may 2020 books...

The Last Train to Hilversum (Charlie Connelly): This is a book exploring the place of radio in our world (note: Hilversum, in the Netherlands, was an important radio transmission centre in the early days of the wireless - and many older radio sets throughout Europe featured Hilversum as a pre-marked dial position on their tuning scales). I’d never come across Connelly before (despite the fact he’s apparently a “bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster”). I must say that, when I first started reading the book, I feared it was going to be a cheery, dumbed-down diatribe that an aging Radio2 DJ might have written (not that I listened to Radio2 or was familiar with any of its presenters!)… but I was wrong. It proved to be a fascinating reminder of the importance of radio in the 20^th century – it’s part nostalgic reflection, part social history. I enjoyed it a lot.

That Will Be England Gone (Michael Henderson): This book was a gift from my lovely brother… Henderson, 9 years younger than me shares lots of my own views about the cricket. The title is a line from Larkin’s poem ‘Going, Going’. Henderson wrote the book in the knowledge that the 2020 season (if it ever happens?) would see the introduction of a new tournament, ‘The Hundred’, designed to attract an audience of younger people to the game. Ten 10-ball overs per innings featuring ‘eight brand-new city-based teams’… I’ve blogged about it separately here, so won’t bother repeating myself. Really excellent book for grumpy old cricket-lovers like me!

Tom Purvis: Art For The Sake Of Money (Ruth Artmonsky+David Preston): Somewhat ridiculously perhaps, I’d not come across this ‘commercial artist’ before seeing a recent television documentary featuring Art Deco by the Seaside (or something like that). I’d seen examples of his work, but without knowing the name of the artist. I don’t like all his art, but I absolutely love particular pieces (especially his LNER railway posters from 1925-43 and the posters his produced for Austin Reed. I found this a rather wonderful book (Purvis had something of a chip on his shoulder against fine artists, printers, agencies, art schools and some clients!). He saw himself as a combination of an artist and a salesman (interestingly, he left the typography and layout to others – which I find strange). He had a gift for sophisticated handling of flat colour (and he also produced some impressive woodcuts) and, in addition, the work of his that I particularly admire frequently involves very symbolic, simple, featureless representations of its subjects. One of those books that I’ll be constantly ‘dipping into’ over future years. 

Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie): This is our lovely StorySmith bookgroup’s latest book choice (this month we were looking for something by an African author)… and I thought it was stunningly good. The novel tells a story through the eyes of a young Nigerian woman struggling to come to terms with a world of conflict and strife (Nigeria is a country beset by political instability and economic difficulties). Her family is wealthy and dominated by her devoutly Catholic father - who is both a religious zealot and violent. It’s about religious hypocrisy; about wealth and generosity; about suffering and poverty; about the abuse of power… but also, crucially, about the persistence of love and about finding one's own voice. Adichie is an incredibly gifted writer and I was so impressed by this powerful, compassionate book. I think our bookgroup will love it!

Yes Minister: The Diaries Of A Cabinet Minister, Volume 3 (edited by Jonathan Lynn+Antony Jay): I’ve had this book for over 30 years (it was first published in 1983) and I’ve read it perhaps half a dozen times (the last time was only 5 years ago – I even blogged about it!). It NEVER fails to make me laugh out loud! Essentially, the “diaries” are re-written versions of the old television programme scripts. Interesting to recall the “editors’ note” (by scriptwriters Lynn+Jay) at the start of the book – which is supposedly written from “Hacker College, Oxford” (Jim Hacker is the book’s Minister for the Department of Administrative Affairs) in September 2019 – no doubt in the light of Hacker’s sparkling contribution to British politics! If you’ve never read any of the diaries (or seen the television programmes – including “Yes, Prime Minister”), then you REALLY must – they make a wonderful backdrop to the exploits of our own current batch of ministers (and Prime Minister!) as they attempt to justify their actions’ (or ‘non-actions’?) in connection with the current pandemic. Somewhat ironically, I finished reading the book on the day that saw Mr Cummings, the PM’s ‘chief advisor’, attempt to justify his various trips to Durham and a nearby beauty spot at a time when we were all supposed to be ‘staying at home’. Sir Humphrey Appleby would have bluffed his way through it all SO much more convincingly! Simply brilliant (again!).