Steven Pinker - Rationality

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Review:

Good, but not all that new

 

The message of this book is important and timely and I am wholly in agreement with its arguments and analyses. However, I did find it a bit of a slog.

Pinker argues clearly and passionately that rationality and reason are vital and that their current abandonment by a worrying number of people is dangerous. He looks at the role of rationality and the essential part it plays in maintaining a civilised society and also attempts to analyse why some people reject it in favour of irrationality, conspiracy theories, evidence-free fantasies and so on. This includes some good analysis of why scientific data can be messy and a clear explanation o why that doesn’t mean that it can simply be ignored.

All of this is commendable but I had some reservations. Firstly, although Pinker has a reputation for brilliant, readable writing, I found the prose quite hard going in places. It is dense, unalleviated by much in the way of light relief and burdened by his tendency to use obscure words where ordinary ones will do just as well – “patrimony,” for example where “inheritance” would make at least as much sense and make for a far easier read.

Secondly, I wasn’t really sure that Pinker was saying much that was new. The book, he explains, grew out of a course he taught and that makes it, for me, a restatement of pretty well rehearsed arguments and ideas. Important, certainly, and a useful restatement of arguments but not all that stimulating.

And thirdly, I kept getting a strong feeling that he is preaching to the converted. This is a book aimed at and surely read by those who, like me, already believe strongly in rationality. It may strengthen our stance, but will it change what really needs to be changed?

I don’t want to be too harsh; this is a good, important book. However, for me Robin Ince’s recent, very enjoyable and equally important book The Importance Of Being Interested said much the same thing in a far more readable and witty way, which may do a better job of reaching the people it needs to.

Christopher Fowler - On The Loose

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review

Classic Fowler 

 

I thought this was another very enjoyable instalment in the Bryant & May series. That’s probably all that really need be said, but for the record:

The Home Office has finally succeeded in disbanding the Peculiar Crimes Unit – as though that makes any difference when a strange, Herne-like figure is seen on a prestigious construction site in King’s Cross and a curious murder is discovered. Needless to say, Arthur and then John and the whole team are drawn into the unofficial investigation and the usual combination of an intricate plot, lots of fascinating history (this time of King’s Cross) and plenty of humour follow.

It’s classic Fowler: erudite, witty, readable and exciting. I would strongly advise starting at the beginning of this excellent series, which will explain a lot of the background to the characters, but it works as a stand-alone novel, too. Warmly recommended.

Sara Freeman - Tides

 

Rating: 2/5

 

Review:

Not for me 

 

I got to the end of Tides with something of a sense of relief and thought “Well, what was the point of that?” Shrewd readers will therefore deduce that I didn’t like it.

The story, told in the present-tense, is of a woman whose name, for some reason, we are not told until well after half way through the book. She has, we learn obliquely, lost a child and has left her husband and her family behind without warning, with very little money and few possessions, and ended up in a coastal tourist town as it comes to the end of the season. Here, she is isolated, poor, cold, bleak and alienated. She has occasional sex to manipulate men into helping her and the regrets it, she eventually gets a job and is also helped by the friendship of one woman in the town.

And that’s pretty much it, with a few events which would be spoilers if revealed and a slightly (but only slightly) redemptive note right toward the end. Frankly, I found it rather turgid and depressing to no real end. I didn’t find it a particularly profound study of grief; the emptiness felt by the protagonist is well evoked, but that’s all it is for a very long time. This is a small example of the prose: “She is sandwiched between the two of them: the old and the young, the drunk and the nearly drunk. She pictures herself this way: cold cut, melted cheese, a tomato slick with seeds.” There is so much in this vein and with this rhythm that I found rather mannered. And picturing herself as “cold cut, melted cheese, a tomato slick with seeds”? Seriously? It smacks of Creative Writing Course to me and didn’t appeal.

I’m sorry to be so critical, but I really didn’t enjoy Tides. It’s worth two stars rather than one for the evocation of the main character’s bleak emotional state and the merit of being short. Others may get more from it than I did, but it really wasn’t for me.

(My thanks to Granta for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Julia Spencer-Fleming - Hid From Our Eyes

 

Rating: 3/5

 

Review:

Rather disappointing 

 

Hid From Our Eyes is the first book in this series that I have read and I found it rather a disappointment. This may well be partly the effect of joining a lengthy series so late, but I had some serious reservations about the book itself.

The plot concerns three similar, mysterious deaths of young women; one in the present day, one in the early 70s and one in the early 50s. We get details of the investigations intercut, plus all sorts of other issues in the present day story: a bid to close Miller’s Kill Police Department, Clare’s ongoing struggles with motherhood and addiction, Russ having been a suspect in one of the previous cases, the stories of how successive Police Chiefs were recruited, a lawsuit against the department, an affair gone badly wrong between two officers, a transgender intern at the church...and so on.

Frankly, it’s all too much, and the phrase much ado about nothing did spring to mind once or twice. Julia Spencer-Fleming writes well, but there is so much going on everywhere that it dilutes any real impact or involvement I may have had, and the sense of policing in a small New England community is rather better evoked (and with a good deal more humour and humanity) by Castle Freeman. The thread about the three deaths had a frankly absurd denouement and I reached the end with a little relief.

There was enough here to warrant three stars, but only just. I note that one reviewer has said that the earlier books were better so I might give the beginning of the series a try, but I won’t be rushing, I’m afraid.

Douglas Stuart - Shuggie Bain

 

Rating: 3/5

 

Review:

Hard Going 

 

Shuggie Bain is a powerful portrayal of working class life in Glasgow under Thatcher and afterward. It is very well written and completely convincing...and pretty unremittingly grim. As a result, I struggled with it; it’s a book I felt I ought to read rather than one I wanted to.

