The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde ought to be a pretty easy review to write. Mostly because it was brilliant. Indeed, it did everything it should have done and much, much more. A book rife with word play, jokes, linguistic trickery, punnery is always going to appeal to me, but they're also not necessarily easy to do and make funny. Fforde succeeded with no difficulty, I couldn't help but laugh out loud on many occasions. Even the title's good, now I've had it explained to me (seriously, unless you're Heston Blumenthal, how can you make frying an egg that different?)
That's all well and good, but it also needs a point. And a plot. And maybe some characters too. Again, boxes all well and truly ticked. The idea of nursery crimes (rhymes with... geddit?), new twists on old tales, constant references and in-jokes is inspired. Retellings and reimaginings of fairy stories and folk tales is nothing new, but this didn't feel like it had been done before. The plot also worked too, it was nicely paced and kept up a sense of mystery, as well as deftly skewering many conventions of crime novels throughout. A sense of tongue firmly in cheek was there, as well as paying respects to other works with appreciative nods towards them. I thought it was a nice touch. And the characters were also great - memorable, interesting and well-drawn.
They ranged from the utterly mad to the suprisingly uninteresting (by which I mean normal) and wonderfully likeable everyman hero, Jack Spratt (the names were by turns amusing and clever throughout). Indeed, DI Spratt is quintessentially British – unassuming, polite, nice, I could go on – he fits nicely alongside the likes of Arthur Dent, Bilbo Baggins, Tim from The Office (not that Martin Freeman is typecast in any way) and is refreshing as well precisely because he is happily married and lacks any real personality disorders or quirks.
In short, it was bloody brilliant and I very much literally couldn't put it down. Not bad for a book set in Reading. And on the basis of this, it's definitely nothing to be ashamed of.
Book number: 9
Title: The Big Over Easy
Author: Jasper Fforde
Category: Charlotte's choice
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Death round the corner
Much like my previous trip to the library, my most recent one left me intending on picking out certain things and coming out with something entirely different. What I'd wanted was crime and at least I got that, but it was one from a 'Why not try one of these?' display case rather than what I'd intended – clearly somewhere along the lines the marketing works. That said, I'm still holding out hope of a Burnt Face Man novel, which would rock my socks, or soemthing equally incredible. After all, crime is a shit that needs wiping up.
In this case, however, I wasn't entirely convinced. I went for The Oxford Murders, something about the familiar is always likely to hold an appeal, and though I'd not heard good thigns about the film, the book was supposed to be pretty decent. I thought it was something of a mixed bag. Reading fiction in translation is never going to be quite like reading the real thing but I still felt it was missing something. Namely description, which gave the book a slightly empty feeling. However, I generally liked the theme, of maths and I thought that was largely well done. I also felt it got better as it went on. I liked the backdrop of Fermat's Last Theorem and the details about the Pythagoreans and it's possibly the subject matter that garnred the book so much attention.
Mostly because I'm not so sure what else it had going for it. What I was less keen on, oddly, was the familiarity. Maybe it's precisely because I know the places mentioned, but particularly to start with, it felt a lot like the was a lot of unnecessary name-dropping of places in a "Look, I've been to Oxford y'know" kind of way. It felt abit like trying too hard, but it's hard to say whether it was natural or not as I'm not an outsider looking in. I also felt the characterisation, like the descriptions was lacking. Indeed, the protagonist seemed utterly devoid of personality. We know he's meant to be smart, we can possibly assume he's good looking because he hooks up with a girl we are assured is smokin' hot. And, er, that's about it. I'd like to say the author can't write women, who all seemed pretty one-dimensional, but then it's not like the men were much better.
Oh, and I guessed whodunnit (which I think is unusual for me) and while the initial idea makes sense, the follow ups made considerably less as far as I'm concerned. And the confession, ending and response left me largely baffled. I'd hoped for more.
Book number: 8
Title: The Oxford Murders
Author: Guillermo Martínez
Category: Crime
In this case, however, I wasn't entirely convinced. I went for The Oxford Murders, something about the familiar is always likely to hold an appeal, and though I'd not heard good thigns about the film, the book was supposed to be pretty decent. I thought it was something of a mixed bag. Reading fiction in translation is never going to be quite like reading the real thing but I still felt it was missing something. Namely description, which gave the book a slightly empty feeling. However, I generally liked the theme, of maths and I thought that was largely well done. I also felt it got better as it went on. I liked the backdrop of Fermat's Last Theorem and the details about the Pythagoreans and it's possibly the subject matter that garnred the book so much attention.
