Humankind (Timothy Morton)

Timothy Morton

Humankind: Solidarity with Non-Human People

What turns out to be a very academic book - i.e. expects a certain knowledge of the subject matter being philosophy and the history of economic philosophy so leads to a lot of looking up references on Wikipedia and subsequent and inevitable browsing around that particular subject. Therefore what is a short book is going to take a long time to read. Summary seems to be an analysis as to how non humans should be brought into left thinking thought - and for that read what most would call radical left but for some just socialist rather than the neo liberal capitalist left - and how Marx and subsequent theories addressed human vs non human - and how to not view non humans equally as humans has an inevitable ending of capitalism and fascism - which is what is happening most notably in the USA and increasingly in Europe. Excuse the poor punctuation. Morton flips between very serious analysis which has me reaching for my on-line encyclopedia and jokey references. One I like particularly is when he references a social media storm (US dentist kills lion in Zimbabwe) "flash-mob moralism can descend on anyone at any time, like Hitchcock's birds (it's called Twitter for a reason)". Nice. The basic premise seems to be that we lost our way when we started farming which led to The One God religions and humans treating ourselves as god like and above all animals, and indeed above all non animals, which inevitably led to the type of capitalism that the world is threatened with today and that the climate change environmental movement(s) need to focus on how to get back to that pre agricultural state, at least in mindset, and start treating everything with equal value to humans. Or at least to have solidarity with what we share the earth with. This isn't just because we need to "save the planet", although I'm sure Morton would scoff at that phrase, save it from whom and for whom? without humans things would settle back down again probably, but because we are not just human as we're made up of millions, billions?, of parasitic critters who help us digest food and everything and also who we are is determined by our relationship with others including non humans like cats and indeed mountains and rocks and dirt. It's hardly a handbook for how to live your life, unless you're deeply into philosophy and teach it, but fascinating reading even if I was struggling to keep my head above water. There's a bit about Marx's dancing tables and I'm not 100% certain whether Morton believes that they can dance, I think he goes for at least rocking about a bit. He's obviously an ageing raver as he has a lot of references to dance culture and the effects of what were known as disco biscuits. At least I now have a philosophical dance tune playlist and I now need to re-read Das Kapital (OK, Morton isn't pretentious enough to call it that and refers to Marx's Capital but I am pretentious) and Kropotkin's Mutual Aid. Jeez I got a lot to read I really need to retire!

The Death of Marco Pantani (Matt Rendell)

Matt Rendell

The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography

Excellently written book of Il Pirata's career focussing on his relationships and what drove him with associated latter mental health and addiction issues. Goes from his birth, indeed before, up to his untimely death by cocaine. The book is a sympathetic analysis of his life whilst making clear that his successes, probably since amateur status, were fuelled by doping. There is a lot of analysis of doping in general and Pantani in particular which at times makes the book fairly dry reading but is needed if the author's arguments are to have substance. There are more scathing words about those who are around Pantani whilst also picking out many who tried to help him. The old story emerges of money vs welfare of the money maker. There again Pantani certainly doesn't come out of it as a saint. Far from it. Whilst Pantani was never suspended for doping he was for health reasons following blood tests suggesting doping. This book was written just before Lance Armstrong's fall from grace and his stripping of 7 le Tour de France wins. Pantani kept his 2 major wins from 1998 le Tour and the Giro. The book is full of recrimination (second hand as Pantani's rather than the author's) and some technical detail which is odd as I read whilst on holiday in Portugal and last year read George Clinton's autobiography which has similar themes of being done wrong by the music business and associated fairly technical descriptions of the facts. Of course Pantani is still revered as a cycling icon and why not. He was entertaining, brilliant in the mountains and although a cop out, as Matt's Epilogue so eloquently covers, who wasn't doping at that time? Well worth a read. 