Douglas Stuart paints intimate and compelling portraits of a family including philandering father, an alcoholic mother and a young lad with a good heart who is lost, who has had to choose between school and earning to eat, who is intimidated by the world and who does not understand his own sexuality. It’s raw and important, but frankly, I can only take so much alcoholism, misogyny and alienation in perpetual rain and gloom and I got very bogged down in it.

I’ve given the book three stars because I can see that it’s well written and deals important stuff, but as a readable novel I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.

Janet Evanovich - Fortune and Glory

 

 

 Rating: 5/5

Review:

Classic Stephanie Plum

I loved Fortune and Glory. Probably all that need be said is that it’s classic Stephanie Plum, which makes it an exciting and very entertaining read.

The plot this time is the hunt for Grandma Mazur’s treasure, which may or may not exist but belonged to her late husband Jimmy, a gangster who shares the right to any treasure with four other very dangerous but very old hoodlums. And...cars get totalled, donuts and canoli get eaten, Lula is an absolute riot, some bail skippers are re-taken in near-farcical circumstances, possibly the world’s most annoying man who decides it is his mission to protect Stephanie and the poor woman once again has to juggle her love life between two of the sexiest men in New Jersey. Like I said, classic Stephanie Plum.

It’s just great. I was completely hooked and laughed a lot. Janet Evanovich writes brilliantly, especially dialogue, and the whole thing is a monumental pleasure. Very warmly recommended – and there’s another one due in a couple of weeks. Hurrah!

Ella Baxter - New Animal

 

Rating: 3/5

Review:

Not for me 

 

New Animal is a well written and in many ways courageous book, but I couldn’t get through it, I’m afraid.

It’s a story of grief and an attempt to find some comfort, peace and possibly oblivion in sexual abandon. The narrator Amelia is already plainly troubled by the fairly recent suicide of a young man locally, although we are not told whether they were lovers or even friends. Working in the family funeral business gives her focus and some fulfilment, but when her beloved mother dies she simply cannot face the communal family grief and runs off to Tasmania, where she becomes involved in the local BDSM scene...which is where I gave up.

Ella Baxter is a talented writer. Her sense of place, Amelia’s work and the other characters are very well done and she portrays Amelia’s internal turmoil very well indeed. The thing is, for me it was so unremittingly grim and self-destructive that when she moves into some pretty serious sado-masochistic stuff it just got too much. Again, it’s very well portrayed and I can sort of see what Baxter is trying to convey here, but in the complete absence of any lightness or hope I just didn’t want to read any more about a woman’s self-loathing and degradation, thanks, and I bailed out about two-thirds of the way through. There may possibly be a message of hope and redemption later, but I couldn’t hang around to find out.

This is a matter of personal taste, of course. The book has considerable literary merit and the portrait of a mind (and body) in a turmoil of grief is very well done, but I probably should have realised from the blurb that overall that I wouldn’t like it. I have given it three stars in recognition of its qualities; others may find it more palatable and rewarding than I did, but it wasn’t for me.

(My thanks to Picador for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Elizabeth Strout - Oh William!

 

Rating: 2/5

 

Review: 

Not for me this time

 

I’m afraid that Oh, William! didn’t do it for me. I loved My Name Is Lucy Barton and both Olive Kitteridge books, but this really didn’t have anything like the same appeal; I struggled to well past half way but then gave up.

These are Lucy’s reminiscences of more of her life, especially with William, her first husband. This time I found Lucy’s narrative voice rather mannered, with her repeated little verbal habits like “...this is what I’m saying here,” or several instances of “I don’t want to say any more about that...” and then going on to say a good deal more about it. I’m sure it’s intended to be a representation of a genuine person’s voice, but for me it didn’t work this time. Also, the story which emerged in I Am Lucy Barton is beautifully structured, horrifying but ultimately humane and, for me, utterly riveting. Here, I really wasn’t all that bothered about what was happening. Elizabeth Strout makes some of her usual penetrating character studies and the odd shrewd take on aspects of life which kept me going for a while, but overall it didn’t grip me at all.

So, I’m sorry to be critical of an author whose other work I have liked and admired but this one really wasn’t for me and I can’t really recommend it.

(My thanks to Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Jodi Taylor - A Second Chance

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Review: Good, but...

 

I enjoyed A Second Chance; some of it was quite brilliant, but I was a little less happy about some other parts.

This time, we follow Max to Troy and then the aftermath of the trip for much of the book. Jodi Taylor’s capturing of the feel and events of the Trojan War is excellent; I found it involving and thoroughly convincing, and her rewriting of why Troy fell is an interesting take on the Trojan Horse story. Some other aspects, directly contradicting classical sources were a little harder to swallow, but it’s a cracking story which I was happy to go along with.

The mayhem and humour of St. Mary’s is as enjoyable as ever. In contrast, the course of Max’s love never did run smooth and there are some genuinely affecting parts, both to do with this and with other aspects of the story.

I am becoming a little less comfortable with the way time travel is handled. It becomes very confusing at times and I’m not sure it all made logical sense (although that may just be me being dim). Toward the end, though, we get not only leaps in time but the introduction of parallel universes with alternative histories ,and mystical interventions by Klio, the Muse Of History, which rather undermines a lot of the premise of the stories so far.

I’ll certainly try the next in the series, but I’m not quite as enthusiastic as I was. Nonetheless, I can recommend this as an entertaining and rewarding read.