Bibliography, September 2008

Books bought / recieved (20)

J. Barnes, Cross Channel
S. Brook, The Double Eagle
A. Camus, Les Justes
J.M. Coetzee, Youth
R. Delderfield, A horseman came riding by
M. Drabble, Jerusalem the Golden
J. Fowles, Daniel Martin
G. Greene, The Entertainers
M. Hamid, The relectant fundamentalist
T. Heyendahl, The Ra expeditions
C. James, The Remake
D. Lessing, The fifth child
D. Lodge, Changing places
M. McBride, The fall
G. Robb, the Discovery of France
R. Tremain, Restoration
B. Unsworth, After Hannibal
J. Vance, Tales of the dying earth
A. Weisman, The world without us
Malcolm X, The autobiography of Malcolm X

Books read (16)

J. Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
J. Berendt, City of falling angels
J. Goodwin, The Snake Stone
T. Heyendahl, The Kon-Tiki Expedition
D. Hughes, The Imperial German Dinner Service
R.P. Jhabvala, Esmond in India
N. Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
C.S. Lewis, Till we have faces
M. McBride, The fall
A. Powell, A Question of Upbringing
J.D. Salinger, Franny & Zooey
B. Scovell, Dickie: A tribute to Harold Bird
C. Stewart, The Almond Blossom appreciation society
C. S. Saunders, Hawkwood
A. Weisman, The world without us
B. Unsworth, Sacred Hunger

I'm rattling along at the moment. The commute into White City has really driven up my book consumption (this is the only upside of working in White City). And I'm approaching the fabled 150 p.a. mark. Unfortunately, a lot of what I am getting through is rubbish.

Actually nothing was terrible, just a bit disposable. Even The Kon-Tiki Expedition was imperfect. It lacked tension, though clearly fascinating and an astonishing expedition. I read earlier this year that it's wrong, Sykes in The Seven daughters of Eve argues that genetic records show the islanders are descended from Asians, not Americans, but even that doesn't prove no journey of this kind took place. The best things I read all month were Berendt's two books. Midnight... was probably the best , with an excellent account of what's clearly a fascinating town. My desire to go to the American South intensifies; Angels was intoxicating and thrilling, but did have a the advantage of the Venetian setting. Both were great.


In terms of fiction, I've commented on Powell already, but it was a good start to the Powellathon. I remain unsure about Zorba the Greek, basically I think because I just don't agree with the central premise and so I found the narrator quite irritating. Not as irritating as Salinger, but that's no surprise. Jhabvala and Unsworth were good though, with the former the best of the fiction crowd. I'm growing to like her work very much. And Sacred Hunger a sound neglected Booker winner, but not stunning - it lost its way a little towards the end, but was compelling in its well researched detail on the slave trade. The Fall, which I read on the last day of the month because I mislaid my copy of Nudge (on which more next month), was truly terrible.