Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

When popular student-athlete Connell and studious loner, Marianne, start a secret relationship it appears little more than an ill-conceived experiment, but as Sally Rooney’s Normal People progresses, it soon becomes clear that the unlikely couple have far more in common than it first appears. Not least their fondness of each other.

Although their initial fling begins at school, sparks begin to fly between the pair when they leave their small home town of Carricklea for Trinity College in Dublin; where despite their best efforts to pursue new relationships, they find themselves repeatedly drawn to one another in times of strife.

University is the place where both characters develop, in Marianne’s case, into a more outgoing personality, and in Connell’s case, into a talented writer. Although the platform University provides for self-discovery is never in doubt, it does not stop Rooney from critiquing some of the less wonderful aspects of undergraduate life that many millennial graduates will be able to relate to.

This is primarily done through the eyes of working-class Connell, who looks on in bemusement at his middle-class peers as he fights for a scholarship. To them, a scholarship is a badge to be worn, to him, it is a financial lifeline. The pretentiousness intrinsic to certain spheres of university life is also examined in a number of scenes. The instance where one member of Marianne’s peer group’s is disgusted by the prospect of drinking champagne out of supposedly unbefitting glasses, being as good an example as any. With characters capable of such reactions ten-a-penny on campus, it is unsurprising that Connell, who wears Adidas trainers to lectures and (unlike his fellow students) does not boast an extensive collection of chinos, finds himself the perennial social outsider. The flimsiness that accompanies relationships with the more status-conscious element of the student cohort is demonstrated as the years go by; with several characters who are at one time mainstays in the social lives of Marianne and Connell, falling off the radar completely as the pair’s academic careers progress.

The frank portrayal of life at Trinity gives authority to a story of two characters who despite their differences and personal struggles, find security in one another. And when one puts down Normal People, their existence seems as real as the university they attend.

Rating: 4/5 A book that captures the essence of student life for millennials with two fascinating, complex characters.

Book review: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkein

In the precursor to the Lord of the Rings detailing forces of good and evil are pitted against one another as they, like those that follow them, battle for something shiny. In the case of The Silmarillion, it is the jewels known as the Silmarils that give the book its title that are the at the heart of the conflict in middle earth.

The story concerns itself with the attempts of various elves and men to seize the Silmarils from dark lord Morgoth who steals them from their creator Feanor at the outset. It is a narrative that is not without its twists and turns, although the sheer number of different characters launching attacks on Morgoth and his forces on various occasions makes forging a bond with the main protagonists much more of a chore than it ever was in The Lord of The Rings.

That said The Silmarillion at no stage feels like it is trying to be anything other than a comprehensive chronicling of the events that preceded the Lord of the Rings and it is written with an authority that suggests the act of putting these events on paper was more one of thorough duty than invention.

The entire book is written with a certainty that gives it the feel of a sacred scripture more than a novel and while this may alienate some, it is a style, that like or not, must be hailed. It is a style that only a writer who has accounted for every last blade of grass and tree in the world he has created could ever produce. Tolkein’s boldness is such that we never stop to think of middle earth as being anything other than real, even at the mention of balrogs, orcs and elves.

It is this bold, confident and authoritative style rather than the story itself that makes The Silmarillion a masterful piece of work by a genius in full command of his world.

It will never be everyone’s favourite walk in the woods and nor was it meant to be, but regardless of its subject matter, it should at the very least be given the respect it deserves.

Rating: 3/5

Book Review: Carrie by Stephen King

Never has the phrase ‘fear the wounded animal’ been more apt than when discussing the title character of Stephen King’s debut novel, Carrie.

A teenage misfit who is the butt of her more popular classmates jokes and the sufferer of draconian parenting from her uber-religious mother, Carrie has something astonishing brewing inside of her that is set explode on the biggest night of the school year – the school prom.

As her classmates arrive unaware of their unpopular peer’s special ability, us, the readers, are at this point fully briefed on the protagonist’s telekinetic abilities.

King readies us for the climax utilising scientific documents, eyewitness accounts, retrospective interviews and newspapers cuttings in titbits throughout the story so that by the time prom night comes we are braced for the action with a front row seat.

The account of Sue Snell, a classmate of Carrie’s considerably higher in the popularity food chain, is genuinely remorseful of Carrie’s erstwhile treatment at school and the story is ultimately one of caution.

Carrie appears weak, defenceless and cannon fodder for bullies but possesses power beyond the comprehension of all those around her.

Her story prompts us all to wonder if the odd kid who everyone made fun of at school is quite as harmless as they at first seem and a reminder that extraordinary abilities often come in surprising packages.

How Carrie deploys her phantasmagorical powers is, of course, to be discovered in the climax, which King teases us toward masterfully.

Rating: 3/5 A short read with no shortage of tension.

Book Review: The Visitor by Lee Child

Being someone who reads it’s fairly standard for me to end the Christmas period with a few new books on my shelf. Among them this year was Lee Child’s The Visitor, part of the Jack Reacher series and although I thanked the sender graciously at the time, three months went by without me feeling the slightest impulse to open it.

