The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

At the beginning of this book Trollope goes to great lengths to tell the reader about Lily Dale’s numerous attractions. I did find her to be a young woman with wonderful personal qualities for most of the book. But then well into the story, she began to display a contrary side, one that became somewhat irritating. Several of the characters could become both amusing and annoying in the way they seemed to portray typical upper class traits of the times. This of course is all due to the author’s clever writing. Despite, or maybe because of, the regular frustration I felt with several of the characters I enjoyed the story. No doubt this feeling was due to Trollope’s clever mixing of both positive and negative personalities within his characters. Their innermost thoughts and dialogue came across as realistic to me. Therefore, some empathy for sisters Bell and Lily; and would-be lovers Eames and Crosbie was bound to follow.

However, I felt most sympathetic towards Mrs Dale, the sister’s mother. She was the one person who displayed the greatest responsibility and concern to ‘do the right thing’ for her daughters, under the usual conventions of that Victorian era. My other favourite character was the earl, or Lord de Guest. He was a hands-on farming landowner who was anxious to treat everyone with fairness and respect, and who became particularly fond of Johnny Eames, encouraging him to be more daring as a suitor for Lily Dale. Later in the book we suddenly grow to also like the squire when his affections towards his nieces, the Dales girls, are revealed more clearly. Is he so ‘evil’ after all?

Like so many of his novels this story of Trollope’s is about relationships and the real and imagined problems and feelings people experience in their lives. We readers grow to care about the fictional characters presented by the author if it is done properly by them. There is often more of that aspect to be found in many classic novels when compared with modern books. Entertainment and enjoyment are important too, but it does not necessarily have to be quite so ‘immediate’ in that it must include horror, thrills, fantasy or romance, so fitting into a specific ‘genre’ surely?

Before I began to read The Small House at Allington I thought I had already found my favourite Barsetshire novel but now I’m not so sure. Long and often rambling it may be at times but the number of interesting and frustrating characters found within this story grabbed my curiosity so well I can only recommend it to anyone who just enjoys a darn good read that never quite goes where you suspect or hope it will!


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Allow Yourself To Be A Better Person by Balroop Singh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My initial reaction to this self-help book was one of gloom and slight horror. This was because I usually consider such so-called guides as self-congratulatory and arrogant. Why anyone should think that their opinion about someone else’s behaviour (someone they have never met or known) is not only important to the said someone, but also why they should take any notice of it whatsoever? For starters, what is meant by the phrase in the book’s title of ‘a Better Person?’ The implication is in the opinion of the author.

It seems to me that the use of an early sub-heading in the book like ‘Give up Arrogance’ becomes, ironically, arrogant. Particularly when the author proceeds to give the reader a steady diatribe for a couple of pages about various attributes that can be blamed on arrogance. We are given checklists to help us avoid it and even supplied with a clever acronym, with each letter of the word illustrating the more positive aspects of behaviour one should aim for. Aspects such as ‘A… aspire for affable and altruistic attitude; R… respect relationships and relinquish power; R… respect realms of rationalism to reconcile and remediate’ for the first three letters of ARROGANCE. My first thought here was when does self-confidence become interpreted as arrogance? The first half of the book for me did not leave much room for people who were quite happy and still confident enough to be quiet, gentle and obedient, in other words - meek! All of Jesus Christ’s sayings or Beatitudes given in his Sermon on the Mount were to his followers of course. But they were essentially to all people and about loving your fellow humans. The third Beatitude informed them and the rest of the world that the meek will inherit the earth. Now the ‘meek’ are quiet, gentle people; and therefore, not quite as self-confident and go-getting as Balroop Singh implies we could (should?) be in her book. Was Christ being arrogant or just well informed, wise and concerned for all humans? I say this from the point of view of a non-believer, but it makes such good sense. We cannot all have ‘inspirational personalities’ as detailed in the book, surely? Otherwise the world would be full of leaders but without any followers, that is those who just get on and get things done within their communities around the world.