The Holiday (Stevie Smith)

Stevie Smith

The Holiday

Rather downbeat story set firstly in WWII then apparently updated to post war as it wasn't published until then. Follows a woman who's emotions jump up and down both in feelings to life and her relationships with others. You feel sorry for her as there seems to be a lot of bottled up emotion (although it does come out at times) but also that if she could let herself leave what is a fairly restricted and boring life then she'd blossom. It is autobiographical so I wonder if the author also didn't let herself follow a path better suited. There's a lot of inference as to her sexuality and I'm unsure as to whether some of the implications were taken as having sexual experiences back in most austere days. The author is mainly a poet and that comes through in the style and also she puts in snippets of poems into the plot. Has quite a few insights into post war politics including world wide changes such as independence for what was British India. Readable and enjoyable but I wouldn't say a classic.

Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)

Victor Hugo (translated Norman Denny)

Les Miserables

Very daunting when I picked it up and reading about how much Hugo digresses from the main story, indeed it starts by telling you that the first part (i.e. 50 odd pages) are not strictly relevant to the story. However, from page one I'm hooked on the descriptive writing and don't mind reading about a bishop who's only purpose seems to be to introduce one of the main characters. Having now finished this epic I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the digressions. The story is an epic covering generations of various characters with the inevitable interweaving of lives. From that point of view it's a cross between Tolstoy and Dickens. The former's family characterisation and romantic (in both meanings) descriptions and the latter's analysis of the human character especially those who have been dealt a poor deal by society and the troubles that they face including how turning to crime is not as evil as one might assume. Of course as in Dickens there are those who you think are truly evil (if you believe in that) with the main protagonist with that label turning out to be truly evil. There is a strong philosophical thread throughout the novel both directly related to the characters and also in the long digressions. I won't give any spoilers lets just say that there was a lot less story related to the cover than I'd expected. There again it is over 1,200 pages. Digressions seem to be where Hugo wants to give his opinion on, or show his knowledge of, various topics which he's included in a novel as otherwise few would read them. A couple have been relegated to the back of the book as appendices in this edition but I read them where they were in the book anyway as they are only a few pages (comparatively) and other less relevant digressions were included in the body of the story. For instance there are 15 pages about the history of the sewers of Paris. Not many pages in this book but by my calculation about a fifth of the length of Animal Farm. The ending is full of pathos, as would expect for the period, and to my mind a little too sentimental for my liking but, again, typical of the period.

Matt. You would have been proud of me. And we would have laughed about it. Did you ever read it? Better than Moby Dick. RIP.

A Short History of Philosophy (Robert C. Solomon & Kathleen M. Higgins)

Robert C. Solomon & Kathleen M. Higgins

A Short History of Philosophy

Is what is says, at least to publication date in 1995, being a readable canter through the subject mainly western but tying in some eastern. Difficult, as they say, to see where philosophy ends and economics, politics, sociology, theology etc. etc. start. But a good introduction. Ends with some musings of the authors and whilst they include some modern thought such as environmental philosophy but oddly doesn't mention the elephant that was charging into the room in the mid 90's being the explosion of communications technology detonated at that time. Worth reading, if only to understand my daughters. Thanks Rob.

Another Planet (Tracey Thorn)

Tracey Thorn

Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia

A follow up, or predecessor, to Disco Queen which maps her teenage years through her self admittedly not always 100% accurate diaries. Always entertaining, often poignant and mostly mirroring my teenage years and good proportion of others'. Why didn't I keep my diaries? That's another story involving teenage angst and kicking against the system.

Demian (Hermann Hesse)

Hermann Hesse

Demian

Excellent read about a boy growing up feeling at odds with the world and meeting like minded people one in particular who seems to have supernatural powers. No, not kryptonite! On the one hand it seems to be (I would not presume to know what such a great writer was thinking when he wrote his novels) a standard story about pre pubescent coming of age through teenage rebellion and on into a more considered and thoughtful early manhood. But there is that typically Hesse spirituality threaded through the story which suggests that we are part of a wider (or narrower in this case?) (other- / higher-) worldly forces and associated symbolisms. And the search for meaning in life given life's contradictions - and these light and dark, yin and yang, body and mind, good and evil are explored throughout. Not to give too much away but as many of us who feel out of kilter and keep to our own realise after maturing a bit that humanity runs through all of us. The ending is obviously symbolic of passing into another stage of life. Have I really not ready any Hesse for 6 years? Must reread although I've just given the 3 novels on my book shelf to Bruce to borrow...

