Selective memory

Maybe it was a bit silly to use one of my choices on a book that I'd only vaguely heard of and knew nothing about. Then again, how often do you get to meet a Booker Prize-winning author and hear her talk? And excellent one it was too, along the lines of 'A life in reading'. What more could a bibliophile ask for?

So in what can only be described as a mad week on all kinds of levels, I managed to find time to squeeze in Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger. Having figured it might make sense to familiarise myself with her writing beforehand, I plumped for the prize winner and what is considered to be one of her best. I wasn't disappointed, even I had to rush to finish it before work (stupid sleep patterns have some advantages I suppose). And it was a good choice for the talk too, for it felt at least partially autobiographical and covered many of the themes she spoke of – love, life, history and, above all, memory.

Memory is a strange concept. Looking back on things it is easy to distort them in our minds, and for many people who witnessed or were present at events to come away from them with such different perspectives and even remembrances of what actually happened or was said. The mind plays tricks, y'know. Moon Tiger is narrated by Claudia, a successful writer and journalist, now at the end of her life in hosptial, looking back and reflecting on her life. It draws together the many strands of her life, the important people – family, friends, loved ones – and weaves them together in no particular order. Just as memory is wont to do.

I get a stronger sense of place than of person from it. Maybe it's that I couldn't quite relate to any of the characters – not that I really see that as a problem or has ever stopped me liking a book – maybe it's more that I never quite connected with them. However, in terms of some of the settings, the beach scenes with her brother, the exotic, sultry feel of Cairo, even the worn, comfortable sense of the hospital room, something about these lingers still. Memories, it would appear, even other people's, can still be vivid and tangible and that is perhaps not an easy thing to realise.

Book number: 44
Title: Moon Tiger
Author: Penelope Lively
Category: Chris' choice