War was a frequent subject for discussion last week. Ben Macintyre’s Operation Mincemeat kept beerbart intrigued:
Macintyre has a well-deserved reputation of crafting entertaining, accessible and informative narrative history particularly on war events or spy stories. This is no exception. I’m enjoying the rich cast of eccentrics and novelists (Ian Fleming was heavily involved in the plot and execution) all conspiring to fool the Germans who by all accounts were dreadful at this spy game during the war. Zigzag is his best book for me but this is running it close.
Anne Frank’s diary has been in the news recently, and coincidentally, nina1414 has also just finished The Definitive Edition edited by Otto H Frank and Mirjam Pressler - and found it unexpectedly “uplifting”:
As she points out herself, she never mopes. She takes comfort in looking at the sky - it makes her feel happy. She keeps busy and she has dreams for the future - she’d like to be a writer and she’d like to make a difference.
One thing I hadn’t been aware of was that she and her family were actually German. She talks of wanting to take on Dutch nationality as she loves the country and is upset at the growing anti-Antisemitism there and hopes it is just a passing phase.
I feel a bit bereft now. I’ve been reading 50 pages a day and now it’s come to an end.
The Armies by Evelio Rosero, a “devastating portrait of life during the Colombian civil war”, fascinated Tom Mooney:
Ismael, a slightly pervy retired teacher, spends his days picking oranges and spying on his neighbour as she sunbathes naked. He visits the cafe in town and chats with the locals. He spars with his wife of 40 years.
But life in this small town is scarred by the ongoing war, which breezes sporadically through, leaving in its wake a hurricane of violence and death. Disappearances, murder, explosions, then gone. Which side was it this time? Who knows? Who cares?
Written in sultry, classic prose, Rosero paints the profound effects of war on those innocent bystanders caught up in its terror.
Elsewhere, fatbuddha1 has enjoyed the depiction of post-war Glasgow in Lennox by Craig Russell:
It concerns a Canadian gumshoe, making a shady living in post war Glasgow. It’s very good on historical detail, I think, I know nothing of post war Glasgow but it rings true, and is excellent on disrespecting Edinburgh. I think the author had great fun thinking up so many inventive ways to slag the place and the people off.
It’s a like a mash up of Chandler and Malcolm Mckay, with a bit of Carl Hiassen thrown in. The good news for me is that there is more where that came from, and I shall be enjoying the series.
Umberto Eco’s In The Name Of The Rose has (mainly) impressed paulburns:
A wonderful novel about monastic life in Italy in the early 14th century. Covers the heresy hunt against Franciscan Spirituals, aspects of medieval philosophy, theology, etc, including the evils of the Inquisition. But it is mostly a fascinating detective story - William of Baskerville - brilliant. Though I did find Adso’s enthralment in church decoration etc and his naivety a bit longwinded.
A wonderful new (Disc)world is opening up for janey smit who has just read Mort by Terry Pratchett:
My first ever and I liked it. How about that?
Finally Larts has re-read JL Carr’s I read A Month In The Country:
I was, as ever, deeply moved by the whole novel. The humour and pathos coming so close together. It’s a short novel but boy does it cut deep. Do I weep for Birkin or myself at the end?
It takes a special kind of book to make you feel that way...
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