9:06 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
Roger McGough is truly a national treasure and this collection of disparate poems is beautifully crafted. Young to old, good to know there is always the capacity for awkwardness. McGough helps us to see the funny side of the roller-coaster that is the human condition.
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521147456
8:47 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/BOOK/SHOW/973417
8:30 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
I came late to this classic book, but wanted to check out how accurately the BBC dramatization reflected Jane Austen’s generally acclaimed masterpiece. Truth is the TV portrayal was accurate, but the nuances of the caustic exchanges between the key characters, the complexities of the relationships and the social commentary were utterly absorbing in the written form. As is often the case, even the best of films often lose something in translation, possibly the authenticity that comes from the author’s ‘voice’. I was also keen to see whether Pride & Prejudice lived up to the hype. Answer – absolutely yes! No wonder it appears in most lists of top 100 books ever written. That it has withstood the test of time, is testament to a great book, but it’s also an absolute treat!
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521147711
7:26 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
Selected on the list for World Book Night 2013, I picked up the e-edition, complete with alternative ending, which Blackman wrote for the occasion. The story centres on teenagers Callum and Sephie, growing up in a society split along racial faultlines and the experiences of their respective families. It is a romantic/tragic tale of young love stifled by societal tensions, which the author explores sensitively. The first in a series of novels, the plotline was developed well and with pace. A very enjoyable read.
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521148423
7:01 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
A chronicle of Porterhouse College, Cambridge, the acidly-Sharpe humour served up by the author is as sumptuous as a fellows feast. Dripping with hysterical characters, the book plots the chaotic attempts to spare the ancient institution from financial ruin, led by a coterie of dysfunctional men marooned in a glorious past, which is slowly and painfully being eroded. The Master (Skullion), formerly the Head Porter, the Dean, Senior Tutor, Bursar and Praelector conspire and scheme and cross metaphorical swords with a media magnate and gangster for the greater good of Porterhouse. The Machiavellian plot twists unstintingly with laugh-out-loud moments sprinkled throughout. Tom Sharpe is rightly regarded as a great post-Waugh humorist and guardian of the national funny bone. Very highly recommended.
4:03 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521151018
3:48 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
I am generally a fan of John Grisham, whose books can be relied upon to be well paced, and tap-in to a common curiosity about courtroom dramas. Grisham also seems to often offer a critique of the US legal system, which makes for interesting observations, albeit woven into storylines that frequently hinge on broad social themes, about which he also provides compelling commentary. In this instance the fault-lines between black and white Americans in the southern US forms the backdrop. It is also worth reflecting on the fact that this was Grisham’s first novel. By his own admission there are elements of autobiography here and it is possible to discern a certain rawness to his talent that perhaps becomes polished in the following 20+ books. In “A Time to Kill” though, there is a simmering exploration of justice weighed against an understandable and perhaps instinctive desire for revenge, which is ultimately tested before a jury of fellow citizens. By the end I’m sure most of us know which way we’d vote.
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521153895
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3:39 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
A truly weighty novel, which engages empathetically with one man’s experience of mental distress and the ramifications for his relationships and place in society. Wonderfully written, although very dark, this is Faulks at the peak of his powers.
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521153918
3:21 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
This was my first book by Kate Atkinson and though clearly a capable writer, I was disappointed by the book, which seemed to me rather jumbled. The storyline, perhaps deliberately, is confusing and the characters forgettable, culminating in an uninteresting read. I know Atkinson has a very good reputation, so perhaps I have just alighted on the ‘wrong’ book?
SOURCE: HTTP://WWW.GOODREADS.COM/REVIEW/SHOW/1521155132?
12:03 PM 3 SEPTEMBER 2016
The term ‘classic’ is heard often, but this famed tale, first published in 1883, must bear the rubric as well as any. I confess I am very late coming to ‘Treasure Island’, the book, and can see why so many suggest it and recall it fondly from a childhood reading list (myself, I recall the 1950 Disney film version played out at Saturday morning pictures). Still, rarely has a fictional literary character been so profoundly absorbed into the national consciousness as Long John Silver. Moreover, on belatedly reading the book, one realizes the challenge of trying to capture, in moving pictures, the sheer scale of this much-beloved adventure and the pale nature of the many attempts.
As an island nation, I suspect we have a particular fascination with the sea, but Stevenson’s use of a maritime backdrop taps into the lifeblood of nineteenth century Britain, from the evocative description of bustling Bristol, steeped in trade, to the skills of the seamen who enabled such trade to flourish. Little wonder perhaps that such men should assume heroic status among landlubbers, nor that sea-faring legends should prove such fertile ground for the anti-hero.
In the main, the story is narrated by Jim Hawkins, young son of an inn-keeper, who is by chance drawn into a dark plot involving the pirate fraternity and the search for the late Captain Flint’s plundered loot. The contrast between the leading protagonists is stark, from the stoic, cultured Captain Smollett, Dr Livesey and Squire Trelawney, of the gentrified classes to the deformed, drunken and duplicitous pirates including Pew, Israel Hands and Long John, although it is the latter ‘have nots’ that display the more intriguing characters. Indeed, Stevenson describes the comic ‘lower’ classes in quite disparaging terms, the worse off for their inferior intellect and a weakness for drink, but on board ship the value of sailors in their ‘natural’ environment proves quite the leveller. Woven throughout is the majestic schooner, ‘Hispaniola’, which sails under the Union Jack and Jolly Roger in the course of the book and provides the means of safe passage across the oceans for the would-be adventurers and a triumphant return.
The book is fairly short and the pages slip past under a full-sail assault on the senses, in which the reader can almost taste the salty air, luxuriate in the warmth of a secluded lagoon and hear the rigging creaking in the mainsail. Only Long John Silver’s irreverant parrot to break the atmosphere…..”pieces of eight!”
Well over a hundred years after its original appearance, Treasure Island remains a wonderful tribute to the adventure genre, replete with a reputation undiminished by the intervening years. Young or old, for sheer escapism, this book can muster a place on most shelves.
BurfoBookish 
I appreciate the honesty and thoughtful analysis presented in your review.