Mostly because I'm not so sure what else it had going for it. What I was less keen on, oddly, was the familiarity. Maybe it's precisely because I know the places mentioned, but particularly to start with, it felt a lot like the was a lot of unnecessary name-dropping of places in a "Look, I've been to Oxford y'know" kind of way. It felt abit like trying too hard, but it's hard to say whether it was natural or not as I'm not an outsider looking in. I also felt the characterisation, like the descriptions was lacking. Indeed, the protagonist seemed utterly devoid of personality. We know he's meant to be smart, we can possibly assume he's good looking because he hooks up with a girl we are assured is smokin' hot. And, er, that's about it. I'd like to say the author can't write women, who all seemed pretty one-dimensional, but then it's not like the men were much better.
Oh, and I guessed whodunnit (which I think is unusual for me) and while the initial idea makes sense, the follow ups made considerably less as far as I'm concerned. And the confession, ending and response left me largely baffled. I'd hoped for more.
Book number: 8
Title: The Oxford Murders
Author: Guillermo Martínez
Category: Crime
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Avast, me hearties
Avast, me hearties; shiver me timbers; splice the mainbrace. Et cetera. That's largely the extent of my knowledge of ships. Specifically piratical ones, but broadened to include any and all. Having now read The Rats and the Ruling Sea, an epic fantasy set aboard an enormous vessel, the Chathrand, I can't exactly claim to know more. What I can claim is to have now heard of the author, one Robert V.S. Redick, who I previously didn't know from Adam. Or Paul, or Clive, for that matter. And I can also claim that I'm glad of the fact too.
A freebie that I plundered from a large array of freebies at a conference a few months ago, it looked interesting so I picked it up, along with another couple that caught my eye. It would have been rude not to, right? Like most modern fantasy books, it does feel the need to be on the large side, as if a publisher isn't going to sign it if it's less than 500 pages, for maybe it would be deemed not ambitious enough, not large enough in scope. Big books don't bother me, but it doesn't have to be big to tell a good story. Indeed, many books would benefit from rather more judicious editing. But anyway, this one weighed in at a hefty 650 pages, though I can't say I had any trouble picking it up, which is always a good sign.
Unsurprisingly, I got hooked for most of the reasons I like this kind of book – interesting cast of characters, big plot that twists and turns, suspense and mystery. The world Redick has created is interesting and different from others I've come across. The seabound setting was refreshingly different, to me at least, and there were plenty of nice touches, from the well-defined human empires, to the more exotic and, well, fantastic elements. Some of the characters are well-defined archetypes, yet they were largely well developed and interesting. And the story took me to places I wasn't expecting.
My biggest problem is that it's the second in a series (of four apparently, the third soon to be released), which I hadn't realised upon starting. Oh well, I've not done that for a while, but I've already gone and shelled out for the first one (a baraginous £1.99 and it has a colour in the title, as was gently pointed out to me), so you can't ask for a lot more than that. I look forward to setting sail with Pazel, Thasha, Hercól and the rest again some time in the near future.
Book number: 7
Title: The Rats and the Ruling Sea
Author: Robert V.S. Redick
Category: Books by authors I've never heard of
A freebie that I plundered from a large array of freebies at a conference a few months ago, it looked interesting so I picked it up, along with another couple that caught my eye. It would have been rude not to, right? Like most modern fantasy books, it does feel the need to be on the large side, as if a publisher isn't going to sign it if it's less than 500 pages, for maybe it would be deemed not ambitious enough, not large enough in scope. Big books don't bother me, but it doesn't have to be big to tell a good story. Indeed, many books would benefit from rather more judicious editing. But anyway, this one weighed in at a hefty 650 pages, though I can't say I had any trouble picking it up, which is always a good sign.
Unsurprisingly, I got hooked for most of the reasons I like this kind of book – interesting cast of characters, big plot that twists and turns, suspense and mystery. The world Redick has created is interesting and different from others I've come across. The seabound setting was refreshingly different, to me at least, and there were plenty of nice touches, from the well-defined human empires, to the more exotic and, well, fantastic elements. Some of the characters are well-defined archetypes, yet they were largely well developed and interesting. And the story took me to places I wasn't expecting.
