Man Booker - great minds think alike!

The Man Booker longlist was announced yesterday and I'm feeling a just tiny bit chuffed as I had already "Kindled" three of the longlisted books for my summer holiday reading. How could I resist Alan Hollinghurst's new novel The Stranger's Child after the seductive pleasures of A Line of Beauty and such a lengthy wait? Likewise, recalling the enjoyment of immersion into the Victorian lives of Arthur & George (a book group read in 2006?) I had to get Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending (and it's a short novel!). Finally, I have downloaded On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry following my (unfulfilled) good intentions to read the Secret Scripture which is still languishing in a pile by the bed.

Brief reflections on this convergence of literary views? Well, first, the power of the prize. All three authors have been shortlisted at least twice before (and Hollinghurst won) so perhaps that's why I read their previous novels and have an awareness of their new. Secondly, the power of the Kindle. All three books are still in hardback and hardbacks seem very much cheaper in download - I don't suppose I'd have bought them otherwise until they went into paperback and I certainly wouldn't haul three hardbacks around California. And finally, there's some excitement about the fact that the other books on the list include some by unknown (and first) authors with the potential of much to explore. The complete list is here: Man Booker longlist 2011

It's Miss Pettigrew not Major Pettigrew this time

What is it with the Pettigrew name that makes it popular in novels? In May I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (see: http://kewgreenbooks.blogspot.com/2011/05/major-pettigrews-minor-distraction.html) and this evening, during a quiet and solitary couple of hours, I watched the film of Winifred Watson's 1930s novel Miss Pettigrew Lives for the Day - what a delight. The book (Persephone Books) is now on my holiday reading list as I am sure is charming; it is described as a "fairy story for grown ups" which is "full of gentle humour". It appears that literary Pettigrews are wise and gentle souls and the film is delicious viewing since it features another wise and gentle soul in the form of Ciaran Hinds with whom I fell madly in love as Captain Wentworth in the BBC's 1995 version of Persuasion....."I can listen no longer in silence.... you pierce my soul." It sends shivers down my spine!

The breaking of eggs is a matter for debate

Jim Powell's novel The Breaking of Eggs provided fertile ground for a book group discussion at Sally J's on Wednesday evening. At a packed meeting (save for the member for Greece) everyone had a view on the narrative that unfolded, its credibility and historical perspective and the political discourse that is the real point of the book. It surprised no one that Powell had stood for parliament - one view is that the book is a device to allow him to rehearse philosophical arguments about the relative merits and demerits of two opposing political theories. The story, compelling as it is, is arguably in parts a political tract which highlights the dangers of dogmatism; in Feliks' case, his inability to form relationships and have a personal life was the price he paid for his political dogmatism. The deconstruction of his political views was painful for him and for the reader but of course, since there was a certain predictability about the story, resulted in a happy ending.

Some felt that the effectiveness of the narrative tone was patchy and we all agreed that there were some very obvious devices employed to allow the story to get to from A to B. So Woody was a crude portrayal of the American capitalist dream (although the overwhelming welcoming of a jetlagged Feliks by his plentiful family rang very true), letters and Woody's recitation of his story dominated the middle of the novel and there were some clunky decisions and connections in the narrative, necessary to make Feliks the island that he was; not all rang true. However, it is a thought provoking read and we had an interesting discussion about facts giving rise to differing views of reality.

And was it Stalin who first coined the term the breaking of eggs to make an omelette?  Alison's ipad leapt to the rescue to tell us that although it is commonly thought to be Stalin's phrase, it is in truth much older and is first attributed (presumably involving oeufs and casser) to Robespierre, appropriately, mastermind of the French Reign of Terror in the 1790s.

High Altitude Reading

Back from 4 glorious days walking in the Dolomites and, thanks to the Kindle with its integrated light in my rucksack, I was able sneakily to read late at night and early in the morning in my narrow bunk in the high Alpine huts where we stayed (a sort of very vaguely nostalgic student experience involving shared rooms, towels the size of flannels, and queuing for a coin operated shower).  Sebastian Faulks' A Week in December, set during the lead up to the banking crisis and featuring Notting Hill dinner parties, hedge funds, a seedy book reviewer (some baggage there, Mr Faulks), teenagers experimenting with drugs and Islamic extremists, was an incredibly inappropriate book to read in the crisp clean air and isolation of the mountains - definitely wrong time, wrong place.  However, it is worth the read and is an enjoyable, if a little contrived, canter through contemporary London. Besides which, I like the familiarity of books about London (and this is not Richard Curtis picturesque London but, at least in parts, a rather grittier version). Equally inappropriate for the setting of the Dolomites is The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2009. Set in Australia it contains much sex, swearing, stubbies and opinionated characters...... but if you can get through that, it is a thought provoking read about how one act of domestic violence (the slapping of a child at a family BBQ) reverberates through a community