So here we are fighting in the Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In a nutshell: in a post apocalyptic world where 12 districts are ruled under the Capitol's iron fist, Katniss Everdeen, our pubescent rebel, is selected for the Hunger Games where you either kill or are killed, for the amusement of all those watching on live TV.


The blurb: the theme sounds familiar because it is, maybe inspired by the cross-fertilisation of Battle Royale and Lord of the Flies. It is the potentially not-too-distant future and the world has been re-organised. Each of the twelve districts must select 2 teenagers who will be sent like modern gladiators to the Arena, a vast territory where the outcome is either glory or death. One doesn't get a glimpse of the Arena till well into the book, the first half of it dealing with the complex life and personnality of our heroin who struggles to help her family survive and her subsequent grooming as one of the selected. In fact much more of the book is dedicated to the setting of the harsh new world, the description of the characters and their complex relationships than to actual fighting. The themes of totalitarianism, love, duty, friendship and betrayal are much more present here than blind violence. Though the book can be read alone, it is clearly the foundation of what turned out to be a trilogy.  

IMHO this was a lot better than I thought it would be. Panem is an interesting and unusual world and Katniss and her acolytes have rich and developed personalities that twist the storyline in unexpected ways. Though there is nothing new with the concept of the actual Hunger Games ( Battle Royale), the way they are portrayed here touch on the themes of reality TV, modern sponsorship and political repression. A pretty damn good holiday read all in all.

So here we are falling with giants

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

In a nutshell: as always with Ken Follett in a nutshell is complicated as this volume, the first in a triolgy spanning the main events of the 20th century, is 850 pages long. Here goes. We start in 1911 in a small Welsh mining town. We meet several characters, Billy, teenage miner and his beautiful sister Ethel who works at the local rich man's house. We meet Fitz, the local rich man, and his Russian homesick wife. All these people and many moreare the center of a huge web of lives that span from the outbreak of the first world war, the Russian revolution and America's intervention in the war.

The blurb: Ken Follett is reproducing exactly the same tricks as with his previous books, Pillars of the Earth (read review here) and World without End (read review here). The idea is that we follow a cast of dozens, who are all more or less related, sometimes in the most improbable ways. The backdrop is a page turning 8-year chronology of the bloody trenches in northern France to the fragile start of the Soviet Union. We follow characters in the States and get a flavour of immigrant New York as America's politicians prepare for war. Miners, soldiers, diplomats, spies, princesses, revolutionnaries, suffragettes, politicians, criminals, everyone is represented and weaves together the history of that time.

Sometimes though the links between the people are bizarre: the sister of the young miner we meet in Wales at the beginning is the mother of the bastard child of Fitz whose wife is a Russian princess who murdered the mother of Grigori who becomes Lenin's close colleague and Lev who goes to New York but lands in Wales in the very same mining town where Maud the sister of the Earl is having an affair with the German spy who... and so on. It actually gets a bit confusing, and there is a lot of blood, battle and fighting in the second part of the book whereas the first was more focused on the characters.

IMHO this started to get a bit long and boring about three quarters in. There are a lot of people and plots and thought it is interesting to see the bigger picture develop, we start to lose track of reality as we swap from Russian revolution to New York underworld to suffragette London and and Westminster war councils. Good for people who like big complex war sagas written in a one big breath.

So here we are looking at the big picture

The Big Picture by Douglas Kennedy

In a nutshell: following an unfortunate series of events, Ben Bradford- Wall St lawyer and family man- has to fake his death and become another, leaving everything including his family and identity behind.

The blurb: written as a first person account by Ben Bradford, the first third of the book starts with an overview of his life as a successful lawyer complete with big salary, nice house, 2 kids, a wife who collects furniture and an interest in photography. A dramatic event however means that Ben has to quickly give up his comfortable yet dull life, and disappear without anyone knowing. He takes on a new identity and settles in a new environment in a small town in Montana, and the rest of this book deals with the theme of identity, i.e. are we who we say we are? who we'd like to be? are we a sum of our actions? and so on. Ultimately the real page-turning element here is the tension that builds up as one realises that taking on a new identity involves a lot more than a name change, especially when it's such a small world and no man is an island.