My biggest problem is that it's the second in a series (of four apparently, the third soon to be released), which I hadn't realised upon starting. Oh well, I've not done that for a while, but I've already gone and shelled out for the first one (a baraginous £1.99 and it has a colour in the title, as was gently pointed out to me), so you can't ask for a lot more than that. I look forward to setting sail with Pazel, Thasha, Hercól and the rest again some time in the near future.
Book number: 7
Title: The Rats and the Ruling Sea
Author: Robert V.S. Redick
Category: Books by authors I've never heard of
Saturday, 15 January 2011
America, fuck yeah!
Somewhere along the lines, in the last couple of months, perhaps a little to my surprise, I've discovered that I might just have become (whisper it) a bit of a Yankophile. By which I mean (sorry Jan!) I've developed a healthy interest in our bigger cousins over the Pond. At least in part this has come from working on High School U.S. History at work, which I'm definitely not going to be discussing here, but it has certainly stirred up my interest in America and it's history, culture and people.
So when I was browsing for my next book in my local library (Headington, if you're interested – it's set to be closed under this poor excuse for a government's massive cuts to public services, though that's another story), I was delighted to stumble across Dave Gorman's America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-Corporate USA.
Having read both of Mr Gorman's previous madcap adventure books and found them both riveting and hilarious, this choice was a bit of a no-brainer. And it didn't disappoint. The story also didn't disappoint. A crazy quest to cross the whole of the U.S. only sleeping independent hotels or motels, eating at independent restaurants and refuelling at independent gas stations, it certainly had the potential for disaster and hilarity. It's hard to remember exactly, but initially I don't think it was quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the other two. That said, there were plenty of occasions I wished I wasn't reading it sat on a bus.
I think it's his ability to get into truly bizarre situations, not to mention the vast array of characters he meets and the way he can bring them to life in the book, that makes it so compelling. Like Bill Bryson, who is perhaps the most comparable author I can think of, it his ability to tell a story, to blend the everyday and the surreal into a real story that makes it so enjoyable. There are many unforgettable moments, including the treehouse village, being threatened at gunpoint and the last day of an archetypal old-fashioned American business to name but three. Overall though, it's the portrait of a stunning country that varies so much, in a way that the country isn't always portrayed so much any more, which makes it so interesting. Plus it's not every author who spends a night sleeping in a B&B shaped like a giant beagle...
Book number: 6
Title: America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-Corporate USA
Author: Dave Gorman
Category: Non-fiction
So when I was browsing for my next book in my local library (Headington, if you're interested – it's set to be closed under this poor excuse for a government's massive cuts to public services, though that's another story), I was delighted to stumble across Dave Gorman's America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-Corporate USA.
Having read both of Mr Gorman's previous madcap adventure books and found them both riveting and hilarious, this choice was a bit of a no-brainer. And it didn't disappoint. The story also didn't disappoint. A crazy quest to cross the whole of the U.S. only sleeping independent hotels or motels, eating at independent restaurants and refuelling at independent gas stations, it certainly had the potential for disaster and hilarity. It's hard to remember exactly, but initially I don't think it was quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the other two. That said, there were plenty of occasions I wished I wasn't reading it sat on a bus.
I think it's his ability to get into truly bizarre situations, not to mention the vast array of characters he meets and the way he can bring them to life in the book, that makes it so compelling. Like Bill Bryson, who is perhaps the most comparable author I can think of, it his ability to tell a story, to blend the everyday and the surreal into a real story that makes it so enjoyable. There are many unforgettable moments, including the treehouse village, being threatened at gunpoint and the last day of an archetypal old-fashioned American business to name but three. Overall though, it's the portrait of a stunning country that varies so much, in a way that the country isn't always portrayed so much any more, which makes it so interesting. Plus it's not every author who spends a night sleeping in a B&B shaped like a giant beagle...
