Death in a Strange Country - Donna Leon

The second book I've read from this series featuring Venetian Police Commisioner Brunetti.

I think I have a slight problem with these books - perhaps because I don't really know anything about Italy, its politics or society. I also have a problem (never having visited Venice) with geography - this often appears important in Donna Leon's books. The first book I read had a map of Venice in the front - but this didn't really help-I still work out where things were in relation to one another.

I gather Ms Leon is making some sort of judgement on the chaos and corruption of Italian life - but I find the bureaucracy not only frustrating (probably intended) but equally incomprehensible. Brunetti seems to be in rebellion against everyone - his superiors, his aristocratic in-laws, the rest of Italy, Americans, tourists, the world. This isn't your standard detective novel, and like in real life the bad don't always get punished, and there are lots of areas of grey. This time Brunetti has to investigate two crimes - the death of an American Serviceman and the 'theft' of some valuable works of art. The two (of course) end up interlinked - through business corruption and environmental pollution. Trouble is Ms Leon's obsession with irrelevant detail (food and drink - why does this feature so largely in so many crime novels) means that the interesting political and investigation aspects too often take a back seat. I'll probably read more - but I'll need a break. Rating? 6/10

Darkness & Light - John Harvey

This is the second book I've read by John Harvey - this one wasn't one of his Inspector Resnick books. This one 'stars' a retired detective named Frank Elder. Unfortunately this wasn't the first in the series - so some of the references to his past were slightly confusing. However, Mr Harvey obviously writes a very competent above average cop novel. I'm not sure if he's in the same league as your superior 'Whodunnit' novelists, but he seems good on characters, and plots are fine. He's not so good on suspense though and the murderer isn't a great revelation. Rating? A solid 7

Time and Place - Alan Sheridan

There are several words to describe this book - none of them terribly flattering: pretentious, chaotic, self-indulgent, rambling, incoherent, dull, boring, overwritten and substantially flawed. This is (supposedly) based on the genuine journals are reminiscences of a relative of the playwright and politician Richard Brindsley Sheridan. Set at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century it recounts (in an extremely confusing way, with chapters going backwards and forwards in time) the travels and sexual adventures of a young rich man with little to occupy his time. He 'walks' on the stage, he goes to school, he visits realtions, (his father is in the diplomatic service), he goes to University, he meets minor celebrities of the arts, and along the way we are presented with vast amounts of facts, about people, places, books, plays, history geography and social, sexual habits and behaviours of the time. I often felt bludgeoned by the sheer volume of facts. It is almost as though the author is trying to constantly trying to demonstrate his knowledge and the thoroughness of his research. So, we go to Berlin, and in rapid succession we go to several plays (and are 'treated' to the minutiae of producing a play) visit several hotels, bars, explore the streets, examine the politics of the period, huge numbers of names are trotted out (far too many to take in or care about). Meanwhile in London, a welter of concerts, operas, concert halls, public conveniences, turkish baths, books, Dan Lenos life history, lists of actors (and their histories) are spewed forth.
And after 480 pages do I really know anything about the central character? NO - do I care? Double NOOOO!!!!!
Rating: 3/10.

Cutty Sark Appeal

I want as many people as possible to contribute - if only a little. I know the amount shown here seems enormous, but the Cutty Sark is a true monument of Britain's Maritime History,
so please send even a small amount to help restore this magnificent vessel.

Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

I'm reading two books by this author for two different book groups - fortunately a few weeks apart. This is in many ways your typical 'coming of age' story, but perhaps because it is set in Nigeria this alone makes this a better than average book. Ms Adiche has a good style and you certainly want to read more and find out about how the story ends. The teenage girl who is the centre of the story is bright but extremely repressed by her patriarch father who rules the family oppressively. He is a Catholic, rich and certain of his beliefs. He is terrified that his children will become tainted by ungodliness - which includes his own father. So many of his friends and associates retain an element of the mysterious traditions of Africa. The father is generous with his wealth but not with his affection - so many of those around him depend upon him financially and yet with his own family he behaves like a dictator of the Stalinist variety.
Nigeria is going through difficult times politically and ironically the father is on the side of democracy and liberality, putting his own life in danger.
The girl only really discovers her true self when she visits her father's sister a widowed University lecturer, and meets a charismatic Nigerian priest who finally opens up the shell in which she has trapped herself.
My rating: 8/10

Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

It was interesting to read a good aimed at 'young adults', and if this is the sort of stuff that older teenagers are reading it is probably OK for me! It certainly isn't patronising. The book proposes an interesting political twist, describing a police state where the under class are white and those of other races are in control. The only achievers are black, mixed race, or Asian. Schools are largely prohibited to white children, and there is a terrorist liberation movement waging a campaign of violence to gain advancement. This isn't great literature and some of the plot is trite, the language isn't challenging, but maybe that is important - it means all reading abilities can have access. The central story line of love across the divide isn't developed predictably, but I have to say the author doesn't really represent the motivations of most young men terribly realistically. Overall though it deserves a rating of 7/10

Still water - John Harvey

My first book by this author. Every now and again I like something light and not too challenging, and this is a fairly average to good detective story. I was slightly confused by some of the leading characters - this is several volumes into the Resnick series. Of course most are fairly stereotypical for modern police based novels - a gay/black officer, the moody senior thoughtful inspector, the old-fashioned politically incorrect senior detective, etc. But on balance an entertaining and easy read and I'll probably be reading more of the Resnick novels. Rating: 8/10