‘The Conservationist’ by Nadine Gordimer

It seems that opinion was very much divided about The Conservationist, and some people hadn’t managed to read it to the end. Indeed one person gave up after four pages because of his complete disgust with the author’s use of punctuation. I must admit that I found it quite an irritation at first, but was able to get attuned to it and, after a little research on Nadine Gordimer, came to realise that this is how she writes. She is an award-winning author, who has had much acclaim for her work over the years. The Conservationist won the joint Booker Prize in 1974, and Nadine Gordimer was also awarded a Nobel Prize for her contribution to literature in her native South Africa.

Many people were utterly confused about the book and couldn’t see much point to it. Mehring, the central character, was very unsympathetic. He had purchased the land for two reasons, it seemed. Firstly, to impress one of his girlfriends and secondly, as a tax deductable item. As the book progresses he comes increasingly to love the land he has acquired, and begins to dream of building a new farmhouse on the area of land he most admires. He plants English trees there, which he knows will become part of his legacy, but he is unsure that his son will ever come to feel as he does about the land. Mehring is no farmer, and has to rely on Jacobus, and the farm workers to run it for him. He seems never to be completely satisfied with their efforts, even though they save the land on many occasions for him. He is a very selfish man, flawed and sometimes clueless, but nevertheless human.

The Conservationist is lacking in plot and is, at times, inaccessible, but the setting and the descriptions of the time and place are excellent. The body found, and later buried on the land, represents South Africa. We are introduced to him at a time of change in the country, when there is a rise in liberalism and a decay in colonial society. We know, through our knowledge of history, how this develops, but Mehring and the other characters have little idea. He continues to exploit his workforce and has little thought for the development of the farm, or its inhabitants. He builds a high fence around it to discourage the locals from trespassing, but delightfully they follow the paths across it which they have always used.

The land, the flood and the storm, are brought powerfully to life by Nadine Gordimer’s wonderfully descriptive writing. She painted pictures, for me, of the land and it’s people. Each character, although not always sympathetic, were entirely individual and very real. I was able to see them, and their humanity, very clearly and I felt that this was one of the strengths of her writing. I agree that this book wasn’t an easy read, but I would like to read more books by this author, and felt that it was a good choice for the group, providing much food for thought.

Reviewed by Janine Blomley, Oundle and District U3A Book Group

‘Black Orchids’, by Gillian Slovo

Feelings were very mixed about this novel – some people enjoyed it as a superficial read but, if we were looking for a book with more depth, we would perhaps have chosen something else. Gillian Slovo has written many books, but started out as a writer of crime fiction and progressed to novels about more serious issues. This novel is set in Ceylon and England between 1946 and 1972. As well as the class issues relevant in both countries, it addresses the ruptures brought about by colonialism and its aftermath, the problems of race and immigration and how people coped with their experiences.

The novel opens in Ceylon in 1946, and ends in Sri Lanka in 1972, when the country has gained independence. Not only does the country experience great change during these years, but we felt that the characters did too, almost beyond recognition. The two central characters in the story are Evelyn, a beautiful blond English girl, and Emil the handsome, rich son of an upper-class Sinhalese family. Both of them are rebels and, although warned by their families, fall in love and marry. Evelyn was flattered by the attentions of Emil and sees him as a way to get out of an impossible situation. Her family is moving back to England and she has nowhere to go except to be taken in by her sister, whom she doesn’t particularly get on with. Emil’s family disown him after their marriage, but they set up home in Ceylon where they are quite happy until after the birth of their first child Milton, when Evelyn decides that she would like to move to England.

This is really where their problems start, because although Emil has travelled ahead and set up a successful business there using funds lent by his father, Evelyn soon discovers how he is treated by white people. Although very much a rebel in Ceylon, she finds life with Emil in England increasingly difficult to cope with, and her character begins to change. This is perhaps most significant when she prays that her second child will look more like her. We felt that this was the beginning of her own feelings of racism, as it is from this time that she can’t bear Emil to touch her.

