Our holiday to France this year was well planned. We waited until the glorious summer in Greenock arrived. Then when the sun was shining from azure blue skies in Scotland we drove to Normandy where the skies were gray and the drizzle, and maize, obscured the view. As it was cold and wet we stayed indoors -this made the limitations of a two room cottage apparent. There really isn't enough space when you have two alsations and one is in heat. At least the rain made the dogs damp as well as hot and the room was soon filled with the aroma of German Shepherd.
In an attempt to relax we sought the good life in reading and drawing. I had taken two books to learn how to draw. These were rather less helpful than I thought. In essence they both comprised some text saying "
It is very easy to draw", then a picture drawn by someone with drawing skills, and then the instruction "
draw like that". It doesn't work and I have posted two images to prove the point.
Once we had relaxed and become oblivious to the dogs' courting behaviour fate decided to intervene. The alarm system went off at home, during the fixing of this the telephone lines at home failed and once this was rectified the electricity went off.If there was a God he was a giving clear signs it was time to pack up and go back home. We duly obeyed.
On our return home these were found to have been false alarms, although we had been truly save by the bells.
The Selfish Society: How We All Forgot to Love One Another and Made Money Instead by
Sue Gerhardt
This really is a book of two halves. The first half relating to child-development and the second a political treatise.
The first half is well written and well researched. It is lucid and contains a good degree of common sense regarding child-development. She does tend to be uncritical of biological facts and theories and argues often well beyond the evidence base in this area. However, on issues of child rearing, parenting roles or the place of the infant in society there is a deal of good information and evidence of wisdom.
There is a trait, common amongst those who work with children, to forget that development of character is lifelong. While the early years may be vital and highly formative later life experience and learning also plays a part. This tends to be neglected. But for parents in modern society, attempting to deal with the confusing and contradictory statements about bringing up your child, the advice here is sound.
The second part of the book is unfortunately less impressive. This is a chemotherapeutic assessment of politics which is overly simple and often just wrong. The psychoanalytic chapters on Blair and Bush are rather cringeworthy. Generally this is an unsatisfactory part of the book. The end call for a state running programmes to improve the emotional literacy of the population and promoting right-hemisphere thinking is almost laughable were it not serious. The nanny state with a psychotherapist as the nanny is hopefully unlikely to be the next stage of post-capitalist development.
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Man's Search for Meaning by
Viktor Emil Frankl
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
This book is in two parts. This first is Viktor Frankl's account of his life in nazi concentration camps and how he and others survived or died. The second part is a summary of logotherapy, a school of existential therapy which he developed. The latter is much easier to understand having read the former and its roots are much clearer, as is the authority of the writer.
Frankl has carried on from Adler and his therapy has much to commend it. Unfortunately it has been largely ignored by the mindless approaches in the UK and USA and the soulless approaches of other existential european writers.Doctors, especially psychiatrists should read this for the information on suffering alone
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Plays by J. B. Priestley (Study Guide): An Inspector Calls, Time and the Conways, When We Are Married, J. B. Priestley's Time Plays by
Books LLC
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Initial fears that this book may be dated by the scene descriptions and the references to topical characters such as H.G. Well or G.Shaw are quickly dispelled as the clear easy writing carries us into an apparent 'who-done-it'. It is best read almost aloud as it was clearly written to be performed but it still works well as a novella. While it remains as easy to read as pulp fiction it is an effective morality tale. All the deadly sins are here and the importance of these and personal responsibility are deftly displayed.
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Snake in the Grass by
Georgia Blain
My rating:
1 of 5 stars
This book is slow to start, plodding when it gets going and ultimately unrewarding. The twist at the end can be seen form the first pages and the characters are suficiently unlikeable that we really don't care what happens to the. We really wish that some-one about 20 pages in would discover a note saying "look this what happened on the holiday" so we can fold it shut.
There is also an irritating tendency to use italics excessively.
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist by
Mohsin Hamid
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
An excellent novel. Written as a one-sided conversation it explores the interface between western and islamic cultures and gives some insights into the reasons why some might be tempted to view the holy fight necessary.
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The Blasphemer by
Nigel Farndale
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This is an excellent novel and can be enjoyed at many levels. It is a well written family saga and also a suspenseful thriller. It covers war, terrorism, love, religion, science, honour and redemption in its broad sweep from 1914 to today.
It is as well writted as 'Atonement' with which it shares similar concerns. The characters are well drawn, believeable and likeable. (And dislikable in the case of the villians). The contemporary passages on marital relations and modern life are as well handled as the passages in trench warfare.
The religious imagery is handled well and doesn't seem forced or hectoring and does act as a glue to bind the book together.
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It's only me: Pieces from a column by
Jill Tweedie
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
It is interesting to read these pieces a generation after they were written. They are more nuanced, more sensible and more balanced than similar items in the current feminist press
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Editor's Wife by
Clare Chambers
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
This manages to be a succesful 'romcom' It is more com than rom but the is a simple romantic tale which is well told. The family history between the two brothers is the greater source of enjoyment and is the source of the humour
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A Clockwork Orange by
Anthony Burgess
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
I first read this when I was too young to appreciate it. I was around Alex's age and was looking at life with a young man's eyes. At that stage I did not see some of the horror that is now clearly evident in the violent scenes. I could not have seen how prophetic a novel it was to be. In addition to a clever tale illustrating the morals of free-will and responsibility there is also a warning over the risks of consumerism and idolatry of the young. A book well worth reading twice with 30 years in between.
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Heart of Darkness by
Joseph Conrad
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I have to admit that I chose to read this book for rather base reasons, it was free. I downloaded an epub copy to test out the reader on my 'phone. I am glad I did. Although the first pages can be heavy going once the voyage to meet Kurtz gets underway the novel lifts off. As has been said it may have served as the model for the search in Apocalypse Now and it is difficult to read the book now without conjuring up images from the film. It is a yarn told to warn us of the nature of things and it behoves us to listen.
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The litter does echo concerns that come up in the book "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard. This book on excessive growth and consumption was written over two generations ago and concerned the baby-boomer/post-war generation. However, it seems as relevant today and Vance Packard seems again to have been prescient. This book was my main reading while in Wales this week. 
Also when in Wales we went to see David play in the Buffalo Lounge in Cardiff. This turned out to be a pleasant bistro bar in the Cathay's district. The music was good and all three performers went down well. It was enjoyable to see authentic music being played though I was struck by the change in folk music. In my youth folk music held rural and rustic associations, now it seems to be class and city bound. Perhaps in a marxian way they are saving folk form the "idiocy of rural life".
2 B R O 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut
Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal In the 70s by Andrew Collins
