Something for the weekend - Bring up the bodies

This weeks 'Something for the weekend' is Bring up the bodies by Hilary Mantel.

Guaranteed to be one of the bestsellers of the year, ‘Bring up the Bodies’ follows on from ‘Wolf Hall’ & continues the incredible story of Anne Boleyn’s rise & fall at the behest of Henry VIII, England’s most notorious serial (killing) monogamist.

The narrative is related at first-hand through Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s faithful right- hand man when it comes to engineering the divorce from Catherine of Aragon, dismantling the state religion & disposing of the opposition – all in the name of Henry’s single-minded pursuit of a male heir to the throne.

Mantel skilfully paints a fascinating picture of Cromwell – touchingly kind & human when dealing with his own household & friends, but ruthless in implementing the king’s will. He is a brilliant administrator & adept politician – a working-class boy made good who is initially despised by his noble-born counterparts & subsequently feared & hated in equal measure as he gains real power. Indeed, there is a tangible sense of menace & dread at Henry’s court as key historical figures jockey for position in the King’s favour, only to be bloodily dispatched when their usefulness has run its course. I found myself reminded of the first two Godfather films as Henry, through Cromwell, brutally laid waste to any obstacles in his way while at the same time wishing to be seen as the benevolent patron & figurehead of his realm.

These books are by no means an easy read as Mantel’s dense prose demands attention, but equally they are immersive & hugely rewarding, giving the reader an unrestricted view of one of the pivotal periods in our history.

If you haven’t read them before, read them back to back - as I did - & remind yourself what great novel writing should be.

Steve Orchard

Buy it here

Something For The Weekend - Phonogram Vol 2

"Everyone I know is a bad person with a great taste in records. I can afford to hold some of them in contempt."

Writing a blog post about Phonogram Vol. 2: The Singles Club at this point in time isn't so much being late to the party, as dropping round the following morning to help with the clean up. It was first released as a graphic novel back in March 2010, a follow up to the excellent Rue Britannia.

So why bothering writing at all? Two reasons. First up, Phonogram is what I suggest to anyone who thinks comics begin and end with men in long underwear protecting Earth from evil geniuses. Secondly, there's another installment due this November entitled The Immaterial Girl which is causing all sorts of Geek hearts to flutter in anticipation.

But surely I need to read Vol. 1 first? I hear you say. Well, no. Kieron Gillen (Thor, S.W.O.R.D.) is a savvy writer, and has made Phonogram very accessible (another reason to give it to comic-reading and non-comic reading folk alike). You can dive in and need not know anything in advance. What makes The Singles Club  particularly satisfying is the mastery of storytelling. Seven (count 'em) interconnected tales of seven single guys and girls (hence 'Singles Club') all brought together by an Indie night with a very special set of rules.

Seven tales of impossibly cool but painfully real characters all discovering themselves, discovering each other, re-discovering old geography (both real and psychic). Seven tales of love, loss and regret with an excellent playlist of songs.

But this is a comic too. Enter Jamie McKelvie on art duties.

In addition to being spoiled by the story there is the sort of art that you could frame. I'm being entirely serious, friends of mine have Phonogram art on their mantelpiece. It's not just that the art succesfully conveys story, communicates body language, and captures the mystery of people dancing, but also that every character is immediately identifiable, differentiated and likable (apologies for the long sentence if such things upset you).

And there's another instalment due this November... did I mention that already?

Den

Buy it here

James & Bob

            Signed copies of James Bowen's book 'A Street Cat Named Bob' now available at Blackwell Charing Cross Road bookshop. James is still busking in London with his cat Bob and it seems there is nothing better than working & living in Good Company!
Aneska

http://www.blackwell.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17467244



Sports Books Are Books Too

Before beginning the post proper, I feel it's important the reader understands that I am not proud of some of the things that I am going to share with you. For example: the first book I ever read in one sitting was 'Ruud Gullit: Portrait of a Genius' by Harry Harris. I've just looked it up and it is out of print (some kind of admin oversight at Harpercollins I assume) but if the mood takes you, second-hand copies are available through our website. http://b5edit.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/id/Ruud_Gullit/9780002187565

Like I said- not proud. Nor am I proud that I can remember Michael Atherton's Test batting average (37.69) but not my Grandmother's birthday. I am a little bit proud that I used to be able to recite the result and scorers in every Southampton match during the 1995-96 season, but only because I no longer can. None of these are admirable things, I know this. And part of me knew it back in 1997 when I read 'Fever Pitch' for the first time. As good as the Gullit biography was, it did not make the impression on me that Nick Hornby did. It was one of those rare and special occasions when it feels like a book has been written for you only. I've re-read it a number of times since, most recently last summer, and its magic has faded somewhat. It's a different book now, and a sadder one; just as Hornby's boyhood passion for Arsenal fades and changes, so does my passion for the book. I can't get as excited about it now, but I can't deny the importance of the effect it once had on me either.