The People Vs Tech (Jamie Bartlett)

Jamie Bartlett

The People Vs Tech: How the Internet is Killing Democracy (and how We Save It)

Excellent analysis of how technology is pushing us towards a polarised society influenced by big business, politicians and extremist groups through our use of social media and willingness to accept suspect news channels (not necessarily posing as such) that have been fine tuned through AI and big data to send direct micro messaging to each of us individually to hit our sweet spot whether it's to buy, vote or rage against other social, political, ethnic and religious groups. There are areas which I'm not completely agreed with (which is one of the points of the book) such as a blind assumption that democracy is "good". Also not sure about linking Corbyn with Trump as on the extremes - there are extremes of people just out for themselves at the expense of everyone else and there are those who are at least trying to further society towards a more equal basis which seems extreme (if you read the right wing press) but is not in absolute terms. Not saying Corbyn is perfect but who would you want in power if you weren't from the privileged or don't have strength in any of it's manifestations. Tribalism is not the same as political or economic views capitalism. Well worth reading...

Le Morte d'Arthur (Thomas Malory)

Thomas Malory

Le Morte D'Arthur

Started off an interesting read with excellently evocative illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. It's a long list of knightly adventures which after a couple of hundred pages starts to wane somewhat. There's only so many ways that a joust can be described surely, and this doesn't even go into much detail. There seems to bit a bit of exaggeration even for a legend as Arthur ransacked Rome & everywhere in between. And how many knights were there to kill in Britain at the time? There are also far too many damsel's in distress to be "comforted" for modern tastes. So fairly repetitive a bit like Homer's Greek legends or don Quixote but to be honest without the compelling descriptions. I was reading this alongside Gargantua and Pantagruel and thought why? when there is so much more relevant and interesting reads out there. So another stopped before the finish. I'm making a habit of it. Maybe I'll flick through and look at the rest of the pictures...

Gargantua and Pantagruel (Francois Rabelais)

Francois Rabelais

Gargantua and Pantagruel

A beast of a book that is mainly about the exploits of a giant and his son written in 1500’s. The style is quite hard to read, despite a very good translation, as many of the people and places and customs listed are alien and so we don’t get the fully brunt of many of the attacks, or agreements. However it’s an interesting read especially the bawdy bits that are surprisingly frank, I guess from that time to this many people in Europe have become a lot more inhibited. The humour is childish at times and there are too many lists of things that don’t mean a lot to me and were probably only tolerable 500 years ago as entertainment was limited and stories the main one. Having got through the Pantagruel book and ploughing through Gargantua I thought life's too short to read the same farcical and juvenile exploits of a giant which obviously had a cutting social commentary half a millennium ago but means little now. So I stopped..

The Little Book of Philosophy for the Internet of Things (Petras various contributors)

Petras various contributors

The Little Book of Philosophy for the Internet of Things

An interesting book laying out various ethical challenges that society faces as computing power forges ahead following Moore's Law on steroids enabling many a multitude of sensors to be cheaply implemented with the resulting data being analysed through machine learning. With the results of that starting to rule our lives which is where the ethical bit comes in. Short readable pamphlet which is great food for thought. I assisted somewhat to the overall Petras programme in part by facilitating research students putting garden gnomes on the Olympic Park and having them chat to visitors. All tastefully painted and named by local school kids. Have given to my daughter studying Philosophy in Prague who by coincidence has just started an AI module. That coincidence may or may not support the theory of determinism. And thereby lead to the inevitability of machines taking over the world, if not the galaxy. For discussion...

The Dharma Bums (Jack Kerouac)

Jack Kerouac

The Dharma Bums

Enjoyable story about Kerouac's time in California meditating and bumming around the country. Lots of beat generation celebrities are part of the story which lunges from drunken orgies (well, I'd consider it that) to full on meditating whilst fully sober to mountain trekking with the other main character in the story. Philosophical musings about like, on and off the road, make the book more than an adventure yarn. All builds up to a solitary summer job up a mountain the end of which ends the book. A good read and I should re-read more of his stuff.

