A gallimaufry (still my most favourite word next to 'haberdashery') of recent reads, short posts about good books various...
In a Land of Plenty ~ Tim Pears
'In a small town in the middle of England, the aftermath of the Second World War brings change. For ambitious industrialist Charles Freeman, it offers new opportunities and marriage to Mary. He buys the big house on the hill and nails his aspirations to the future.
In quick succession, three sons and a daughter bring life to the big house and, with it, the seeds of family joy and tragedy. As the children grow and struggle with the hazards of adulthood, Charles' business expands in direct proportion to his girth and becomes a symbol of the town's fortunes as Britain claws its way back from the grey austerity of wartime Britain.
As times change, so do the family's fortunes. Their stories create a generous epic, an extraordinarily rich and plangent hymn to the transformation of middle England over the past fifty years. At its heart is a diverse and persuasive cast of loveable and odious characters attempting to contend with the restrictions of their generation. This 'is the story of our lives.'
A long read at 670 pages that saw me through quite a few of those hot days lounging behind the summer house, and a very enjoyable one too. The book had several interruptions and there is too much detail to elaborate, but each time I came back to it with no problem...a bit like meeting up with friends again after a long gap, you don't forget them or what has happened to them. I knew the characters well and slotted back into their lives with ease. This was the England I grew up in, post-war, with all its seeming simplicity by today's standards, yet as complex as ever for those living through it. A really excellent summer-long read and I have more by Tim Pears lined up.
Travelling in the Dark ~ Emma Timpany
The first of two novellas sent to me by Fairlight Press. New Zealand so I was bound to enjoy this one, and I did with the past oozing into the present as Sarah returns to New Zealand with her eight-year-old son after a devastating earthquake and the break-up of her marriage. A slow unfolding of secrets, the crumpled dirty washng of her life, stuffed in the suitcase, the lid sat on for years, is slowly bursting open. A deep sense of needing to know propelled me through this one along with its sense of place. It was as good as going on a visit to South Island which I was preparing to do this time last year.
Inside the Bone Box ~ Anthony Ferner
The second of the novellas from Fairlight and the story of Nicholas Anderton, a morbidly obese neurosurgeon who is starting to lose his touch and his confidence in the operating theatre. The previously cavalier maverick is suffering and everyone, including his rivals sense it. As Nick starts to consider gastric band surgery to halt the potential disintegration of both his professional and personal life, events of the past slowly emerge. Nick's disastrous failure and is impact on his life is insidious. I was particularly interested in the ideas about false belief...errors that drive a person along the wrong path even when they know they are wrong; utterly fatal for a neurosurgeon and not much better for the patient either. This is a little book that packs a huge punch and left me with much to think about afterwards and I learned a new word too...
'aequanimitas' that quality of serenity amid the storm, of imperturbability, the touchstone of the neurosurgeon...
The Rings of Saturn ~ W.G.Sebald
I joined in Robert Macfarlane's shared read of The Rings of Saturn over on Twitter through July and enjoyed it hugely. I have read the book at least twice before but this was like discovering the book anew; both stimulating and engaging to read all the comments that would follow Robert's question or observation each day. From first impressions, ways of seeing, landscapes, echoes and shadows to the prose style, guilt, walking, silk, sound and music, the topics ranged far and wide.Then to have access to the thinking of the hive mind and be part of some fascinating discussions was all a bit like attending a very enjoyable little summer school from my armchair. My reading journal is chock full of scribbles which, reading back again to write this, remind me that I have a vade mecum the next time I read the book, which I surely will.
And now over to you...you must all have read some good books this summer too...
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