[Falling Down]

Some good books I've read between studying

David Keenan - “This is Memorial Device” and “For the Good Times”.   Keenan was an editor/contributor to The Wire for many years and ran the UK’s most out-there record shop, Volcanic Tongue in Glasgow with his partner and musician Heath Leigh.   He wrote “Englands Hidden Reverse” a few years back which chronicled the underground esoteric music scene of Coil, Current 93 and all that lot.

His first novel, This is Memorial Device was published in 2017 and is a spirit-of-place novel set in Airdrie in the early 80’s.  The subtle of the novel “An Hallucinated Oral History of the Post-Punk Scene in Airdrie, Coatbridge and Environs, 1978‑1986” kind of sums it all up really.  It’s structured as a series of interviews or monologues of several people who circulated in or around the fictitious band “This is Memorial Device”.  I loved it, and being of a certain age when this kind of stuff was happening it made a lot of sense to me.

His most recent novel is absolutely brilliant, hilarious, mad and scary.  “For The Good Times” takes place in Northern Ireland as the troubles set in and follows a group of friends and petty criminals as they get deeper into in the dark heart of sectarianism and Perry Como.  I read it during the night over three days and was totally immersed in its hallucinatory, occult madness.  I suspect it might be up for an award or two this year.

Keenan has a passion for the great American poet Charles Olson.

Charles Olson: Call me Ishmael.  Olson’s 1947 Master’s thesis on Moby Dick.   Someone else wrote recently “If Cormac McCarthy were to write a critical study of Moby Dick, it would probably look something like Call Me Ishmael.” which I can’t disagree with at all.   It’s one of the most absorbing pieces of literary criticism I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.  Even if you’ve not read The Dick it doesn’t matter as it’s more a journey into America’s dark heart.  Short and available on .pdf online.

Will Ashon. “Strange Labyrinth” and “Chamber Music”.  Ashon used to run Big Dada records back in t’day and turned his hand to writing in the last few years. “Strange Labyrinth: Outlaws, Poets, Mystics, Murderers and a Coward in London's Great Forest” tracks the year or so he spent exploring Epping Forest as a mild mid-life-crisis took hold.  In the tradition of WG Sebald and Iain Sinclair it ploughs a lot of interesting furrows.  I really enjoyed the chapter about spending time with Penny Rimbaud of Crass at Dial House which is on the edge of the forest.   Chamber Music celebrates the Wu Tang and is hands-down the best book on music and culture that I’ve read for ages.  It’s absolutely brilliant. GME has my copy if anyone in Sheffield wants to borrow it after he’s finished reading it.

Gutshot: Emily Gray.  A collection of strange, unsettling short stories.  Really odd and very good.

[andy popp]

Thanks for the reboot FD, some really interesting sounding choices. A few things I've read recently:

Adam Tooze, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World.. Basically, anyone who wants to understand the world today, economically and politically, should read this book (IMHO obvs). Tooze is a historian and it shows, his 600+ pages of dense, detailed text - supported by incredible research - reads like a thriller. Adopting a narrative approach is part of Tooze's argument - alongside massive systems and structures there were huge doses of contingency and indeterminacy; narrative allows us to watch that unfold. At the same time, he doesn't let any off the hook - the Republicans come of worst, not just now under Trump but throughout. Essential reading.

William Melvin Kelley, A Different Drummer. A supposedly forgotten but now revived classic of African-American fiction (I think its actually always been available, even if not very well know) first published in the early 60s. Overnight, the entire black population of a fictional southern state simply up and leave. Kelley (who was black) tells the story through the eyes of one town's white residents, adopting multiple viewpoints. Very, very funny but also humane and understanding. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed Paul Beatty's The Sellout (also highly recommended).

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Friday Black. Debut short story collection exploring race in America but employing dystopia or near future sci-fi. I thought it was a little patchy, but when its good its very very good. Again, like the Beatty, there's a lot of very dark, caustic humour.

Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder Woman. Amazing story of Wonder Woman's deep roots, via her male creator in the feminist/suffrage movements of early C20th America. Its both a great piece of social and cultural history and a fascinating biography of the deeply eccentric William Moulton Marston (who also invented the polygraph.

