FEBRUARY READING: SWEET TOOTH by Ian McEwan

SWEET TOOTH by Ian McEwan

He had me at 'Amsterdam',  'Black Dogs' was pretty macabre, 'The Comfort of Strangers' downright scary, 'Enduring Love' ever so slightly creepy, 'Atonement' divine. Then this. So, yes, admittedly it has been some 11 years since 'Atonement' was published and he has published four novels since then, none of which I have read. My mistake perhaps.

What I loved about those earlier novels was the compactness and perfection of the writing: with the exception of 'Atonement' they are all short books. So much was said in so few words. 'Atonement' is longer than this novel, but an awful lot happened in that story over quite a long period of time, plus the story was told from the perspective of a number of different characters. It touched me. This novel - none of those things.

There is a huge amount on the net about the autobiographical bits and pieces in this story and the significance or otherwise of that, plus plenty of over-analysis of time and place and characters. But the upshot for me is that it is far too long - the main character, Serena Frome, drones on endlessly,I felt little or no engagement with any of the characters or with the story for that matter, and for the length of the book very little actually happens. In short, very disappointing.

I did love the setting however, and the author's writing of it. Set in London, early 1970s, middle of the Cold War, troubles with the unions, British Government in chaos, oil crisis, all sorts of trouble in Ireland, the author conveys the uncertainty and worry of the average Brit with the possibility of heating cuts, petrol rationing, where will the IRA strike next, job security, being overtaken by Communists. A wealth of material to write a novel about spies, espionage and double crossing. But 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' it aint.

Serena is a most unlikely heroine. Smart and well educated without being brilliant, pretty without being stunningly beautiful, product of an Anglican bishop and closet-feminist mother, keen to get ahead in life, she is probably typical of many girls of her middle class upbringing at this time. She is young, so love and romance rank pretty highly in her small universe. She has an affair with a much older Cambridge professor, which leads her into working for the intelligence service. She finds herself as a pawn in the long game, code name 'Sweet Tooth', of MI5 nurturing the writing talent of an up and coming writer, Tom Haley. Naturally they fall in love, naturally the whole things unravels. End of story, and, a la McEwan, with a twist.

So not much more to be said really. Other than the writing of Serena's target Tom  Haley, which I thought was the best writing in the whole book - short stories within the novel. They are all the things those earlier novels of McEwan's are that I have read - touching on the dark side of human nature. Creepy, macabre, weird, brilliant. If only there was more of this in the book instead of all the rambling, introspective, precious thought processes of Serena's brain.

JANUARY 2013 READING: A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulkes

A POSSIBLE LIFE: A Novel in Five Parts by Sebastian Faulkes

Well, I must be a bit thick or something but I really did not get the purpose of this 'novel'. I have always thought of a 'novel' as a long story with a plot and characters that are linked in some sort of organised and sequential manner. This book meets the 'long' and 'characters' requirements, but other than four very small and tenuous links the five parts have nothing to do with each other. I kept waiting and waiting for the connections to show themselves, got to the very last page and still nothing. So, like a number of other reviewers have done, perhaps it is better to read this book as five short stories penned by a master of the writing game.

Because, I loved reading these five stories. Mr Faulkes is an exquisite story teller, creating five very different stories, with five diverse leading players, and five very different voices. Ranging from 1800s rural France, to Victorian London, Trieste in 2029, World War II and 1970s America, we meet respectively Jeanne, an illiterate peasant girl who spends her life working for a middle class family; Billy, who spends most of his childhood in a workhouse, but finds this start in life ends up being to his advantage; Elena, a brilliant scientist, whose life is dominated by a peculiar Catherine/Heathcliffe childhood; Geoffrey, a mild-mannered sport mad school teacher who finds himself betrayed to the Germans, then sent to a concentration camp to do unspeakable things; and finally Jack, an almost-aging rocker who 'discovers' a musical prodigy and launches her into fame and fortune, but at a cost.