Miseducation (Diane Reay)

Diane Reay

Miseducation: Inequality, Education and the Working Classes

A very interesting read about how the education system has worked against the working class indeed has always been set up to do so. Many of the stats are unarguable and the theme of the book also. However most of the way through I started questioning the analysis and then looking again at the conclusions drawn. My issues are many...

Firstly, what has Brexit got to do with it. It's not happened yet. This has become a (mainly) left wing catch all for the wrongs of society which is a very easy way to blame right wing nationalists (the general brush by which "leavers" are tarred) for all of society's ills. Regardless of the fact that many on the left voted to leave and that Labour were in power for 13 years up until 2010 which is longer than Thatcher was in power. As an aside I've just been given a report by esteemed universities that says that "up to" 12,400 additional people will die of heart disease over 10 years because they can't eat vegetables due to Brexit. And agreeing with analysis of the adverse health effects put together by a retailer lobbying group that included such well known promoters of healthy eating such as McDonalds and KFC. Really shows how poor our university analysis is. Which comes on to...

Reay takes similar issues and concerns of parents and gives a very different analysis. For instance the usual and widely acknowledged parental fear of their kids first day at school is ridiculed by Reay for middle class mothers but is seen as perfectly valid for working class mothers. There is no empathy in any of the book for either parents or teachers, and very little for the kids to be honest. The cases are simply used to further Reay's argument. The specific cases of children are similarly treated indeed some of their statements are twisted by Reay to support her argument. The analysis is not consistent and to my mind flawed. As anyone knows kids won't necessarily say what they think especially if they are in a group with friends. The analysis is not about the root cause of societal inequalities that schools operate within except mentioned in passing and then Reay ploughs on to the next individual case to prove a point. The question of austerity is touched on but only to press home that working class schools suffer more than middle class schools and is mentioned in the same sentence as Brexit as if they are linked economically (austerity came before the leave vote, remember?). The other issue is that she has not defined working, middle and upper classes and therefore the whole book is confusing. The book only deals with English schools. Why not Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. And for that matter France or Germany. Is it because her argument that England is the worst place on earth for eduction will start to fall down? There is mention of USA but only in passing. Reay keeps on going back to the 60s and 70s as to how bad they were, but elsewhere says about how things have got worse which at times is contradictory.

In 200 pages there are six at the end on how to improve things and most of those six pages are used up in bemoaning that England doesn't do those things. With no case studies as to what will work despite telling us about how bad England is compared to all other countries.

The book is also extremely offensive to teachers trying to do their best (they are all dismissed as working within the system and therefore part of the problem) and very dismissive of middle class parents sending kids to comprehensives if they do not believe in selective education as Reay says that they know that their kids will be streamed anyway.

Maybe I started to feel a little defensive but this tome seems completely driven by Reay's bitter experience of Oxbridge. It's far too personal to be taken seriously. She herself says that people have accused her of having a chip on her shoulder. As this book is 200 pages of telling us how working class kids are not given a good education and those that are such as her are shackled by their background it does feel a little like a chip, yes.

In the end a poor analysis of an important subject. Ironically it is written in a fairly academic way and obviously for a "well educated" audience with a high command of English. Don't bother if you have English as a second language...

Complete Vegan Cycling (Mariana Correa)

Mariana Correa

Complete Vegan Cycling

The worst book on diet or cycling I've read. Apart from being badly written, containing many contradictions, useless information and the most basic of recipes (nearly all with soya and / or sugar) it's for vegans and yet mentions at various times meat, dairy and tuna being good sources of the vitamins mentioned. Absolute codswallop! Should be prosecuted under the trades description act.

Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Franz Kafka)

Franz Kafka

Metamorphosis and Other Stories

Looking for a bit of light reading in Balham library having finished a Nabokov book I saw this and thought I should read it. I'm sure I must have read some of his stuff years ago but can't remember any of it. Jumped straight to Metamorphosis which is very weird and heavy going, at least trying to figure out the meaning. I see it as a comedy with dark humour as to why the main character (or is he?) has become a cockroach (that's hardly a spoiler) which is hardly a metamorphosis as he is one from the very start of the story. There's a lot of farce and probably comments on social niceties and values as of the time that it was written. It may be that the roach man symbolises a life of drudgery and that this is a way to stop that and to take on another life but he's just not creative enough to take the risk or he's just too tied to his family as the breadwinner. The changes within the story are his father who finds that he can hold down a job and the same for his sister who blossoms into a nubile (translators wording) young woman. Even his mother has changed probably for the better. Next I went through the Contemplations which has Kafka considering various things or at least describing them vividly. The rest of the stories are either descriptions of things and people that may have been relevant at the time but meaningless to me and to be honest just got very boring. A couple of odder stories such as the execution machine with the victim not knowing what he's done wrong but, again, excellent descriptive writing but a farcical story line and a bit so what. Maybe I'm not getting the inner meanings but to me it's speaking to a time long past. Some interesting jump off points into Wikipedia though including hunger artists.

Laughter in the Dark (Vladimir Nabokov)

Vladimir Nabokov

Laughter in the Dark

An odd book about an older man who falls for a scheming younger woman and leaves his family for her. Various accidents ensue leading to what is probably the reader's inevitable conclusion. Very well written and the descriptions are great. Not sure I really enjoyed it as all the characters had flaws in some way or another and even the minor characters are easily dislikeable. I was going to re-read Lolita too last read a long long time ago when I was young so maybe will have a different perspective on it. Having read this I think I'll wait a while and read something a little less depressing. Although I've started with Kafka's Metamorphosis so not a great start...

Stasiland (Anna Funder)

Anna Funder

Stasiland

Interesting read about East Germany where a crazy proportion of people were under surveillance by the Stasi which also implies a crazy proportion of people that were informers. Anne is Australian living in Berlin after the wall came down and searched out people who tried to get over and under the wall and also those who worked for and within the Stasi. Some remarkable stories of bravery and deceit. Most worrying is the ease by which citizens would inform on their neighbours and family. Dystopian but in some ways in an ineffectual way. We find out that if people simply refused to help the Stasi they'd just give up on them and leave them alone - just that most were so scared that they did help the Stasi. Obviously different if a family member or close friend was suspected of seriously anti-establishment activities or god forbid wanted to escape to the enemy over the wall. The stories are told with human pathos which makes the book such an excellent read. Politics isn't really analysed although the obvious wrongness of how the GDR kept order is contrasted with the newly capitalist east Germany where people are falling below the poverty line and left to rot (well, a bit of welfare thrown in to make the capitalist system look concerned and to stop civil unrest). As someone in the book points out, it's great to have a choice of toothpaste but do we really need a choice of 30? (as an aside, most are produced by 2 companies anyway but I won't go into the economics of that here). So well worth reading both as an insight into the Stasi and for engaging stories. Thanks Bruce.

Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)

Italo Calvino

Invisible Cities

An odd book having Marco Polo describe various cities to the emperor Kublai Khan. As time goes on it seems that Marco has not visited many of them, indeed all may be made up or modelled on his hometown of . It's odd as it's written as if they are modern with some being steel and glass. There is some discussion between the two about cities and reality of being. Probably cos they're smoking opium I suspect. The city descriptions are about a page each and although interesting I did feel a bit so what. It's one book I don't think I quite got the point of it at all. Maybe as it's written more as a poem in prose and I don't get on with poems usually. Although do like stories written in verse. Anyway, before I get into a prose verse poetry debate with myself I'll just say it's an interesting book to while away the time but I'm not going searching out others of his.

