march 2023 books…

Consolations (David Whyte): Having recently read Whyte’s “Essentials”, I decided to read this earlier book of his (published in 2019). He describes it as “the solace, nourishment and underlying meaning of everyday words” and the book consists of a series of mini-essays on these words (52 of them – with one word titles such as: ‘Anger’, ‘Denial’, ‘Memory’ and ‘Regret’). I read two of them out loud to myself very early each morning… and found that they provided a wonderful start to the structure and rhythm of the new day. I found it a powerful, thought-provoking, very beautiful book. I know I’ll keep ‘dipping into it’ over the coming years.
The Instant (Amy Liptrot): I was hugely impressed by Liptrot’s first book (“The Outrun”) – in which the then 30 year-old author finds herself ‘washed up’ back home on Orkney after a previous ten years had seen her leaving the island, ending up in London and started a downward spiral of hellish alcohol addiction. I thought it was an incredibly brave, eloquent and hopeful book… and was intrigued to discover what she came up with for her follow-up book. She ends up leaving the isolation of Orkney Island and books a one-way flight to Berlin on a whim… looking for new challenges, work, love (and sex!) via the screen on her phone. She ends up staying in Berlin for a year… encountering the city’s wildlife, tracing cycles of the moon, the flight paths of migratory birds and “surrendering to the addictive power of love and lust”. She ends up falling passionately in love with a German man (and her feelings are duly reciprocated). Life is magically wonderful and, then, with no warning he leaves her… and she is utterly devastated. The second half of the book is something of a manic appraisal of what went wrong and how and why… which, for me, I found a little tiresome at times (who me?). Having said that, I thought it was a brutally honest and poignant account of connection and disconnection in the digital age. *Spoiler Alert*: the epilogue, written 4 years later, finds her with a new partner and her baby… and with the ability to reflect on the healing that has taken place after all the hurt.
The Old Man And The Sea (Ernest Hemingway): This is our next Blokes’ Book… I first read it (published in 1952) a couple of years ago after watching a TV documentary about the author. It tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman; life has rather worn him down and yet he still dreams. Lately, the old man has endured 84 days without a catch (and much ridicule among his fellow fishermen)… but, today, will be HIS day. He eventually, single-handedly, catches an enormous fish (‘18ft from nose to tail’) but, in bringing home his trophy (tied to the side of his old skiff) numerous sharks attack and feast on the fish’s flesh – leaving him with just the skeleton of his ‘catch’ to bear witness to his exploits. He ends up winning the battle, but losing the prize. Poignant, powerful and profound.
The Driver’s Seat (Muriel Spark): Reading Spark’s “The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie” last month made me realise that I’d not previously read any other of her books (and we have a number on our bookshelves!)… so I felt I had some catching up to do. This short novel (published in 1970) is something of a psychological thriller - by the third chapter, it’s revealed that the principal character, 36 year-old Lise, will be murdered. Lise has been driven to distraction by working in the same accountants' office for sixteen years and so decides to leave everything behind her and transforms herself into a laughing, garishly-dressed temptress and flies abroad on the holiday of a lifetime (it’s eventually revealed that she’s suffered years of illness; she behaves erratically and often confrontationally, and wears garish clothing). But her search for adventure, sex and new experiences takes on a far darker significance as she flies off on a journey of self-destruction, ostensibly to meet her illusory boyfriend. Spark’s writing is quite brilliant – sparse and compelling – and captures what I suppose could be described as the “extravagant madness” of the woman hugely effectively. Impressive.
A Murder Of Quality (John Le Carré): Published in 1962 (Le Carré’s second novel), this is a George Smiley murder investigation… apparently, it’s Le Carré’s only Smiley book set outside the espionage community. It’s set in a public school “one of the Great Schools… where the rich send their sons to be instructed”. The wife of one of the school’s junior masters writes to the editor of the small ‘Christian Voice’ newspaper asking for help because she fears her husband intends to kill her. The concerned editor consults her former colleague from the war-time secret service, the retired agent George Smiley… but, of course, by this time, the woman has indeed been murdered. It’s a short novel focussing on the post-Second World War class divisions and the big gap between the Town and Gown which seems to prevent the police investigating the murder fully. The recently-retired Smiley offers to help out by making his own discreet enquiries. I enjoyed it… predictably clever and intriguing!