Lucky Breaks (Yevgenia Belorusets)

Yevgenia Belorusets
Lucky Breaks

An interesting collection of, well, anecdotes, stories, musings, thoughts, observations on people. Not sure exactly but a very readable collection. It's written in the aftermath of the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine a the collection is all about women who are caught up in the conflict whether still living in the area invaded by Russia or under pro-Russian separatists, or those who have located to other areas of Ukraine. Some of the stories seem fantastical, others about mental wellbeing and others that seem to be about the author. I saw this on the off chance in Foyles. Whilst published in Russian (there's a bit about why in the afterword) the English translation was published in 2022. The author is a well known photographer, artist and write. Well worth a read. As published before the 2022 Russian invasion across the whole of Ukraine it reminds you that western governments and press really don't care about Russia's abuses of strength unless it directly affects their interests. Chechnya?

Butcher’s Crossing (John Williams)

John Williams

Butcher’s Crossing 

A truly great book by the author of Stoner which I loved. This is entirely different in it's subject matter but has the brilliant descriptive writing that really evokes the situations written about. Given that not many of us will have experienced the content of the novel Williams' ability to transport you there is brilliant. I'm sure he never experienced what he's written about either which makes it even more impressive. Highly recommended and I wont try to summarise the plot suffice to say it's about relationships and survival. Human fanaticism and self contemplation. How people react to extremes. Ultimately what drives us. The plot is brilliant too with majorly significant story lines. As a side note, in the 1800s bison in USA dropped from over 50 million to under 500. Killed for hides, for farmland and also culled to push native Americans out of their traditional lands. The novel is a brilliantly depressing read.

A Fine Thing Chance (Oliver Popplewell)

Oliver Popplewell

A Fine Thing Chance

Interesting collection of stories all based in "what if" scenarios some of which are all based on chance and others not quite so. Many relate to legal criminal cases as Popplewell was a judge.

A Bit of a Stretch (Chris Atkins)

Chris Atkins

A Bit of a Stretch

Very interesting and disturbing account of someone who spends time in Wandsworth Prison for fraud. The conditions are terrible and most prisoners who should be treated as medical patients are locked up seemingly until the authorities wait for them to self harm and are suicidal. Liz Truss, our short term PM who screwed the economym, comes under special criticism for either incompetence or deliberately using prisoners as political pawns. The cynical side of me thinks that any politician who seems incompetent actually knows exactly what they are doing to screw whatever line they are responsible for. In Truss's case I tend to think she really is incompetent. At best negligent. Which is the authorities answer to running law and order in this country. The book makes very clear that the prison system does more to encourage reoffending than to reduce crime levels. Although a tough read it is readable and has moments of comedy. Albeit dark.

All Our Yesterdays (Natalia Ginzburg)

Natalia Ginzburg

All Our Yesterdays

Excellent tale about two familys and other friends as the nazis take over in Italy and as they enter the war through to it's end. As reading I thought it was a modern novel but then found out it was written in the 50s so would have been when the trauma of the war was still pretty raw.

London, Burning (Anthony Quinn)

Anthony Quinn

London, Burning

Another very readable story set in late 70s London against the backdrop of industrial unrest, leadup to Thatcher's election and punk so a lot of cultural references that were right up my street. Follows 4 people who's lives interconnect related to crime, terrorism, relationships and power. A good read.

The Gardener (Salley Vickers)

Salley Vickers
The Gardener

A very readable story about change and moving into a new life and relationships against the backdrop of nature and plants. Very gentle and just the thing to read whilst whiling away a time in Venice.

