1923 (Ned Boulting)

Ned Boulting 
1923: The Mystery of Lot 212 and a Tour de France Obsession

Well known and knowledgeable author writes a typically engaging and thorough book in which his love of the sport comes through. Buys a piece of film at an auction which turns out to be 2 minutes of the 1923 Tour de France and then he investigates who's in the film and their stories. Bring into play everything from their personal stories and of their great grand children and also branches out to cover two world wars and a great deal of French and German history. So many rabbit holes to travel down and incidental and in some ways trivial facts but the way that Ned threads them together is fascinating. Never thought "why is he telling me this" until after I've read enthralled and often after I've gone down my own Wikipedia rabbit hole to find out more. Not many could engage you with their personal obsession in the way that Ned does. You can watch the film on-line too.

George Orwell's 1984 Graphic Novel (Matyáš Namai)

Matyáš Namai
George Orwell's 1984 Graphic Novel Adapted and Illustrated

Orwell's classic dystopian novel reimagined and illustrated. The story is depressing and it seems that we are closer to this society than shortly after Orwell wrote it obviously concerned that the world would go down this route by the end of the 20th Century. Many would say that parts of the world had but the doublespeak whereby leaders reword history and current events on-line is accepted by so many. As with any graphic novel the richness is in the illustrations and these are great. But inevitably at the expense of words which makes me feel that I should read Orwell's version again both to see if it's the same as this version (it's a very long time since I would have read it) and whether the nuances will depress me further. 

Tell Me Everything (Elizabeth Strout)

Elizabeth Strout
Tell Me Everything

A few years since I read the two "Olive" novels and Debbie told me that this is just as good. Pulls lots of characters from her other novels together but you don't feel that you needed to have read them. The underlying story is of one person (Bob) and his relationships with a few others but those relationships spawn further stories and there are a few random ones thrown in seemingly gratuitously. There is a thread of poor and / or abusive childhoods with stories untold and sometimes mis-remembered; and love affairs and extra-marital affairs and obsessions and just simply love between two people. A very readable book that I got through in a few days helped (or not) by the fact that my leg was bashed against a train step. Another untold story...

Orbital (Samantha Harvey)

Samantha Harvey

Orbital

A beautifully written book with enormous praise related to just that. (see cover) But to me I wasn't grabbed by either the way it was written or the content. I did try but gave up halfway through. Others love it.

The Trumpet-Major (Thomas Hardy)

Thomas Hardy
The Trumpet-Major: A Tale

An excellent story set near Weymouth (where my grandmother was from) in the early 1800's (times when my ancestors would have lived there) when invasion by Napoleon was seen as imminent. A romantic tale really about three men who woo or don't in turns our heroine. As ever Hardy conjures up the lives of ordinary village folk weaved into a compelling storyline. Some of the actions and deeds are questionable and in some ways makes the story less believable but there again I'm looking at it from a very modern perspective. Indeed Hardy wrote this a number of decades after the events and I understand that he made significant revisions to his novels during the 1870s, 80s & 90s as public tastes and accepted themes changed over those decades. If you think about what was acceptable in 1970 compared to 2000 it's quite a change. A great book set in Hardy's Wessex.

The Secret Magistrate

The Secret Magistrate



A factual book about what a magistrate does and some behind the scenes info. Very readable with a good mix of duties incorporated with some very interesting cases. An eye opener for me as I had no idea as to the legal position of magistrates. Interesting and entertaining.

Girl in a Band (Kim Gordon)

Kim Gordon
Girl in a Band

A very interesting story of Kim's childhood and early adulthood... weirdly until she joined Sonic Youth when the story gets a lot less interesting and seems to be just about the songs and band. OK, what did I expect? Quite a lot is about what a shit Thurston was (is? - I didn't get that far) and how Sonic Youth were the most innovative band ever with a fair bit of writing off others. All this I had a real problem with as SY were good but not the best. Also dismisses English music scene at the time which shows that Kim has a very poor understanding of the underground scene and indeed breaking bands, DJs and other music makers. I got so bored I gave up. Couldn't face hearing about a marital break up as if it's the first ever.

Why Fish Don't Exist (Lulu Miller)

Lulu Miller
Why Fish Don't Exist : A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

As the subtitle says... a odd book covering the work of a fish collector born in the 1850s, the author's family, her challenges in life and loves. I won't try to summarise as the book is so diverse in it's topics. Taxonomy of species is a thread throughout but it's so much more than that. Both funny and sad. 

Middlemarch (George Eliot)

Middlemarch
George Eliot

An excellent read as recommended by my Long Distance Classic Novel Buddy (Zayn). A fascinatingly interweaved story focussing on a families and people. A lot of themes here from love, self denial, friendships, greed and hubris. All within a small town setting which apparently is Coventry in the early 1800s. The wider context is the parliamentary struggles to reform MP selection moving from the Rotten Boroughs to wider franchise. Eliot has a brilliant way of getting into the minds of her characters and you are drawn into their lives so that by the end you want to know a bit more about the rest of their lives. It's one of those novels that you can't put down and then as you get towards the end you slow down as you don't want it to end. A great read. I don't usually quote from books but there were quite a few that I found fascinatingly insightful and very relevant to today...

