as only one example. And books. There is very little social analysis of arguments and not sure why the web is changing the world for the better. His comparison to political left or right / central control or libertarian is nonsense and arbitrary, giving a level of world view analysis that it doesn't warrant by extrapolating theories from an insubstantial starting point. The journalism chapter has no mention of lies that can be peddled on the internet with very little analysis or critique now. He muddles free markets with democracy as if one and the same and has an extremely naive view that big corporations or those who benefit from them will roll over and allow a networked market share in the benefits of profit. Bullshit and of course the big corps will fight down the newcomers if they possibly can. The main network he models his theory on, the internet was itself  born top down from the USA military and then academia. Other naive points that to be honest he's not the only one to fall into are shown especially in the chapter on democracy: the American Tea party is not for big corporations - surely that's the inevitable outcome of the unregulated market they espouse. Bottom line is that this is a capitalist apologist plucking examples with little context. School teachers motivated by cash?!

Tom Jones (Henry Fielding)

Henry Fielding
Tom Jones

Don Quite vs Cant Tales mashup. Main story with lots of sub plots and indeed separate stories altogether although adding to the gist of the whole  Saucy stories. Odd extra tales. Lewd men and women. Hero unable to restrain desires. Partly oblivious to reality. Sidekick out for their own gain. Verbose prose why use 10 words where 100 will make the story more amusing. Latin chucked in for good measure. Not that I ever learnt it. No my sorta schooling. Later in one of the chapters intro a book  tells us he can steal from the ancients but not contemporaries  as the poor can steal form squires but not each other. Last book intro goes into how he won't be able to conjour up miracles as ancients could with deity interference. Then he does give us an incredulous ending

The Stone Roses: War and Peace (Simon Spence)

Simon Spence
The Stone Roses: War and Peace

A great read of the history of one of the bands that defined a generation. Not my generation but a little later. I missed the initial hype as was out of the country for a while but soon got into them. I hadn't realised their musical pedigree (who influenced them) or the madness that surrounded them. Time must have stood still for them, or the opposite. Years working on an album. Fifteen of some of them not talking to each other. A warts and all very detailed and well researched book which ends with them reforming soon leading to when I saw them at Finsbury Park. Worth reading and better than some band books.

Fear (Stefan Zweig)

Stefan Zweig
Fear

A short novel by an Austrian who fled Hitler settling in London then Bath before America and then committing suicide in a pact with his wife in Brazil. And the novel isn't a bundle of laughs either. Not to give the game away but it's about how someone's life can be overtaken by fear due to consequences of a misdemeanour. At times the subject feels elation and freedom but is brought back to earth by reality in the shape of her family, which she re-evaluates. Following freedom due to the misdemeanour and the initial consequences the fear sets in closing round claustrophobically until intolerable. Interesting ending. Enjoyable book.

And the Sun Shines Now (Adrian Tempany)

Adrian Tempany
And the Sun Shines Now: How Hillsborough and the Premier League Changed Britain

The subtitle says it all really. A well researched and constructed book that starts by describing the horror that was Hillsborough and the way that the police, football authorities, media and politicians colluded to blame Liverpool fans for the disaster instead of the lack of investment in safety at grounds and poor policing handing to the media and politicians a stick to beat football fans and to hand football over to big business thereby alienating fans. Most of us are still coming to terms with this and whilst you can never change your team more fans are staying away from matches or following other smaller teams in leagues which aren't completely at the mercy of dodgy billionaire owners buying trophies. Even little Leicester are owned by a Thai billionaire. Hardly Roy of the Rovers stuff. Context is given in that the Conservative government funding by big business was at war with workers and the unions and also other radical groups such as CND and the travellers community (both traditional and new age hippy punks). War on football fans was just another front for the authorities. And whilst Thatcher is name checked let's not kid ourselves that it was just her. The Tory party head is put there by faceless, or at least shy, lobbyists and business interests. And it wasn't just the Tories who attacked workers, fans and radicals Labour are hardly blameless in keeping their paymasters sweet at the expense of those not directly keeping them in their power bases.

The book charts the commercialisation of football, first stop Sky and seating, as a proxy for the commercialisation and privatisation of much of what was publically owned. Yes, football clubs were always privately owned but usually by local businessmen with a vested interest, often as genuine fans, in the club. Now they are assets to be played with in the same way that our energy, telecoms and infrastructure is. China running our nuclear power stations? They don't need to drop bombs on us they just press the "melt down" button. "Free market" philosophy gone mad. Just an excuse for the rich to get richer by doing dodgy deals with state owned players from abroad.

