On the Clock (Claire Baglin)

Claire Baglin
On the Clock

A strange book which (SPOILER ALERT) doesn't really go anywhere as a plotline. It's two narratives in parallel but never touching (as parallels don't) except that maybe the characters are the same person at different times. One strand is about a family who don't have a lot of money and whose father words as an electrician and seems to get angry a fair bit. The other is someone working in a fast food restaurant that includes a drive through and how unrelenting and soul destroying that is. Both stories are well written and although I was thinking Where's this Going, and rightly guessed it didn't really go anywhere, it was very readable with great descriptions. So thanks to Jordan Stump who translated from the French.

Dad’s Army (Graham McCann)

Graham McCann
Dad’s Army: The Story of a Very British Comedy

A great insight into the making of this famous comedy series going through beginnings, the cast, the locations and of course much of the plots and jokes. Brings home how close knit the cast were and a great insight into how programmes were made back when there was a time on location and then back in the studio with live audiences. Makes me want to watch again.

Gabriel's Moon (William Boyd)

William Boyd
Gabriel's Moon

I usually start of this type of review: "I don't usually put down a book..." but nowadays I'm getting fussier about what I spend my time doing. Ironically since I've had more free time not working. I found this irritating in pointless and crass descriptions about scenes, as if that's what you're meant to do in a novel, and that all women seem to be potential bed partners. After trying my best I simply thought that I have no interest in what happens to the main character and that the plot was contrived to say the least. The history of the making of Dad's Army was too much of a draw to carry on this this book. Incidentally I now find out that Debbie tried to read another of his books and put it down too.

The Lowlife (Alexander Baron)

Alexander Baron
The Lowlife

Interesting read written in 1963. Story revolves around a gambler living in Dalston (Hackney) who befriends a family living below him. Touches various themes including the addictive nature of gambling and how this guy just about keeps head above water. The other main theme is his relationship with the family especially the 4 year old kid who sees him somewhat as a hero compared to his bickering parents. His relationships with the adults is also weaved into his story. Then there's the relationship with his sister and her husband who are well off as work hard and don't lose money on the dogs. There's his casual relationships with women and then memories of a past love in pre war Paris. Excellent descriptions of his world including Dalston and East End places which I know (somewhat). The main character is Jewish (as is the author) and that comes out in the novel as a lot of  Yiddish words pepper the book. Recommended.

Under A Rock (Chris Stein)

Chris Stein
Under A Rock

An extremely interesting book about Chris' life and of course the start, rise, demise (somewhat) and rise again of Blondie. But it's so much more than this. His was (is) a fascinating life from a Brooklyn childhood and then moving into Manhattan before it was desirable, cleaned up and gentrified. I hadn't realised that he and Blondie were so in touch and integrated into the pre / proto punk scene, indeed into the late 60s scene, and his stories of that period are entertaining and fascinating. He hung out with all the bands and movers and shakers (New York Dolls, Iggy, Ramones, Andy Warhol etc. etc.)  Of course there are the "usual" tales of oddballs and criminals amongst the trendy (although not at the time) struggling artists and musicians. I had read Debbie Harry's "Fact It" memoirs of the period but that was a few years ago. This memoir has loads of little incidents and people passed mentioned which gives it a really great flavour of what it was like to live in NYC at that time. He gets into heroin and then coke in a big way and the trials of looking for junk, and trying to get off, are as enlightening as Burroughs. An excellent read whether you are into Blondie, punk or not.

Shy Creatures (Clare Chambers)

Clare Chambers
Shy Creatures

A strange and beautiful novel. The topics cover love, loss and shame. Loss covering actual loss and lost opportunities or not having other lives. There are unexpected twists in the story and in some ways it's a bit of a whodunit (or didn't) mystery. One of the character's earlier lives is told in reverse so that the various threads come together towards the end. The "present day" setting, so to speak, is in the mid 60s and the story goes back to the war years and beyond. It's interesting to set it then as society has obviously changed including mental health management as the novel is centred around an institute helping, or at least "treating", those who are not deemed "normal" by "society". Whatever that means and indeed that is partly covered in the novel. The cultural references of the mid 60s are interesting especially for those who lived through them - or in my case were conscious of the tail end of those changes going into the 70s. A thoroughly enjoyable read written with care and compassion.