[Falling Down]

Gonna read that Tooze book Andy.  Sounds good.  The Wonder Woman too.

What did you make of Tree of Smoke?

[andy popp]

Gonna read that Tooze book Andy.  Sounds good.  The Wonder Woman too.

What did you make of Tree of Smoke?

I thought it was fantastic; it had this inexorability, which is probably a lot like how Vietnam felt, a growing sense of dread.

Do read the Tooze. He was meant to contribute an essay on Deutsche Bank to a book I co-edited last year but it didn't work out, unfortunately.

[Falling Down]

Ah I’m glad you liked it.  It’s always a bit worrying recommending a big tome.  I will seek out the Tooze book. 

 

[andy popp]

It’s always a bit worrying recommending a big tome.  I will seek out the Tooze book.

Now I'm worried; the Tooze is not a small book.

[Falling Down]

 

[Johnny Brown]

A couple I read last year and forgot to mention:

Annals of the Former World - John McPhee

I got into McPhee through Macfarlane (who else). He's non-fiction writer with wide ranging interests staff writer (staff at The New Yorker) and has written several books on landscape and people. After writing a NY piece on geology he expanded into a book, then four more. Annals... is a compendium of all five that won the Pulitzer prize and is a tome by any measure. Geology is not a subject that has spawned many enjoyable books for the non-technical reader, so I'd not read much since graduating. These are very good, each exploring an area of the US through a prominent geologist. After initially ploughing through it all in order, I returned to it later in the year and re-read three of the books. Rising from the Plains is the standout, the story of Wyoming told through the history of a cowboy turned geologist and his frontier parents. Assembling California is a close second. Both of these tackle some fairly complex geology, so I'm a little wary of suggesting reading them out of order, but it's hard to say (Basin and Range might be the better primer). I did enjoy them more second-time round and suspect I'll return again, with the geology lighter reading in revision. There's a reason geographers carry coloured pencils though and all would benefit from a load more diagrams.

Of his other books I've read I'd highly recommend Coming into the Country, about Alaska, told through three contrasting areas and communities. The section on homesteaders, eking out a living in the wilderness, is particularly good but its engaging throughout.


On the Other Side of Sorrow - James Hunter. Subtitle: Nature and people in the Scottish Highlands

Found this on the shelves of our Stornoway holiday rental last winter. A really wonderful, surprising book that blends literary history with contemporary conservation issues - predates but anticipates rewilding. Should be required reading for anyone wanting to look beyond the surface of the Highlands.

[Yossarian]

Self & I - Matthew De Abaitua

English graduate is employed by recently divorced Will Self as his live-in amanuensis in cottage in Suffolk. Withnailian adventures ensue, interspersed with the author’s autobiographical musings on growing up in Liverpool. If you loathe Will Self then you will probably enjoy it just as much as avowed fans. Best thing I’ve read for a while.

The Junior Officers’ Reading Club
Patrick Hennessy

Another English graduate who, this time, joins the army and fights in Afghanistan. Poetic, witty, thoughtful.

Radical Technologies
Adam Greenfield

Highly politicised exploration of various technologies (smart cities, smartphones, 3D printing, etc) and how they have shaped / will shape society. He’s a pretty compelling writer and it is all quite fascinating, although the discussion of possible outcomes could probably do with a pinch of salt.

Where Men Win Glory
Jon Krakauer

Had a bit of a Krakauer binge. This, the story of a American football hero turned Afghanistan casualty, is I think my favourite. An amazingly inspirational guy who makes a spectacularly selfless career decision, and then suffers a predictably shitty fate which is then compounded by arseholes.

McMafia
Misha Glenny

Wish they had made an 8-part documentary on the book, rather than that overhyped not-very-thrilling thriller. Eye-opening.

Fun Inc
Tom Chatfield

Potted cultural history of video games. Most surprising was hearing about otherwise successful people who manage to fit unreal amounts of time playing online games into their busy schedules. Made me feel better about sitting around on the mats at the wall.

Also binged on Michael Lewis and Jon Ronson. I think Them: Adventures with Extremists was my favourite.

[Falling Down]

“The Border” - The third and final installment of Don Winslow’s cartel trilogy landed last week.   

