Thérèse Raquin (Émile Zola)

Émile Zola
Thérèse Raquin

An interesting novel and tale which at the risk of a spoiler... married woman meets man has affair both kill husband get married memory of the killing comes back to haunt them sending them mad. A crude synopsis but the gist of the story. Obviously much better written than I have suggested. A large part of the story is their descent into madness (assuming they are not mad already despite being murderers) which is described in great and lengthy detail. Does go on a bit but I guess that's the point of the story and how it affects the reader. I had to bail at one point and read Puckoon for light relief that it didn't really deliver and in some respects analogous to this tale in that you can't hide from the depression of this book until you reach the bitter end. There's no holds barred as Zola describes both the tempestuous affair and the subsequent murder and madness. Not in graphic detail as you may read today but there is no doubt as to what is going on. All through the dead husband's mother is closely involved in the plot and indeed integral to the story. As is the poor cat which to be honest was the most upsetting bit for me as none of the humans were particularly likeable and all selfish to some degree. Whether the cat was selfish or not is unknown although I think they all are. Well worth reading. Probably best inside looking outside at the cold rain as I have done rather than taking on holiday as a cheery read on the beach.

Puckoon (Spike Milligan)

Spike Milligan
Puckoon

Having read The Third Policeman and reading a review that compared Puckoon to that strange tale I decide to reread the first time being decades ago. Puckoon is a series of weird passages threaded somewhat into the same story of an Irish village being divided by the Ulster / Free Republic border line. Although readable and at times funny there's too much gratuitous racism which may have been "acceptable" (i.e. published and reviewed in mainstream press) when written (early 1960s) but I don't think would get past the Penguin editorial board now and quite rightly. Milligan may have thought that he was treating everyone equally as he was half Irish but that is beside the point. Misogynist too despite much of the humour being aimed at males. I read this in the middle of Thérèse Raquin as light relief although at times I was more depressed by Milligan's language than Zola's.

A Different Drummer (William Melvin Kelley)

William Melvin Kelley
A Different Drummer

A novel by a writer who had a varied life, well worth reading in itself, and after what are now seen as classic novels went somewhat off the scene. This is Kelley's debut novel written in 1962. A very readable story about a village or small town in the deep American south. Without too much of a spoiler it's set in the context that all black people in the (fictional) state are leaving the state seemingly spontaneously at very short notice. The author is black and each chapter is written from the point of view of one of the white inhabitants of the village or small town. Not that the black members of the village are ignored as one in particular is the focus of the story. Although there are obvious racists in the story in the main it's not a violent story... until the brutal ending.

Fever Pitch (Nick Hornby)

Nick Hornby
Fever Pitch

This is subtitled in later editions as "A Fan's Life" and on the cover "The best football book ever written". That sums up the book. Nick Hornby's obsession and how it rules his life is a great book that any obsessed fan would identify with. I'm hardly an obsessed fan but much of what he writes resonates with myself and would do with anyone who supports a team and is fully engaged in their fortunes. Extremely funny in many parts and all along a dark humour of life supporting a team that have, to be fair, been fairly pedestrian especially in the seasons written about through the 70s and 80s. The high point is the win at Anfield to give us our first league win for 18 years. The book stops in 1992 and then Arsenal went onto become a flashier side than they had. As I write this we are top of the league and I'm dreaming of a league win which would be our first for even longer than we waited in 89. Having come 2nd the last 3 seasons surely this season is ours. God, I'm feeling the sort of stress that Hornby describes so much more eloquently in Fever Pitch.

A Mouse Called Wolf (Dick King-Smith)

Dick King-Smith
A Mouse Called Wolf

A lovely little story, unless you're a cat, for children. Not sure where I got the recommendation but in a previous novel it was said that everyone ought to read this. So I did one evening. For kids but strangely engaging.

The Third Policeman (Flann O'Brien)

Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman

An odd and surreal tale set in rural Ireland I guess in the 1930s as that's when it was written. The basic plot is educated man comes home to find another running his bar and farm. After the two of them commit a dastardly crime they live side by side to ensure the other doesn't go off with the proceeds. Once going to collect a few years later it all goes very surreal for reasons I won't explain as a spoiler. A lot of involvement of policemen and their surreal goings on. All is just about explained in the end. A brilliant read although I'm now slightly concerned that some of me may be made of bicycle. Oh yes, various modern (as in the 30s) additions to bicycles are hotly debated. Flann O'Brien is the pen name of Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin) and this novel was strangely rejected by his publisher so only published after his death. A must read in my opinion and one that I've been meaning to get round to for about 3 decades. Worth the wait!

The Captain and the Enemy (Graham Greene)

Graham Greene
The Captain and the Enemy

Never understood why Greene is so admired. Very readable books but don't really grip me as in care about the protagonists. As I said back in 2017 about The Comedians "I didn't feel a lot of empathy with any of them and so not my type of novel. Maybe I'll give him another try in a few years time..."  Well I have given him another try and feel exactly the same way. By the way bought by Debbie in New York at the Strand book stall at Central Park. So should really keep as a momento.