The Trial by Franz Kafka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a strange book. Not until a reader is about half-way through this confusing, frustratingly bland and uncompromising story, do you realise that this is all you are going to get.

The Hans Christian Andersen story about a king’s suit of clothes is the nearest thing I could think of as a metaphor for this unbelievable tale. Not that Kafka’s novel compares to the plot of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ but for me it’s more about the idiomatic fuss that the elite literati seem to have made about Kafka’s book for so very many decades. After all it appears that he did not want his notes about The Trial to be published but he wanted them burnt! However, his friend, Max Brod, went ahead and had it published.

Maybe what I was reading in an edition from Everyman’s Library suffered a little during translation? Or perhaps Kafka had not got around to writing more in a prologue, which would give more explanation about this obviously dystopian story? Who knows? Obviously the many literary writers and philosophers, et al who have produced much more commentary about the book think they knew what Kafka really intended. May be they could only see the “new clothes” which the less informed, like me, fail to appreciate.

At least George Orwell and Aldous Huxley gave the humble reader enough information to gain some understanding about the setting and the atmosphere surrounding their main protagonist, who is attempting to survive within their totalitarian society. Like many readers and reviewers I prefer to read a new book, when I can, enjoying it (or not) based upon my own discoveries etc as I progress through the author’s writing. Where there may be an introduction or a blurb that is much too long, I leave that until later after finishing the book. I do not want to be influenced by a ‘well-informed’ writer, like George Steiner for example, about what I can expect to find or how I should feel during my reading. This was an interesting and most intriguing novel but it left a lot to be desired for a completely satisfying read. Perhaps it was still too experimental as a dystopian novel? Like other reviewers I was left with too many unanswered questions, suffering from too much pluralistic existentialism? Writers like those mentioned above certainly got it right for me. Their books can be read and re-read over again. But, The Trial? Glad to see it gone.

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Saturday by Ian McEwan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

McEwan's novel was a fascinating story, told in an excellent and gripping way. At times I found it much too wordy and grew annoyed with his apparent rambling about Henry Perowne's family. It was hard to see what was the point of the book’s plot for quite a few pages: sleeplessness, a plane crash, family problems, or what? Perowne seems to have it all: a top professional in medicine, a happy marriage, and so on. But for me the pages and pages of intricate details about his life grew tedious for a while. And then the game of squash after a particularly unpleasant incident seemed quite unrealistic.

Another large part of this novel that I thought was very difficult to accept was the repeated sections about medical procedures, both surgical and theoretical. It felt like padding. Was it there in order to show how much research had been done by the author? If it was to suit Henry’s mental reasoning over the car incident, with Baxter and his cronies that had occurred earlier in the street, then it did not work for me.

However, well into the second half of the novel things became intense, absorbing and very frightening. I could not stop turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next! Brilliant! The ending was still a little disappointing and I was unable to feel that I cared very much about Henry Perowne and his highly privileged family,

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Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An amazing story about the changes in the rural life of an English village during the first half of the 20th century.This 20th century classic about the slow disappearance of a way of life in farming and the local community was touching and enlightening. It illustrated well how farming was becoming much more mechanized. The many people, who were interviewed, were all associated with farming in some way often had plenty to say about the changes. Some were positive but others, mainly older residents of the village, did not like the changes at all. For example, many older people thought that the village didn't seem as friendly now that everyone stayed inside glued to the television. The book is a friendly but accurate study of a small farming village in England during the 1960s. While many missed the old days, no-one missed the poverty; children without shoes, and many families existing on a diet of consisting of meagre items like apples, potatoes and bread. It was a real eye-opener and so interesting.

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Fusion: Poems of Life by Balroop Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, I was unable to find very much understanding and empathy with this collection of Balroop Singh’s poems, as I have with others of hers that I have read in the past. Perhaps I am being too subjective about it, but while I accept that her poems are in the ‘Free Form’ style of presentation, I found quite a lot of them lacked some necessary punctuation. This meant for me, that through the various stanzas they failed to maintain the imagery and meaning there for the reader.