Tempany then compares our football with Germany where most clubs are still fan owned. And they have terracing. And drink beer. And don't have Hillsborough style disasters. He compares to Germany's treatment of small firms in general and both the author and the Germans he speaks to can't understand how English fans allowed our game to be so fucked up. The answer is in the book - money making trumps all.

The book concludes with the Hillsborough verdict being positive despite the police still trying to blame fans. But to be cynical who cares. I can understand that it's comforting to survivors (Adrian is one) and families of the bereaved and therefore well worth fighting for but as always in these miscarriages of justice those responsible are long gone from the scene having taken big fat pensions with them and very unlikely to be brought to justice themselves. It's like the phone hacking scandal. Guarantee the authorities will open it up again to prove that they are serious about justice once everyone involved is retired, dead or "too ill to give evidence". Whilst the book finishes fairly positively, at least about British justice being served, it ought not to. A compelling read though.

Emergence (Steven Johnson)

Steven Johnson
Emergence

A look at how society is developing and will do in the future, and could do to sort out the major societal issues we are facing. A running theme is the way that slime molds congregate and disperse in what seems like a random way but following a series of rules. Also we're introduced to how ants operate in a bottom up control way each knowing what they should be doing by following pheromones and other individualised indicators - and not taking instruction from the central queen. Linking to the way that our brains work this is an interesting read that goes into the way that the internet works and how that could be further developed to bring true localisation and bottom up government and decision making. Fascinating in the scientific parts and interesting in the connection to human behaviour but I'm not convinced that humans can act like ants. You don't see many of them hanging out playing guitar whilst the rest are working hard. But maybe that's a cheap comparison and I'm being cynical. I agree that what Johnson writes about society could be a future but I feel that the comparisons break down simply because we seem to be naturally hierarchical and those who are are running the show top down will defend their position against bottom up movements, however much they pay lip service to free enterprise and the bottom up market forces. To be fair this was written 15 years ago and I'm sure that an updated version would reference the challenges that bottom up movements have faced, and throw in a few more successes. Worth reading.

Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen)

Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey

A study of social mores and associated personal relationships mainly set in the city where I was brought up. The observations are timeless, classless and nationless and therefore of interest to everyone despite the time and place setting of this novel. Starting as a commentary comparing our heroine with romantic trashy novels that she's read she lives as if she's part of one which once reaching the books title seems to take her and the book over. It's preceded by the hero, sister and heroine playfully debating, with a misunderstanding between real life and literature, the actions of people whilst looking over Bath from the vantage point of Beechen Cliff. As my secondary school was at Beechen Cliff and I walked down Jacobs Ladder to Bath every day for years I can just imagine their vista and the smell of wild garlic wafting up through the woods. I'm wondering that if after ridiculing that book genre that Austen falls into it through laziness. The ending in particular is hardly twist in the tail stuff. Maybe the book isn't so timeless and was a lot sharper back when written. A lot of the references to literature would have been better understood no doubt. A good read nevertheless.

Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)

Harper Lee
Go Set a Watchman

After virtually a lifetime the long awaited sequel to To Kill A Mocking Bird. It starts as the last ended with the space of a few years and at first it seems that it will be more in the same vein showing up southern states unfair discrimination. But then it takes a strange twist and the further our heroine rails against what she's seen the more the author seems to justify the segregation position. It gives a completely unexpected reason for the Mocking Bird's hero's actions and you're left wondering if it was always that way. Then our heroine seems to fall into the same view or at least accept why it is. Whereas Mocking Bird left us with hope at a time when it was needed this leaves us with a sour taste and we wonder if things will ever change. This weeks (white) police killings of unarmed or at least incapacitated (black) men show that things haven't really changed much in some places. There again the books obsession with different races procreating seems well out of time reading in London in 2016. It's difficult to know whether Harper Lee is putting forward her opinion or pointing out that things haven't changed in some places. It sort of feels like the former given our natural liking for the characters. Very confusing and disturbing. And very readable.

Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung (Lester Bangs)

Lester Bangs
Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung

A selection of writings by the late Lester Bangs starting back with late 60s garage bands and then 70s reaction to the pomposity of rock leading into punk. Erratically written in a sort of American beat writers free flowing cut & paste format often going into the realms of fantasy. He had a cynical side that allowed him to appraise bands and associated movements at the time and thereby forecast how they would be seen in the future way before it seems many others did. The other side of him was to enthusiastically love new stuff and to relate that back to older bands when they first hit the scene in exciting ways. Often praising bands and individuals for their earlier works whilst slagging of later current (as at time of writing) stuff. Interesting reading his views on racism and sexism in what was seen as a pretty progressive thinking NYC scene with LB himself admitting to past views and behaviour that were far from acceptable. An eclectic mix of writings the only piece that I really couldn't be bothered to read was an odd fantasy about a drunk couple meeting at a bar and I sort of guessed where it was going and didn't really want to read about it. The rest was great though. And pointed to a few new bands I'd not heard of (60s garage) and led me to re-listen to bands I thought I knew. Some British pieces a stand out is the time Lester spent with The Clash on tour in the UK. Interesting writings on Sex Pistols / PIL and also musings on Sham 69. I would have loved to have known his views on the whole Punx Not Dead / Oi / Crass commune clash / mash up but maybe that would've been too subtle for someone who wasn't brought up in the UK. And a very weird piece on Elvis after he died which I don't think was published at the time (early 80s), unsurprisingly.

The Rise of the Robots (Martin Ford)

Martin Ford
The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

Not sci fi as such, or a critique of a Stranglers tune, but a studied analysis of how robots will be taking over all jobs in the not too distant future and indeed may take over completely if artificial intelligence and / or nanotech goes out of control. Robots aren't just your Woody Allen Sleeper types but include advances in the computer brains running a lot of our world such as air flights, stock markets and winning chess games and Jeopardy. Whilst a very readable book it did go into more detail than strictly necessary to put over the point for my liking. There again the amount of detail tells a compelling story for sceptics. The examples are very US and UK biased but I think it was originally written with US examples and then added many from the UK. The bottom line is that technology is advancing and unless we (i.e. everyone globally) does something to slow it down it will replace nearly all jobs. And the human race won't "do something" globally. After all the Luddites and Levellers are ridiculed rather than applauded. I'm not sure I agree with all his statements. Saying that no one can say there's anything wrong with electricity is ignoring the production and how it's affected those near nuclear plants that have leaked and coal fired plants that have brought massive pollution often thousands of miles from where they are sited (do we ever hear of acid rain these days?)  Ford dips in and out of economics and politics in his analysis. As robots take over then those who own and run them (i.e. corporates) will reap the rewards and most of us will find ourselves without work. Ford implies that there should be ways to redistribute income and / or wealth as this occurs. He talks a lot of off shoring as a sign of things to come (off shore, then automate) and although this is a topic all of itself this is about wealth redistribution, or at least job and income redistribution even if absolute income is less, and whilst his point that if a job can be off shored the next step is likely to be automation the economic and political analysis is very different between the two.

Having given many examples of where capital wealth is making the rich richer and the rest of society poorer, and many examples of why robots will take over more and more jobs with the rewards going to the owners of them (i.e. the owners of capital), Ford paints a fairly depressing picture for the future. And that's ignoring the possibility that robots will take over everything themselves in a sci fi scenario. The book ends with an analysis of the economics of the future. His remedy is to have some sort of minimum income for everyone that the wealthy will presumably be happy to fund as they can only spend so much on consumer goods (how many smart phones can one person have). This ignores the reality that as society gets more wealthy and produces more (for the time let's ignore whether that has been a slippery slope into the environmental problems we are facing) the equality within society has decreased and is doing so ever faster. We have more wealth and consumption now than ever yet across the globe the mantra is the free market and for those who own capital to keep everything they earn (again, let's ignore whether they "earn" it - they end up getting it) and there is little indication that they are prepared to close the inequality gap. Indeed there is more and more pressure to increase this. Following the financial crisis in 2008 governments have poured billions into propping up the financial sector (taxpayers money) whilst at the same time slashing benefits and government spending which invariable assists those less well off. Bankers get even more money now than they did whilst those at the lower end of the wealth pyramid are pushed further into the mire. Taxpayers have to subsidise businesses more and more so that they can give us zero hour contract jobs. Not much sign of those in power wanting to close the inequality gap Ford. The economic arguments are all within the context of liberal free market capitalism with a certain amount of state aid. Whilst this would help alleviate poverty in the short term (a big "if" as to whether this would even happen) it's not going to address the problem. There is also an assumption that we have to have economic growth. There is no analysis of other economic systems. Let's say, moving the means of production out of the hands of a few (indeed fewer and fewer) corporates and into the hands of the proletariat. I guess that sounds too radical if it's put in terms of those who own capital (capitalists) and those who own their labour (workers)? And that's one of the conclusions of the book. That those who are currently thought of as middle class professionals (not currently thought of as "workers" as they earn a lot of money, but in fact don't own working capital and make their income through selling their labour) will be hit hard by automation and their wages will fall rapidly if they are lucky to be working. Maybe a dip into Marxist theory will tell us the likely outcome of capital vs labour. And the societal outcome once crisis point is reached. There is also no analysis of alternatives to growth. Let's say, growing what we need to eat sustainably and restricting consumption to what we really need rather than being lured into over consumption to feed the greed of capital(ists). To be honest Ford is tracking the inevitable conclusion of free market capitalism regardless of whether robots are taking over or not. They may well accelerate us to a crisis point which a lot of economic political theory suggests we'd get to eventually even without technology advances. An unsatisfactory conclusion and feels rushed especially given the detail and varied analysis of the rest of the book.

