The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

Now I don't often read science books - but this at least was relatively short, and I kept asking myself how much of this is science, and how much philosophy? Richard Dawkins is man on a mission - extremely anti religion. So, he starts out by saying that everyone now accepts Darwinism as fact - therefore all religious belief must be erroneous. I get the feeling he is falling into the same trap that he accuses those of faith of having fallen into. A Christian believes that God created the world (and does this belief really exclude Darwinism?) whereas Dawkins believes in the continuing effect of genetic development. What he fails to explain is where, what or who began the process of the development of life. Anyway, having skimmed over all that, he seeks to demonstrate that it is the genetic imperative in all lifeforms (and he isn't neglectful of every possible species - bees, wasps, seahorses, cuckoos, gazelles, urchins, all get a look in) that affects every aspect of life. Therefore, no life form every does an 'altruistic' act, without subconsciously the genes thinking 'What's in this for me?' All genes are thinking about are how do I achieve immortality - passing on through the generations, adapting, intermixing and so on. He fobs off group support as fallacious, a mere mask for genes seeking their survival into breeding and therefore continuous. Parents caring for their children? No - genes ensuring that they survive through to grandchildren. I'm sorry it is too simple - and maybe that was his intention, science for the non-scientific. Rating 5/10

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

OK - lets start with the positive - this is quite an easy read - I managed to finish it in just over a week. It also seems to be a reasonable translation - fairly free rather than literal, and only the occasional strange use of words. Now I come to the negatives - and I wonder if I have a difficulty with Japanese culture - perhaps these kinds of story are common in that country. I had trouble working out whether this is a fantasy, soft porn, crime thriller, suspense, horror, some kind of spiritual, mystical musing, or a study in psychosis. What is the plot? Well here I had trouble getting to grips with the story line. The central character 'Kafka' (a 15 year old) seems to live in a world of his own - is hearing voices, or having conversations with an imaginary friend. He runs away from home and then has a series of 'incidents' involving a quest to find his mother and sister, a visit to a strange library, several sexual encounters, a flying saucer. an old man who talks to cats, a journey into a secret land in the woods, a mystical entrance stone, some obviously hallucinatory experiences. I found some of the scenes unpleasant, others irritating, and yet more totally silly. Another week of my life I'll never get back.... Rating 5/10

Martin Chuzzlewit - Charles Dickens

One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson

The second in the series begun with Case Histories (see a blog entry below). I'd really enjoyed the first book featuring Jackson Brodie so looked forward to this volume immensely.

I have to say it doesn't start in a sparkling way - it seems to meander and you begin to wonder where the whole thing is going - but not in a good way. Rather like in Case Histories this book looks from the viewpoints of several characters, linked very loosely to Jackson Brodie, ex-army, former policeman, previously a private investigator and by this time independently wealthy (as explained in the previous book). He is also going through complicated (and not smooth ) personal relationships. This time there is one incident that each character is involved with, (road rage in Central Edinburgh) but as you would expect in a thriller (and this is in many ways a traditional thriller) there are many twists and turns, and nobody (and nothing) is quite what it seems. So after a shaky start Ms Atkinson gets into her stride, and this proves to be a real page turner - she is so good at developing characters without over writing, you care about what happens to even the minor and fleeting people - you want to 'good' guys to succeed and the 'bad guys' to lose - and some do spectacularly. The author is much better at female characters than male - and I wonder if she'll need to look at Jackson Brodie a little more closely to make some of his actions and emotions more credible. Still a worthy 7/10

The House by the Thames - Gillian Tindall

Absolutely my kind of book. It is history - but the true lively history, revealing so much about life over the centuries, and centred on people - at all levels of society. Superficially this is a book about a house - number 49 Bankside, located on the River Thames in London directly opposite to St Paul's Cathedral, and next door to what is now Tate Modern, in the old Bankside Power Station. Number 49 was built close on 300 years ago. But this book is really a study of the changes that have totally overwhelmed the whole of this area, from the time that the original Globe Theatre was in use, when this area outside the City of London, but linked to it by London Bridge, was a pleasure zone. Using the house as a hanger the author clothes the area through personalities and industries that inhabited this essentially rural district from the Middle Ages to today. We hear about lightermen and watermen, hatters and skinners, the pike ponds and bear pits. It is scattered with well known people (actors and writers, poets and bishops) but equal value comes from the often obscure inhabitants of this house. It was fun, educational, instructive and oh so interesting. Thankfully the volume was not weighed down with footnotes and obscure tangents, and generally meandered at the right pace. In many ways it is a miracle that this house survived when so much of this area has just disappeared. I knew so little about this area, but now I know so much. Rating: 8/10