I wanted to know on what authority Ms Singh makes these assertions. Was it through professional training; life experience; or purely through deep thinking for hours and hours? But credit where it is due she does mention being a teacher in her past, a teacher who feels that she learned a lot from her own students about behaviour and attitudes. As a retired teacher myself I can fully recognise that valuable piece of self-education. Reading on in the book made me consider some ideas with a different viewpoint. And it does cover a wide spread of matters, admittedly, many of them supported by her personal experiences, encouraging self-reflection. There are many things within Allow Yourself to Be a Better Person that would encourage me to go back to it, if I had misgivings about certain situations, and needed advice or a different angle on things. Although much of what she writes seems to be based upon her own experiences and her observations about the behaviour of her own siblings, there is much that does re-inforce one’s need to self-reflect occasionally, maybe often in some cases!

I suppose the bottom line is to admit that we all have space for personal enrichment. The author does insist you examine so many personal aspects, quite apart from arrogance, such as anger and aggression, fear and inspiration, hope and despair, envy and empathy in our search for betterment. There are times in most lives when change or loss for example may cause desperation and confusion. This book could be a useful guide for many people under various unfortunate situations. The main problem for me was that the author’s approach often came across as too insistent on immediate attention or obedience, when careful consideration may be all that is required.


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The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Lost World is a story dominated by Professor Challenger, even though the narrator figures as a journalist called Edward Malone, who enters upon the adventure because he wants to impress Gladys with his daring exploits. Malone’s initial meeting with the professor is particularly well written and grabbed my attention straight away. The description of Challenger as an overbearing, egotistical genius remains to be proven for the first few chapters, always allowing for the long-winded but often elegant style of writing one can expect from 1912 when it was written. Professor Challenger’s claim to have discovered prehistoric creatures, especially dinosaurs, living in a South American jungle whets the reader’s appetite for more.

Unfortunately, some of the supercilious attitudes of the typical white European male heroes of those times come through regularly, and are particularly exemplified in this book. There are several incidents with ‘ape men’ and local indigenous natives, who they call ‘Indians,’ that readers nowadays would find quite offensive. If one can ignore some of the blatant racism and read on then there is a fascinating story to enjoy with real dinosaurs! The incidents turn out to be too few and far less exciting than one hoped for.

There are two characters in the story that I particularly liked because they were the ones who effectively saved the day and the lives of the explorers. A black servant known as Zambo, annoyingly described by Malone as their ‘faithful negro,’ seems to be saving their skins through his ready communications with the outside world. Somehow he maintains supplies at desperate times, even though he is patiently waiting at the bottom of an enormous cliff face for many days. The other character is Lord John Roxton, a famous adventurer, explorer and big game hunter. It is his skill and experience, with weapons and jungles, which ensure they all stay alive throughout.

I originally read this book many years ago as a teenager, but was surprised to discover that I remembered very little about the plot. It must have been the idea of dinosaurs still living during our relatively modern times that enticed me. I have to admit to being quite disappointed now with the distinct lack of danger and excitement in the book when compared to films like Jurassic Park etc. But when we remember that back in 1912 it had not been very many years before when palaeontology had become an exciting branch of science; and Arthur Conan Doyle does combine his fiction with those discoveries most skilfully.


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Blind Cerulean by Gene Kendall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, much as I tried to enjoy this pacey, violent and graphic thriller, I had to read almost half of the book before I really had much idea of its plot. In fact I had to read the novel’s blurb twice to get some kind of handle on where it might be going. Maybe it was a generation thing because I found the general style of writing tiring and irritating. There were times when it appeared to be a film script, so clipped and staccato-like was much of the narrative. Annoyingly, the point of view moved from person to person, from chapter to chapter, and there were so many missing verbs, pronouns and punctuation marks it made my head spin.

No! In the end I cannot say I enjoyed ‘Blind Cerulean’ and I was glad to reach the epilogue. The author did attempt to explain a lot of the plot within the epilogue but I thought even that was too trite and annoying. I considered perhaps a lot would be explained when I listened to the audio sample, and there was a very comic book or radio play feeling from the novel’s reader. I have no doubt that the idea of a teenage girl super-hero cleaning up the sordid streets of Arcadia city would appeal to many, probably very many, young adults. But then too many pop idioms from the USA added to my confusion. Overall, the written delivery of the narrative was the single most negative point for me. Kendall attempts to engage the reader as the other principal character in the novel, which often came across as a surprise that I did not like. I have read many books where the author may speak to the reader from time to time, by way of an explanation or apology for example, such as Trollope or Scott; and it can be helpful or even amusing. In this book I found it a little hackneyed as I mentioned above. My positive stars are for the ideas within the plot and Alley as a great main protagonist; but the delivery was not for me.

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