All this assumes that one scenario doesn't occur. This is that nano robots don't deconstruct everything into it's component molecules and atoms and reduce the whole world to a "grey goo". I guess that would bring some sort of equality although in that case we may feel that relative inequality is better than absolute equality.

Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone (Michael Bradley)

Michael Bradley
Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone

God almighty why didn't I learn the bass when I was 14 instead of in my 50's. Ah well, you shouldn't live life with regrets just do what you wanna do at the time. I guess this is the essence of this book and the story of The Undertones. Act your age (i.e. immature when a teenager) and have fun. Whilst trying to find the cheapest food (free if available). Mickey has his own take on The Undertones adventure and I'm sure the others will have their own stories. This story is a simple one of friends getting into punk rock, forming a band in the musical wastelands (i.e. no other punk rock groups, this was year zero when no previous music mattered) of Derry (aka Londonderry but let's stay with Derry as our heroes support the Free Derry movement if you catch my drift) and making it big before imploding due to musical differences. OK, maybe not imploding but fizzling out due to boredom. I always thought of the band as on the poppier side of punk and I still think that they are the pop side of the punk coin as opposed to the hard rock side of the Ramones. But they are definitely the same coin and The Undertones' simple tunes have lasted the test of time. John Peel saw that straight away. I always wondered why he thought Teenage Kicks was the best song ever. Especially given his eclectic taste and at that time he was playing what we now think of as post punk. I now know why he thought that. Five Derry boys not immersed in the London or mainland trend scene creating classic punk rock direct from their influences of New York proto punk, British glam and Bowie with a bit of rock thrown in. And Irish traditional music channeled through Feargal. 7 inches of pure heaven that everyone loves. Yeah of course it was played at my wedding. Maybe the most played punk song ever: surely at weddings? And my kids know it not from me forcing punk rock credentials into their ears (this isn't my first choice of punk education) but from adverts and backing music to you tube videos. Other songs by The Undertones are available.

Back to the book. After learning about their start as a band their rise to stardom is charted with a leg up by my mate Gavin Martin who first wrote about them in a Bangor fanzine called Alternative Ulster and in the NME. They were soon on Top of the Pops and then touring the UK and creating albums. I won't go into the details as the book's not that long to read but it has a homely feel as they always return to Derry and live lives normally (OK, without working as such, which probably wasn't that uncommon in the late 70s early 80s anyway) rather than moving to London to live the life of rock stars. The Undertones seem more interested in getting their tea and toast in the morning and playing footie than getting laid by groupies and jacking up. Men of the people. Kids. Likeable. The end of the band seems to be due to boredom but as I say, there's probably another side (or 4) to that. I hope that Michael has enjoyed his life not as a rock star as much as he would have had he gone all out to conquer America. I'm sure he has and he knows he's made some truly classic records. I regret not playing a few gigs (there's still time, just about) but would I have enjoyed life in a celebrity bubble as a punk rock bassist? Living in LA surrounded by sex and drugs and rock and roll? Definitely not. I'd miss cycling in London which, as Mickey points out, I sometimes think is the best thing ever. It isn't of course.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Book (Yuval Noah Harari)