IMHO this is a fun, easy and pretty compulsive read. Though it is quite funny, the real grip is the fear that at some point our hero will be found out. Part road story, part surrealist coming-of-age story, part comedy, it has a similiar tone as The Dead Heart by the same author (read review here). Recommended a a nice book to curl up with in the evening.

So here we are with Charlie Summers

The Hopeless Life of Charlie Summers by Paul Torday

In a nutshell: Hector Chetwode-Talbot, aka Eck, works for a London hedge fund and specialises in wining and dining his friends to get them to invest large sums of money in schemes that in these glorious early 2000s cannot go wrong. He meets Charlie Summers, a pathetic entrepreneur whose dodgy schemes make him cross paths several times with Eck, for better and for worse.

The blurb: First we are introduced to the narrator Eck, the amiable buffoon, who naively glides from dinner party to shooting party embarking his friends on hopelessly complicated investment schemes that the reader knows are doomed to fail as they involve the very investments that sent the financial world arse over tit in 2008. One of these excursions we meet Charlie, the opportunistic yet hopeless businessman looking to make a name for himself in the world of entrepreneurship.
As the novel progresses and their paths cross we realise that despite their differences, the two characters are strangely parallel, and when the inevitable happens and it all comes crashing down, the two men need each other to redeem themselves in ways that couldn't have been imagined before.
Like Salmon fishing in the Yemen (review here) and the Irresistable Inheritance of Wilberforce (review here) this novel gradually swings from comedy to tragedy, the light tone of the novel betraying a much deeper builup to a dark denouement.

IMHO Paul Torday is my favorite contemporary writer and this book just confirms it. A beautifully written easy read that carries with it a haunting storyline that stays with one for days.

So here we are on the 15th of July

One Day by David Nicholls

In a nutshell: this is the story of the friendship between Emma and Dexter which starts on their last day of university and spans the following twenty years with all the ups, downs, highs and lows that passionate friendship inspires.

The blurb: this book is called One Day because every chapter takes place on the 15th of July, starting in 1988 and ending in 2007. First and foremost a story about friendship, it is also an clever, satirical study of becoming an adult in 1990s and early 2000s England, against a backdrop of cool Britannia. Emma and Dexter being very different- she the serially single and talented girl who doesn't know where she's going, he the happy-go-lucky-stud who burns the candle at both ends, this is a wonderful, yet realistic, ode to friendship. As every chapter is set on a 15th of July, years fly by, yet the pace of the book doesn't feel too fast as you evolve and follow these characters through their early adult years.

IMHO this is the funniest and most moving book I have read this year (so far!). The dialogues are fantastic- incredibly funny and witty like the female protagonist, and as I switched between the two characters' points of view I felt I was starting to know these people better than a lot of my own friends. Despite the laugh out loud parts, the book is also incredible touching (yes, i wept) as one tries to define with the characters what defines true friendship, happiness and love. Very highly recommended, any place, any time.

So here we are giving in to teen vampirism

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

In a nutshell: All-American teen Isabella Swan, rebelliously known as Bella, moves away from Mom and dusty Phoenix to Dad and Forks, rainiest town in America. At school, she falls head over heels with Edward, a mysterious and uber-handsome young man... or is he???

The blurb: Ok, he's not, he's a vampire (don't worry he's not androphage) as one blatantly knows as one opens the book. As a result, the two-hundred plus pages it takes Bella to figure this out are a little frustrating. But this of course is not the point. It's all about the massive electric chemistry and huge sexual attraction between them and the impossibility for them to even do a wet kiss without Edward instincts taking over and eating the luscious Bella. As a result this is a innocent book, more about their blossoming, fusional relationship and aching hormones than a fruity inter-species essay. It was clearly written with a dictionary of synonyms nearby, to describe the irresisitible, compelling, handsome, beautiful, mesmerising, unnerving, surreal strange, seductive, unwordly, marble Edward and his yellow, onyx, golden eyes. Oddly, other than the semi-obsessive relationship there is really little plot or twist except right at the end.