We Move (Gurnaik Johal)

Gurnaik Johal
We Move

This is a pre-release book with a blank acknowledgements page lent to me by a friend who I used to work with with a shared love of literature. So I can't publish this until April 2022. It's a debut novel by a very promising young author. The book is a number of short stories with common themes some of which are tied up at the end. Most characters are Sikh and although you can guess the meaning of a lot of the Punjabi (I assume it's that language) words I did find myself Googling them to get the exact meaning. If I were to be critical it's that this does seem like a collection of very short stories and the characters are not very developed especially little about what they look like and for most not a lot of character depth. It feels a little like the author has put a lot of his ideas for story lines into his first book and to be honest I feel that there is a lot more that could be developed as the stories have a lot of potential. There again I'm not a writer. I wonder if the stories will be more fully developed in the future. A lot of the book is tied together with the Sikh massacre in 1984 and also a thread about whether what we do is predetermined or whether we are subject to fate. Along those lines seems to be a thread about how decisions taken, or forced upon us, or a path followed, lead to major effects in our lives. Funny as I've now started a book about mid life crises which also has that "what if I did that when I was 30" theme common to many who re-evaluate their lives.

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp : An Autobiography (Richard Hell)

Richard Hell

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp : An Autobiography

A very interesting read of Hell's life in NYC from early 70s onwards and his involvement in the start of the punk scene. He makes out that he virtually created the punk look, attitude and sound. Whilst he does acknowledge others he does seem a bit full of himself. An unsavoury aspect is his dismissive attitude to women who he always sleeps with and indeed I can't remember him mentioning any who he doesn't. It's always in the context of them letting him do whatever he wants to them which he makes out is consensual but doesn't really read that way as he often says that these women are pretty strung out and have a lot of mental health issues. Hell then goes on to say that the British have an unsophisticated and childish attitude to women seemingly because when on tour with punk bands the blokes don't view all the women around as sex objects. It's not unsophisticated Hell, it having respect for women as humans not just someone to bed, The book then goes into Hell being addicted to heroine and to honest the book sort of descends into an excuse for his behaviour whilst addicted. The book does read a bit like therapy for Hell where he's excusing exploitative behaviour, having rants at those he doesn't like and retrospectively framing everything he's done in the context of a predetermined poetic artistry. It's difficult to tell if what he writes is near the truth or just plain bullshit. Not having lived in NYC in the mid 70s it's difficult for me to tell but some of what he says about Britain is obviously bull. Yes we like potatoes but even back in the late 70s you could buy more than fried potatoes in town centres. I think that this is written for the American audience which makes me wonder if the whole lot is bull as the number of people reading who were into the early punk scene in NYC would be very small. Also John Lydon stopped using the moniker Rotten in 1978 so not sure why Hell, who obviously wanted to keep his adopted surname I guess cos otherwise people wouldn't know who he is, refers to him as Rotten. Having said all this it's a good read souring somewhat at the end. And the albums he made with the Voidoids and with music and lyrics that good I can forgive a few irritations in his book. As if Hell will ever know and as if he would even care.

A Significant Other (Matt Rendell)

Matt Rendell
A Significant Other: Riding the Centenary Tour De France with Lance Armstrong

An interesting read if you like cycling. It covers the centenary tour of 2003 from the point of view of one of Lance Armstrong's team (domestiques) the Colombian Victor Hugo Pena. Chapters alternate between Rendell's very interesting explanations of bike racing strategy and techniques, and history of le Tour, and then various stages of the 2003 tour from Victor Hugo's viewpoint (I think through Rendell's interviews with him). Being a domestique is a tough job with little glory although Victor Hugo did wear the yellow jersey for a few days which, as he says, is more than many greater riders who came before him and who will come after him. Victor Hugo's viewpoint covers the pain of riding and also his personal history. It's also very interesting as written before Armstrong's accusations of serial doping and subsequently being stripped of all his Tour titles which also showed how dominant and bullying he was within his team and across the entire peloton. As I say, an interesting read given history since the book was written. 