Emil on the other hand still has great strength of character, perhaps cushioned by his wealth, not to change throughout the many difficult situations that the author throws at him. We did however feel that some of these were very contrived. Their son, who looks like his father, but who has an awkward relationship with him, is sent away to boarding school by Evelyn. This causes even greater tensions between them, as Milton encounters prejudice and bullying at school. Occasions when his parents visit are full of tension, as Emil refuses to conform and becomes an increasing embarrassment to his wife. Vanessa, their second child, does look more like her mother and is the favourite of her father. Because of her colour she has an easier time, and is able to keep relative peace within the family.

Things come to a head between Evelyn and Emil, when she has an affair with Charles, one of Emil’s junior partners. The marriage ends with Evelyn being thrown out of the family home, and Emil subsequently pretending that she has died. He destroys the Black Orchid of the title, and carries on his life in England. We did feel that Evelyn would never have had an affair with this particular character, but that it was a contrived way for the marriage to end in complete disaster.

Milton is expelled from school, much to the delight of Emil, and comes to work in the family firm. He is now an adolescent brimming with resentment, so their relationship doesn’t get any better. Eventually he finds letters from his mother in Emil’s safe and goes to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to track her down. He finds a drunken women whom he simply does not recognise as his mother. She has settled down with a tea plantation owner, and is a shadow of her former self. Ironically, she is shortly going to have to leave the country, under its terms of independence and so we are left with the feeling that their relationship can never be as it was. Milton does, however, feel when he looks at Sri Lanka and its people that for the first time, he finally belongs somewhere.

Although we appreciated these sentiments, we did feel that the ending was very abrupt and didn’t tie up all the loose ends. We wanted to know how this story-line developed and about the characters who had been left behind. Some of the group felt that a sequel to the book was needed, but others that a final chapter could have been added. We did all feel that the book had been readable, but we questioned its depth, and whether the serious issues at its heart were well-presented.

Reviewed by Janine Blomley of Oundle and District U3A book group

‘The Uncommon Reader’, by Alan Bennett – on Playaway

Playaway review

“It was the dogs’ fault…”

Playaways are a new format of audiobook. They are played on a small digital media player, changing the face of talking books, and the player looks like this:

The benefit of a Playaway is that while audiobooks on CD and tape require the reader to change the disc or the cassette several times, here you can fit the whole book on one small unit. All you need is a pair of headphones and a triple-A battery. Although many are 10 or 12 hours at least, all on the same unit, I thought I’d try one with a shorter story first – Alan Bennett’s ‘The Uncommon Reader’, which lasts just 2 hours 40 minutes.

Walking her corgis one night, the Queen stumbles upon a mobile library van. Borrowing a book mostly out of politeness, she goes back to return it, and takes another book – and then another. Soon enough, she develops a new passion for reading that changes her life, baffling politicians and Royal staff along the way. The book opens with a surreal exchange between the Queen and the French President about the author Jean Genet.

In one comic moment, Her Majesty is upset to discover the visit from the mobile library to the Palace has been cancelled due to cutbacks. We find later that this is engineered by the Royal household, who don’t approve of her reading. To the Queen’s annoyance, she finds herself up against an anti-reading attitude from non-readers, who think it’s selfish, exclusive and even dangerous.

Bennett has been involved in campaigns to promote and protect libraries, and here he is using the Queen as the protagonist and vehicle to promote a passion for books and reading – an interesting move full of comic potential. It’s an engaging, affectionate book, weaving old age and the sense of duty into a discussion around the nature of art. There are several laugh-out-loud moments.

Ultimately, this is a book about what can happen when you develop a love of literature, and the potential of reading to enrich your life. This is not just a short, comic story, but a defence of the nature of books and reading. After the Queen’s security confiscates a book in case it is a ‘device’, the Queen angrily agrees that it is: “A book is a device to ignite the imagination.”

It’s a good book, and I enjoyed it.

As for the use of the Playaway, the best thing about it is the size, which is really convenient – it fits in your pocket. And the buttons are really easy to use. There are only Play/Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward and a volume control. Helpfully, the timer counts down instead of up, so you know how long to go until the end of the chapter, and every ten seconds or so it reminds you which chapter you’re on. When you turn it off and back on, it resumes at the point at which you turned it off.