All these stories then, are about life, none of them very happy lives really, but that perhaps is the secret to the success of these stories. The author gets right under the skin of his characters, into their very souls as they try to deal with what life is throwing at them. Some thought is given at times by the characters as to what would have happened if a different decision had been made, as I am sure most of us wonder about from time to time. But the business of living takes a lot of energy and so these thoughts simply remain that.

For some stories this works better than others. I really don't get the story of Elena who, with a fellow scientist discovers the bit in the brain that enables human beings to feel, empathise, foresee their own deaths - all things apparently that animals don't consciously think about; and the story about Jeanne which hops from present to past to present to past again, even on a second reading is just plain puzzling. But the stories about Geoffrey, Billy and in particular Jack are very good. They are very insightful into that bit of the brain that deals in empathy, making connections and being human, all helped along by Mr Faulkes' great writing.

So, don't read this book as a novel - you will do your head in, but read it as five stand alone stories about people dealing with what life throws at them. And revel in the writing that gives such insight into the human condition.

FEBRUARY READING: VINACULAR: A WINE LOVER'S A-Z by Scott Kennedy and John Saker

VINACULAR: A WINE LOVER’S A-Z by Scott Kennedy and John Saker.

Review copy kindly supplied by Awa Press, via Booksellers NZ.

With books that are a combined effort between a writer and an artist, it seems to be the norm that on the cover the writer’s name goes first. But in this little gem, the artist’s name is the first on the cover. Is it because K comes before S? Or is it because the illustrations, that are so perfect in every way, stand out more than the writing?

I like to think this could be the case, as the illustrations really are quite lovely – gorgeous quirky little drawings, bold but not overpowering use of colour, that capture so succinctly equally well worded snippets of wine trivia that Mr Saker has so neatly defined for us. Together the two make this very nicely produced little book that is a pleasure to pick up, open, randomly read, chuckle, put down and very quickly pick up again.  

I wonder how much wine passed Mr Saker’s lips while he was researching and formulating his definitions? Some really are quite funny - “Entry Level Wines – Entry level wines are like ground-floor apartments. It’s where you start out, pay less, get no kind of a view and wonder how good it must be up there in the penthouse. (Or how hideous down in the basement.)”Or Quaffer – “Quaff a quaffer to quickly quench, but factor in the quality quotient, for down so easy can go quite queasy. ‘He made me a quaffer I should have refused!’ “ And so it goes on for the other 24 letters of the alphabet.

I know Christmas has been and gone, and this book was in the shops then. But it really is the most perfect little gift book, and you don’t have to be a wine expert to enjoy the match between words and pictures.  I bet Mr Kennedy and Mr Saker had way more fun putting this together than we could ever have reading and re-reading it, but that joy and passion for what they do comes flying off the pages for us to enjoy. With a glass of wine and a companion to laugh with. You can't enjoy a book like this on an E Reader - where would all the red wine drips and drops, evidence of a good time, go?

JANUARY READING: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALF TIME WALK by Ben Fountain

War - what is it good for? Well, if nothing else, over the centuries it has produced outstanding writing, even if like this novel, very little of the action takes place on the actual battlefield. Instead, in this piece of outstanding writing,  it is Thanksgiving Day; the battlefield is a football stadium deep in Texas; the combatants are, on one side, eight young men from the bottom of the US Army pecking order and, on the other, the rest of America.

Billy Lynn, at 19 years old, is one of ten Bravo soldiers, sent to Iraq to fight. At the beginning of this story, the remaining eight (one died in the battle, the other seriously injured) have all been flown from the real battlefield of Iraq where they happened to be filmed by a Fox News crew while simply doing their job - ie battling insurgents and trying to keep themselves and each other alive - back to America for a two week period. Lauded as heroes by Bush and his cohorts, then in turn by the media, then the population at large, these ill-equipped young men are transported around the country, wined and dined, feted and praised, all over a two week period. At the end of which they are put back on a transport plane and returned to their tour of duty. Heartfelt thanks indeed. 

The reader sees all this craziness and hype through the eyes of Billy. These young men really can't understand what all the fuss is about. Where ever they are paraded they are cheered, lauded, thanked (for what). There is no connection at all that these boys have been living a life utterly different and disconnected from 21st century America. In Iraq they have purpose, camaraderie, they are battle hardened fighting units, but in their homeland they are simply a product, a pawn in the game of American consumerism, vying kings for the castle, and delusional self esteem.