That was until a recent ski trip on which I took it as my back-up in case I got through my first book before my holiday had ended. Going at the leisurely rate of one or two chapters at lunchtime every day, my first book lasted me until the airport ahead of the flight home. But faced with a six-hour wait at Geneva airport before my plane took off I decided to take the plunge into the world of Reacher.

In this particular instalment, Reacher works in tandem with the FBI to track down a killer who works with a mysterious lack of force and leaves their dead victims dumped in paint (as you do).

Truth be told I’m just not much of a thriller reader and I found the story though fast-paced, very one dimensional. I like my books to have a story outside the story and with this I felt as though there was very little beneath the surface to scratch through to, beyond Reacher’s pursuit of the killer.

That said, there was never any stage when I considered putting it down for good, despite the 509-page length and I was finished in days.

I put this purely and simply down to Jack Reacher, who there is no denying is an excellent protagonist.

An ex-military man, initially unshackled by the agendas of the established law enforcement institutions, Reacher is a straight-talking, hard-hitting badass who acts against injustice and nothing else, cutting through the investigative waffle of the bureaucrats he is paired up with on his mission like a chainsaw through jelly.

He cuts to chase in a way we all imagine we would, except he actually goes and does it and is probably way bigger, stronger and (even though Tom Cruise would have you think otherwise) taller than we are.

The Visitor is far from the best book I’ve read so far this year, in fact, it’s not even the best book I’ve read in the past month. But it was not without its entertaining moments and whatever you think of Child’s storylines you cannot help but tip your cap to him for creating a character in Reacher that many readers, quite understandably, can’t get enough of.

Rating: 2/5

Book Review: Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell

Shining a light on the grim and desperate with a brutal honesty characteristic of its writer, Down And Out In Paris And London documents George Orwell’s dalliances with poverty as a young, struggling writer carving out the most marginal of existences first as a dishwasher in various Paris hotels and then as a tramp roaming the streets of London.

In typical blunt fashion, Orwell pulls no punches when describing the conditions and lives those who he meets find themselves trapped in and shows empathy rather disdain towards the homeless. He makes the point that homelessness is a trade that a person falls into just like any other, the difference being that unlike most trades it offers no hope of prosperity and escape from struggle, just endless, enervating slog to obtain crumbs of civilisation. It is an existence that Orwell having lived it himself describes as robbing a man – the vast majority of homeless people then and now are male – of some of the most crucial components of a fulfilling life namely: sustenance, as the homeless live in perpetual hunger; a total lack of contact with the opposite sex, as no woman will contemplate a relationship with a homeless man; and the opportunity to do fulfilling work, as the majority of homeless people are forced into idleness queuing for long hours to ensure they can obtain a shelter for the night.

Though at times a damning critique of the failings of both French and English society the book is not without hope, which is perhaps best embodied by Bozo, the street artist Orwell encounters in London who maintains that art and creativity remain in one’s head whatever their circumstances. Given what Orwell achieved as a writer, Bozo’s words seem particularly poignant and encourage us all to ponder how many more great artists are currently sleeping rough across the world today.

If the injustice of poverty irked Orwell back in the 1930s, one can only imagine what he would think of today’s world in which we have self-driving cars but still no solution to providing housing for all. His accounts of the squalid conditions of poverty, the stifling impact it has on life, yet also the salient potential of those who fall victim of it, still hold huge relevance today and the fact that they do, given the development we have seen in the world since the book was published, is more alarming than the most wretched description Orwell gives in his prose.

Rating: 4/5

Not always pretty reading, but essential nonetheless. Orwell’s clarity and frankness are unrivalled and like most of his work, Down And Out In Paris And London still holds huge relevance.

Book Review: A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines

Trapped in a cruel, joyless world from which there appears no escape, teenager Billy Casper finds solace in his friendship with a Kestrel Hawk in Barry Hines’s A Kestrel for a Knave, a story which reminds us how the incontestable wonder of nature can inspire in even in the bleakest circumstances.

And make no mistake, Casper’s circumstances are pretty bleak. Fatherless living with his self-absorbed mother and oafish bully of a brother in a Yorkshire mining town, Billy despite his protests, seems destined for a life down the pit once his school days are over. If he is taken at face value, many would say that is nothing more than he deserves. Billy is far from a model student and frequently finds himself in trouble at school, he’s the typical good-for-nothing teenager you might tut disapprovingly at in the street. But when he meets ‘Kes’ and is captivated by her strength and grace, he becomes a scholar devoted to the art of falconry. The resourcefulness Billy shows when training ‘Kes’, demonstrates the potential every child whatever their background, has in them and as the end of Billy’s school days draw nearer, the mouth of the pit opening wider ready to swallow the young hero up forever, we find ourselves wishing we could somehow pause time for him, enabling him to stay in the fields with Kes forever.