Some people will still prefer audiobooks on CD or tape, particularly if they want to listen to it while doing something else, such as doing housework or in the car. Wearing headphones isn’t always practical, and wearing them for long periods can get wearing if they’re uncomfortable or if you’re not used to it. But for simplicity and ease of use I’d recommend it.

Reviewed by Ian Loveland

‘The Help’, by Kathryn Stockett

This is a review of  ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett

The review was written by a member of Oundle library’s U3A group:

Our verdict on ‘The Help’ was unanimous, it was a really good read, and we would have no hesitation in recommending it to others.

We felt that right from the beginning the book had grabbed our attention. We enjoyed the storyline, and although some of us wondered what we were doing reading a book about the Civil Rights movement in 2011, we quickly realised that the issues raised were as relevant then, as they are today. The book made us examine our own attitudes, not just to racism but to all forms of prejudice. We found ourselves wondering if we had ever acted like the Hillys in our society.

We thought that the author had described Alabama accurately, and could even feel the extreme temperatures of summer in The Deep South. The warm winds blowing through the cotton fields and the complete dryness of the ground. We sympathised with the maids who had to be in full uniform at all times, even wearing tights, whilst their mistresses discarded as much clothing as they could.

The characters in the book were excellent and we felt that the author had described them well. She had obviously experienced life in a household with black maids and was sympathetic to their lives and the situations they found themselves in, as the hired help of white people. She brought the characters to life for us and we had many favourites. Skeeter was our favourite among the white community, but we loved Aibileen and Milly, whom we felt were exceptionally brave to get involved in criticising their mistresses at such a dangerous time. It was hard to put ourselves in their shoes, because what they suffered was beyond our experience. Although we had read about The Civil Rights Movement, and about those people who were trying to change the situation, we felt  we still hadn’t had first-hand experience.

The book was very well-researched and well-written, and it brought home to us how much black people in America had suffered, and probably continue to suffer today. It also brought home to us the prejudices in our own country and in our own lives. We enjoyed listening to members of the group who were able to tell us of their travels in Africa and in the southern states of America, meeting people with the same experiences.

Reviewed by Janine Blomley from Oundle library’s U3A group

‘The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield

This is a review of ’The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield. The review was written by a member of Oundle library’s U3A group:

The book under discussion today was ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ by Diane Setterfield. We had very mixed reactions to this novel, although most agreed that it was well-written. We had very diverse reactions both to the story, and to the characters in the book. Most of us liked Setterfield’s descriptive writing, though one or two people felt that her long descriptions distracted from the rest of the story.

We felt that as a writer Setterfield was very influenced by Victorian novelists, and that the book was full of characters one might find in books such as ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘The Woman in White’ and ‘The Turn of the Screw’. Although we felt that it was probably set between 1940 and 1950, the novel was full of nineteenth century melodrama, and the events related in the book probably couldn’t have happened today. Someone commented that the main characters were so dysfunctional that social services would have got involved very quickly in present times.

Most people felt that the least well-written character in the story was Margaret and were not sympathetic to her reclusive nature, or to her fixation on her twin, though they did agree that she needed to have had a twin to have been of any interest to Vida. We felt that Vida’s character was probably the most complex and difficult to follow through the book, but it was she that added mystery to the story. The degrees of madness displayed by characters such as Charlie and Isabelle paled almost into insignificance beside that of Adeline, which was the most chilling. We felt that she was truly evil, and to discover at the end of the book, that she was the twin who had survived the fire, was another dreadful twist in the tale.

Events moved quite slowly throughout, and jumped from one period in time to another, which concerned quite a few readers. Some people found it difficult to keep abreast of what was actually happening as a result, but most people read to the end of the novel, some much more enthusiastically than others.

Reviewed by Janine Blomley from Oundle library’s U3A group

‘No Time for Goodbye’ by Linwood Barclay

This is a review of ’No Time for Goodbye’ by Linwood Barclay. The review was written by a member of Oundle library’s U3A group:

We all seem to have found ‘No Time for Goodbye’ a little light relief after some of the more serious books we have read this year. Although we were able to talk about the book individually, we felt that it didn’t lend itself to too much deep thought. Most people enjoyed it for what it was, a good mystery, sometimes predictable, and with a rather contrived ending. We felt that at times, it was somewhat unbelievable and there wasn’t much depth to it. Nevertheless, as an American detective story, it worked quite well and we weren’t surprised to learn that it was going to be made into a film.