[DaveC]

How long was I gone? I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle wandering into this forum! I'm trawling through a couple of years of posts to see what y'all have been reading while I was gone and it's nice to see some familiar titles and writers from my own reading list (dos Passos, Will Ashon, Nagib Mahfouz, John McPhee) just in the last couple of months. Hopefullu I have some worthwhile tips to add once I get back up to speed. Hope this post finds all the regulars well! 

[fried]

Adam Tooze, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World.. Basically, anyone who wants to understand the world today, economically and politically, should read this book (IMHO obvs). Tooze is a historian and it shows, his 600+ pages of dense, detailed text - supported by incredible research - reads like a thriller. Adopting a narrative approach is part of Tooze's argument - alongside massive systems and structures there were huge doses of contingency and indeterminacy; narrative allows us to watch that unfold. At the same time, he doesn't let any off the hook - the Republicans come of worst, not just now under Trump but throughout. Essential reading.

One of the first books in a long time that I've felt completely lost reading. Any pointers on a decent, simple economics book?

Welcome back DaveC

[seankenny]

Any pointers on a decent, simple economics book?

"Whoops!" by John Lanchester is a good primer on the financial crisis. I've enjoyed John Kay's writing, his book "The Long and the Short of It" is mostly an intro to economics with a heavy finance bent, it's a bit denser but worth checking out. I suspect his other books on markets will plough a similar furrow.

No doubt Andy and habrich will have other good recommendations.

[DaveC]

One of the first books in a long time that I've felt completely lost reading. Any pointers on a decent, simple economics book?

Welcome back DaveC

Cheers.
I can recommend David Graeber's "Debt" as an excellent book on economics in general. Highly readable and eye-opening.

[andy popp]

One of the first books in a long time that I've felt completely lost reading.

I want to point out that I in no way fully understand all the technicalities involved, not even close - and that's with regard to both the behaviour of the banks etc. and policy responses.

[Yossarian]

Amongst other things, I’ve been reading James Hansen’s First Man for a while. It’s the book the recent (and IMO massively underrated) film was based on. I’ve lingered over / returned back to various chapters - especially the accounts of Armstrong’s X-15 flights / Gemini mission / Apollo. It’s a really fine bit of writing, and does a great job of conveying exactly how special (and enigmatic) Neil Armstrong was. The perfect foil to The Right Stuff in many ways - cautiously inquisitive to the latter’s splendid over-the-top-ness.

[fried]

One of the first books in a long time that I've felt completely lost reading.

I want to point out that I in no way fully understand all the technicalities involved, not even close - and that's with regard to both the behaviour of the banks etc. and policy responses.

Well that's a relief!

Thanks for all the book recommends. I'll have a look through when I've finished my current book. Cheers.

[Rocksteady]

Haven't been reading as much as usual this year but getting through a few good ones.

The Secret World: A History of Intelligence by Christopher Andrew. I became interested in this due to the character of Stephen Maturin in Patrick O'Brian's novels - I wanted to read more about the history of intelligence work/spying. This book aims to provide a comprehensive study from the Biblical and Classical era to the present day. It seems mainly aimed at the intelligence community - a critique is that due to the secrecy many lessons of time are not learned. For example, during the Napoleonic Wars there was a 'spy panic' in the UK, with hysteria about fifth columnists. The same happened before the First World War, but government took it really seriously and investigated all sorts of nonsense, not realising that it was a common feature of wartime. Anyway, the book as a whole was pretty interesting albeit I didn't find the author's writing style massively engaging. He was most expert on the Cold War era, which I suspect we know most about other than the use of codebreaking in WW2. Some fascinating insights, especially into USSR government which had the best intelligence on foreign powers of all time, but was hamstrung by its own ideological bias and didn't trust the information it was getting.

Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present Day - by Ben Kiernan. I really enjoyed this, very well written and insightful. It was a thematic review of Vietnamese history and gave me what I wanted, which was a view of the country far beyond the war which defines it the West. One thing I took away is what the hell was the West doing after WW2 seeking to reinstall colonial regimes? We should have known better.