As an aside. The 6 tours that Armstrong won (1999-2005) were stripped from him and not awarded to the 2nd placed rider (as happened in other years) as there was so much (known) doping going on. Jan Ullrich came 2nd in 4 of those but was also shown to be doping. The 2006 tour was stripped from Floyd Landis for the same reason. So whilst the original official results show no winner for 1999-2005 the official le Tour web site now has the 2nd placed shown, without mention as to why there is no 1st placed, including Ullrich. As if Armstrong and the doping at the time are airbrushed from history. Now, drug taking and chicanery have always been part of cycling and whether or not you believe it's now a "clean" sport may or may not mar your enjoyment of the spectacle. It was definitely exciting at the time and only in retrospect do you feel slightly cheated. But there are times when you think "are they really that good without drugs" such as Chris Froome's 50 mile solo mountain break in the Giro d'Italia whilst he was embroiled in his own drugs accusations. There again part of me thinks that I don't think anything less of a Nik Turner sax solo just cos I know he was probably off his head on drugs. Or am I mixing my entertainments?

Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)

Ann Patchett

Bel Canto

Apparently Bruce likes more than the Dutch House but I didn't. Too many characters with lazy ethnic descriptions and unlikely plot development. Feels a bit contrived even for fiction. I won't spoil the read, although the author tells us what will happen anyway, but the ending is abrupt and corny. Disappointing to be honest although I guess readable enough to get to the end.

The Odyssey (Homer)

Homer

The Odyssey

A fantastic read of which you can see the roots of many other stories. I meant to read after the Iliad and seeing as that isn't reviewed in this blog I must have read that 10 years ago at least. About half the time that Odysseus spent returning from Troy. I won't analyse whether he was just a wanderer adventurer or really wanted to get back to his wife and kid, the ending leaves him open to wandering inland with an oar, as those more educated in the classics will have published works on this book. But do like me and just read as a great story. Matt would have been proud of me. May you be resting peacefully in Hades Halls.

Tunes: A Comic Book History of Rock and Roll (Vincent Brunner)

Vincent Brunner

Tunes: A Comic Book History of Rock and Roll

Not so much a comic book history of rock and roll but more a dip into a few dozen bands seemingly selected at random (probably the ones the editor's mates liked) with a very brief history in text, a few record recommendations and then a short comic strip involving (sometimes very casually) the band or artist. Some of the information is inaccurate but as a bathroom book to dip into it serves an idle purpose.

London Fields (Martin Amis)

Martin Amis
London Fields

A nasty little tale based on utter contempt for those not given Amis' opportunities in life, hideous racist caricatures and misogyny throughout. The main characters are what you might find in a right wing cartoon strip and the supporting ones have even lazier descriptions. I got half way through having been told by a couple of friends that it was a great book. I have tried to read other Amis books and had the same feelings. I gave up on this one too. In addition to all that the plot is meandering and at times absurd and none of the characters likeable. The way that Amis dismisses off hand violent rape including that of children is hideous. As I say, a nasty tale best avoided.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism (John Barnes)

John Barnes
The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism

An extremely thought provoking book that tackles (no pun intended) racism from an angle that is not necessarily the norm. I hesitate to summarise such an in depth and well thought through book but in essence John's view is that we need to tackle the societal roots of racism, and other forms of discrimination, rather than lambast scapegoats. His question is why do those people have their views and if from society does it help in persecuting them whilst we ignore the wider societal reasons for racism. Which are to keep the foundations upon which the rich and powerful maintain power. They are happy to throw crumbs to those who they exploit, whatever their race, gender, religion etc. etc. etc. as long as they maintain their power. They even let a few folk rise to near the top to prove that their system is not racist, sexist, homophobic etc. etc. etc. But the truth is that they will not allow equality in society so they can maintain their power and wealth. Sound like modern capitalism? Yep. The answer being true socialism? Yep. Although John does say that socialism is a pipe dream. He also has a lot of thought provoking and cogent views on the white working class. Now I have summarised a lot and probably some of it misrepresenting John. I don't agree with all in the book but if I did I guess I would be JB himself as we all have differing views. One thing it has made me consider in more detail is my unconscious, and some of my more conscious, bias. Go read. Now.