Though the pits have long since closed, their absence in British society makes Billy’s story no less relevant fifty years on from publication. In fact, a case could even be made that a modern-day Billy Casper would face an even grimmer future than his predecessor. Life after school in post-industrial Britain offers contemporary Caspers work in warehouses, call centres and fast food restaurants, if they are lucky. If they are not, then they find no work at all.

A Kestrel for a Knave holds up a mirror to the harsh realities of British society some would prefer to ignore and is a reminder of how the odds are stacked firmly against so many children purely because of their birthplace.

The gruesome realism of Billy’s community jostles for attention with Kes ’s and nature’s ability to render us speechless to create a British masterpiece that challenges us to think twice before labelling the rough-looking kid we pass in the street as a ne’er-do-well.

Rating: 4/5

Book Review: Goalkeepers Are Different by Brian Glanville

Charting the rise of Ronnie Blake, an initially reluctant, makeshift goalie who blossoms into a topflight ‘keeper, Goalkeepers Are Different captures the pressure, elation and downsides of becoming a professional footballer through the insightful yet jovial eyes of the young shot-stopper.

Although Blake is as real as the First Division club he makes his name at (Borough United) he narrates with an unfrilly, honesty that has us believing every word and given that Glanville – the mind behind Blake – was a football correspondent for the Times and sat on the jury for the Ballon d’Or during the 60s and 70s when the story takes place, the chances that Blake’s experiences have been plucked from the sky seem as remote as the odds of Borough United winning next season’s Premier League. Underpinned by his creator’s intimate knowledge of the game, Blake tells all in an accessible yet authoritative manner as though you’ve just met him down the pub and asked him to tell you everything there is to know about being a professional footballer. This unintimidating, yet still lofty viewpoint from which we are told of French teams who faff around on the ball a lot; a Greek team who are dirty yet well-organised; and bottles (glass not plastic) being thrown from the Stretford End; is the book’s undoubted strength.

Nearly fifty years on from publication, reading Blake’s tales now is a refreshing look back at a much simpler time as although it is revealed a rise to prominence as a footballer nearly half a century ago was not without its glamour, the adventures of Borough United’s goalkeeper do nothing to rival his contemporaries in that department.

For a large part of the book, Blake lives with his parents despite breaking through the ranks at a top-flight club. Today Premier League academy players buy sports cars and mansions before they’re first team regulars. The idea of English football’s next breakout star living with his parents for a season after becoming a household name is laughable in the modern football world, which has pumped the glamour-sprinkled environment Blake inhabits with more steroids than a Mr Universe candidate.

Blake himself is by no means a monk as he tells us quite happily about purchasing of his first flash car, going away to Majorca and talks of women with the nonchalance of one who never has trouble finding a date. He embraces the riches the world of football offers him, his postman father a constant reminder of what life could have been had he not made the grade.

But Goalkeepers Are Different’s greatest triumph is that although the off-field distractions of professional football are not ignored, they never overshadow the glory or joy of playing the game. Blake might have a few quid in the bank and different women regularly on his arm, but ultimately, he is just the guy doing what most of us wanted to do when we were kids. Reading his story nearly half a century after it was released, one can only hope the same still applies to the Ronnie Blakes of today.

Book Review – War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Documenting the French invasion of Russia during the Napoleonic wars through the eyes of a diverse array of characters including Russian aristocrats, generals and Napoleon himself, War & Peace is at worst a colourful history lesson. But in truth, the book masquerades as a war story and in reality, is a grand exploration of life putting a magnifying glass to nearly every emotion it is possible for a human being to experience.

Love, loss, jealousy, disappointment, infatuation, humiliation, pride and the quest for greater meaning are all examined with a backdrop of war, which serves as a constant reminder of the greater forces in the world that render all people however intricate and complex their emotions, ultimately powerless.

The star of Tolstoy’s extensive cast is undoubtedly Count Pierre Bezukhov the studious, overweight inheritor of an enormous fortune, who with his needs met for life, falls into a host of pits as he searches for a wider meaning to his existence. On his haphazard travels around Russia Pierre is captivated by beauty, consumed by a cult and taken prisoner, but whatever seems to befall him, he remains resilient. Dusting himself down from setback after setback, relentless in his pondering of why certain chains of events come to pass, Pierre always throws himself headfirst into his next decision without pretense. And it is this unabashed whole-heartedness while still occupying a social domain in which perception and image is everything, that sets Pierre apart from his fellow characters.

Pierre’s search for a wider to purpose to living is one that fundamentally every human being has embarked upon and it this coupled with Tolstoy’s delving into the complexity of emotions one encounters throughout life that gives War & Peace its timeless, legendary status. For a reader does not need to be an aristocrat to appreciate War & Peace any more than they need to be a war general, they simply need to be human.

Rating: 5/5

If you’re going to read a book a thousand-plus pages long, there’ll be few worth the effort more than this. A classic for a reason.