Leaders: Myth and Reality - Stanley McChrystal and friends. I wanted to read this after hearing an interview with the 3 star general on the radio. The structure of the book is a modern revision of Plutarch's lives, looking at leaders through history. The big reveal is that there is no magic formula, leaders depend on their context and support group for their success.
For Brits an interesting one is Margaret Thatcher! McChrystal's analysis of her is that she had a super combative style and was 100% convinced of her rectitude, which made her perfect in some situations but disastrous in others (basically anything that needed collaboration or stakeholder buy in). My take on Theresa May is that she is trying to channel Mrs T (the lady's not for turning) when actually she needed to adopt the opposite approach.

Re-reads: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Alan Garner) - one of the very best children's books IMO, must have the most claustrophobic adventure of any book I've ever read.
The Dark Is Rising series (Susan Cooper) - wanted to read after the above, similarly brilliant.
The Earthsea books (Ursula LeGuin) - very beautiful, thoughtful fantasy classics, more Odyssey than Iliad unlike most fantasy works. Highly recommended.

[DaveC]

Well since I lost my login back in 2017 I've read something like 150 books, plainly I have had way too much time on my hands. In my defense, an accident when out walking early last year affected my mobility (slipped off a path down a particularly steep, rocky hillside and was stopped rather suddenly by a tree! ) so I had a lot of extra reading time. Anyway, here's a few of the best from late 2017 which I haven't spotted while going back through this thread but I apologise if I've just missed them.
Ghosts of the Tsunami, Richard Lloyd Parry Parry was the FTs Japan correspondent at the time of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and this is his very personal take on the event and his subsequent reporting from affected areas of Japan. The book moves between the often heart-rending stories of victims, survivors and their families and the bungling incompetence and outright indifference of authorities at times in the face of a catastrophe of such massive proportions. Much focus is on the particular case of a school that was evacuated in good time before the waves arrival but whose students were kept assembled on a field by the school for far too long and then swept away with few survivors. There are times when this is very difficult reading. This is a really outstanding work of non-fiction, one of the very best I have ever read and if you haven't come across it then it is worth the effort to track it down.
The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson Another outstanding work of non-fiction, a history of the migration of African-Americans from the south to the north and west of the U.S.A. between 1915 and 1970. Although focusing on three individuals, Wilkerson interviewed over a thousand in preparing this beautifully written history of what is one of the greatest (and least known) migrations of modern times. I had limited awareness of this story through an interest in jazz and blues music but this book really opened my eyes to its huge scale and influence on modern American history.
Ripples in Spacetime, Govert Schilling One for science-buffs. The story of the discovery of gravitational waves from Einstein's theory of General Relativity to the final success of the LIGO detectors just a few years ago. Couched in reasonable language for the layman and for the most part highly readable, this is an excellent insight into how long and hard the road to proving a theory can be. Definitely worthile if the subject interests you.
There were a few really good fiction books that I read in late 2017 that all deserve at least a brief mention but I'll keep it to the best three:
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie's third novel was my first experience of this excellent Nigerian novelist. This is a story about the culture clash between African-American and African culture in some ways and also about a young woman's reawakening to her own culture when she returns from studying and working in the U.S to her native Nigeria. I recently read the same authors first novel, Purple Hibiscus, which confirmed her place as one of my favourite writers at the moment.
Norte, Edmundo Paz Soldan A dark and intense novel about three unconnnected people who cross the border from Mexico to the U.S. One becomes an infamous serial killer, one a waitress and graphic novelist and the other an outsider artist in a mental institution. The three stories coalesce as you progress through what is one of the most original and interesting novels I've yet read.
Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders Two things made me read this book: first, I love Saunders short fiction (The Brief, Terrifying Reign of Phil is a must read!), and second, I seem to generally like what the Booker Prize judges like, so when this one the Booker, it soon arrived on my shelves! Highly unusual in structure and narrative style, the story of a group of deceased souls inhabiting a Washington D.C. graveyard, unwilling to accept that they are dead and watching Abraham Lincoln visiting the grave of his dead son might sound an unlikely plot but somehow Saunders makes it work. It is a beautiful and sometimes disturbing work but I loved it.

OK, that's quite enough for now...I'll be off now.

[andy popp]

Don't go!

This is a great post. A few comments. I've read stellar review's of Lloyd Parry's book on the tsunami so I appreciate this reminder, on to the list it goes. My wife read The Warmth of other Suns and was similarly impressed, so that one was already on my list. I enjoyed Americanah but don't think l'm quite as enthusiastic as many people seem to be. Finally, I too loved Lincoln in the Bardo, which I found deeply moving and affecting, partly because of (rather than despite) its deep strangeness.