Book number: 6
Title: America Unchained: A Freewheeling Roadtrip in Search of Non-Corporate USA
Author: Dave Gorman
Category: Non-fiction
Bare necessities
For me, reading is one of the necessities of life. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't read. Probably have a lot more time, for one thing. But it's time that I don't begrudge and there are few things I would rather do with it. However, as mentioned right at the start of this, I don't read a lot written before the 20th century. Rarely do I conect with it the way I do with other books. Not that I've read a huge amount and there are definitely exceptions to such a sweeping statement. But I'm generally less incentivised to read it, hence the choice of it as a category. Which leads me neatly on to...
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. It was also the only unread pre-20th century book I had on my bookshelf. The cover is worth a mention, as it was probably that which made me pick it up in the first place (other than the fact I'd never read it) – a striking Penguin classic one taken up with a boldly striped tiger. Plus it's a classic children's book, and whilst most people are familiar with the Disney film version, I don't ever recall having read the book before.
Whilst my memory of the film is perhaps a little hazy, having not seen it for many years, as I suspected, it had taken huge liberties with characters and story. The book is split into various self-contained short stories, around half of which feature Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, etc. and it is these which I suppose form the core. The others weave around them, though many are essentially just individual entities.
I wasn't sure what to expect, having not so long ago read Kipling's Kim and been left distinctly underwhelmed by it. However, I'm all in favour of second chances and was pleasantly surprised. I was reminded of Watership Down in the portrayal of the animals and throughout the stories there are reflections on aspects of human life and morals, but without beating you over the head with them. A neat collection of tales and fables, there is a seam of Indian richness which was nicely tapped into and brought to life through the myriad creatures of the jungle.
Book number: 5
Title: The Jungle Book
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Category: Pre-20th century literature
Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. It was also the only unread pre-20th century book I had on my bookshelf. The cover is worth a mention, as it was probably that which made me pick it up in the first place (other than the fact I'd never read it) – a striking Penguin classic one taken up with a boldly striped tiger. Plus it's a classic children's book, and whilst most people are familiar with the Disney film version, I don't ever recall having read the book before.
Whilst my memory of the film is perhaps a little hazy, having not seen it for many years, as I suspected, it had taken huge liberties with characters and story. The book is split into various self-contained short stories, around half of which feature Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, etc. and it is these which I suppose form the core. The others weave around them, though many are essentially just individual entities.
I wasn't sure what to expect, having not so long ago read Kipling's Kim and been left distinctly underwhelmed by it. However, I'm all in favour of second chances and was pleasantly surprised. I was reminded of Watership Down in the portrayal of the animals and throughout the stories there are reflections on aspects of human life and morals, but without beating you over the head with them. A neat collection of tales and fables, there is a seam of Indian richness which was nicely tapped into and brought to life through the myriad creatures of the jungle.
Book number: 5
Title: The Jungle Book
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Category: Pre-20th century literature
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Birds and prey
One of the categories that I was keen to choose, because, well, I know pretty much nothing about books in this genre, was crime (and thrillers, if you're being picky as at least one person reading this might be – you know who you are, probably because you're the only one reading!) The extent of my reading that might be categorised as such is Sherlock Holmes (which I love) and the odd John le Carré or Ian Fleming (also enjoyable).
Not really knowing where to begin, I decided to have a nose through my existing books i nthe vague hope that I had something that might fall into the category. I wasn't hopeful, but was pleasantly surprised to turn up The Maltese Falcon. Definitely regarded as a classic of the genre, indeed the blurb describes it as "Possibly the best American detective novel ever written", it definitely seemed to fit the bill.
And it did. While I'm fairly useless and don't always pick up signs and clues, even if they're in massive neon letters, the story certainly kept me perplexed throughout. It twisted and turned and pretty much read like the best kind of interwar detective novel of my imagination. Hardboiled, street-smart and morally dubious private eye, overenthusiastic cops, glamorous and dangerous women, and a whole host of suspect characters, both accomplices and enemies.
The setting was evocative, the characters the best shades of grey, the suspense maintained throughout. And the ending was great. The ending of a book can make or break it for me more often than perhaps it should, with characters behaving unnaturally, undeserved and unearned happiness (and don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending), or just plain nonsensical events ruining what had otherwise been a perfectly acceptable story. Equally, a really good or clever ending can up an average book and make me reassess what had come before. Happily, this didn't disappoint.