Some of the group enjoyed the chapters written in italics, whilst others found them irrelevant, or confusing. We all finished the book, which is always a good sign. Everyone felt that they wanted to discover just what had happened that fateful night, definitely a good introduction to the story.

The main characters were able to retain our interest, although we were more sympathetic to some rather than to others. We thought that generally the character of Cynthia was believable, and we were able to understand that it was impossible for her to get on with life after such a tragedy. We felt that the author had created a very good man in Terry, someone who could deal with whatever situation life threw at him. The book needed his goodness, a contrast to all the wicked characters in the story. We had no sympathy whatsoever with Clayton, but of course if he had acted differently there would have been no novel.

Reviewed by Janine Blomley from Oundle library’s U3A group

‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman

A ghost story with a twist.  Not quite a horror story, but not a fantasy book either.  This novel is almost a whodunit, with a strangely compelling atmosphere about it.

It firstly does what very few other books do.  It crosses age group boundaries in much the same way as ‘Harry Potter’ or Terry Pratchett’s various works.  Not only is it an excellent short read for an adult, but it also makes a great choice for younger readers.

The story follows the life of Bod, a child growing up amongst a family of ghosts in a graveyard.  The concept is marvellously weird, and demonstrates a very down-to-earth British approach to the supernatural.  This book is great for regular readers of the horror genre because it subverts the traditional ghost story by making the ghosts into the good guys and the humans become the ones to be feared. 

It is also rare in style, allowing the reader to make up their own minds about the shadowy true nature of Bod’s mysterious guardian, without the author feeling the need to explain it. 

Neil Gaiman as an author is always an alternative choice for readers, due to his fresh and completely different ideas.  There is no way a person can get bored of his works, and the world he creates that is so similar to our own but with a twist.

Click here to find out which libraries have this item in stock.

Reviewed by S. J. Menary

DVD review of ‘Howl’

Allen Ginsberg’s groundbreaking poem ‘Howl’, a key work associated with the group of writers that became known as the Beat Generation, was one of the most important poems of the 20^th century. Subject of an obscenity trial in the 1950s due to its language and sexual references, this film is an innovative study of the poem and subsequent courtroom drama.

James Franco is a brilliant actor, one of the best of his generation, and he’s clearly done his homework here. Anyone who has seen Ginsberg on TV in interviews and documentary footage will note that Franco has the poet’s speech and mannerisms spot on.

The rest of the cast is also impressive, including Mad Men’s Jon Hamm and David Straithairn, who famously played reporter Ed Murrow in ‘Good Night and Good Luck’.

The film weaves between poetry, animation and biopic, creating a surreal visual. The courtoom scenes – with Hamm and Straithairn as opposing lawyers – are interspersed with Franco (as Ginsberg) reading the poem to an audience of Beatniks, most probably the famous Six Gallery reading in San Francisco in October 1955, in which Ginsberg read ‘Howl’ for the first time. The atmosphere is at times electric. 

The visual imagery encapsulates the stream-of-consciousness surrealism of the poem. In the courtroom scenes, the testimonies of the expert witnesses provide background, touching on issues such as the feeling of alienation and displacement in the post-war generation that provided the source of much of Beat generation literature.

This kind of wider context – as well as touching on other writers and key figures of the period such as Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, providing the context of the Beat generation and hipster subculture – is interesting and the film could have made more of this. At just 86 minutes long, there was time for more background.

As for the background given in the film, I’m not sure how much of it is true, and with its reluctance to delve any deeper, the focus on Kerouac – a close friend of Ginsberg’s and the more famous of the two writers – comes across as a bit gratuitous. The film also focuses to a large extent on Ginsberg’s homosexuality and the sexual imagery within the poem, which is just one angle in a long poem. This is probably predictable given that it was the reason for the obscenity trial, but highlighting other areas of the poem could have done more to emphasise the poem’s literary value.

