The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman

The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman

Read: January 2010

I had wanted to read this book since I heard that there was a TV adaptation of it a few years ago. I really loved His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman and knew that his other books had good reviews although they were more aimed at a younger audience.

The Ruby in the Smoke was aimed at a younger audience than His Dark Materials, and didn't have the different levels of meaning, but it was still a good, fast paced adventure story.

In a way it is a classic story of making friends, solving mysteries and battling evil, but the protagonist, Sally Lockhart is a plucky young girl which makes this a good book for girls to read. You don't often get a female protagonist who is more about friends and courage than boyfriends and looking good. Sally shows that it's not traditional skills that get her ahead in this world.

Although it has classic themes, the setting of the book around trade routes and opium dens is a good choice - giving the reader something new to try and puzzle over.

A great book for teenagers to read and fun for a quick adult read, but never the classic of HDM.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1992)
Read: December 2009

I was recommended this book by one of my students. We had been talking in class about how we experience sense and the example of the Matrix came up about our senses being fooled. This student kept saying "Just like in The Giver" and assuming that I knew it. I assumed the book would be an adult novel, but actually it's a teenagers book and one that they teach at school, so I managed to get myself a copy and read it over the weekend.
The Giver follows Jonus and his life in the community with his parental unit. Everything is controlled and determined, for example you have to apply to become a parental unit and then your compatibility is tested before you are given a partner - you don't get to choose, as you might choose wrong. Everyone has their job, that again is determined by the council - they don't let you choose you job as you may choose wrong. The story starts as Jonus is about to be assigned his job.
Jonus is assigned that of a Receiver. In fact he is The Receiver, as there is only one in the whole community. Jonus isn't allowed to tell anyone about his job and he discovers that he is the receiver of memories - the collective memories of times gone by. These memories show feelings, colours and experiences that the community no longer have since everything was regulated.

The book was really good and I had to agree with the student who recommended it to me that it was similar to the ideas in The Matrix and our class discussion about how you experience senses, and how we could possibly know whether what we feel, what we see is true, or an illusion. It was a good book for this age group too - I can imagine it would be really engaging for them and there is lots for them to think about at this level.

Sugar Street by Naguib Mafouz

Sugar Street by Naguib Mafouz
Read: December 2009 - January 2010

I started this term off reading some of the books bought over the summer, but realised that I wanted to finish the Cairo Trilogy before the year was out and so borrowed this from the Library to read over Christmas. I got about a third of the way through and then finished the rest in January. The story picks up a number of years on with the heads of the family showing their age, and the children living married life.
The constants are Amina and Ahmed, who are no longer called "the father" and "the mother" in the second person, but are always referred to by name. It is in fact the family name that plays a key role in the stories of this book. As the grandchildren are getting jobs, their father's name and their uncle's name secure them positions. Kamal falls for the sister of an old friend, where again the family name provides a link between the past and the present. In the closing chapters it is the family name, and that of the martyr Fahmy, that hopes to save the brothers from prison.
But the constants of family change in this final book. Ahmed Al-Sayed's deteriorating health means he gives up his business, but cannot give up his determination. The occasion of his death hits the family very hard, and there is mourning across the whole distract which he has inhabited. As the book closes, Amina is near-death and it is this that bring a realisation and close to the saga. Without Amina and Al-Sayed the children are at a loss and an era is drawn to an end.
With so many characters now in the family, it was hard to follow everyone's story and personal journey. Kamal continues to drive himself to distraction with his refusal to marry, but his desire for Aida and then Budur. The family do not know how to advise him and he doesn't know himself what he really wants. He chooses to follow his career and seems satisfied with his successes there, but you can see the longing for something more - although he would never commit to that.
I was unsure about Yasin at the end of the book. Throughout this book he had made a good attempt at his marriage, as had Zanuba with the position of being his wife. She had become accepted at the Coffee Mornings - the key aspect of life in Palace Walk - but he is still seen and sometimes acts as the wild sibling.
Al-Husayn is a constant for Amina, and it is right that he days end with a visit planned. Whilst religion has changed in meaning for many members of the family, it was still a point of belief (one way or another) for them all, which ended up defining most of their journeys.

McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy
Read: November 2009

Came across this book when a colleague was having a book sale as they were leaving Egypt. Looked interesting from the cover - something about Ireland, traveling and a biography/non-fiction of sorts equals my cup of tea. Scotty read this first and managed to get hold of and read another by McCarthy, The Road to McCarthy, that I will read too in due course.