The Outsider (Albert Camus)

Albert Camus

The Outsider

It's been a while since I read any of Albert's books and this makes me want to read more. A short story about a man who has few emotions for his fellow man and is a real outsider. Not from conventional society in which he lives and gets on pretty well but from society as the force that binds us together in communities. Feelings for our main character vary from disgust to sympathy - as in feeling sorry for him rather than empathising. Although in many ways we all tread a narrow path between community and selfishness so at times we do empathise too. The climax of the book drives home Camus' point of the story and although hardly climatic as such does leave you thinking about like, society, family,  relationships, religion (if you still bother to think about it) and finally death. I'm sure you can find numerous books and PhD theses on this book so I won't try to analyse any more. A final point though, the writing and descriptions of nature are brilliantly evocative which make an impressing counterpoint to the societal observations. Must re-read more of his stuff.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson)

Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Another odd book. A by turns dark and comic story about two sisters who live shut off from the world except traumatic trips into the local village, a dotty uncle and the rare formal visitor. The reason is soon explained and the rest of the book is about the sisters relationship with each other and their complex personalities. A big change comes blowing in which turns things upside down which I won't spoil the story. The ending is sweet in a way although I would say fairly unlikely given human nature. Despite that this is a very readable book although not too sure I want to wade through Ms Jackson's other stories - the subject matter seems very dark. We'll see... There is an afterword which analyses the girls' personalities and the point of the story - not really that enlightening although interesting bits about the author. Worth whiling away an afternoon, or a few tube journeys, on.

Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs (Michael Embacher)

Michael Embacher

Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs

As it says - about 100 iconic bike designs with a bit of history of each. Beautifully illustrated. Foreword by Paul Smith. One book you can definitely judge by the cover. Coffee table stuff.

Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)

Vladimir Nabokov

Pale Fire

An odd book by the author of Lolita which I should read again. Starts with a foreword setting the scene. Our narrator is an academic who comes from a north European fictional country who settles in the US at a college. He befriends a poet who he adores and having finished an epic poem he is then killed and the narrator publishes the poet's work with notes. Next is the 999 line poem. I'm not a lover of verse but this is readable veering from anecdotes, musings on things and a lot about the death of his daughter and further musings on death itself and the afterlife, or not. The bulk of the book is the narrator's notes on the poem but this is where the book's story line comes out interweaving a few different stories of which I won't give any spoilers. Suffice the say that the narrator's view of his relationship with the poet is obviously out of kilter with a strange ending leaving me wondering as to what actually happens throughout the book and how much is fiction (as in unreal within this piece of fictions reality, if you see what I mean). I must go google the book to see if my assumptions are similar to the critics. Great book though. Only downside is having to skip back and forth between poem, narrator's notes / story and the glossary / index (which to be honest I couldn't be bothered with most of the time) which standing on a tube ain't easy and results in bookmarks dropping like snowflakes on a winter's day. There's poetic imagery for you!

P.S. Having Googled interpretations of the plot it seems that my view of it (ask me before I forget it completely) may well be true as it seems there are differing schools of thought and indeed a lot more writings giving possible interpretations than contained in the book. Even seems that the author (the real one, Nabokov) isn't certain about what he wrote. All adds to the fun of reading ambiguous stories.

A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)

Bill Bryson

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A very readable romp through the universe's history, and future, from the wider universe to sub atomic particles and how they can fly through space and time instantaneously. I think. As ever when you read things like this you think wow - how can this have just happened. Maybe there is a higher being. But that's the default answer for anything humans don't know and anyway who made them. A skipped history of human evolution too and how amazing we are. Pity we don't use that for good. It's a while since I read any Bill B and forgotten how readable he is. All our facts are presented with anecdotes around the people who discovered them, or at least wrote them up, as some majorly amazing facts seem to be hidden by those who thought them up for decades for various reasons. It's the people facts and how odd we all are, even brainbox scientists, who make this book fascinating. Well worth a read. Along the way I was wondering how much our thinking has changed as this is 15 years old. One thing I think that's been agreed recently is that unless we have very recent African ancestors we're quite a lot part Neanderthal which may explain rush hour tube train behaviour. Sorry, a cheap joke at the expense of Neanderthals who I'm sure would never have pushed their way past people at Bank Station, or through the marshland or glacier that would have been there way back when.

Hangover Square (Patrick Hamilton)

Patrick Hamilton

Hangover Square

A darkly funny book set in mainly in Earls Court about a guy stuck in a drunken culture due to the love of a lush woman (in both senses) and how has increasingly frequent flips into a different mindset a bit, or definitely, schizophrenic like. I won't write a spoiler but this is well worth reading. Well written, plot never dull, tense, dark and at times depressing. It was written during the first couple of years of WWII and I guess parallels the by turns depressing and euphoric feelings and the need for many to switch off from reality. Above all it's about relationships, the good and the bad, and how we should hold onto the good and ditch the bad - if we're of sound mind and soul that is. A contemporary of Orwell and that shows in subject and style.