Yuval Noah Harari
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind



A fascinating and very readable run through of, well, the entire history of homo sapiens with a bit about our cousins such as Neanderthals thrown in. The premise is that we are wired to be hunter gatherers living in small groups of up to 200 or so (as an aside this is the maximum team size that a lot of progressive companies are implementing even if they have 10,000's of employees). The book charts the progressive revolutions that have taken place over time that on a micro level seem to improve the lot of humankind but at a macro level have led to unsatisfied individuals (who knows whether hunter gatherers were satisfied or not) at best and abhorrently abusive societies at worst (slavery, slums, agro industrial treatment of animals). The conclusion to our advancements may well be the destruction of life as we know it through environmental or nuclear catastrophe. On the other hand we may evolve into a new half bionic life form that is truly satisfied. Or be taken over by our own cyborg inventions. Yes, the latter part of the book does go into sci fi a bit but the possible future scenarios given are all backed up by current scientific research and heavily caveated. But that's the end of the book. The most part is taking us through history starting with the cognitive revolution - possibly our first evolutionary mistake in having awareness of ourselves and how we can significantly effect our environment and actively migrate and populate seemingly inhospitable landscapes. Next comes the benefits and drawbacks of the agricultural revolution (settlements) through to the scientific and industrial revolutions enabling us to significantly change both our environment and ourselves through drastic medical processes. Harari doesn't write as if he knows it all but puts forward his arguments as possibilities with many and varied examples of why he holds his view of history. It's thoroughly thought provoking and, as I said, a fascinating read. I don't agree with everything that is written and to be honest if you read the entire book without disagreeing with any of the content then you're probably one of the future cyborg creatures programmed to not question life as we know it. He steadily dismantles or questions many human "faiths" whether they are religious, economical or political. If you don't disagree with some of that you're unlikely to have bothered to start reading this book in the first place. Despite what seems to be a broad dismissal of why humans do and think what we do Harari always putting forward reasons as to why we've gone down these paths and how they have helped (some) humans at that point in time. I find it very refreshing that he has identified our treatment of animals (who after all are our cousins who didn't (yet) go through the cognitive revolution) as comparable to other abusive regimes we've forced on other humans. Or I should say other sapiens as he constantly reminds us that we had about five other human cousin species (I think that's the right term?) and indeed many of us have a fair bit of the Neanderthal still in us particularly those whose ancestors migrated from Africa in our early pre-history. Great book which is very thought provoking. Highly recommended. With the caveat that I don't agree with all the analysis or conclusions. But there again, as I'm a homo sapien who is a very collective and community based animal, I strive to see all sides of analysis and am open to what others have to say even if I don't expect to agree with them. At the end of the day I know that I'm right. Again, a homo sapien trait of arrogance. Or confidence?

The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)

Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea



This seems to me a lot like the other Hemingway I recently read. A macho fantasy that is way too boys own and obvious. Not sure why the old man went so far out to sea with such a predictable result. It's a man vs beast tale but as Hemingway acknowledges man's weapons hardly make it the mano a mano fight he mostly makes out it is and with references to when the old man was younger in Morocco. I found it predictable and tedious. I can't understand why it got a Nobel prize for literature or why the reviewers say there are no spare words. They all are for me. I must be wrong and there must be something I don't get? Doesn't make me want to read any more of the Hemingway collected works I've got at my bedside...

Animal Farm (George Orwell)

George Orwell
Animal Farm



A short novel I read on the train from London to Salisbury which charts the cynical corruption of political revolutions in the early half of the 20th Century and predicts the same for social revolutions of the latter half of the 20th Century. The story is told in a believable and sentimental way. Odd that Orwell railed against vegetarians yet puts this most classic of novels in a context where any killing of animals is seen as the worst of crimes. And when this does happen he's so sentimental about it. Maybe he just hated the types of people who were veggie back in the war time years rather than the concept. Whatever, it's a great read and whilst it can be read as a warning there's little to inform as to the alternative outcome. Maybe Orwell thought that there was no alternative.

Homage to Catalonia (George Orwell)

George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia



An fascinating account of Orwell's time in Barcelona and on the front line in the Spanish Civil war. Mainly about the futility of his stay there (he may or may not have killed a fascist), life on the front line, the organisational problems and the internecine in fighting between the various government left wind anti Franco forces. He gives us a flavour of this breaking out into open conflict in Barcelona and how the Russian backed communist forces then repressed the more radical anarchist forces. Interesting as he wrote this before the start of WWII and before the end of the Spanish conflict with Franco's victory. Ultimately fairly depressing as he would have expected us to move on a lot further towards socialist societies than we have done with the prescient statement that if Spain and others didn't defeat fascism (I guess we did that to an extent) and revolutionise society then we would descend into semi-slavery (which we have for a lot of the world). Still at least Spain and Catalonia showed what is possible with collectives set up and hierarchies demolished, at least until the "communists" went back to the old status quo. Makes me want to read his two great novels.