I don't have a lot to compare it against so I couldn't tell you if it was hackneyed or clichéd, but it didn't feel like it and the writing was solid. That said, while I think about it, anything else similar to it, is more likely to owe a debt to this work, being that it's regarded as something of a masterpiece. But either way, I really enjoyed it.
Book number: 4
Title: The Maltese Falcon
Author: Dashiell Hammett
Category: Crime
Not really knowing where to begin, I decided to have a nose through my existing books i nthe vague hope that I had something that might fall into the category. I wasn't hopeful, but was pleasantly surprised to turn up The Maltese Falcon. Definitely regarded as a classic of the genre, indeed the blurb describes it as "Possibly the best American detective novel ever written", it definitely seemed to fit the bill.
And it did. While I'm fairly useless and don't always pick up signs and clues, even if they're in massive neon letters, the story certainly kept me perplexed throughout. It twisted and turned and pretty much read like the best kind of interwar detective novel of my imagination. Hardboiled, street-smart and morally dubious private eye, overenthusiastic cops, glamorous and dangerous women, and a whole host of suspect characters, both accomplices and enemies.
The setting was evocative, the characters the best shades of grey, the suspense maintained throughout. And the ending was great. The ending of a book can make or break it for me more often than perhaps it should, with characters behaving unnaturally, undeserved and unearned happiness (and don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending), or just plain nonsensical events ruining what had otherwise been a perfectly acceptable story. Equally, a really good or clever ending can up an average book and make me reassess what had come before. Happily, this didn't disappoint.
I don't have a lot to compare it against so I couldn't tell you if it was hackneyed or clichéd, but it didn't feel like it and the writing was solid. That said, while I think about it, anything else similar to it, is more likely to owe a debt to this work, being that it's regarded as something of a masterpiece. But either way, I really enjoyed it.
Book number: 4
Title: The Maltese Falcon
Author: Dashiell Hammett
Category: Crime
"Yes"
In the Observer review for The Amber Spyglass, the question was asked "Philip Pullman. Is he the best storyteller ever?" It's a pretty big claim and one that could be debated from here till kingdom come.
On the basis of The Broken Bridge, it's clear he's a superlative writer. The prose is effortless and the book was impossible to put down – the pacing, the suspense, the sheer ability to keep you hooked. What lifts this up so high though is Pullman's ability to understand people, to know what it is to be human. Ginny, our narrator might not be the most reliable in the world, but she's certainly real, her sixteen-year old heart is beating very clearly throughout every page. And all of this in what is still ostensibly a children's book.
To answer the question, he just might be.
Book number: 3
Title: The Broken Bridge
Author: Philip Pullman
Category: Books that have been sat on my bookshelf for too long
On the basis of The Broken Bridge, it's clear he's a superlative writer. The prose is effortless and the book was impossible to put down – the pacing, the suspense, the sheer ability to keep you hooked. What lifts this up so high though is Pullman's ability to understand people, to know what it is to be human. Ginny, our narrator might not be the most reliable in the world, but she's certainly real, her sixteen-year old heart is beating very clearly throughout every page. And all of this in what is still ostensibly a children's book.
To answer the question, he just might be.
Book number: 3
Title: The Broken Bridge
Author: Philip Pullman
Category: Books that have been sat on my bookshelf for too long
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Accident or design?
Thornton Wilder won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928 for his second novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey. It explores the story of five people who die in a bridge accident, how they found their way there, and whether each of them had to die at that moment.
The book's chronicler Brother Juniper believed that "Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan." Maybe things aren't that clear-cut and I'm sure we all have own thoughts on the matter, but it's a debate that will probably run for the rest of time. As long as people live and die, we will read and write about it, speak and listen about it, and think about it. This book offers few answers, but the question posed is essentially inanswerable on all but a purely personal level. It made me think about the question though, which was presumably the author's intention.
The story attached to it is therefore secondary. It is succinct, skilfully telling intertwining narratives in a mere 140 pages. The tales themselves are nicely told, but in some ways it's not easy to get too attached to characters who you know are going to die from the first page. In another way, the fact that you do get to know them, that they are real people with real lives, rather than faceless victims only makes it the event more tragic, whatever the cause. Which I suppose was the point.