At its heart, the film encapsulates the battle around freedom of expression in literature. The key to the court case was in establishing whether the poem had enough ‘artistic merit’ to justify the “obscene” language, and the courtroom scenes are often the most interesting in the film. But the legal case shown here is, disappointingly, a little one-sided, with Jon Hamm’s charismatic portrayal of impassioned defence of artistic freedom against David Straithairn’s lawyer struggling to justify censorship in an increasingly permissive age. Straithairn is a good actor, underused here.

It’s not your average film, but as a fan of the Beats I’d definitely recommend this.

This film is available to hire from libraries in Northamptonshire for £2 for a week.

 

‘Dracula the Un-Dead’ by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt

Written as an ‘authorised’ sequel over one hundred after the original, this book claims to be true to Stoker’s original vision.  Based on Stoker’s own notes, the story follows the fortunes of the original ‘band of heroes’ as they face Dracula, once more risen from the dead.  The excellent ensemble cast of characters have dealt with their traumatic experiences by turning to morphine, drink and violence.  The vivid portraits of the characters are one of the best and worst aspects of this novel.  The characters of Arthur Holmwood as a darkly brooding Victorian lord, and Dr. Jack Seward as a maniacal morphine addict, and written with care and diligent loyalty to the originals.  Quincey Harker, the son of Jonathon and Mina, is depicted as a fresh faced, energetic youth, which contrasts wonderfully with the world-wearied older characters. 

However, the character of Mina Harker is somewhat clichéd.  Her eternal youth and secret yearnings for Dracula have long been a staple of Hollywood Dracula remakes.  The protagonist of the original novel, Jonathan Harker, is one of the first casualties.  This is a real shame, as the tortured drunkard he has become makes for an interesting parallel to the young hero we first met in 1897.  Van Helsing is something of a let down as well, being less of the hailed saviour he was in the original book and falling all too easily to the dark side.

‘Fighters Against Fascism’ by Max Arthur

The Spanish Civil War that raged from 1936-1939 was a key moment in European history. A democratic nation falling to a fascist dictator backed by Hitler and Mussolini, it was followed – and overshadowed – soon after by a larger conflict, the Second World War. Around 2,500 volunteers from Britain travelled to Spain to fight on the side of the Republican government – an area of British history largely forgotten.

In this book, oral historian Max Arthur, author of ‘Dambusters’ and ‘Last of the Few’, interviews the last British survivors of the conflict, including, notably, ex-union leader Jack Jones, IRA activist Bob Doyle and nurse Penny Feiwel.  

History is best told through storytelling, and the narrative here is quite gripping.

‘The Maltese Falcon’, by Dashiell Hammett

“You’re absolutely the wildest person I’ve ever known”…

This 1929 book has a reputation as one of the greatest crime novels of all time, and the 1941 movie was an instant classic. Crime thrillers are not usually the kind of book I read – but being a big fan of the stylish 1941 film noir, I couldn’t resist picking this up.

The book centres around the charisma of its legendary main character, private eye Sam Spade (portrayed in the movie by the effortlessly cool Humphrey Bogart). Asked by Brigid O’Shaughnessy, an enigmatic young client keeping her cards close to her chest, to tail an aggressive gunman, Spade’s partner Miles Archer is shot dead in an alley. Drawn into a maze of deceit, Spade finds himself dealing with an eclectic band of criminals who will stop at nothing to acquire an extremely valuable antique – an ornamental falcon encrusted with jewels.

The film noir is a much-parodied genre, and for fans of the movie, this is a lot of fun. It’s hard not to read it in a Humphrey Bogart accent.

It doesn’t take long to realise that the casting in the movie was mostly spot on. Bogart was born to play Sam Spade, the ruthless and resourceful detective, and Sydney Greenstreet lends the villain, Mr Gutman, the charisma his character deserves.

Gutman, his associate Cairo, and the young “hoodlum” Wilmer appear more dangerous and suspicious than in the film. Wilmer, the young gunman tailing the protagonist, in particular is more aggressive and masculine than the nervous youth of the movie. Some chapters are very tense.

The seductive Brigid O’Shaughnessy is much more benign here, and comes across as much more harmless then Mary Astor’s portrayal.