IMHO this was surprisingly addictive given how objectively bad it is. The writing is straightforward, the wet and cloudy atmosphere of Forks and the high school are conveyed and the sexual tension keeps the book together like a tight corset. It's all a bit soppy and stars-in-eyes though which to be fair is the entire point I imagine. A good, light, easy read for breathless crush-ridden teenage girls, i.e. most females between 12 and 70.

So here we are gourmet cooking

Doing without Delia by Michael Booth

In a nutshell: food crazy Brit who is tired of Jamie Oliver style 20 minute feasts decides to move to Paris and join the Cordon Bleu school of super classic French cookery. Trials, tears and some excellent foodie hints.

The blurb: written in a personal, blog-ish style, mister nice-mike the bumbling brit, joins one of the most prestigious cookery schools in the world. There is a lot of "me me me" here, how well he intergrates with the market folk, how good he is at school, how upset he is at boiling lobster when pregnant and alive (the lobster, needless to add...). That said, it is full of behind-the-scenes funny anecdotes and this book is well worth reading if you are a serious food and cook fan as it is packed full of useful hints (from how to make a decent stock reduction to how to chop, from great recipes to a lot of "cutting the bullshit" explanations). On a more serious level it also deals with the central issue of whether a career in food is adapted to all gastronomes/gluttons.

IMHO this book has its place between Bourdain's "kitchen confidential" and Reichl's "comfort me with apples". Less abrasive and hilarious (and probably honest) than the former, less openly sentimental than the latter, it has its good moments and more to the point some great food and cooking advice. Want to know how to make a good nantua sauce while reading about the ultimate cookery course (without paying the 8000 euro fee)? This is the book for you.

So here we are indebted to pleasure

The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester

In a nutshell : Tarquin Winot is our epicurian, gentleman dandy narrator who, via seasonal menus, gives us a scattered autobiography, food memoirs and a million throaway opinions and comments on life, art, l'art de vivre etc etc etc.

The blurb : quite dense to read- do not be fooled by the fact it is only a couple of hundred pages long. Tarquin is an incredible narrator, erudite and with a poor opinion of his surroundings (exept good food, southern france, good art and the occasional beautiul woman) and launches in to a monologue on all of this. It does however become increasingly clear that he is completely mad, as he carefully builds up confessions to - haha!- and generally makes clear that he is a megalomaniac, schizo genius. He is oblivious to his own faults and the opinions some may have of him, making him a rather credible character, and it is great (on rereading the book, which is a must) to understand the gap between his opinion of himself and what he actually is.

IMHO this is a brilliant book which needs to be read and reread. Tons of facts on pretty much everything - though mainly food (of course), art, history and travel. In every paragraph he wanders off down another thought path. Taken all together it is a very funny and witty, amazingly constructed, book, that draws you in to the strange mind of the Tarquin Winot and slowly sheds light on what he is really getting up to... Highly recommended.

So here we are drinking with Wilberforce

The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday

In a nutshell: a backwards book that starts with the end, whose main character Wilberforce is a wine-lover (according to him), a hopeless alcoholic. The question is how, and why, did he become so?

The blurb: the book's opening scene introduces us to Wilberforce stepping out of a taxi and about to spend thousands of pounds on Chatau Petrus 1982 in a fashionable restaurant. Soon we understand that he is a wine-lover, and then rapidly realise it's a bit more than that. What is so fabulous about this book is that it is written backwards. Divided into four parts and four years ('vintages' Torday cheekily calls them), the book starts in 2006 and goes back to 2002. As the book progresses [backwards] we go from Wilberforce's terminal alcohol problem to its origins, spanning work, love, family, friends and [still backwards] his terrible decline. Written in the first person narrative, we witness the terrible confusion, paranoia and self-justification of the alcoholic, though progressively slip backwards to discover another character- a shy, nervous man in quest for origins and a circle in which he can belong. Though this is a serious, heartbreaking subject and story, there is a always a wry sense of humour thoughout the book: it is like watching a man who slips on a banana skin only to die of a broken back.

