Reading list 2012

Slightly more cutting edge and here-and-now than the 2011 list:

1. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein. Archetypal adventure story that isn't quite as big or exciting as it was when you were young. ***
2. Monsieur by Lawrence Durrell. Deeply strange mess of narrators and characters, who may have all written each other into existance. *
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Long, mostly good account of the rise of Thomas Cromwell. Complex, and lacks some dramatic vitality. ***
4. Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone by JK Rowling. Likeable enough child's fantasy about an orphan wizard. **
5. The Mercy Seat by Martin Waites. Rubbish modern noirish thriller set in the North of England. Obvious plot and crap characters. Less than No Star
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Satire of celeb culture and reality TV as teens battle to the death for sport. What's not to like? **
7. The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside. Long-even-though-it-is-short novella about a middle aged plonker. No star
8. The Agenda by Bob Woodward. Intruiging account of the dealing and politics of Clinton's first few months. *
9. About A Boy by Nick Hornby. Smug and twee account a thirty something bloke and a miserable teenager. No star
10. The Hillicker Curse by James Ellroy. Brutally frank account of the author's sexual and social dysfunction, though perhaps too much. *
11. Falk by Joseph Conrad. Odd novella about romantic-sexual frustration, and cannibalism. Or was it the other way round? *
12. The Several Lives of Joseph Conrad by John Stape. Adequate introduction to the writer, but with little consideration of the writing. *
13. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Second Hunger Games installment repeats the tropes of the first book while advancing the plot arc slightly. *
14. Other People's Wars by Nicky Hager. Interminable analysis of New Zealand's support of The War On Terror. Should have been interesting. Isn't. No star
15. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Pointless yarn about a kid who runs about a lot, has no family and brings people together. Spinelli has done better. No star
16. Bridge to Terabithia by Katharine Paterson. In progress.
17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling. In progress.
18. Clockers by Richard Price. In progress.
19. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. In progress.
20. The Third Reich by Michael Burleigh. In progress.
21. Capital, Vol. 1 by Karl Marx. In (very slow) progress.

What I read in 2011

For the historical record ...

1. Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. Remarkable account of the desert war in WW1. Long, doesn't suffer fools, but unique. ****
2. The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Samson. Lightweight cutesy mystery, irritatingly whimsical and obviously aimed at starting a franchise. No star
3. The Bones of Avalon by Phil Rickman. Elizabethan scientist Dr Dee investigates a murder with mythic and political resonances. Adequate. No star
4. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sprawling, unfocused tale about the gorgeous, flawed, Divers, whose beauty conceals murky secrets. **
5. Rommel by Desmond Young. Superb short biography of the field marshal, based on interviews with colleagues and family. ***
6. The Hollow Men by Nicky Hager. Interesting study of how the right tried to win power in New Zealand. Of moderate interest to denizens of other lands. **
7. Silas Marner by George Eliot. Slight and sentimental yarn about rural types. Not really very distinguished at all. No star
8. Out of Sight by Catherine Sampson. Dreary murder mystery that lurches from unlikely to absurd, with an "Eeny, meeny, miney, mo" feel to end. No star
9. The Dead Pool by Sue Walker. Very poor murder mystery marred obvious killer, predictable plot twists and some really clunky dialogue. Less Than No Star
10. Blood is Dirt by Robert Wilson. African tale of murder and corruption starts brilliantly, but loses its way. Great setting and first chapter. *
11. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper. Part one of famous children's fantasy series. Readable enough, but not great to revisit. No star
12. Angel Isle by Peter Dickinson. Massive late work by one of Britain's greats. Magic, adventure and ideas, but it is the characters that sustain it. **
13. Rain Dogs and Love Cats by Andrew Holmes. Crime novel that could have been interesting. Well written and observed, marred by whimsy. *
14. Out by Natsuo Kirino. Thriller about four women who conceal a murder, and the consequences. Dark and nasty but interesting and involving. **
15. 1974 by David Peace. Re-read. Ferocious murder shocker. Doesn't relent on the blood and depravity, but author's purpose isn't clear. *
16. The Twentieth Century by Howard Zinn. Class based history. Possibly a bit repetitive in the end. Zinn would argue this is because nothing's changed. *
17. Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone by James Baldwin. A black actor grows up, confronting racism and his romantic travails. Great pages, dull chapters. No star
18. Aneurin Bevan by Michael Foot. Sympathetic, very detailed biography of the perennial Labour outsider. Part one of two. ***
19. The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke. Typically well written and interesting account of efforts to build an earth-to-orbit pulley system. *
20. City of Screams by John Brindley. Ambitious YA novel that has too much going on. Something about religion, evolution, violence and angels. No star
21. Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker. Overblown wannabe epic makes remarkable times - the New York draft riots - tiresome. *
22. Final Cut by Paul Thomas. Pacey mystery that loses its way halfway. Killer obvious, plot incoherent. No star
23. The Thin Man by Dashiell hammett. Entertaining whodunnit that perhaps has to work a bit too hard to gloss over its doubtful plot. **
24. The Man Who Went Up In Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Adequate policer marred by languid telling and clumsy denounement. We arrive there pages before the admirable Martin beck. *

Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli

A few years ago, I read Loser, by Jerry Spinelli. This was on the recommendation of an interweb friend, who was rapturous in her praise of the book. I concurred. Loser is a beautifully done book. Deft in all the right places, heart felt in the others.

Odd to report that Maniac Magee, which I have just read, also by Mr Spinelli and covering some similar terrain, is much less interesting. Maniac Magee is a young lad who lost his parents in a slightly absurd locomotive accident, rejected his grandparents, and became a homeless waif who drifted (or rather ran) through the streets of his home town, touching many lives and changing things in many ways. Which sounds like a brilliant book. Only my summary is loads better than Spinelli's extended version, even if I do say so myself. because the version that Spinelli gives us is an incoherent stream of stuff happening, and - WHEEEE!! - more stuff happening, and - HEY!! - look out, here's some more stuff happening. There's something about a frog; a knot; lots of luridly sketched characters, one of whom is called Mars Bar; there are some bison - or were they yaks? - or something, anyway; and an old geezer with a lifetime of disappointments weighing him down; a sort of Boo Radley character who terrorises the local children; pizza; and all sorts of stuff.

None of which adds up to very much in the end, and leaves one with a disquieting sensation of not actually having not actually read the book at all, moments after the final page is finished.

No star