Still Life with Woodpecker Novel (Tom Robbins)

Tom Robbins
Still Life with Woodpecker

I won't bother with the usual cover as this is just a note to remind myself not to read Tom's books. I know that many like this style but after a few pages I guessed that this would be a fantasy type story (including the usual male sexual fantasy) with unlikeable or unrealistic characters and misogynistic descriptions of women under the guise of sexual liberation. Don't often put books down but life is too short to wade through stories that you are not enjoying. Having said all that he is a well known respected author so I'll pass the book to Oxfam as someone may enjoy it. A pubescent teenager. Possibly.

Revolution: The Rise of Arteta's Arsenal (Charles Watts)

Charles Watts
Revolution: The Rise of Arteta's Arsenal

An in depth account of Arsenal since Arteta's appointment as manager coming into the role after the debacle of Emery in 2019. Shows his single mindedness to bring Arsenal back together as a club (team, owners, staff, fans) and how he has achieved that. This edition stops at the end of the 23/24 season and whilst The Arsenal have been much improved they are still yet to win the Premiership although Arteta (and the author) are certain that they will do so soon. And of course we did win it this season and lose out, just, on the Champions League. An interesting read I think whether you are a Gooner or not. It certainly brought back to me the darker times during and just after the corona suppression when even I was wavering as to whether Arteta was up to the job but I was not someone who wanted him out mainly because we are a club that stands by managers with long term potential. Up The Arsenal!

Walk the Blue Fields (Claire Keegan)

Claire Keegan
Walk the Blue Fields

I've loved Claire's previous books that I've read and I think both I finished in a day. This has taken a little longer as it's a series of short stories. They are brilliantly written with great characterisation. All are fairly dark or at the very least fairly strange. The last has a surreal ending. That's the point maybe... they are modern fairy tales bordering reality and another world. Well worth reading.

So You've Been Publicly Shamed (Jon Ronson)

Jon Ronson
So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Factual book all about on-line shaming. Goes through significant shaming incidents and the vitriol that is spewed at people on-line. Analyses pre-on-line shaming and how to un-shame yourself on-line. It's an interesting read but I can't understand why you would spend so much time on-line looking to shame people whether you feel that they deserve it or not. Since the book was written a decade ago I don't think anything has changed for the better. So, although an interesting read and well written with a personal touch I did think "why?" 

The Things We Never Say (Elizabeth Strout)

Elizabeth Strout
The Things We Never Say

Very different to previous Strout novels that I've read as altogether darker. It's a story based on a teacher who is going through depressive thoughts already and then receives shellshock news. Interspersed with his story we follow others' stories as they go through tough times. Alongside and exacerbating the feelings of the main character is the lead up and result of the 2024 election and subsequent Trump actions. The novel is a great description of the impact of politics on people's wellbeing even if it doesn't directly significantly impact those lives. So, as well as being different for Strout it's one of the best books I've read covering that last theme so well.

The Pickwick Papers (Charles Dickens)

Charles Dickens

The Pickwick Papers

Dickens' first novel which came out in installments in a paper which was usual at the time. It was extremely popular at the time of publication leading to hotly anticipated next installments and caused civil disorder in the docks in New York as people scrambled to get a copy of the papers sent from England. It made Dickens famous and rightly so. Typically it's a great story with humour and some tribulations incorporated into it with a brilliant insight into human behaviours which are timeless. Character description is fantastic as ever and of course the main characters are larger than life. Not a complicated plot and without real surprises it's an apparent account of the excursions of The Pickwick Club written down (the "papers") and chronicling the scrapes and they get into and people they meet. The central character is a wealthy retired businessman (Pickwick) who is by turns efficient and sharp but also bumbling and naive. His character is very gentle and always looking to help others as best he can. The other main character (Sam Weller) becomes his manservant although the relationship is more of a friend or possibly a father figure. Mostly the plots are gentle and the few nasty characters are treated with humour mostly ending up on the good side or at least not dominant. However, there is a darker side that is explored more in Dickens as yet unwritten novels especially related to the debtors prison. There are also a few short stories inserted as narrated by various characters and these are far from gentle and bring a darker edge to the story indeed nearer to later novels. In addition to the descriptions of landscapes, cities and characters there is a lot of travelling around the country to which I was often researching the different types of coaches etc. through web searches. Also looked up the various inns and places that are mentioned and satisfying to know that at least some are still around in London two centuries later. A thoroughly enjoyable book and I must read more of his.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Dai Sijie)