The Undoing Project (Michael Lewis)

Michael Lewis

The Undoing Project

A book I tried to read and although sections are interesting I couldn't keep the thread. Not sure if cos I had gaps between reading or cos it jumps around a bit but probably a bit of both. One of the few books (although they seem to be mounting?) I couldn't finish and gave up half way through. A shame as sure the end brings everything together but I'd have forgotten all the strands by then anyway!

The Hardmen (Velominati)

Velominati (Brett Kennedy, Frank Strack, and John Andrews)

The Hardmen: Legends of the Cycling Gods

Entertainingly written account of selected cycling hard men (aren't they all?) and why. Probably one for cycling enthusiasts but even as a commuter and occasional hill climber who never puts myself "into the red", well not intentionally although a few Devon hills have done their best to beat me, I can appreciated the descriptions of what the riders put themselves through. The writing is a bit matey and as it's the Velominati who are self proclaimed guardians of serious cycling rules it's a little bit contrived at time. At first I was a little niggled by the style but once I realised that it the authors are American I gave them a bit of leeway and just went with the flow. Very good covering different styles and includes women cyclists and some blasts from the past.

Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You? (George Clinton)

George Clinton with Ben Greenman

Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You? A Memoir by George Clinton with Ben Greenman

350 pages of funk! The history of George, Parliament, Funkadelic and all the off shoots like Bootsy and times with Sly Stone. From barbershop doo wop to providing the backing tracks for rappers hip hop and beyond. It's an instructive story about the birth of this funk phenomenon and how he was influenced by the British invasion when white boys from London and Liverpool brought blues back to America. Interweaving with other artist's stories such as Motown, Sly, Prince and many others. A fascinating read from a historic perspective. Although in some ways it's a little too instructive with not enough of the very funny anecdotes that are sprinkled through the memoir. There's also a lot dealing with how the Parliament Funkadelic stable were ripped off by so many managers and lawyers around them and indeed there's an appendix that deals with that. Maybe it's too broad covering musical history, incidents and the underside of the music business. And a bit of personal politics thrown in. You feel sorry for George that he's pretty pissed at so many people although as he says he always finds his way back through the funk. But there again he seems to have enjoyed his life at the top of music - and if you spend decades as a crack addict I guess people around you will rip you off and pretty easily. There are some off omissions as to the musical history in that punk rock is ignored completely and reggae and it's offspring such as dub is only mentioned in passing. Nevertheless a good read but one where you think you'd like a bit more of what he actually got up to when not working.

Big Capital: Who Is London For? (Anna Minton)

Anna Minton

Big Capital: Who Is London For?

A very interesting, insightful and ultimately depressing book about a subject that we all know about but even so gives an excellent analysis with a wealth of information about the London housing crisis. A lot packed into a short book which gives an introductory analysis of the London housing / land market as an investment tool for wealthy foreigners (although to be fair the British have played the game for long enough) who buy housing off plan simply to make a profit. Goes through some of the reasons including the government’s ridiculous tax incentives in this market, regulations banning local authorities from building council houses and subsequent deals boroughs make with developers whereby they undervalue land to lessen the amount of social and affordable housing they have to build with no recourse to right the wrongs when once built the housing unsurprisingly is a lot more valuable. Although the book blames the latter on the boroughs to be fair they’ve been so badly squeezed between austerity cuts and central government neo liberal “market is king” regulations that they are therefore between a rock and a hard place. Will be interesting to see if the current London mayor makes a difference. I probably can’t say too much on this as I work for a GLA development agency but I do understand something of the goals of those who work in this area in the public sector, who could jump to the private sector for a lot more money, and the restrictions that they find themselves having the operate within.

