Books - book reviews and events

Book Review Reality Hunger

by David Shields

Marketed as a pseudo-philosophical ‘incendiary call to arms for new literature’, when it’s boiled down, this book is nothing but a collection of quotes, coming from a vast range of sources, grouped into various chapters according to theme.

There is no intrinsic problem in this in itself, although it doesn’t make for a thrilling read. The catch is that “author” (read ‘compiler’) David Shields does not acknowledge his sources until the very end of the book. Quietly, and in very small type. Only about 10% of the content appears to be actual original thought initiated by Mr Shields, a fact…

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Book Review The Shaking Woman

by Siri Hustvedt

This fascinating and intelligent book begins on the day Hustvedt first begins to “shake”, during a speech she is giving about her dead father. This experience so unsettles her that she embarks upon an examination of the self in an attempt to discover whether her shaking is “hysterical” or neurological, combining her personal history with intellectual detective work through the annals of psychoanalysis, neuroscience and psychiatry.

As the author of several novels, she also delves into the world of literature and philosophy, describing instances of great creative minds who have also suffered from similar, sometimes unidentifiable neurological and psychological conditions.

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Book Review Lean on Pete

by Willy Vlautin

Singer-songwriter and author Vlautin’s fiction explores the underbelly of America; the motel and trailer park life still very much in existence. Reminiscent of John Steinbeck in their sparse prose and themes of modern-day pursuits of the American Dream, Vlautin’s novels evoke their stark, industrial west-coast settings through his characters’ empty existences. Yet underneath the pervading sense of despair lie living, breathing characters with hopes and aspirations.

Vlautin’s third novel, Lean on Pete, follows 15 year-old Charley’s struggle for a better life against the odds of his absent father and lack of education, roots and stability.

On taking a job at…

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Book Review Committed

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Gilbert is a woman with a story to tell. A story about love and marriage and not liking marriage and how other people like marriage and other people don’t.

In her previous book - Eat, Pray, Love - post-messy divorce Gilbert found love with Felipe. At the beginning of Committed she has been informed that they must marry in order to live legally in America together.

Unfortunately most of Committed is taken up with Gilbert’s convoluted explanations for writing this second book and almost compulsive referencing of Eat, Pray, Love. These prevarications not only undermine the only interesting thing about…

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Book Review Chinese Whispers: A Journey Into Betrayal

by Jan Wong

As one of two Westerners admitted as a student to Beijing University at the peak of the Cultural Revolution, Jan Wong was approached by a fellow classmate who wanted help in leaving China to visit the USA. Being a devout Maoist, Wong reported her without considering the consequences and thought no more of the matter.

However, upon discovering her diary over 30 years later, Wong is horrified to recall the incident. Consumed with guilt, she returns to Beijing with her husband and two sons, determined to discover what happened to Yin Luoyi.

The memoir primarily follows Wong’s investigation as she…

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Comic Effect 45

Fortnightly news from the world of graphic novels

In a comics marketplace that has grown comfortable with the tried and tested capes and tights formula, it’s increasingly rare to come across a superhero title that does something (dare we say it?) new. It comes as something as a surprise, therefore, to find Andi Ewington positively belching forth fresh air with 45 (Com.x, £11.99)

Not strictly speaking a graphic novel, 45 is a collection of interviews with super-humans (Super-S, for 45‘s purposes) conducted by an almost-absent protagonist, journalist James Stanley. The birth of his child is creeping closer and, unsure of whether it will be born Super-S, he sets…

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Book Review Skippy Dies

by Paul Murray

Though set in a prestigious Irish boys school, Skippy Dies is not your average homoerotic jape-fest. It starts off like that, certainly: a teacher is mocked by unruly pupils; a boy is bullied; students brag about their imagined sexual conquests, but this is just scratching the surface.

It turns out Skippy, a pupil, has problems, not least his overarching obsession with a girl in the neighbouring school who he watches through his roommate’s telescope. His roommate meanwhile is more interested in the number of dimensions in the universe and the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. Over in the staffroom a sexy…

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Book Review The Girl With Glass Feet

by Ali Shaw

Although Shaw’s quirky novel might not appeal to absolutely everybody, this is a stunningly written book, which seems to have magic laced through its pages.

The Girl With Glass Feet tells of Ida MacLaird, a once fast-living girl who now finds she is turning to glass. Scared and fragile she returns to the enchanted but melancholic islands where she believes her condition began in search for a cure.

Midas Crook is a photographer who lives on the islands but though he rejoices in the beauty of his surroundings through the lens of his camera, he is shy and awkward without…

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Book Review Even The Dogs

by John McGregor

Robert Radcliffe dies an anonymous death that goes unnoticed until the neighbours complain about the smell and the police kick the door in. Set against the state’s dispassionate inquest, Robert’s life and times are then told by a Greek chorus of friends and relatives. It’s a ghastly plunge into a netherworld of addiction and desperation through which we’re guided by the lost souls of junkies, alcoholics and the mentally scarred.

If this sounds like Trainspotting territory - well, it is. A few sly asides even acknowledge the fact. But instead of Welsh’s bristling ‘been there, done that’ swagger, McGregor unveils…

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Book Review At the Water's Edge: A Personal Quest for Wildness

by John Lister-Kaye

Following the success of his previous publications, John Lister-Kaye returns with this remarkable account of the wildlife he stumbles upon during his daily walk around his home in a Scottish glen.

Along his travels, Lister-Kaye encounters the ferocious Scottish wildcat, is charged at by a stag, and aids an injured (not to mention scornful) goshawk. Each animal is beautifully characterised, and the descriptive tales are so full of life that any nature enthusiast will find themselves inspired to go out and discover the outdoors on their quest for wildness.

The writer considers current environmental issues, such as the effect of…

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