books

This section features some of the books and reviews included in "stranger and stranger".

NB All the links on this page are to Amazon.co.uk. Non-UK residents can CLICK HERE for links to Amazon.com.

High Fidelity – Nick Hornby

In High Fidelity Nick Hornby offers the reader an access all areas pass to the workings of Rob Fleming’s mind. And being as we are, we head straight for the VIP lounge, where the topics of conversation are invariably relationships and Top Five, best or worst, “whatevers” of all time.

Rob works in his own second hand record shop with a couple of social misfits who are united by their obsessive interest in non-classical music – that, and the fact that they are all (self-consciously) male, living in the 1990s, single (initially) and seemingly going nowhere with their lives.

It is said that the way to paint a great watercolour is to make it look as though one has just thrown the paint down casually and let it flow around the paper, untempered. In actual fact, the artist has probably spent a good deal of time, making sketches, deciding upon the composition, calculating the perspective, agonising over the colour balance and, finally, gently caressing the paint around the paper to achieve the desired effect. In "High Fidelity" Nick Hornby writes, as I would like to paint in watercolour.

Are You Experienced? – William Sutcliffe

Have you ever sat there and wondered which book was so funny that it was making the guy on the tube, four places down from you, laugh so incongruously? It might well have been William Sutcliffe’s “Are You Experienced?”

Dave and Liz (Dave’s sort-of-best-mate’s girlfriend) set off to India for an authentic, alternative, holistic experience. Dave already knows that he fancies Liz, but has not, as yet, realised that he also hates her. Liz is searching for inner peace; Dave is searching for a piece of Liz. Dave is cynical, apprehensive and naïve; Liz is eager, flirtatious and naïve. Sutcliffe is funny, very funny.

Through choice characters and sharp dialogue the reader is taken on a whistle stop tour of India’s hippie trail and shown a few polarised snaps of the workings of the not-quite-twenty-something’s mind along the way.

Short, witty and observant, this is a book you will not put down. If you like to be inconspicuous, do not read this book in public.

Ralph’s Party – Lisa Jewell

There are some activities in life that, whilst enjoyable for their duration, are a little less satisfying after their completion. Within this category one might find such entries as infidelity or (as unlikely as it may seem to find the two as bed fellows) computer games: great fun while you’re playing them, but when you look back you can’t help but feel that there mightn’t have been something more constructive you could have done with your time. That said, I enjoy computer games in moderation and I certainly enjoyed Ralph’s party, despite it having left me little on which to masticate.

If there was any justice in the world, would reading your flatmate’s diary, or plotting to bed your best mate’s girlfriend, be any worse than falling for the licentious leggy blonde in the attic flat? And what should be the punishment for infidelity? If this book is about anything then it is about Forbidden Fruit. Where the author succeeds is making the reader as tempted to read on as Ralph was by Jem’s diary.

For more information about Lisa Jewell go to:
www.lisa-jewell.co.uk

The Railway Man – Eric Lomax

When I went Inter-Railing around Europe in 1991 as an eighteen year old boy, blissfully unconscious of the suffering on my doorstep in Yugoslavia (except when it interfered with my travelling arrangements to Greece) I was already well experienced in foreign holidays. When Second Lieutenant Eric Lomax No. 165340 set sail from the Firth of Clyde in 1941 to help defend the eastern borders of the British Empire, he had never been abroad. He was 21 and about to experience the depths of human suffering that would forever scar his life.

This book moved me deeply, gave me hope for humanity and furthered my understanding. And I believe that many will walk a little lighter for having shared a tiny part of Eric Lomax’s burden.

He describes a world where painless death or humane imprisonment seem like an attractive option, and yet, through his strength of spirit and a will to escape the shackles of his past, he has managed to write a beautiful story of torture and reconciliation. There is no great virtue in suffering, but through suffering some men achieve virtue.

About A Boy – Nick Hornby

In the same way that Will thought he had no interest in kids, I thought I had no interest in reading Nick Hornby. Also like Will, I found that I was wrong.

Some authors write books because they have a story they want to tell, others use stories purely as a vehicle for their wit and observations on life; as an excuse to write, rather than as a reason. For me, in this novel, the story was always secondary to the writing. This is the sort of book that you can pick up, turn to any page, and soon find yourself chuckling away, oblivious to time. The story seemed to slightly whimper out at the end, but that never really mattered. I wasn’t so bothered about what was going to happen, I just wanted it to keep happening.

This is Hornby’s third book and second novel. After the successes of “Fever Pitch” and “High Fidelity”, he must have worried whether his success would continue. With “About a Boy”, Hornby has shown that, unlike Charlie Freeman, he is no “one hit wonder”.

For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

The times may change, and with them the technological advances of military hardware, but the emotions and the principals are as timeless as the mountains on which this unlikely collection of warriors find themselves fighting the military might of the fascist regime.

Will Roberto’s mission be successful? Will he escape to safety with his new-found love Maria? Will Pablo’s sense of duty, and loathing of his fascist oppressors, ultimately conquer his own demons within?

Through love and war, Hemingway’s observations of instinct and duty give considerable cause for reflection.

I Married a Communist – Philip Roth

Set in the McCarthy era, this is an American tragedy; the tale of Ira Ringold, an Abe Lincoln lookalike, and his desperate attempts to escape his haunting past. If only his judgement were as keen as his intentions, or that of his brother who recants the story of Ira’s tragic life to his one time protege Nathan Zuckerman.

Both engaging and humorous, this perceptive tale lingers long in the memory and serves as an accurate record of the political wrangling of that time in American history.

Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby

I came to this book with strong reservations; a catalogue of Arsenal successes would not be an obvious choice for a Tottenham fan. In fact, I am feeling a little ashamed already.

Oh, OK I enjoyed it. There, I’ve said it, and I hope you’re satisfied. I thought I would hate it, I hoped I would enjoy it in some sort of masochistic way but, in fact, I found it quite a good read.

Cycle of Violence – Colin Bateman

You don’t need to be an investigative journalist to realise that this is the work of an insider; and that’s not just because it’s written on the inside leaf. It is no surprise to read that Bateman was born in Northern Ireland, and that he worked as deputy editor of the County Down Spectator, as it is written with a cynicism and feeling that clearly reflect his first hand experiences. This is a grisly novel, which, through his own brand of dark humour, offers a bleak insight into the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Links to Other Books Featured in "stranger and stranger"

© 2005 Robert McMullen. All rights reserved.