IMHO this is a wonderful, intense, thought-provoking book. Wilberforce's character starts as a big man, a little arrogant, self-assured, similar to John Lanchester's Tarquin character in the Debt to Pleasure (read review here), though clearly haunted by memory flashes of different times. Little by little we learn to distinguish the man from the drink and discover the genesis of the flshback snippets. After Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (read review here) which was simultaneously funny, bittersweet, moving and dark, Torday conjures up another orginal style and story in a similar clean prose. Very highly recommended -more than that!- and Torday is now on my list of favorite contemporary writers.

So here we are turning the other hand

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

In a nutshell: in accordance to the blurb on the cover which gives no information on the plot and asks one to do the same, I will keep this nutshell to a minimum - two very different 21st century women with opposite backgrounds are reunited as both go through life-changing times and events.

The blurb: An interestingly constructed book as each chapter alternates the two women's very different narratives. The real story- this book recounts its consequences through the eyes of the protagonists- happens three years previously, when the women meet for the first time in extraordinary circumstances. When the book starts, we follow one of the women and meet the second, and slowly their common story, and its aftermath, unfolds. 'Nuf said.

IMHO this is a little jewel of a book. Knowing nothing about the plot, one is captivated as one tries to understand why the women are where they are, and what binds each to the other. As the truth slowly leaks out, a grim tale emerges that makes one question a plethora of assumptions, from responsibility and politics to what constitutes friendship and humanity. Given the serious nature of many aspects of the story, it could have been a rather stark book, but the incredible, funny, poetic voice of the main protagonist makes it as light as a romantic comedy, which it almost isn't. A lingering book, very highly recommended.

So here we are reading a secret history

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

In a nutshell: At a university in Vermont a small group of eccentric Classics students, fascinated by ancient Greek culture and in search of moral boundaries, murder one of their own.

The blurb: This book is written in the first person by Richard, a middle class newcomer from California who joins a group of five high-society, intellectual and Epicurean students of Ancient Greek. We learn in the Prologue, page one, that they will murder Bunny, a jovial and boisterous member of this select group. The pacing and pattern of the book are what sets it apart: at first, we follow Richard's arrival in Vermont and discover with him the different characters that make up this strange fellowship, and the reason for the unavoidable murder unfolds; it is like reading a fast-paced thriller, only looking for a motive before there has been a murder. In the second part we sink into the bleakness that settles as the characters deal with the consequences of their action. As we follow everything from Richard's point of view, what and how we understand the various events that unfold are linked to his own physical and psychological state, and his own perception of what is happening. The result is an unsettling psychological thriller, set in a modern campus, infused with an ancient and eery sense of doom.

IMHO this is an awesome, extremely accomplished novel. The main characters, from Henry who lives in a world between Vermont and ancient mythology to the victim Bunny, are gripping and, as Richard, we follow them deeper and deeper into a world of ancient beliefs and betrayal. This is a book about the fall from innoncence, friendship and its costs, finding refuge in alternative morals, and its price. A book full of erudition and ideas, memorable characters and a very strong plot. Very highly recommended.

So here we are celebrating the Millenium (II)

The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

In a nutshell: A couple is found shot in a Stockholm flat and Lisbeth Salander is accused of murder. We follow the investigations of the police, the journalists and those close to her to reveal the mystery and find those really responsable, and their relationship to the main protagonists.