Lonely Boy (Steve Jones with Ben Thompson)

Steve Jones with Ben Thompson
Lonely Boy

A surprisingly frank life story by the brilliant Sex Pistols guitarist. Steve goes through the good the bad and the very ugly times of his life and throughout recognises that he's not been the most pleasant of people to meet. He doesn't make excuses for himself but you can see how he got where he got to. It's a very entertaining and fascinating account of his childhood up until creating the Pistols, their brief couple of years of infamy and collapse and then what he's been up to afterwards. A great read whether you are an ageing punk or just intrigued in reading a very interesting autobiography. Highly recommended.

The Escape Artist (Matt Seaton)

Matt Seaton

The Escape Artist

A thankfully short and succinct book (see last one I read) which gets to the point clearly and quickly. A quick run through is man becomes cycling obsessive, finds how to fit in with partner, eventually has kids which stymies racing, starts cycling again, wife is terminally ill and how cycling fits into that, new partner and older kids leads to cycling again, briefly. The interest is in the description of both being an amateur racing cyclist and also how it interferes with the rest of life. Or rather how the rest of life interferes with cycle racing. Very interesting as a cyclist and probably for those who aren't. Written with honesty, a lot of humour and an obvious passion for cycling. And the rest of life too. I wonder what my wife Debbie will think of it. Although she cycles I'm not sure "cyclist" would be top of her descriptions of herself. Probably in the top 3 for me.

The Last Man (Mary Shelley)

Mary Shelley

The Last Man

I thought I'd read this having gone through Covid which is no means as bad as this plague book. Mary describes the slow descent of the human race being killed off by plague until, well you've guessed it. The interest is in the human stories of how folk cope. Having said that it reads as if it was written by a monarchist sexist rather than the daughter of feminist and anarchist philosophers. It goes on about how the heir to the thrown and other well born men are the only ones with leadership qualities and that the common people are just sheep and not very intelligent ones at that. Women are ideally those who dote on their husbands and children at any expense of their own welfare or happiness. My dodgy Amazon copy (not the one in the pic) ran to 400 pages and to be honest the story could have been written in about 100 without significantly reducing it's appeal. The wording is very wordy with extremely long descriptions often repeating themselves over and over. I usually like a bit of meandering but this was way too much. However despite all this I persevered and got through to the end with the LAST MAN (as my edition put it). Oh, of course he was English as the only nationality worth saving and the rest of the nations were killed off. I'm sure there is a lot to read into the novel if you are an expert on Byron and Percy Shelley but I'm not so maybe a lot was lost on me. Even so strange read really and not as good as Frankenstein by a long long way.

Heart of Dart-ness (Ned Boulting)

Ned Boulting
Heart of Dart-ness: Bullseyes, Boozers and Modern Britain

An excellent personal run through of the world of darts with an interesting twist with Ned being Marlow and Eric Bristow as Kurtz. Full of great anecdotes about interesting players and some of the fans. A good and funny read.

Salt On Your Tongue (Charlotte Runcie)

Charlotte Runcie
Salt On Your Tongue: Women and the Sea

A rambling book about pregnancy and the sea which has a lot of interesting stories within but after a while all the meandering gets a bit tedious. A bit too much detail of the author's personal life which is unremarkable. Fair enough but not great reading. Having said that I did want to finish it and did make me remember that I've not read Homer's Odyssey which I meant to after reading Iliad.

Palmares (Gayl Jones)

Gayl Jones
Palmares

A rambling though interesting, entertaining and thought provoking story of a young woman's life from being a slave girl in Brazil and her escape, or rather capture, to one of the escaped slave and others communities where she meets her husband. After the community is attacked by the Portuguese the story is her search for her husband. Along the way she meets many adventures and people and in some ways the book is a series of such that don't add to the overall plot but are interesting nonetheless. She also has powers of healing which are partly her knowledge of plants and partly a more mystical element. This is handed down by her grandmother and by a couple of people she meets along the way. It's not all straightforward though and one thing that shines through is her determination to take her own path. The story has rather an abrupt end which surprised me as there were a few pages left but left blank. I wonder if this was intentional? The author has had an interesting life worth a quick search too.