"But Fielding lived when the days were longer (for time, like money, is measured by our needs), when summer afternoons were spacious, and the clock ticked slowly in the winter evenings."  How true is that today - I'm sure a lot of people my age feel that when we were young the days were longer as not filled with electronic messaging.

"And certainly, the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it."  Again, we continue to make the same mistakes.

"...for since professional practice chiefly consisted in giving a great many drugs, the public inferred that it might be better off with more drugs still, if they could only be got cheaply"  How much more true is that today - and how GPs deal out the pills (bought by health service at great expense from big pharma) instead of looking at root causes.

"...we all know the wag's definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance."  Again, ignore the man at the tube instead give ostentatiously to "big" causes.

Milkman (Anna Burns)

Anna Burns
Milkman

A compelling and engaging book albeit very strange. Set in what I assume is Belfast in the 70's Troubles it tackles issues ranging from the political situation through to personal mental health through to feminism. The narrator is an 18 year old woman whose name we don't know indeed nearly all the characters aren't named in fact I can only remember one called Peggy. The young woman lives in a Catholic area which is at war with the British army and run by Catholic paramilitaries who deal out a rough form of justice. She becomes the focus of sexual attention by Milkman who is high up in the paramilitaries and she descends into a state of mental instability. In addition to this there are many other issues going on in her life and within her family and she is ostracised by her community being considered outside the pale. There are some very dark moments and at times the book is brilliantly ominous making me unsure as to whether I want to read on. But I can't resist the tale and pick up the book soon enough (i.e. within hours not days). Having said this there are many heart warming passages and some extremely funny laugh out loud moments both funny funny and also related to the darker parts of the plot. The characters are brilliantly written and I felt at least a couple could have their own stories. I'd love to know what happens to the wee sisters when they are grown up. Well worth the read.

The Custard Heart (Dorothy Parker)

Dorothy Parker
The Custard Heart

A thin small pocket book of three very short tales including Big Blonde and You Were Perfectly Fine in addition to the book's title story. All are about 3 womens' trials and tribulations so uncomfortable reading.

At Swim-Two-Birds Novel (Flann O'Brien)

Flann O'Brien
At Swim-Two-Birds

A strange tale or indeed multiple tales going from the mundane to the completely surreal. It's brilliantly written and the story within a story allows full rein to the weirdness of the narrative. I won't try to summarise the story(s) except to say that the device used for the plot(s) enables those to take on a life of their own. I read this years ago and remember it as a very confusing but maybe that's just my memory as the stories are easy to follow even if they chop and change have that surreal twist injected every so often. I suspect that Michael Moorcock read this. As would many of course. Lent by Simon tho I wonder if this is my original copy...

Fatherland (Robert Harris)

Robert Harris
Fatherland

Gripping murder mystery tale within a harrowing tale of a totalitarian regime if Hitler had won the war. Many of those aspects were real including people and documents. I'm not a great fan of this genre as often think why did you do or didn't do that but it is a real page turner which I finished in a couple of days. Well written too. Not sure I'll rush out and buy another of his books but would read if one came my way - as this did from my dad.

Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story (Daniel Rachel)

Daniel Rachel

Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation

As you will guess... the story of 2 Tone from inception to demise. Really interesting read but as ever you see the darker side of your heroes. The book has a lot of input from those who were there so it feels like a very measured and fair analysis. There are times when people disagree as to why things went the way they did and among the funny and disturbing stories the author gives at least two opinions indeed often you feel that the four of them (whoever them are) can't all have remembered it that way. And there are times when people recognise that their memories are wrong. I guess with so much going on in such a short time blended with euphoric gigs, drugs and alcohol then memory is bound to be affected. One thing that did irritate is that there is only passing reference to the fact that reggae and blue beat, along with many other Caribbean and north American music, were popular in the UK before The Specials and their stable mates came across them. A small gripe as I guess that is part of the narrative. Covers quite a few bands including ones that faded into obscurity but were taken into the 2 Tone fold. For all that a fascinating read into what were just a few short sharp years where a multi-racial label showed that having bands as such worked well (I know that 2 Tone wasn't the first here) despite that many albeit a minority of fans were far right NF / BM supporters intent on causing violence at gigs. But the late 70s and early 80s had that across many genres including the post punk punk bands. Worth reading.

The Real Arsenal Story (Alan Roper)

Alan Roper
The Real Arsenal Story : In the Days of Gog

A history of the early days of The Arsenal until the end of the 19th century and a little bit after. To be honest it's probably more for Arsenal fans rather than the casual reader although does give an excellent insight into the game and clubs as it and they were fully formed. Match reports suggest very different style of play which I guess is inevitable. If we moan about offside and VAR these days there was originally a 3 player rule where you had to have 3 defenders between you and the goal otherwise you were offside. The other angle is the fans who were just as feisty, if not more so, than today regarding perceived injustices by the umpires. There is a fair bit about the lives of the players and hardships they endured which is one reason that The Arsenal were the first team to go professional in the south thereby being banned from competitions and shunned by other clubs. All very well ex public schoolboys with wealth bleating that the game should be played by amateurs but as the northern rugby clubs decided why shouldn't working lads get paid for a job. Typical of Arsenal to be innovative and to look out for local workers. Of course it also meant that they could attract top players from other clubs thereby attracting larger crowds so the club owners had an eye on the money much as they do now. The story ends just before WWI also there is a bit about the 1930s I think a bit gratuitously although interesting to Gooners.