The blurb: this second part of the Millenium trilogy is set around a year after its prequel, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (read review here). We follow the investigations into the murders of a journalist/researcher couple, who were set to denounce the Swedish sex trafficking industry and incriminate high-placed public figures. Like the previous book, what caracterises volume II is the intricate weaving of many storylines around the central plot, namely the diappearance of Lisbeth Salander who is now public enemy number 1. We follow the investigations from several points of view, the various police officers involved, Mikael Blomkvist, journalist and friend of Salander's, the bad guys, Salander herself and so on. As the inquiries develop, we discover more about Salander's history and a story of corruption, violence and political deceit unfolds.

IMHO, this book more than lives up to volume 1. Again we are skillfully plunged into each character's world, following the revelations subtly and gradually as we shift from protagonist to protagonist (without it ever being obvious, as we are always in the third person) and are sucked into the world of media frenzy, political corruption and journalistic investigations. Unlike the prequel it is not a book that takes time to warm up and the suspense makes it very diffuclt to put down. Excellent, sophisticated, intelligent reading. Be warned though, volume 3 of this wonderful trilogy has yet to be translated into English, and GPF ends on a real cliff hanger.

So here we are reading the Poisonwood Bible

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

In a nutshell : an American baptist minister, his wife and their four daughters leave 1960s USA to live in the Congolese jungle in an attempt to convert the locals. This poignant history of a dysfunctional family is set against the background of 30 years of Congo's history and politics and its terrible fight for independence.

The blurb : written from the point of view of the mother and the four daughters, it starts as the day to day description of life in the Congolese jungle. The father's fanatical views become increasingly damaging to the family and their attempts to "settle in" and the hardship of the everyday gives way slowly to an incredible analysis of Congolese politics and culture. About halfway through the book time speeds up and twenty years of Congolese history and its bloody fight for independence are told through the eyes o those living it, whether they are part of the action or seing it from afar. Beautiful pace, incredible descriptions and real food for thought as it throws all our western references out of the window to describe the hardships of life out there.

IMHO this is one of the best books ever written. Good anytime any place, it is a heartbreaking story of a family but also a lesson in tolerance and politics. It covers religious fanatism, cultural racism, ethnocentrism, and is a mix of anthropology, history and fiction. Must be read !

So here we are at Mudbound

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

In a nutshell: In 1946, the McAllan family move to an isolated farm in the muddy fields of Mississippi, where the "Negroes" are violently discriminated against and life is hard for everyone. In parallel, two young men linked to the McAllans, one white, one black, return from the Second World War.

The blurb: This book is written in first person narrative from various points of view- the wife who hates the muddy farm, the husband who loves it, the charming brother-in-law who has difficulty coping with his memories of the war, the black sharecropper/midwife, the black soldier who, having liberated Europe, is still just a "nigger" when he returns, and so on. We follow love and betrayal, friendship and injustice, and see a damning account of how black men and women were treated at this time.

IMHO this is simply yet well-written book that reads easily and deals with several themes: rural life in 1940s rural Mississippi, the treatment of black farmers, racism, and the power and risks of certain friendships in such a context. The most interesting part of the book deals with the treatment of the young black war hero who returns home and the bigotry of the locals. There are in fact many subplots that culminate to a violent and somewhat predictable denouement and the book seems a little too short for one to be able to appreciate it. Though we get good portraits of the characters, and follow several paths, it all seems a little light and rushed with a change of narrator every ten pages or less. As a result it reads like a cross between the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (read review here) and Little House on the Prairie. A good book, but a little short.

So here we are celebrating the Millenium (I)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

In a nutshell: Mikael Blomkvist, disgraced journalist, goes to a small Swedish village to work for Henrik Vanger, a rich industrialist and patriarch of the bizarre Vanger family, who is obsessed with the disappearance of his niece forty years earlier. Blomkvist investigates, helped by Lisbeth Salander, a delinquent hacker who follows no rules but her own...

The blurb: This is a very intricate book, and many storylines are neatly entwined around the main plot, which is the strange case of 16 year-old Harriet Vanger, who disappeared 40 years previously from an isolated island. Around this are many distinct, yet connecting, characters and stories, such as Blomkvist's career, families, financial corruption or physical abuse, which are thought-provoking and gripping. Salander's caracter is especially fascinating and complex.