The Establishment (Owen Jones)

Owen Jones
The Establishment (and how they get away with it)



A run through of all the things you know (or should know - or rather would know if you thought a bit behind the news) about the people and institutions that work to keep power and wealth with those who already own it and indeed increase that power and wealth. Include the Labour Party in that list. Of course the other side of the coin is increasingly repressing those who support the rich and powerful (who we could term the working and middle classes) and those who are disenfranchised from society such as the long term un- and under-employed. Nevertheless an excellent read with a lot of information supporting the arguments put forward often coming straight from the mouths of those in privileged positions. That's something that Owen Jones emphasises - that the powerful are so sure of their position they are happy to crow about it.

The start is an insightful analysis of how we came to move from a society that was moving towards a fairer system, albeit slowly, with representation by the masses and engagement in the democratic process helping those less fortunate to a society that is supposedly ruled by the market (more of that myth later) and survival of the fittest (or rather of the already privileged). How did we end up having the Labour Party whilst in government privatising the NHS? The same party that wanted to nationalise the banks two decades earlier. Jones then takes each pillar of the establishment in turn analysing their vested interest and how they manipulate their power base to increase wealth and power. And how they blame the ills of the world and Britain on others such as the unemployed, immigrants, public sector workers and Trade Unions. The most recent example of this is the recent crash in the banking sector whereby the Tories blamed Labour's high public spending on the countries ills and once in power, supported by the Liberals, set about decimating the welfare state by selling off anything that worked and reducing welfare payments to the vulnerable. All whilst continuing the Labour policy of supporting the banks to the tune of billions upon billions of pounds and not asking for anything in return. Even whilst bankers were still paying themselves millions in bonuses. Each.

Reading all this together is ultimately very depressing. Especially that the electorate fall for such obvious lies and are now moving towards UKIP not seeing that they are not against the establishment but in more entrenched than the Tories. I had to stop reading the book half way through and pick up something lighter to read. If you can call George Orwell fighting in the Spanish Civil War light relief. Which is appropriate as Jones finishes with an optimistic note saying that if we've moved so far to the right politically and the "free market" economically (see above re banks for why we are not actually in free markets - markets are free when the powerful want them to be and state supported when they are in trouble) then why shouldn't we move to a fairer society in the future and look back on this time with wonderment at how those in power duped us into supporting them. After all we are a democracy. I guess there's the rub - we have elections and at the moment they don't matter a scrap to the powerful. If we started voting for real change who knows if those vested interests would allow that and come out fighting (at least by proxy through the police and army as they have before and pretty recently) to put us back in our place. Maybe George Orwell's book should be read as prophetic as to how not to run a war...

The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)

Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales




I found this at my brother's house and it must have been given to my father as a school prize or something. A compelling read of tales relayed by pilgrims starting at a pub in Borough High Street on their way to Canterbury. The tales range from ones of true love and sacrifice to truly bawdy behaviour that's laugh out loud. I knew that parts were fruity but sex up a pear tree and kissing a hairy arse before doing it again only to be farted on I wasn't expecting. There's a lot about how bad wives can be and a lot about how bad husbands can be. In both the same ways. And a lot of infidelity and cuckolding going on to boot. All the tales are very readable and either funny or sensitive. The intros or prologues are also interesting sometimes cutting stories short for being too boring or for no given reason. A couple I was looking forward to finishing when the host brings them to a premature close. This is easy to read being a translation into modern (well, 1950s) English and having looked at the Old English version I'd never have waded through it even with the modern text next to me. Well done Nevill Coghill.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)

Ernest Hemingway 
For Whom the Bell Tolls

A strange mix of historical drama, boys own war story, philosophical musings and sweeping characterisation of a nation with a bit of mild titillation thrown in. Whilst very readable I wasn't sure if it wasn't the war story that kept me gripped to see if our hero executes his mission rather that anything else in the book. The replacing of any obscenities with, well, the word "obscenity" was a bit odd and if you aren't going to write any actual obscenities why have your characters use them all the obscenity time. After finishing I googled the book to see if it was this edition that had replaced any swear words in the original text but it seems he wrote it like this due to problems selling previous books with swearing in them. Also noticed that this was written as a serial which probably explains the boys own nature of the book. Wasn't enthralled enough to go straight into the next story in this collection but there again not put off enough to give away to a charity shop.