The plot is famously difficult to follow. There are plenty of scenes here that are not in the movie, which does make the reader understand it better. There are also open references to the homosexuality of the character of Joel Cairo, which was less clear in the movie but fairly obvious here, along with swearing and other aspects that were missing from the transition to the big screen. It does lend the book a more dramatic air.

I won’t give away any spoilers – but it’s a tense, and exciting, adventure. You can see why this 1929 page-turner was a classic of the genre. It’s a gripping thriller, and is a very enjoyable read.

Joe Gores’ 2009 prequel, ‘Spade and Archer’, is also available at the library.

This is available in most libraries in the area and can be ordered/reserved from any library in the county.

Click here to find out which libraries have this item in stock.

Reviewed by Ian Loveland

‘Glasgow Fairytale’, by Alastair D. McIver

In the library in Corby, a town proud of its Scottish heritage, you could expect books about Glasgow to fly off the shelves. Just published in October 2010, I made sure I got in quick to read Glasgow storyteller Alastair D. McIver’s debut novel – and I wasn’t disappointed.

The novel brings traditional fairytales up to date – setting them in modern-day Glasgow. The book begins with Jack Cameron, an ordinary Glasgow lad, getting on a bus. Tricked into buying beans from a drunk Celtic fan, Jack throws them out of the window in a rage – and a huge beanstalk grows out of the Clyde! Together with his sister Jill (of course), Jack then sets off on a magical adventure, along with their friends Ella McCinder, Wee Red Hoodie and Karl ‘Snowy’ White in an ensemble cast of Glaswegian fairytale characters.

McIver does a great job of bringing the characters to life in modern-day Glasgow, inserting traditional fairytale stories into contemporary culture, in a way that is surreal and often funny. Hearing traditional fairytale characters such as the Big Bad Wolf and three little pigs speaking in Glasgow accents and dialect (“No by the hair on oor chinny-chin-chins, by the way!”) is hilarious, and inspired.

The reference to Glasgow landmarks and contemporary culture (like the Old Firm) is a nice touch. It’s a cute story – the characters are treated with humanity, making the reader root for nice characters like Ella and Jill in their battle between good and evil.

The plot of the book is obviously quite predictable. But the retelling of the familiar stories in a new way is refreshingly original. McIver’s simple way of storytelling easily lends itself to fairytale stories, and this is a fun, action-packed story.

The book is a bit one-dimensional. Most of the humour is in the first half of the book, in the juxtaposition between classic fairytale characters and real-life references to contemporary Glasgow. I enjoyed it, but I felt that the momentum dropped off a little towards the end, as the writer ties up loose ends.

But it’s a short, fun, light-hearted story. At just 224 pages, it’s a quick read and certainly entertaining.

This is available in most libraries in the area and can be ordered/reserved from any library in the county.

Click here to find out which libraries have this item in stock.

Reviewed by Ian Loveland

‘Twelfth Night’, by SelfMadeHero Publishing via ‘Manga Shakespeare’

In English lessons at school, we once had a visit from an American teacher who talked about Shakespeare. Why, she asked us, do we still study and perform Shakespeare’s plays all over the world, when they were written 400 years ago? We had no idea. Our teenage faces looked blankly at her. “Because they’re so good!” she laughed.

We couldn’t help but smirk at how cheesy it was, but her point remains sound. Shakespeare’s plays are still good and enjoyed the world over – but can be daunting and appear irrelevant to young people, forced to memorise the original text in classrooms.

Step forward SelfMadeHero publishing, with their series of Manga Shakespeare. The idea of Shakespeare in comic-book form initially made me laugh: but it’s an intriguing idea, which could bring the original plays to life for a new, young, audience.

Twelfth Night begins with a young girl called Viola, washed up in a foreign land after a shipwreck. Her brother, Sebastian, is missing, and she disguises herself as a boy (calling herself ‘Cesario’) to get by in her new country, working as a servant to the Duke of the land, Orsino. The Lady Olivia, uninterested in the charms of the infatuated Orsino, falls in love with ‘Cesario’, creating subsequent mayhem for the hapless Viola and her devastated employer. The love-triangle unwittingly caused by Viola’s masculine outfit is one of Shakespeare’s finest comedies.