I initially liked the premise for this book; that if you see a bar with your name on it, you have to go in and have a drink. And so for McCarthy, in Ireland, he finds himself busy drinking! McCarthy goes on this journey relaly though to explore whether his Irish heritage, having living in England all his life. Whilst the idea was a good one to start with, I did find that the book rambled somewhat aimlessly around - maybe this was the idea and the natural way you woud explore Ireland, but I guess I just wanted a bit more direction and way-markers!

I'm not so sure about the ending, when he does finally manage to make the spiritual retreat that he finds advertised early on in the book. I didn't feel that his journey had to cumulate into something religious-based. Although maybe all will be revealed in the next book?

Saint - With Red Hands by Y Bridges and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or the murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

Saint - With Red Hands by Y Bridges (1954)
Read: November 2009
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or the murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale (2008)
Read: November-December 2009

I was bought a copy of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by a friend as it had been Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 earlier in the year and part of the Richard and Judy Bookclub - my friend and parents had read it and thought it was a good book. My father disagreed though and found me a copy of Saint - With Red Hands which tells the same story, but was written 50 years earlier, that he felt was a much better portrayal of the story.

The story is of the Kent family in the 1860's and the murder of their second youngest child. The young boy was murdered overnight when the family and a few trusted maids were in the house. The house was locked from the inside with no sign of a break-in and the case caused a lot of media interest and a lot of amateur sleuths to speculate as to the method, means and motivation of the murder. Both books cover the story of the family from the day the murder was discovered, to the cases' "conclusion" when a suspect is convicted years later. They dip into previous events in the family that may have contributed toward the motive, and also cover the story of Mr Whicher, the detective assigned to the case.

I read Saint - With Red Hands first and then waited about a month before reading The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. I wanted to leave a little gap, but not too long that I would totally forget the first book and thus be unable to compare them. It's hard to say whether I enjoyed one more than another as they had slightly different focuses and structures.
With Red Hands, for example examined the case chronologically starting with the day before the murder and then dealt with each event as it happened. Suspicions on the other hand only dealt with events in the order they were brought to the authorities attention. This meant details about a missing nightdress were given to the reader in a different order. In this respect I preferred With Red Hands as I could sleuth and make my own theories as I went along. Maybe I should have preferred Suspicions as then my sleuthing would have been at the same pace as Mr Whicher himself.
Suspicions was broader in scope than With Red Hands as it gave a lot of Mr Whicher's back story and that of the development of the detective wing of the Met which was taking place at the time of the murder. I did enjoy and find this aspect interesting.
I found that With Red Hands gave a more detailed account of the crime, witnesses, trial and evidence (lost or otherwise). There were some details that I read here that were hardly covered in Suspicions, which, because of the order I read them in, made me feel that I had enjoyed With Red Hands more. Maybe these details were left out because with time since the event they have been discredited.
The time since the event, and between the two books, allowed Suspicions to include more recent research, especially around the fate of the Kent family post-conviction. It followed the siblings to Australia and had detail and a range of evidence about their activities there.
Overall I think that The Suspicions of Mr Whicher was a lighter, more diverse read, but that Saint - With Red Hands gave a more detailed case file.

He Took Me Kidney, Then Broke My Heart by Dave Spikey

He Took Me Kidney, Then Broke My Heart by Dave Spikey (2009)
Read: Sometime in 2009 most likely

Ah we do love Dave Spikey. Obviously starting with Phoenix Nights and then we saw him in stand up and had a brilliant night (he was supported by the tiger-face one from Phoenix Nights too whcih was cool!) at the Corn Exchange. In fact from what we've seen of Peter Kay live DVDs because he is in such huge venues it doesn't seem as good at all as Dave Spikey.
The book is based on bizarre news stories and Spikey provides commentry. This is an idea we loved and laughed so hard at when we saw him in London. In book form it starts to translate, but it's not wuite as good as live. The headlines mainly have it, sometimes a few lines from the stories themselves are classic, but for about half of them it feels like clutching at straws or that he is working too hard to press home the gag - not needed.
Not as good as the stand up, but still a great book and I'd love to see him live again.

Payback by Margaret Atwood

Payback by Margaret Atwood (2008)
Read: October 2009

Interesting premise - especially in the current climate. Not just exploring finance, but non-monetory forms of "oweing".
Scroodge analogy works and is interesting at first, but an extended metaphore bores the point home.