The climax of this tour is their presence at a football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears where the boys will be taking part in the half time show with act of the moment Destiny's Child. The boys are completely out of their depth, only interested in getting as much drink on the sly they can, smoking the odd joint, and hopefully hooking up with one of the Destiny Child stars or failing that, a cheerleader. They can't figure out what all the fuss is about, and really can't be bothered with it all.

Billy comes across as the strong sensitive type. His analytical radar is perhaps a bit too sophisticated for a high school dropout who opted for a stint in the army rather than a stint in prison. Nevertheless he is a superb vehicle for the author's unflattering portrait of his fellow countrymen, the moral right, the power of the interdependent triangle of the media, big business and politics, and the general level of ignorance of what war really means.

Powerful stuff, and very well written. Not a novel about a war per se, but more about how war is perceived by those actively engaged in it, engaging with those who are not actively engaged in it.

JANUARY READING: All That I Am by Anna Funder

ALL THAT I AM by Anna Funder

I laboured two thirds of the way through this, thought longingly of all the dozens of unread books strewn around the house, and then firmly shut it. Not known for being a person who gives up on anything, let alone a book with plenty of praise on the covers, so feeling ever so slightly guilty, I did a bit of on-line googling. To my surprise, there are many readers who have felt pretty much the same as me, and what's more, that I should continue reading. Which I did. And yes, it did pick up not long after the point at which I had stopped. Thank goodness for that.

But...the last third certainly does not get away from the, as one online reviewer put it "worthy but a bit turgid", tone of the whole book.

It is 1930s Europe. Fascism is steadily spreading its evil footprint across the continent, nowhere more strongly than in Germany, with England doing its utmost to appease and mollify the unstoppable rise of Hitler and his cohorts. Since the late 1920s a small group of activists, some Jewish, some not, with a socialist bent rather than communist, have been trying to educate the German public of what Hitler's intentions are, but of course the public are generally blind to that. Hitler's coming to power in 1933 basically forces these individuals into exile - mainly to England, but also France, Switzerland and USA. Those that end up in London are Dora Fabian, probably the leader of the group, her on-off lover the famous left wing playwright Ernst Toller, her cousin Ruth and Ruth's husband Hans. These were all real people, as were a number of other characters in the story, but some names and events in the story are different from those in real life.

The story is narrated in alternate chapters by Ruth, now an elderly lady living alone in present day Sydney, and Ernst Toller who, in May 1939, is telling his story to his secretary in a hotel room in New York City. Anything involving Hitler, activists and  Jews, is never going to end happily, and naturally it does not in this story, or in real life for that matter.

This is a great story, but apart from the last third, really never gets going as a piece of story telling. It takes a while for the story to get going, and this is probably due to all the background history that the reader needs to understand 1930s Germany. The constant jumping around between a sick elderly lady reminiscing in 21st century Sydney; a depressed, broke, middle-aged dreamer in pre-war New York; and the action taking place in the 1920s-mid 1930s, plus all those German names, takes a bit of thinking to keep track of. As a result, I never really felt engaged with any of the characters and felt quite removed from the action, almost as if I was reading this story through some sort of transparent screen.


Before becoming a writer, the Australian born author was an international lawyer, working in the areas of human rights, constitutional law and treaty rights. I have been reading her blog, some of her writings and she comes across as a woman with roaring fire in her belly for the many injustices that go on in the world. She writes with well-reasoned logic and great purpose and she does that too in this novel. But I wonder if something has been lost in keeping true to the facts and the message that she wishes to convey. Apart from the last third, the book reads more like a text than a novel. But none of this detracts from the importance of the subject matter, and that is was not only the Jews who were extensively persecuted and interned in concentration and labour camps. There are many people of great courage who sacrificed much during this appalling time in modern history, and it is important that authors like Anna Funder ensure their stories are told.

