The Last Sunrise - Robert Ryan

This isn't really the kind of book I usually read, but it came as a free gift to the book group I attend at Plaistow Library.

This is an above-average war story told from the perspective of a member of the Flying Tigers - American Volunteers at the start of World War II flying against the Japanese in Thailand, Burma and China.

It is the tale of Lee Crane and jumps around from the start of the War to post war Singapore. Lee has become a bit of a ducker and diver, but has been affected by three women in her life - Kitten, an Anglo Indian Planter's wife, Elsa (another American chancer) and Laura, who is involved in the murky world of espionage.

Robert Ryan describes the technical stuff about planes and flying in a way that a layman can understand. There is suspense, and the story really grips, but the characters are not developed enough. A nice easy read though. So I give it a rating of 7/10.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

I've joined a group from my branch of the University of the Third Age who intend to work their way through all the works of Charles Dickens. The first book was 'Pickwick Papers' and now we've got stuck into Great Expectations. Now I've had an edition on my shelves for close on five decades, and I discovered that it was slightly abridged. I knew the work from various film adaptations (the most famous being the David Lean version - starring John Mills, Bernard Miles and Michael Redgrave). The written is much more gripping - especially the opening scene in the churchyard as Pip encounters Magwitch. I'm very glad I've finally got around to reading this - even if slightly shortened. I've now bought a cheap edition - but complete this time.
Rating: 8/10

These Foolish Things - Deborah Moggach

This is a simple tale of rootless old people cut off from their families who for a variety of reasons turn up in a residential hotel in India in place of the far worse substitute of Old People's Homes

in the UK.

India gradually works its' magic and each of them discover some truths about their lives, their families, relationships and the world.

I enjoyed this book, it might not be great literature but in a light-hearted and humerous way some simple insights upon modern life and society are revealed. Maybe it suggests that none of us are written off, and can more of our lives than just 'making do'. It is never too late to make good friends and form relationships - sometimes of the unlikeliest kind.

My rating? 8/10

84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff

Now I read this book very regularly. Every time I read it I get something different out of it. I think it depends on my mood.

I'm not sure why I love it. Maybe it is because it is written as an exchange of letters - and letter writing is something I still do on a regular basis - one friend of mine gets a letter a week - if not more regularly. It is also about books, and the love of books, reading them again ana again, the feel of books, the look of books, the discovery of books. It is about one book leading you easily to another, and getting an education through books. It is also about relationships - because although the two main characters never meet they develop a friendship that is beyond the mere commercial exchange which is the origin of this long distance correspondence - Helen in New York, and Frank in London.

And yet it is also tragic, because they never meet, never see each other, and how far do they really know each other beyond their shared love of old and well worn volumes. But maybe this is love of a different if not better kind - a melding of minds, and intellects. Maybe as pretentious as these thoughts are I love this book - it is short, and I have been known to read it in one day - I've just read 56 pages in one sitting!

My rating? 10/10

Death at La Fenice - Donna Leon

Donna Leon has written a whole series of detective murder mysteries based in Italy and featuring a police detective called Brunetti. This particular book is centred on the death of a conductor at the Venice Opera House. I was attracted to the book because of the setting, although I do have to say that I was totally confused by a map of the city which didn't really help me to get my bearings at all - the main places featured were not well marked, and as I've never been to Italy, let alone Venice I had no idea about the City being described. Donna is a good writer, although she doesn't follow a tradtionaldetective story format - she's certainly no Agatha Christie, and neither is it really a police procedure novel. She's clearly interested in exposing the innate corruption of Italian society (well it is corrupt if it's anything like how she describes) and she'd certainly researched the world of opera very well. The characters came to life but I was disatisfied by the solution - an anticlimax and too trite by far. I suspect I will read though - eventually.

My rating? 6/10