Work for Idle Hands: Books in August

Wednesday August 31, 2011

The Scarecrow Michael Connelly [read by John Chancer]
I'm a great fan of Connelly and have very high expectations (always met) of every book, consuming each with concentrated enthusiasm. However, for some reason I can't really explain, I found this one even more thrilling than usual.
I only came to read Connelly in the early 2000s and so I probably read the earlier novels out of sequence and focused mainly on Harry Bosch. So this was probably my first introduction to Jack McEvoy. He's a reporter "of a certain age", employed in a cut throat industry in the process of great change. "Real" journalists are being laid off from traditional newspapers, in favour of employing free-lancers with "stories" rather than real skill. He feels he has reached a dead end in his career - or at least in his employment - and needs to move on. His plight struck a chord with me, even though I'm not a journalist, and Connelly, as a former crime reporter, writes all this with great sympathy. Against that background is the really gripping story of Jack's pursuit of a serial killer. I think also there was an enhanced sense of jeopardy, simply because Jack is not Harry, so you are by no means certain that he has to survive to be in the next book (!).
[Note that I listened to this as a talking book narrated by John Chancer - who was excellent - but I note that many available versions elsewhere seem to be narrated by Peter Giles.]

Friends at Thrush Green Miss Read [read by the Gwen Watford]
Another chance to listen to Gwen Watford's charming narration of these gentle tales from Miss Read centred on her two fictional villages. The book I read previously was one of the Fairacre series from 1964, whereas this one is much later from 1990, and - as the title suggests - set in Thrush Green. The novels are generally humorous with subtle social commentary.
Thrush Green's two former schoolteachers are now retired, and return for a visit. It's spring and everyone is keen to share all the latest gossip with their friends. As one reader aptly put it " the literary equivalent of a good cup of tea".
[Gwen Watford was a lovely actress fitting perfectly with the retro charm of this era and society. I particularly loved her interpretation of Miss Marple's best friend Dolly Bantry in the Joan Hickson TV series.]

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Helen Simonson
This is essentially a love story. The Major is a confirmed bachelor, pretty definitely "set in his ways". When his brother dies, he develops an unexpected friendship with a widowed shopkeeper from the village - who happens to be a Pakistani. As their relationship develops, all those covert attitudes to "foreigners" surface among the village society. I say "covert", though I am guessing that Mrs Ali has been made all too aware of them all the time she has lived there - but the Major has a lot of catching up to do. And not only does he have the local community to deal with, but he has scheming relatives...
Some people find the Major unbelievable in this day and age - and he is a bit of an anachronism - but for me he is a bit like Wallace (as in: "and Gromit"), in that he is created by a person "of a certain age" - in this author's case, younger than both Nick Park and me - but she was brought up in East Sussex and moved to the US after college, so I think probably retains good memories of such characters set in place and time. And to a great degree this is all about the Major facing up to the realities of the 21st century.
The words "charming", "delightful", "gentle humour", "heart-warming" etc spatter the reviews of this book - but like the Miss Read books there is a strong underlying message.

206 Bones Kathy Reichs
This is a book written in two time lines beginning with the present, where we find Tempe tied up in a dark enclosed space. This is a way to make a book tense and thrilling, while in the timeline of the past, we plod through an investigation. The books are of course formulaic, where Tempe always or often ends up in danger, and is then rescued (I hope that's not a spoiler, but there are books that follow this one). And then there's a polemic about something or other at the end.
Apparently the human skeleton is made up of 206 bones; from the title, I just thought: 'hey - Tempe is in her element - lots of bones...'. I think I read the whole of the book without really "getting it" (despite the detailed descriptions - maybe like many other readers I was skipping the tedious science bits).

Unseen Academicals Terry Pratchett
The 37th novel in the Discworld series was published in 2009 after a short hiatus following the author's diagnosis of his serious, and ultimately fatal, illness. The novel satirises football (as well as the many renowned and eccentric Oxbridge traditions) with one Mustrum Ridcully setting up an Unseen University football team, which has the Librarian as the goalie (obviously...). This all comes about because tradition mandates a football game (town versus gown) in exchange for a large financial endowment to the University by a wealthy family. The local version of football is very violent and deaths are common; thus the wizards are somewhat concerned for their own safety, and impose new 'official' football rules, which includes forbidding the use of hands and mandating the use of official footballs as opposed to the makeshift balls the street games use.
I'm not a true and dedicated fan of all the Discworld novels as some are; however, Pratchett has a touch of genius in benignly ridiculing the most (and least) preposterous aspects of modern life. Weirdly - unlike much other satirical humour - it's always achieved with a certain fondness for humankind, despite their follies.

Posted by Christina at 8:38 AM. Category: Books of the Month