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Thursday December 31, 2015
Books in December
- Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin
Another early Rebus novel - the second in the series. Excellent of course,
and I will just leave you with the blurb:
"In a crumbling housing development, a junkie lies dead of an overdose, surrounded by signs of Satanic worship. John Rebus could call the death an accident--but won't."
The dead man's last words seem to have been "Hide! Hide!" - thus as a nice touch the book is spattered with Jekyll and Hyde references. - We Are All completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
I am very keen to write about and strongly recommend this book without
giving away any of the plot. It's easy enough to find out what it's
about if you want to, but the author has written it in a specific way
so that you see things distinctly from one point of view before taking
in the situation in a more objective way.
I felt it was about family relationships and although in some respects this family shows all the normal parent/child tensions and conflicts, they are doubtless deeply screwed up. No-one seems to be easily to blame for this even though there's a lot of blame flying around.
The Guardian review calls it a "moral comedy" and cites the Larkin poem about Mums and Dads. It is charming and heart breaking, and written in the first person, the narrator is both endearing and humorous - else it would be too bitter to read.
All I can say is that it explores a subject that I have always been very interested in - and written about here in the past - but it has made me see it in a completely new light, and maybe I should not have been quite so blithely enthusiastic about scientific research with only human curiosity as its driver. 
Death in the Fifth Position
A murder mystery by Gore Vidal - how could I resist? Even when written under a pseudonym of Edgar Box.
This was "Book at Bedtime" and read by Jamie Parker, and abridged and produced by Jill Waters.
You can find the original book here.
Matchbox Theatre
Highly recommended by Robert (and now me) - a Martin Jarvis production of Michael Frayn's short comically philosophical dialogues and monologues, exploring how we attempt to communicate with one another.
It's in four parts with an all-star cast: Joanna Lumley, Roger Allam, Charles Edwards, Sophie Winkleman, Lisa Dillon, Alex Jennings, Martin Jarvis himself, - and David Attenborough spoofing a wildlife commentary in person for a change.
The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains
Alison told me she was currently reading a Neil Gaiman book, so I was interested to listen to an abridged reading of this novelette.
Inspired by a Hebridean myth, it's a tale of revenge for a terrible crime, although at first it seems to be a morality fable about greed for a pot of gold in a cave on the Misty Isle.
Bill Patterson is the absolute perfect reader for this, with his soft Scottish accent making the story all the more chilling.
[ Abridged and produced by Karen Rose.]
Posted by Christina at 11:10 AM. Category: Books of the Month