Normally I am much fonder of ‘Traditional’ poetry and tend to look for structure and metre, and even the occasional rhyme and alliteration. Without some of these things then I hope to find enough rhetorical language etc. in free verse for my enjoyment of a poem. I quite enjoyed Singh’s poems entitled ‘Moon Melodies,’ ‘Beyond Time’ and ‘Spring’ and found them uplifting enough to possibly fulfil the aims of the poet. In Moon Melodies I found alliteration and two rhyming couplets!

I feel that it was within the spirit of the poet’s intentions to make one reflect upon the ups-and-downs of life, and even to make one have a more positive attitude about things as a result. But, as I said at the start of this review the ‘anything goes’ ideas behind this free style collection needed more attention for me to enjoy a lot more of it.


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The Wren: A Biography by Stephen Moss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Stephen Moss' book is a fabulous treasure trove of facts and figures about this impressive little bird. He includes all kinds of interesting stories, myths and country legends that anyone who enjoys nature watching will just love to read. No spoilers here but when it has been known as the 'king of birds' and, when you discover there are/were traditional 'wren hunts' for whatever curious reasons, you just have to keep on turning the pages.
Highly recommended.

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The Outside by E.K. Frances
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although this book had me gripped from the start with its intrigue, danger and horrible implications for Alex, I’m still very confused about the reason for the existence of the ‘compounds’ that also occurred in the previous books. Even though I have read E.K. Frances’ earlier novels in the series I still think there is some more explanation needed. The prologue chapters for The Outside do not provide enough information in my opinion. New readers here will end up asking themselves endlessly: But what? Why? When? And Who?

However, it is a thought-provoking tale and as you read more and more some explanations do emerge slowly. And some of the descriptions of the surroundings really captured my attention. For example there is a part about the river in a later chapter that begins, ‘the river snakes its way through, widening and narrowing as if uncertain how much water to drink.’ And to Alex it is as if it is alive!

There are men who patrol the compound and you wonder do they protect the teenagers or are they up to something far more sinister? Are there really creatures hidden in the depths of the dense forests? And what happens to the teenagers when they leave the compound - do they go to a new life or is there a darker fate awaiting them?
Alex, the main character, is determined not to investigate through fear about this. He wants to escape and find his missing friends because every year teenagers disappear from the compound. They are taken by men, and loaded onto a truck but what for? Alex and his friends have thoughtlessly enjoyed life, foraging for food, and going on adventures. But suddenly all of these things changed. He wants to know why of course.
When Alex gets out of the compound to look for his friends he finds himself hunted by men with dogs. There are beasts in the wild, which may eat him, and he is soon starving as well. Sometimes he is even fighting for his own life and the terror and fear within his mind and body is almost palpable as you read it.
This story is a page turner all the way through! Surprisingly the epilogue has a certain poignancy, but which keeps you wondering: So what happened next?

Overall, this is an exciting tale of fearful terror and survival. Alex is a great character who wants to find and save his friends and he is well written. Recommended.


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No Life but Immortality: Book 1 of Geryon's Code Cycle by Liudmila Brus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a great book cover, mysterious, compelling and slightly threatening. Just when I’ve decided to give up on reading anymore dystopian tales of woe for our planet and its inhabitants, along comes this fantastic story from Liudmila Brus. Her world building skills are second to none and I was completely convinced by her characters and their situations and problematic lives. The chapters often jumped several years into the future each time, but after a couple of pages I was there with the protagonist for this part of the novel, eager to find out more.

Mars has been colonised by Earth travellers for many decades and late into the 22nd century, human space travellers from Mars are seeking to correct or prevent the technological and societal ambitions of the tyrant Geryon Lindon. Many of the problems that have long beset human society like poverty, intimidation of lower classes, and prejudice, have been improved and even overcome by the Martians. However, Geryon has been utilising his immense digital and computerised virtuality knowledge to affect the behaviour of thousands of the inhabitants through robotics and cyborg control. The immortality stated in the book’s title is a digital copy of an individual’s perception and awareness of everything and thus comes about through it no longer being ephemeral.