White Line Fever (Lemmy with Janiss Garza)

White Line Fever
Janiss Garza and Lemmy

A very readable and enjoyable romp through Lemmy's life. You're not sure you'd really want to hang out with him for all sorts of reasons but it would never be dull. A series of anecdotes and thoughts on life hanging off his chronological life story which are very interesting for a Hawkwind and Motorhead fan (sorry, I do just like the 1st 2 albums - see his views on that!) but I suspect a good read for anyone. To be fair he doesn't stick the knife in to anyone (well, a few record execs) but there again he does dismiss many in his anecdotes with some ruthlessness. 

St. Pauli – Another Football is Possible (Carles Viñas and Natxo Parra)

Carles Viñas and Natxo Parra
St. Pauli – Another Football is Possible

A run through of the history of FC St Pauli and it's relationship with the local community in particular the autonomous squatter movement in and around the Hamburg red light district and port where St Pauli is based. Much more than a book about a club it's a run through of pre and post war German politics within the context of football, Hamburg and St Pauli (the club and urban area). Shows that another football is possible, i.e. isn't all about the money and sponsorship or even winning, although the pressures on the club to embrace the commercial / capitalist world are great in order to survive financially and improve league table wise. An excellent read if you are interested in football, politics and society. Surely that's everyone then.

Out of Time (Miranda Sawyer)

Miranda Sawyer
Out of Time

As the author says not a self help book but her experiences. The plus sides are shared experiences as to what life was like when we were younger and what it's like moving into middle age with long term relationships, responsibilities and kids. The downside is that it feels a little bit smug about what a great time Miranda used to have when young and I feel a bit of that smugness too. I don't necessarily agree with the basic premise of mid life crisis books as they all assume that we all have some frustrated objectives in life. Many of us just live it and what comes with it and never did want to trek up Killamanjaro as part of a Price Waterhouse Coopers sponsored charity event. I know Miranda and can imagine her telling these anecdotes. She's the chair of the Catholic school where I'm a governor (the only non Catholic) and as such is now a converted Catholic. Maybe that's how she's come to terms with death which she devotes a fair bit of time to. On that note... the remarks about the nurses who looked after her gran are way way out of order. Don't blame the hospital staff for how this country treats those who are near death. They are doing their jobs under very difficult circumstances especially if it was an NHS hospital. That ruined the book for me and made the smugness seem more like expected privilege. 

What Really Happened in Wuhan (Sharri Markson)

What Really Happened in Wuhan: a Virus Like No Other, Countless Infections, Millions of Deaths
Sharri Markson

Fairly interesting angle on Covid-19 about how it leaked from a Chinese lab rather than being a naturally occurring jump from animals to humans. The latter was the general scientific community's line with anyone suggesting a lab leak being labelled a conspiracy theorist. On the author's side of the argument there are a lot of things leading to a lab leak not least that there is a lab looking at coronaviruses right in the middle of Wuhan. With the Chinese government's secrecy and the wider world's shutting down of anything related to Covid that isn't the general opinion (i.e. WHO) then the conspiracy theory seems plausible. Like so much to do with Covid we are being kept in the dark and lied to by scientists and politicians, with social media companies actively deleting posts that go against the general opinion. Obviously much of this is unravelling including the value of general population lock downs and Covid origins. The downsides of the book is that it's far too long, repeats a lot, has a lot of irrelevance (describing dinner parties) and nearly all sources are either anonymous or rabid right wingers with an axe to grind. The arguments are greatly diminished by being put forward by Trump supporters although to be fair the author does blame the scientific community's dislike of Trump to bad mouth anyone who supports his questioning as to whether it was a lab leak. Why would you believe an ex head of MI5 an organisation that exists solely to deceive and spy on other nations? The final straw is in acknowledgements where the author thanks Rupert Murdoch (who pays her) for running media organisations that are completely independent and don't support particular political parties. Just goes to show that you cannot trust either side in the Covid crisis and it's very difficult to sort out what is right and what is wrong. Not recommended as you could find out a much more balanced view given half hour on the internet.