Dai Sijie
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Recommended by Zayn (thanks!) which made me search out Balzac and only now 18 months after have I read the book. Which only took a day. Although small it's packed with story about love, relationships and awakenings. Set in China's 1970s with two sons of city intellectuals being sent out into the countryside to live as peasants as part of their re-education which may be forever. Their awakening is less about the Maoist kind rather in reading classic novels that are illegal. Mixed into this is their friendship with the Little Seamstress and her awakening in discovering the classics through the two boys which leads to another realisation and action which... well I won't put a spoiler in here suffice to say that the novel is a great read and possibly a classic in itself. 

Hooked (Paul Merson, Rob Bagchi)

Paul Merson (Rob Bagchi ghost writer)
Hooked

An honest (I assume) and all laid bare history of Paul's addictions that covered alcohol, cocaine and gambling. Although all interconnected it's interesting that gambling is the one that he sees as the hardest to kick (excuse the pun) and the most devastating to his wellbeing and life. Coke is the easiest for him to stop. It's written in a convincing and engaging manner which I assume is largely due to the ghost writer Rob Bagchi. The first part documents how Paul falls into drinking, gambling and then cocaine and how they take over his life exasperating feelings of low self esteem with the only relief coming from his 90 minutes on the football pitch. As an aside he was one of the best players of his generation and a key member of the league and cup winning Arsenal team. The middle part continues with his addictions and his latter years as a play post Arsenal but here I feel he loses his way and goes off into moaning about managers and players sometimes quite critically which is uncalled for in my opinion. And uncritically of a certain manager that left a certain south coast team deep in the financial mire. The latter part picks up again on what the book is about in how hard Paul finds it to quit gambling and losing literally all his money. The ending is optimistic in that he is a well regarded pundit and has a loving wife who has complete control over his finances to prevent him gambling it all away. The big take away for me is how devastating a gambling addiction is and how little is in place to help addicts which is something that Paul references too.

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company (William Dalrymple)

William Dalrymple
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company

A comprehensive history of the East India Company that was the forerunner of foreign companies positioning themselves as quasi governments as the start of the British Empire in India. Well written and very readable. The context of how India was divided between various warring groups is well covered and therefore how such a small group of foreigners could take over a vast empire(s). Similar to the Spanish in Latin America. The other context is the European powers fighting for trade, colonies and indeed the wars in Europe itself. The story has been repeated time and again especially the times when the EIC needed bailing out by the British government aka us taxpayers... whilst the people who ran the company continue to receive massive payments and profits. Of course some investors lost fortunes but those were ones who could afford to or who were greedy, as today.  Another aspect is the description of wars in India and the sacking of cities which were particularly brutal with torture, rape, looting and massacres. What's interesting is how the EIC became such a substantial part of the British economy and to stop the boom and bust, excesses and corruption at the EIC the government increased regulation until eventually taking over the EIC (effectively nationalising it) and thereby creating the British Raj which would continue for another century.

Sons and Lovers (D. H. Lawrence)

D. H. Lawrence
Sons and Lovers

A well written and mainly engaging novel with some beautify descriptions of nature and pit villages. A hard story apparently autobiographic of fathers, mothers, sons, and, well, lovers. However, DH does go on a bit in parts which I'm sure is what makes his novels so brilliant for some but I thought he presses a point a bit too much. Which is a very vague memory I have of Lady Chatterley's Lover which I read a fair few decades ago and I've not been back to DH since. Having said that the content of this novel would probably have been controversial as was his most infamous work.

The Life of Birds (David Attenborough)

David Attenborough
The Life of Birds

Fascinating account of how birds live from birth to reproduction. The variety is obviously immense and Attenborough picks out both the day to day existence of birds that we know well and also the more bizarre habits of certain species. Comprehensive without going too deep into any one species and therefore very readable. It accompanies a TV series so I'll have to watch.