IMHO this is a intelligent, addictive and multi-layered book that sucks you in gradually like a intricate game of chess. It is actually quite "slow" for about two hundred pages, but suddenly the characters and the settings click and the thriller part of the book begins. Part sophisticated thriller, part whodunnit, part exploration of a darker side of society, highly recommended.

So here we are detecting in Victorian England

The suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

In a nutshell: Part social history, part biography, part depiction of Victorian England and part whodunnit, this book deals with the early days of detection though the prism of a true murder committed in Road in 1860.

The blurb: This multi-layered book starts with the true story of the murder of Saville Kent, the youngest member of a middle class Victorian family. This is the whodunnit part of the book : a murder, a large household and a house locked from the inside. We then follow the investigations and suspicions of Detective Jack Whicher, one of the first London detectives, at a time when detection was a new science that had the nation in the grip of 'detection fever'. In this respect, this book is also a social history of the time, cleverly showing the side effects this gruesome- and mystifying- murder had on literature (with the emergence of a new type of novel) and the attitude of Victorian society to the case and the methods used to solve it.

IMHO this was an interesting but not particularly gripping book, definitely not a page turner. It was not written as a whodunnit so, despite not knowing who the murderer is until late on, there is none of the satisfaction of detection in your armchair. Then again, this is a true story, and therefore not as well crafted as a good Agatha Christie. That said, it sometimes seems a little confusing as we skip from Whicher's detection to broader descriptions of society at the time, from trials to flashbacks, from mini-biographies to the influence the case had on Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, amongst others. It works out as an interesting history of early detection and investigation methods, and a pretty mediocre whodunnit.

So here we are reading the book without end

World without End by Ken Follet

In a nutshell, this is exactly the same book as Pillars of the earth (read review here) by the same author, only it is set 200 years later and is a bit shorter I think. Aliena is called Caris, Jack is called Merthin, William is called Ralph, the cathedral is a bridge and there is the plague.

The blurb: Follett sold and made millions with PoE so he kept exactly the same formula for this "sequel". Not so much a sequel as it does not take up where the last left, nor does it give any info on the characters of its prequel. Instead we follow the descendants of PoE's heroes (which can justify the very similar characters) much as we did their ancestors. The backdrop, depending on where you are in the book, is the building of a bridge, the social and economic devastation (and opportunities) linked to the plague and the usual politics of religion and power, only this time in the 14th century. Again we span 50 or so years of British history, from the invasion of France to the horrors of the plague, and from every point of view- nuns, evil knights, heartbroken builders, farm labourers and so on with a hefty dose of sex, rape and violence.

IMHO this book would have been OK if its prequel hadn't been almost identical. My mistake was probably reading Pillars of the Earth and World without End one after the other. Serious overdose. Again, the book is characterised by rather 2D (albeit enjoyable) characters, debatable historical accuracy and insane ups and downs in the people's lives. Fair enough, a couple of (sub)plot lines are original, but it's not really worth trawling through 1200 pages of WwE to get 90% rehashed PoE (already over a thousand pages). If you liked PoE definitely wait a while before reading this or it will all seem too familiar. If you didn't like PoE, then forget it. if you haven't read PoE, start with that.

So here we are on the Oregon trail

A small part of history by Peggy Elliott

In a nutshell : In 1846, the extended Springer family join the Oregon trail - a collection of 20+ families who decide to go westwards from Missouri to start a new life in Oregon. Written from the point of the view of the women on the trail we follow the hardships they encounter as their wagons cover over a thousand miles of inhospitable lands, with all the trials one can imagine on the way.

The blurb : This book, which was inspired by a book called "Women's diaries of the westward journey" by Lillian Schlissel, is written exclusively through the eyes of the women who followed their men on these incredible westward journeys. Through first person narrative, diary extracts and third person omniscient narrative we are given an account of the journey that is more concerned with the practicalities of keeping families together -and alive- rather than the technical aspects of the trail. A sticker on my edition says "guaranteed to break your heart" and the huge difficulties accompanied by the massive deathtoll of those involved remind us of the truer story of the romanticised "pioneer 'n eldorado" accounts of the trails to the Pacific.

