What I'm Reading

I have started 13 Things That Don't Make Sense by Michael Brooks. I wanted to read non-fiction and a science book seemed just the ticket. Here is the blurb:

Science starts to get interesting when things don't make sense.Even today there are experimental results that the most brilliant scientists can neither explain nor dismiss. In the past, similar anomalies have revolutionised our world: in the sixteenth century, a set of celestial irregularities led Copernicus to realise that the Earth goes around the sun and not the reverse. In 13 Things That Don't Make Sense Michael Brooks meets thirteen modern-day anomalies that may become tomorrow's breakthroughs. Is ninety six percent of the universe missing? If no study has ever been able to definitively show that the placebo effect works, why has it become a pillar of medical science? Was the 1977 signal from outer space a transmission from an alien civilization? Spanning fields from chemistry to cosmology, psychology to physics, Michael Brooks thrillingly captures the excitement and controversy of the scientific unknown.

Toby's Room - by Pat Barker

I went straight on to this book - my next book club selection - as I have been travelling. It was nice to get back to fiction and a book of more manageable size. Here is the blurb:

When Toby is reported 'Missing, Believed Killed', another secret casts a lengthening shadow over Elinor's world: how exactly did Toby die - and why? Elinor determines to uncover the truth. Only then can she finally close the door to Toby's room. Moving from the Slade School of Art to Queen Mary's Hospital, where surgery and art intersect in the rebuilding of the shattered faces of the wounded, Toby's Room is a riveting drama of identity, damage, intimacy and loss.

The story is told from various viewpoints, but is largely focussed on Elinor and her feelings about her brother's death. Overall the story is quite well written and the pace is good. In a few places we are told something twice [e.g. Toby's "encounter" with the stable boy.], but, for the most part, there is attention to detail. I always like to feel that I have learned something when I read a novel and, in this case, I appreciated the background details of the war, life in the UK at that time and the medical practices.

There was one aspect of the book that I did not understand. We are clear that Toby was homosexual or bisexual, which led directly to his suicide. From a 21st Century perspective, his situation is hard to visualize. I am wondering why, at the beginning of the book, Toby has sex with his sister. I know of no connection between homosexuality and a tendancy to commit incest. This event does not seem to contribute materially to the story, so why was it included? Is it a red herring to make us wonder about his death?

Charles Dickens: A Life - by Claire Tomalin

Another big book that's taken me a while to get through. But I like biographies in general and the link with my recent reading of Dickens made it particularly interesting. The book is long and detailed - perhaps overly so - but ties in all the events of and people in his life with the stories and characters that he created.

I particularly enjoyed the account of his travels to America, which inspired part of Martin Chuzzlewit. I was also interested in his connections with Malvern, where I live, and Cirencester, where I lived previously.

All in all, an enjoyable, if exhausting, read. I feel I know a lot more about the man himself and about the Victorian world, a time that interests me particularly.

What I'm reading ...

I have started Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin, which is my next book club book. We thought it would be interesting to read it, having tackled Martin Chuzzlewit recently. I like biography as a genre and I am interested in life in Victorian England, so I look forward to reading this book. Here's the blurb:

Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more.

At the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey.Yet the brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, he disliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, he took up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cut off his impecunious children.

From the award-winning author of Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens: A Life paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius. If you loved Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, this book is invaluable reading.

Tara Road - by Maeve Binchy

Although it took me a quite a while to read, as it is long [650 pages?], I did enjoy this book. It is fairly easy reading, even though Maeve Binchy has a reputation for having lots of characters, and I was able to keep track of them all. In many ways, the fact that the book mostly takes place in Dublin is not relevant; the story is about the people. The characters are quite well drawn; some are likable, others are clearly villains. There are quite a few that I found a bit annoying - much like real life really. I do like a book with a start, a middle and an end.

I am sure that I'll be returning to read more of Maeve Binchy's books.