War and an Irish Town (Eamonn McCann)

Eamonn McCann
War and an Irish Town

An extremely interesting read split between the author's description of and involvement in the "troubles" aka insurrection in the late 60s and early 70s in Derry. This was when Catholic enclaves in Derry, Belfast and other Northern Irish cities and towns were being violently assaulted by Protestant militias and police which led to the British Army coming in to restore order. But soon enough sided with the Protestants and added to the violence and killings. The analysis is about why things happened as they did and the lost opportunities to create a class based movement to involve the downtrodden Protestant working class in a revolutionary movement. McCann then goes through Irish history in the 20th century including partition in the 20s and how business / capitalism on both sides of the border ensured that there would be no revolutionary movement uniting both sides of the religious divide although at times this did happen. An interesting point made is that as the independent Republic of Ireland became ruled by the Catholic Church which both pushed government policy and overruled that which it didn't like this played into the hands of Northern Irish Protestant leaders who told their workers that any involvement with the Catholic working class movements would push the North towards unification with the South and therefore Rule by Rome. Although scare mongering to some extent McCann makes clear that this was not untrue and is therefore against the Catholic Church at least in it's meddling in politics. But don't religious leaders always do that. My copy included an update from the early 90s when the IRA were bombing the British mainland and before the Good Friday Agreement. A very interesting and readable book. Recommended. 

Updated...

Martyr! (Kaveh Akbar)

Kaveh Akbar
Martyr!

A very engaging story that builds momentum so that by the end you just can't put it down. Without spoilers it's about a young American Iranian who is a recovering addict obsessed by martyrdom (not his necessarily) presumably a result of his mother when he was new born (so never knew her) being on a passenger flight that was blown out of the sky by the American military. There are twists in the plot some of which you have a hunch about and others which you think you may come across that don't materialise. If that makes sense? A brilliant read with an ending that... well I said I wouldn't give any spoilers. The more interesting given the current war between USA / Israel and Iran. Unfortunately.

Tristram Shandy (Laurence Sterne)

Laurence Sterne
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

A long classic and very strange novel. Written as if the narrative of Tristram who introduces us with his conception and then goes on a 500 page digression until his birth. Mostly about his argumentative father, seemingly acquiescent mother (although she isn't), amiable uncle and various other characters. Written and published over 8 years in installments in the mid 1700s it references and parodies many other novels and contemporary figures which either go over my head or I sometimes internet search references. However, the book covers mainly pretty standard human endeavours and ambitions (both good and bad) and therefore as relevant to us today as it was 300 years ago. London as a place that sucks everything out of the provinces is a current issue. It's pretty bawdy with a lot of references to sex and private parts, so to speak, either direct or double entendres or simply with a couple of lines of asterisks or blank spaces for you to guess the sentence ending or simply make up your own. And this is one of the oddities of the novel as as well as having lots of asterisks there are pages that are simply black or marbled. There are blank chapters which are filled in later in the novel. And example of a blank page is where he encourages us to draw your ideal woman ("as like your mistress as you can - as unlike your wife as your conscience will let you"). Sterne guesses our questions as readers and playfully engages those to explain that he'll complete that part of the plot later on, or not. So the novel talks to itself and is somewhat interactive. Which brings me to comparisons as that is similar to authors like Flann O'Brien who himself has written some pretty weird stuff but I think that this novel caps it all which is especially interesting given when it was written. Although I guess that Cervantes also wrapped Don Quixote around itself as a novel in the latter chapters. There is also a stream of consciousness at times similar to James Joyce and the beat writers such as William Burroughs. As I mentioned the digressions are massive across the whole book, the preface itself is 200 pages in, and also short(ish) and sharp such as taking five pages describing taking a handkerchief out of a pocket which I kept on wondering am I missing a hidden meaning here. One thing that I liked as that apparently Goths debated every point twice: when drunk for vigour and then sober or discretion which sounds like a good policy. Another example of the self reflection is the page that is a representation of the various volumes by lines with curves and back balloons as can be seen below. We do eventually get to hear a bit about Tristram's like apart from various childhood accidents right towards the end we hear about Tristram's travels through France but not for very long and mainly parodying travel guides. Overall a novel which demands a fair bit of focus at certain times but is well worth persevering. A novel like no other.