Some aspects of the original have clearly been changed. The dialogue has been stripped down to its bare essentials to fit the format, and the appearance of the characters is far more contemporary – presumably because it’s designed to appeal to a young audience. Orsino here seems younger than usually portrayed, and wears jeans and a huge fur collar, like a rock star. The more modern fashions and buildings could perhaps be a nod to Kenneth Branagh’s 1988 Renaissance Theatre Production, which set the original in a Victorian context.

The comic book is entertaining to read, partly because the cartoon action allows for the slapstick, physical comedy in stage theatre that is missed when you just read the text. I love the original play, and I enjoyed this.

Of course, new formats such as this can’t replace the original text – but it can accompany it, to make it fun. It’s really accessible, and makes the play easy to understand to a young audience. Anything that gets younger people enjoying reading Shakespeare has to be a good thing.

Now I’m off to hunt down Manga Hamlet…

This is available in Corby library and can be ordered/reserved from any library in the county.

Click here to find out which libraries have this item in stock.

Reviewed by Ian Loveland

‘Instruments of Darkness’ by Imogen Robertson

For lovers of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula, ‘Instruments of Darkness’ promised to be a wonderful gothic fusion of the two. Billed as being full of atmosphere and suspense, this Edwardian murder mystery had the potential to be a real classic of crime fiction.
However, like so many of the Dracula films, this book failed to inspire the same brilliance as the original.

The novel begins in traditional Victorian style, with time devoted to setting the scene. The story focuses on a string of murders taking place in the countryside estate of amateur sleuth and bored housewife, Harriet Westerman. With the aid of anatomist Gabriel Crowther, she aims to bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice, even if they are the lord and lady of the local manor.

What keeps the momentum of this story going is Robertson’s natural ability to infuse her text with suspense, a skill many work on for years and never quite achieve. The little threads of bait she reels out to capture our attention keep us hanging on for every morsel, but somehow the pay off never seems to be quite enough; for example, her protagonist Gabriel Crowther, whose secretive past is alluded to throughout the early parts of the book, fascinated the reader with possibilities. It seems, therefore, premature, to reveal all the details half way though.

This is a problem that reoccurs throughout the story, and every moment of revelation seems to be followed by a moment of realisation that you had already worked it out before you got there, and it is not that amazing when you figure it out; however, saying that, the plot is seeped in suspense, and twists and turns quickly with new information. The action sequences are also excellent, although there are not enough to satisfy a more energetic reader.

The secondary characters are brilliantly brought to life with loving detail. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the two leading characters, Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther. There is little chemistry between them, and the reader often finds themselves uncomfortable switching between their two viewpoints.
These characters may progress in future books, as the whole of the novel appears to be a prelude to a series of books, but this has led to ‘Instruments of Darkness’ being a bit of a let down in terms of expectation. Although well researched, it promises more than it can deliver, with not enough of an ending to satisfy the reader.

It sometimes tries a little too hard to be Sherlock Holmes, and does not have the same charisma and charm; however, the obvious talent Robertson displays for creating suspense marks her out as an author with so much potential for the future.

Click here to find out which libraries have this item in stock.

Reviewed by S. J. Menary

‘Blacklands’ by Belinda Bauer

The average crime novel can often be compared to a packed lunch. The first time you make it and take it proudly to work, the sandwiches are fresh and exciting, a gleaming piece of fruit, and a low-fat yoghurt that promises to make you a size 8 by the end of the week. However, by the third or fourth day, that packed lunch is starting to feel formulaic and mind-numbingly boring.

The same can be said for crime novels. Enter Belinda Bauer’s debut novel ‘Blacklands’. This is the chocolate éclair of the crime novel world. Far from the traditional formula, the protagonist is not some middle aged, married to the job, 2d detective with a stupid name. It is a 12 year old boy named Steven Lamb, obsessed with digging up Exmoor to find the body of his murdered uncle.

The greatest skill this writer possesses is not her elaborate plot twists or the laying of clues, that most crime novelists would pride themselves on, but in the depth of insight Bauer displays for her characters. There is rarely a point at which the reader is not completely submerged in the thoughts, feelings and pressures facing a child in a family still dealing with tragedy, and the powerlessness of that situation.