JANUARY READING: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY by Rachel Joyce

Harold Fry, the most ordinary of ordinary men. Early sixties, very recently retired, in a loveless marriage full of regrets and bitterness, Harold is merely existing rather than living. Every day is the same and there appears to be nothing to look forward to or a variation in the daily routine. He is probably typical of many men, and women for that matter, who get to a certain stage in life and seem to either forget how to live, run out of steam, or are so stuck in a rut they can't see any way out.

One day, just like any other, a most surprising letter arrives for Harold from a former work colleague, Queenie. Queenie is terminally ill, in a hospice some 600 miles from where Harold lives. It is not until the end of the book that the reader learns of the significance of the relationship between the two, which perhaps makes his actions at the beginning of the story rather surprising. Harold promptly replies to Queenie and determined for it to be in that day's post, proceeds to walk to the nearest post box to post it. And he simply keeps walking, deciding after a chance encounter with a young girl in a burger bar, that such a letter needs to be delivered in person, that Queenie needs to remain alive until he can deliver his message, and so he keeps going, and going and going.

Now 600 miles at even 7 miles a day is still 85 days of walking! Clad in only boat shoes, a light waterproof, and no cell phone, somehow, against all sorts of odds Harold walks 600 miles. And there are plenty of odds. Initially Harold is quite incapable of looking after himself, and so is forced to rely, unexpectedly, on the kindness of others he meets along the way. Gradually his resilience builds, both physically and mentally, and he becomes quite adept at meeting the challenges his long walk throws up. Once that happens he finds himself with plenty of time and space to reflect on his life, contemplate his mistakes, his regrets, his marriage, his efforts at being a parent, Queenie herself, and his relationships with the people he meets on his journey. Until, by the end of the book, the Harold at the start has evolved into a completely different Harold. As has his wife Maureen, left at home alone, who also undergoes her own life reflections process.

And does he make it to see Queenie? Not telling...

This is such an inspiring story, with all sorts of issues being covered, not necessarily exclusive to people approaching old age - retirement, grief, changes to long term intimate relationships, apologies that need to be made, terminal illness, depression, physical decline - but  certainly very prevalent from perhaps 60 years old onwards. Not being of that age yet, but seeing how many older people do get to live in rut, reading this book has made me more determined that I will not let it happen to me.

DECEMBER READING: The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

THE GREAT GATSBY by F Scott Fitzgerald

 Not being American, I never studied this book in high school. Which was probably just as well. Because like the vast of majority of the classics of English language literature, such a book is way beyond the comprehension of the twentieth or twenty first century teenager. And so, a complete waste of a good book.  After only a brief look at reviews of this novel on Good Reads or Amazon it is glaringly obvious that readers either passionately adore it or hate it with a frightening fervour - and for most it was compulsory school reading.  Now take a look at the trailer for the Baz Luhrmann film due to be released in May of this year. It brings the novel to life in such a way that no high school English teacher could ever have done! And perhaps nowadays that is how we perceive a 'Classic' novel such as this. Filmed five times previously only shows how truly timeless the novel is, and how each generation tweaks it for current relevance.


This novel is so timeless it has been compared to a Greek tragedy with its classic love triangle - Gatsby, Daisy and Tom; secondary but essential characters who tip the balance into madness - George and Myrtle Wilson; and the Chorus - Nick Carraway who is a distant cousin of Daisy and becomes Gatsby's neighbour for the summer. Into this mix are thrown and stirred the greed, ambition and hedonism of the very rich in 1920s America. And above all perhaps boredom - these people have so little point to their lives, are so self absorbed, and have so little purpose that it is no wonder trouble results. Be careful what you wish for...

There is little point in doing a plot summary as the story is so well known and the plot is so accessible via the Net. But you don't read a book just for the plot. At just 190 pages, this is a short 'Classic' read, written with such vividness you can feel the heat of the New York summer, the cool lushness of Long Island, the despair in Gatsby's heart, the emptiness in Daisy. With the doorstops that nowadays pass for 'Classic' novels, it is a true joy to read something written with such finesse and restraint. It may not be rewarding reading for a teenager but for an adult, most definitely.