The book also takes a more personal view of the crisis visiting and interviewing those at the sharp end either living in poor quality housing, if they’re “lucky”, and those fighting against demolition of their social housing homes to make way for expensive apartments in private blocks which may contain a few social or affordable flats (see comment above about developers) with separate entries like the old servants and tradesmen entrance. The other commentary is how inner London boroughs push residents out to cheaper accommodation in outer London, whilst those borough push their residents out to the suburbs and the domino effect of those going to the home counties and then farther afield. All a result of colliding and crazy housing and social benefit policies. Crazy from the citizens point of view but not from business as the all conquering “market forces” which aren’t really that due to the involvement of government regulation ensuring that market forces help the rich and push those who are less well off further down into the mire.

I’m one of the lucky ones as are many of my age group having settled in London in the 80s and having a decent career and being able to buy a house in the 90s. In a way it’s quite nice thinking that my ordinary flat in a terraced road in Balham is worth a fortune and that would be pretty well off and sold up, retired and moved to somewhere cheaper. A lot don’t have that choice. But I don’t want to have to move out of London and if I did I’ve still got 3 kids who will be looking to live somewhere and won’t be able to afford anything near decent in London in the foreseeable future. The book does go a little way into how to improve the situation but there’s not a lot of analysis on that and to be fair it’s pretty obvious what needs to change, i.e. reverse all the trends that the book talks around. Although depressing government intervention of a radical (for London, not for other large cities) could change the situation around within a generation if not less. Although my flat may fall in value if it meant that my kids could afford to live near me (I mean within the north or south circular) if they wanted then I would take the hit to my personal wealth as measured on paper but not realisable until I shuffle off this world into the next where I’m assuming having a roof over my head won’t be a worry. A simple head stone will suffice. Preferably in London if land prices haven’t turned all the graveyards into luxury flats which is not unknown as witness the battle to keep the Cross Bones graveyard in Borough.

Critical Thought in the Face of the Capitalist Hydra I (Sixth Commission of the EZLN)

Sixth Commission of the EZLN

Critical Thought in the Face of the Capitalist Hydra I (Contributions by the Sixth Commission of the EZLN)

Translated notes on a seminar over a number of days. Starts with some entertaining speeches about the Zapatistas (Zapatista Army for National Liberation, or EZLN) with a personal touch. Then gets a bit more serious and factual which is interesting enough but a little dry with a bit of repetition (although as this was a seminar that's not surprising). Gives a good insight into how the Zapatista's run their affairs indeed sometimes in too much detail. Unless you're using this as a guide for how to live within the Zapatista structure which of course was the purpose of the seminar. Interesting nonetheless.

It's sprinkled with some very odd stories being funny, bizarre and surreal. Some possibly true but some are anecdotes or parables. then there's the practical instruction of how to govern bottom up and role of committees including guidance and instruction. A lot of what we did; why we did it and warnings especially about mainstream political parties. Critical thought means different views and there's a fair bit of philosophical ramblings and political economics lecturing. An example I liked was a musing on whether scientists who experiment on mice brains are in reality "simply channelling psychopathic serial killer tendencies". I'd say yes. There's also a lot of Sherlock Holmes quotes and musings which I wasn't expecting in a Latin American rural anarchist book but maybe his stories are really popular over there. The thread about the football team the small girl the cat-dog and the wall to be destroyed is a weird one although brings you back to the fact that the Zapatista anarchism is both revolutionary and steeped in critical analysis.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami)

Haruki Murakami

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Very readable but not particularly enjoyable. It's a dark subject matter which I'm not a fan of although the more surreal passages are great. However to my liking there's far too much gratuitous descriptions of extreme violence and also an underlying salaciousness. The sex scenes may or may not add a lot to the story but I'm not sure why he needs to beat the crap out of a musician or for the ongoing flirting with a local teenager. I'm a bit surprised that Patti Smith loves this book, it's due to her that I read it, apart from her interest in dark crime programmes. Such an epic probably deserves more than a few lines from myself but it's too chopped up with too many strands many of which I feel are there as short stories of violence and sex. There's also an unsavoury thread of women being defiled and maybe quite enjoying it. An enjoyable read in parts but overall very suspect.