The cosy blanket of child-like innocence is stripped starkly away in the comparisons Bauer draws between the protagonist and the villain, Arnold Avery, child serial killer. She pulls her reader ever deeper into Avery’s twisted psyche, allowing the killer’s voice to infect the text to create the perception that Avery is simply misunderstood, and the things he does are entirely logical in his own mind.

The duel which ensues between hero and villain is akin to watching a car crash in front of you. You just can’t tear your eyes away, however dark the subject matter is. The entire plot of this book can be bundled up into a single question: what happens when a child writes letters to a paedophile in jail? Everyone knows how the story will end, but the reader is gripped from beginning to end by the tempting notion of ‘what if?’ What if this monster of a villain can be outwitted by a 12 year old boy? What if this 12 year old can be saved in the nick if time? What if, after all of this, our hero can go on and discover the body of his dead uncle?

Unfortunately, some readers may be disappointed by the eventual ending, and the loose ends that are not entirely tied up. However, the brilliance with which Bauer creates such vivid characters more than makes up for this. Forget your packed lunches! Bauer is making crime novels exciting again.

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Reviewed by S. J. Menary.

‘Beyond Black’ by Hilary Mantel

Aldershot has clearly done something quite bad to Hilary Mantel, judging by this novel; the place is the hometown of central character Alison, and it appears an abominably dark and lawless place, with sexually-rampaging squaddies, corrupt police and mad prostitutes at every turn.

Anyone slightly put off by Mantel’s Man Booker Prize win for Wolf Hall (“it’s a historical novel… it’s really big… isn’t she a bit SERIOUS?”) should go here first. Mantel’s reputation has been made on books like this: tar black comedies frequently with some element of the religious, mysterious or spiritual (perhaps the author nearest in tone would be Muriel Spark). 

Beyond Black’s main character is Alison Hart, a professional psychic, who could tell television mediums a thing or two about the miseries of ‘the gift’… no friendly old relatives passing on reassuring messages here.
Alison spends much of her life being stalked by the ghosts of men from her past and wittering old ladies looking for their shopping partners. All the while she is accompanied by her manager Colette, a woman so cold, the dead seem to exude warmth in comparison; and her ‘spirit guide’ Morris, a ghost who knows more about Alison’s past than she remembers. Alison gets to grips (figuratively speaking) with the ghosts of her past whilst dealing with a career she seems forced into, and a business manager obsessed with getting her to lose weight. What exactly happened to her as a child? It pokes merciless fun at the occult, male-female relationships, cultural fads, estate agents and much else besides. It is dark, hilarious, and often scary; what more could you want?

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Reviewed by Andrew Cheeseman

‘Zeitoun’ by David Eggers

A watery windswept experience…

Have just finished reading “Rebecca” once more, the windswept Cornish coast [beloved of the author Daphne Du Maurier] and heavy drama overlain with the images of the film – I realise the book is much darker and the sadness of lives blighted by tragedy was also mirrored in the true account of a Muslim family during and after Hurricane Katrina, this time by the death of hope in the American dream in David Eggers’ unsentimental book “Zeitoun” – one gentle man, a beloved wife and children and the total shock of prejudice and injustice changing their real lives forever.

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Reviewed by Grace Kempster

‘Handle With Care’ by Jodi Picoult

“Handle With Care” by Jodi Picoult provides great insight into how people’s lives are effected by Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Osteogenesis Imperfecta or OI is better known as brittle bone disease and this book describes a family torn apart by a mother’s want to provide for her daughter. Willow was born with OI which wasn’t diagnosed in the early stages of her mother’s pregnancy. Can her mum really state in court that she wished Willow hadn’t been born in order to win the compensation she needs to enhance Willow’s quality of life?

Jodi Picoult handles the topic of wrongful birth and medical malpractice with great care and explains how one little girl touches so many lives. Her writing style really engages the reader and makes them understand how significantly OI effects people’s lives. It also investigates the moral minefield of a wrongful birth lawsuit very sensitively.

I would highly recommend this novel and it really puts things into perspective.  It is also very thought-provoking and ideal for book clubs as the author provides topics for discussion at the back of the book.

This is available in Northamptonshire Libraries in print and sound recordings.

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Reviewed by Jo Dillon