The story includes many ethical and morality issues along the way and will cause a reader to frequently pause for thought in my opinion. Plus the author has given some of these virtual beings problems with emerging emotions and instinctive tendencies. This is not something that tyrant Geryon wishes to continue of course.

I would have liked a lot more information and detail about the technological and scientific issues involved. Some of the switches in time backwards and forwards were quite confusing. Additionally, I could not see the point of changing the names of the main characters; particularly, when the point of view in the tale also changed very often. This did not help you hang on to a very complex plotline. Unfortunately, there were several editing errors with punctuation, spelling and wrong choice of words that also caused my rating to lose a star.

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WHO PEA'D THE BED? (The Fairy Tale Bureau of Investigation by S.D. Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are some great names of characters in this children’s book. We find Elfie Sherlocks, the Chief Investigator, Owlexa, the source of lots of information, Jerome Gnome and Freddy Firefly the rookie Ant, or Agent-In-Training. They are all members of the F.T.B.I. or the Fairy Tale Bureau of Investigation, who are tasked to discover who ruined the pea crop of the Legumia kingdom, as well as who pea’d the princess’s bed.
The investigation follows a winding and amusing path with lots of curious twists and turns. There are plenty of compelling moments to hold the attention of readers in the 8 to 11 year olds bracket. It would be great fun for a parent or grandparent to read it with the younger child. This is just to make sure that they got the jokes constantly quoted by the mischievous Freddy Firefly. Unfortunately, my own grandchildren are just a little too old for that experience with me.
The illustrations throughout the story are brilliant and help it to race along. The author has a lot of teaching experience and it tells; both in the way she includes plenty of educational but fascinating facts and figures at the end, as well as many more of Freddy’s jokes. In the past I have read several of S.D. Brown’s crime stories for adults, about gemstones and minerals and have always enjoyed them. Speaking as a retired teacher there were a few arguable, punctuation issues that I saw, but nothing to spoil this charming and hilarious kids book. Recommended.

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East of the Mountains by David Guterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read Guterson’s first novel, Snow Falling on Cedars a few years ago and enjoyed it, particularly because of the great descriptions of people and places. And once again I found this book full of good descriptions, albeit they are often somewhat grisly or terribly upsetting. Ben, the main character, is finding it hard to carry on living with his cancer and is seeking to end it all. He thinks up a plan for his family to later discover his death appearing as an accident while hunting.
Ben travels into a mountainous region often used by himself and his father, when younger, and later with his grandson. Things do not go to plan, however, and various events in the mountains begin to challenge his suicidal decision as well as his hunting project. There is a frequent mention of Ben’s beloved hunting dogs. Tragedy that happens to himself and the dogs keep you turning the pages to find out more. But along the way the author’s descriptions of the wonderful but stark and threatening landscape help create vivid pictures in your mind. I found one or two incidents to be quite unlikely considering his circumstances, and they undermined its credibility. Still, I suppose it is fiction after all!
There are many recollections from Ben about working in his father’s apple orchards, his experiences during the war and his decision to become a medical man, and eventually a heart specialist. But it is possibly his deeply felt relationship with nature, and the familiar environment, that seems to interfere with his decision to end his life. Others may read it and come to a different conclusion of course.


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The Making of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an intriguing and compulsive read. I feared at first that it would be a bit stuffy and too political but the more I read the more fascinating it became. Marr’s style was conversational and witty at times with lots of personal information. His ‘revelation’ of such things became something more to look forward to as you read more of the book.
The sections in the book about David Lloyd-George, Neville Chamberlain and Sir Winston Churchill, for example, were truly gripping. And the brief mention about the lives of the Mitford sisters was surprising, even charming to some extent, though shocking to some readers no doubt. Marr’s account about the stormy times around World War 1 and the lively 1920s/30s is brought to life in such a way that it defeats completely the rather dry and staid way you might find it in your usual history book.
The changes in British culture and attitudes brought about due to the loss of its Empire were also handled well in the expert hand of this skilful writer. Class distinction, feminism and communism etc. were all changes to British society the author detailed well. Highly recommended to anyone who thinks they hate history. This book encourages one to find out more!



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