IMHO, this is a very interesting, albeit very chick-litt and sentimental novel. For those interested in the 19th century conquest of the American west, this women's account of an often male-angled part of history, is fascinating. The main interests of this book are seeing the neat separation of men and women's roles in society and in the household, and the gruesome realities of the trail: pregnancy, accidents, illness, friendships through necessity, grim conditions and so on make it run like a soap opera. That said, it reads well and the level of detail is captivating : despite being fiction this author has done her research and we imagine travelling alongside the wagons through the plains, lava deserts and mountains. This book is good for people who would like to read an adult version of "The long winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who like this historical period and, though I hate to say it, are female.

So here we are reading the pillars of the earth

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

In a nutshell : This book is a little over one thousand pages of small print long so the nutshell is going to be quite meaty. Ok, here goes. In mid-twelfth century England a builder dreams of building a cathedral. He and his complicated, extended family settle in the south of England and the story of the cathedral over the next 50 years is recounted through the stories of all the different people involved, from monks to peasants, landowners and knights.

The blurb : this epic monster of a book spans half a century of turbulent Medieval English history and a cast of a dozen or so main characters spanning 3 generations and every social rank. The building of the cathedral is the background of the story and provides the reason for following monks, priors and bishops, stonecutters and masons, earls and knights, market traders and farmers against a backdrop of Civil War. It is a huge tapestry of a book with many connections between the characters and a nice amount of detail (those 1000 pages had to say something!) and by following half a dozen or so characters throughout their lives you have a good sense of time passing. Follett is a thriller writer and he uses time in a interesting way, speeding up some of the more important events (attacks, quarrels, walks across Europe) and slowing some of the more descriptive bits. This gives an interesting twist to the suspense, especially as Follett uses a lot of rape, violence and plain ol' nastiness to hook you.

IMHO this is a cool, addictive read. The characters are sometimes a little absent or incoherent, the dialogue is nothing ground breaking, the historical accuracy is debatable, the anacronysms blatant, the descriptions of medieval England are interesting but no more and the pace of the book sometimes feels a little odd but it is still an addictive whopper. The likeable/hateable characters are good, the plot charges around and people go from riches to horror and back again . The religious/royal politics described are gripping and the whole thing has a satisfying ending. That said however, ironically for such a huge book, the end feels a little rushed but the first 800 pages or so were very hard to put down. Recommended holiday reading.

So here we are reading the Man Booker winner 2008

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

In a nutshell : Balram Halwai is from a village in the center of India, where the local elections are rigged, the local landowners are corrupt and thieving and where the water buffalo is more valuable than most people. We follow his life, leaving the village to become a driver for a rich family in Delhi.

The blurb : the book is written as a long letter from Balram to the Prime Minister of China, in which our hero describes the trials and tribulations of his life as an example of Inidan entrepreneurship. The book is clearly written in a cynical tone that suits the narrator's opinions and early on we realise that the character has a very dark -murderous- side to him. All in all this is a story of a modern Indian, squeezed between a modern India of call centers and money, and a traditionnal one of castes and corruption. The character, with characteristic cynicism and philosophising, muses on how one finds his place in this.

IMHO this was extremely disappointing for a MB winner. Not a bad book, but neither (again IMHO) "a masterpiece" and certainly not "blazingly savage". If anything it reminded me of a slightly darker Transmission by Hari Kunzru. One reviewer raved about the contrast between the "Indias", "where call center workers tread the same pavement as beggars" and though this is interesting it is not anywhere like in the same league as Rohinton Mistry. It was quite gripping at first but then seems to bumble along a bit. Nothing is predicatble, but mainly because not a lot happens. Some good descriptions and an interesting central character but somehow disappointing.