Book number: 2
Title: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Author: Thornton Wilder
Category: Pulitzer Prize winners
The book's chronicler Brother Juniper believed that "Either we live by accident and die by accident, or we live by plan and die by plan." Maybe things aren't that clear-cut and I'm sure we all have own thoughts on the matter, but it's a debate that will probably run for the rest of time. As long as people live and die, we will read and write about it, speak and listen about it, and think about it. This book offers few answers, but the question posed is essentially inanswerable on all but a purely personal level. It made me think about the question though, which was presumably the author's intention.
The story attached to it is therefore secondary. It is succinct, skilfully telling intertwining narratives in a mere 140 pages. The tales themselves are nicely told, but in some ways it's not easy to get too attached to characters who you know are going to die from the first page. In another way, the fact that you do get to know them, that they are real people with real lives, rather than faceless victims only makes it the event more tragic, whatever the cause. Which I suppose was the point.
Book number: 2
Title: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Author: Thornton Wilder
Category: Pulitzer Prize winners
Happy new year – we're all fucked
Maybe I should have chosen my first book more wisely. It's left me upset, frustrated and more than a bit pissed off. Kudos to the authors then, they succeeded in their primary aim.
Jilted Generation: How Britain has Bankrupted it's Youth by Ed Howker and Shiv Malik's polemic on the malaise affecting British society, what caused it, and who's to blame was a very insightful read. If you're under thirty, have ever struggled to get a job, have ever been bled dry by unscrupulous landlords or find the idea of ever being able to afford your home laughable, this book is for you. Likewise, if you've ever felt your qualifications aren't worth the paper they're written on, are slightly miffed at the fact your education will saddle you with however many thousands of pounds of debt when the people implementing these policies were paid to go to university, or simply think that all politicians will do or say pretty much anything to win your vote and then fail to represent not just you, but your entire generation. So pretty much everyone under thirty then. I could go on, but the authors make their points far better than I ever could.
It's made me think about a few things and has put into words and produced some reasons for a lot of things that I've felt over the last however many years. The four chapters cover houses, jobs, inheritance and politics and explain a lot. What is refreshing is that the blame is not laid solely at the feet of any one individual, or even any one generation. There are culprits, but while the anger and sense of injustice comes across, the authors seem to find it hard to believe that we would have been deliberately sold down the river and I certainly like to believe them. Complex problems tend to have complex causes, though sadly there are no easy solutions.
Whatever your position on the political spectrum, there is plenty here to mull over. And if you're not interested, you bloody well should be. The problem is what to do about it. I will certainly be encouraging as many people as I can to read it, and hopefully somebody out there will do better and will give the jilted generation the voice it so desperately needs. Messrs Howker and Malik, I'd vote for you. David Mitchell is still Prime Minister in my fantasy cabinet, but there are definitely posts for you. So, people of Britain, especially you fat cats in Westminster, I suggest you have a look at this book, take on board its ideas, and sort out some appropriate policies to sort out this mess. Or I might consider introducing you to it personally, in the least pleasant sense of the word.
Book number: 1
Title: Jilted Generation: How Britain has Bankrupted its Youth
Author: Ed Howker and Shiv Malik
Category: Non-fiction
Jilted Generation: How Britain has Bankrupted it's Youth by Ed Howker and Shiv Malik's polemic on the malaise affecting British society, what caused it, and who's to blame was a very insightful read. If you're under thirty, have ever struggled to get a job, have ever been bled dry by unscrupulous landlords or find the idea of ever being able to afford your home laughable, this book is for you. Likewise, if you've ever felt your qualifications aren't worth the paper they're written on, are slightly miffed at the fact your education will saddle you with however many thousands of pounds of debt when the people implementing these policies were paid to go to university, or simply think that all politicians will do or say pretty much anything to win your vote and then fail to represent not just you, but your entire generation. So pretty much everyone under thirty then. I could go on, but the authors make their points far better than I ever could.
It's made me think about a few things and has put into words and produced some reasons for a lot of things that I've felt over the last however many years. The four chapters cover houses, jobs, inheritance and politics and explain a lot. What is refreshing is that the blame is not laid solely at the feet of any one individual, or even any one generation. There are culprits, but while the anger and sense of injustice comes across, the authors seem to find it hard to believe that we would have been deliberately sold down the river and I certainly like to believe them. Complex problems tend to have complex causes, though sadly there are no easy solutions.
