Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

“Self-consciousness is the destroyer of erotic joy.”

This is not my favourite McEwan work and I think that’s because I’m just not in the mood for torture at the moment. A couple are swept into a horrendous occurrence and the fallout is strange to say the least. Tragedy, obsession, this slim volume has all of that in spades, and perhaps that was what I found so difficult to deal with.

Running to help save a young boy from a ballooning accident, the protagonist locks eyes with another man and further drama ensues as the second man becomes obsessed with him. I’d had a hard week and this ‘debbie downer’ of a novel really wasn’t the antidote. I’m sure I’ll re-read it some other time and review it more favourably. It contains some really stunning writing that I just wasn’t in the mood for. For now, I think I need something more upbeat.

4 out of 5 what comes up must deflate.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

"I wasn't about to do myself an injury, for the  sake of a sixteen-inch waist"

Sarah Waters has this amazing ability to transport a reader, well certainly this one, back into a vivid, palpable past. I'm certainly not the only fan of her work, this particular novel, published in 2002 to high acclaim, garnered nominations for the Booker and Orange prizes. I've come to this novel through its inclusion in the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die  list.

So, to the novel itself. Prepare to travel back to London in 1862 and some rather unsavoury pickpockets - or Fingersmiths- have the delicately, somewhat innocent, orphan, Sue Trinder. Her life is about to change, as she is engaged in an elaborate con under the guidance of 'the gentleman'. Taking on the position of a lady's maid to swindle the strange, Maud Lily, the unworldly Sue has no idea what lies in store and how much her world will be shaken up through this dodgy endeavour.

I don't want to tell you anymore, except that you should grab yourself a copy, and enjoy. I loved the carved up structure, the thriller-esque unfolding of events and the sense of being back in time.

5 out of 5 times you can't trust a fence.

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster

"It wasn't his appointment, it was Paul Auster's."

Well, fancy that, a novel that is, in fact, novel. What a strange beastie this one is. Three separate tales drawn together, and meta to the hilt. Turning the hard boiled detective genre on its head in an intriguing manner, dropping literary allusions from Cervantes to locked room mysteries, this is a novel for readers and lovers of all things literary.

For what is reading but an entree into the lives and minds of others? The characters here either conducting surveillance or under surveillance, mimic our actions as readers and like us, they get carried away into the strange constructions of the author.

How can you not love a book with an opening as noir as "It was a wrong number that started it"? If you love Bored to Death  as much as I do, this is the book for you my friend.

5 out of 5 mistaken detectives might lose everything.

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

"A twopenny ice from an Everest tricycle was the whole extent of her knowledge of luxury."

This has been on my to read list for a decidedly long time, but I only got around to it of late. There is something really dense about the prose which is to be savoured and not rushed; admittedly this took a lot longer for me to read than your average 270 page paperback, but that is hardly a bad thing.

Unfortunately the lure of Helen Mirren was too much to resist and so I'd actually seen the film before reading the book. Generally, I find that most disappointing, however I was able to compartmentalise and enjoy them both separately on their own merits. In my imagining of the written word, the colours seemed brighter, the action more lurid, Ida completely un-Mirren like and Pinky less visible, and a little pathetic. His tough act hides the immaturity of his years and poor Rose, who seems so innocent, perhaps she is the real wild card. There's a sense that she is playing the victim  to escape the status quo of her life, and indulge in  a more adventurous one.

I can honestly see why this is on so many best reads lists, but I admit to being a bit of a Greene fan - so perhaps I'm biased. The blend of the seamy underbelly with the innocence of youth makes for a compelling juxtaposition and the parade of well realised, but damaged characters will reel you in from the get go.



5 out of 5 record players might play things you won't like to hear.

Cover Her Face - P.D. James

"It was Deborah who was the enemy. Deborah who had been married, who had at least had her chance of happiness. Deborah who was pretty and selfish and useless. Listening to the voices behind her in the growing darkness Catherine felt sick with hate."

Family drama aplenty is exposed within Martingale Manor House upon the death of the new parlour maid, Sally Jupp. Reminiscent of an episode of Revenge, the plot twists and turns to reveal the many secrets hidden behind daily village life and allows Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh to unmask the culprit in James' first novel. Who could resist opening the pages of the gorgeous faber firsts edition I had before me?

While the novel was a little sluggish to begin with, by the final chapters I knew I would have to forgo an early night to find out what really happened to the parlour maid. Had she been "done in" because of her recent pronouncement that Stephen Maxie had proposed? Who was the father of her child? Which one of the Maxie family or their guests had indulged in a little strangulation? Was it a stranger?

Well it would seriously be no fun of me to reveal the answer! However, I will allow a 4 out of 5. Who said village life was dull? 

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon

Enter the world of Sam Spade, where dames are all dangerous

"When a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. Then it happens we were in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. It's bad all around-bad for that one organization, bad for every detective everywhere."

 

What a way to start the year book wise. I was not a Dashiell Hammett virgin - I absolutely loved The Thin Man (the novel and the movies) and Red Harvest and of course the unforgettable Bogart vehicle, so I was eager to immerse myself in the world of Sam Spade.

 

The noir voice that permeates will undoubtedly be familiar to most aficionados. This hard living, hard drinking pragmatist with a soft spot for the ladies is a delightful anti-hero. Women are two-faced, sexy, mysterious and compelling. What is Miss O'Shaughnessy's real story? Tearing through the book at a cracking pace, I found this book certainly did not disappoint. I can't quote directly from it, as I'd lent it to my father immediately upon completion - it was too good not to share.

 

For some further insight check out the Richard Layman, Library of Congress Web cast  - The Maltese Falcon at 75. His description of the novel as

"the most successful early hard-boiled detective novel, that violent subgenera characterised by a down-and-out detective who is nihilistic, hard drinking and a loner"
 

is a neat, summary of the Sam Spade character and the broader genre.

 

There is something smoky, mysterious, dangerous and seductive about Sam Spade's world that will no doubt ensure its continued popularity as a place to visit. 5 out of 5 for a quick visit to the shadier part of town.