Also, hope you're fully recovered from your unfortunate tumble!

[DaveC]

Hi Andy,  I thought Adichie's first novel was better than Americanah and I have the one in between on my shelf which I've heard is better than either. Norte was actually my second best read of 2017 after Ghosts...
Now I've got my login here sorted I'll be around again.   

[jwi]

Hi Andy,  I thought Adichie's first novel was better than Americanah and I have the one in between on my shelf which I've heard is better than either. Norte was actually my second best read of 2017 after Ghosts...
Now I've got my login here sorted I'll be around again.   

I might check out Purple Hibiscus then, as I never really got into Americanah, even if it was obvious that Adichie writes very well.

[Falling Down]

Good to have you back Dave C.

That Ghosts of the Tsunami sounds brilliant - will be getting that.

I read Adichie's "We Should All Be Feminists" the other week and have bought several for our management team at work.

[DaveC]

I read a huge volume of books last year and most of them were good to great and well worth reading. So here's a few from the first quarter of the year, I'll try and keep it concise on each one.
4,3,2,1, Paul Auster Auster's latest is a big book but I really enjoyed it. Follows the life on one boy from birth but splits to follow him down four possible paths (a literary take on the multiverse theory.) One dies very young and only two are left as the book draws to it's conclusion and the ending is typically Auster (a bit smartarse) but I'll say no more than that. 7.5/10
Why This World, A Biography of Clarice Lispector, by Benjamin Moser An uncritical but interesting bio of the beautiful and enigmatic Brazilian writer whose first novel was a sensation in Brazil when she was just 23 and who is still regarded as possibly that country's greatest writer of fiction. Personally, I love her short stories and have grappled with her novels with varying levels of understanding. They're never bad but often very difficult, comparisons with Joyce and Virginia Woolf are not inappropriate. 7/10
The Bad Girl, Mario Vargas Llosa A story of unrequited love across decades as the narrator meets a mysterious girl in his home town of Lima, Peru in his teens who soon vanishes but he encounters here again in Paris a few years later only her name is different and she is off to join the Cuban revolution...and so it continues. One of my favourite Latin American novels. 8.5/10
Where the Wild Winds Are, Nick Hunt A great little travel with the writer travelling around Europe to experience four of the great named winds; the Helm in the High Pennines above the Eden Valley, the Mistral of Southern France, the Bora on the Adriatic coast of the Balkans and the Foehn of the Swiss Alps. Full of great myths, stories and anecdotes gathered in his travels, Hunt weaves an entertaining tale. 9/10
India After Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha A huge single volume history of India since independence and right up to 2016 by a noted Indian historian and writer. Guha is an entertaining guide and despite it's size this is well worth the effort if you want to find out about the modern history of one of the most important rising powers in the world today. 8/10
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid A fantastic little novel. Full of tension as the main protagonist (a western educated Muslim academic) engages an anonymous American in conversation over tea in Lahore. We hear nothing from this American, every spoken word in the story is from the one character but we can deduce what the American is as the story continues and the suspense mounts and soon you might deduce where the story is going...but you could be completely wrong!? 9/10

A couple of other good novels I read in this period were Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and Anthony Doerr's debut novel About Grace. Pachinko was much the better of the two, a family saga across 8 decades dealing with the plight of Koreans living in Japan since the 1920s while Doerr's book follows a man who sees bad events before they happen so when he sees the death of his daughter he flees to an isolated Caribbean island and lives a reclusive life for over 20 years before returning to the U.S. to find out what happened. His follow up novel, All the Light We Cannot See, is much better but this is a good measure of how much he improved.

[SA Chris]

Just finished PUSH by Tommy Caldwell. probably one of the most enjoyable autobiographies I've ever read. He's clearly had a lot of editoring and feedback help, but it's an honest and heartfelt account of his  life, covering pivotal events; the Kyrgyzkstan incident, relationships, DIY accidents etc etc, obviously culminating in Dawn Wall ascent, with just enough thought and emotions to avoid it getting too heavy. Recommend it, much much better than what I was expecting.