Whatever your position on the political spectrum, there is plenty here to mull over. And if you're not interested, you bloody well should be. The problem is what to do about it. I will certainly be encouraging as many people as I can to read it, and hopefully somebody out there will do better and will give the jilted generation the voice it so desperately needs. Messrs Howker and Malik, I'd vote for you. David Mitchell is still Prime Minister in my fantasy cabinet, but there are definitely posts for you. So, people of Britain, especially you fat cats in Westminster, I suggest you have a look at this book, take on board its ideas, and sort out some appropriate policies to sort out this mess. Or I might consider introducing you to it personally, in the least pleasant sense of the word.
Book number: 1
Title: Jilted Generation: How Britain has Bankrupted its Youth
Author: Ed Howker and Shiv Malik
Category: Non-fiction
Saturday, 1 January 2011
The rules
So, the rules of the game are as follows: we must both read ten different books within ten different categories, being one hundred books in total, over the course of 2011. We've put our heads together to come up with a list of categories that will broaden our horizons, read some things we've been meaning to for the last decade or so, and still hopefully be able to squeeze in a few guilty pleasures.
Books can be read in any order and though ideally they should be different, multiple books by the same author are permitted – sometimes you just have that uncontrollable urge to read the Harry Potter series from start to finish.
We are using the same categories, but don't have to read the same things. Having debated at length, with some side input for initial inspiration, the list has been shaved down to the following ten chosen groups:
Chris' choice (a get out of jail free card for me; the chance to impose my will on her)
Charlotte's choice (see above, but t'other way round)
Pre-20th century literature (I largely don't read anything this old because I've rarely found it particularly appeals; I hope to cover some things I probably should have read by now)
Crime (despite it selling books by the shedload, this is a genre I know pretty nothing about)
Non-fiction (I've been enjoying more non-fiction in the last couple of years; Charlotte doesn't read much of it, so this seemed like a sensible choice)
Pulitzer Prize winners (I'm in a pro-America phase right now, this was a bit broader than some suggested categories, and it's always interesting to see whether I think prize-winning books deserve their awards)
Books by authors I've never heard of (does exactly what it says on the tin; a good way to discover something new – and ideally good)
Books that have been sat on my bookshelf for too long (self-explanatory, no shortage of choice)
Book club choices/recommendations (a dozen book club choices, most of which I'll have no input on means that I need a way in; these are often things I wouldn't necessarily pick up anyway so expanding my horizons this way)
Books with colours in the title (a bit of a wild card; the same colour can't be chosen more than once; amongst others we also considered titles with fruit, months and fish in, as well as authors with the same name as current England footballers)
I think that covers everything, the first book is underway, review to follow soon...
Books can be read in any order and though ideally they should be different, multiple books by the same author are permitted – sometimes you just have that uncontrollable urge to read the Harry Potter series from start to finish.
We are using the same categories, but don't have to read the same things. Having debated at length, with some side input for initial inspiration, the list has been shaved down to the following ten chosen groups:
Chris' choice (a get out of jail free card for me; the chance to impose my will on her)
Charlotte's choice (see above, but t'other way round)
Pre-20th century literature (I largely don't read anything this old because I've rarely found it particularly appeals; I hope to cover some things I probably should have read by now)
Crime (despite it selling books by the shedload, this is a genre I know pretty nothing about)
Non-fiction (I've been enjoying more non-fiction in the last couple of years; Charlotte doesn't read much of it, so this seemed like a sensible choice)
Pulitzer Prize winners (I'm in a pro-America phase right now, this was a bit broader than some suggested categories, and it's always interesting to see whether I think prize-winning books deserve their awards)
Books by authors I've never heard of (does exactly what it says on the tin; a good way to discover something new – and ideally good)
Books that have been sat on my bookshelf for too long (self-explanatory, no shortage of choice)
Book club choices/recommendations (a dozen book club choices, most of which I'll have no input on means that I need a way in; these are often things I wouldn't necessarily pick up anyway so expanding my horizons this way)
Books with colours in the title (a bit of a wild card; the same colour can't be chosen more than once; amongst others we also considered titles with fruit, months and fish in, as well as authors with the same name as current England footballers)
I think that covers everything, the first book is underway, review to follow soon...
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