All that is a roundabout way of saying that I like sports and so when we decided to add a sports section to the long list of splendid things on offer in Blackwell Charing Cross Road, it fell to me to do it. Not everybody liked the idea. Bookish people often are less keen on sports. If you'll allow a gross and unsubstantiated generalisation, bookish people are funny, interesting and laid back, whereas athletic types are frequently noisy, boreish, and live lives wholly without irony. (I know this because when I am watching sport I become noisy boreish and wholly unironic in disposition: I become, clinically, a moron.) But sports books are different: they are books. I don't mean the dreadful ghosted autobiographies where a footballer recounts tales of pranks and banter at the training ground, justifies years of indulgent childishness and reveals the pain he felt on being omitted from the squad for bla bla bla.

Those were not the books I had in mind when pushing for the section. I was thinking about things like 'Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino' by Paul Kimmage A haunting book about a haunted man. I don't want to give too much away, suffice it to say that there isn't a lot of banter; it's more a portrait of somebody struggling with the lies he has been told, and has told himself, for years. As the cliche goes, you don't have to be interested in football to read this book. You probably do have to be interested in football to read Jonathan Wilson's 'Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics' but if you are, I recommend you do. It is fascinating. Really. No, it is, I promise.

Then there are sports books that are barely about sport at all. H.G. Bissinger's 'Friday Night Lights' is ostensibly about one season following an American high school football team but really it's an account of the social consequences of Reagan's presidency, the '80s oil boom in Texas, contingency, hope, disappointment, and the madness of making teenagers compete in front of crowds numbering tens of thousands. Or Donald Mcrae's 'Dark Trade' which is about race, class, violence, and masculinity as much as it is about boxing. When Mike Brearley writes about being a cricket captain he is writing about a whole lot more than field placings. To read Gideon Haigh is to read a fine writer, there is no need to add the qualifier 'on cricket'.

What I'm trying to get at is that sports books are books too, and there are some which display the aesthetic verve, complexity, beauty... all the things that compel us to read, as well as any other form. So I'm delighted we now have a section showcasing some of this stuff. You should come and have a look.

Lachlan

Something for the weekend.. Department 19: The Rising

Department 19: The Rising

Will Hill

This week's 'Something for the weekend' is a bloody business.

I feel I should point out for the squeamish that The Rising is grisly, very grisly, throats are torn out, bodies explode, there's blood, gore & mayhem at every turn, what can I say - it's basically a whole lot of fun. They didn't write books for teenagers like this when I were a lad (which is why I 'have' to read them now).

We'll start with a brief history: Will Hill released the first Department 19 book last year, his debut novel is based on the genius idea that Stoker's Dracula is not a fiction but is actually a re-telling of the truth. Brilliant. Also, once they'd slain the creature, that Van Helsing, Harker et al set up the nascent 'Department 19' a top secret force run by the British Government to monitor & fight the evil Vampire forces. Oh & Frankenstein's monster is also real & helps D19 fight Vampires. Brilliant. The hero of the two books is Jamie Carpenter a young lad who is unwittingly thrust into the story due to his (unknown) heritage.

Of course the idea that the British Government could run a top secret Vampire slaying squad is hilarious, (or run a top secret anything, or run anything...  anyway) as is the idea that Dracula was real etc. But that really isn't the point. The point is that Hill goes about it all with a very straight face which is essential to making it so enjoyable. He flits very nicely along the time lines which breaks up the furious pace of the present day plot & gives you a chance to catch your breath with a nice bit of back story. The teenage leads are believable & not too annoying (to older readers), & I love his Vampires - they're so louche - as all good Vampires should be.

Two books in & I can't wait for the next! If you like these I'd also recommend the trilogy by Del Toro & Hogan Strain, Fall & Night Eternal not dissimilar (though the hero is the father not the son) if you can get past some of the 'it's quiet.. too quiet' b-movie dialogue they are worth a look. But start with D19 as they are much superior.

buy it here

Gary.

The Olympics – a Tale of Pros, Cons, Hacks, Heroes & Heartaches

It would take an unusually inattentive Londoner not to realise that in three months’ time the Olympic juggernaut will be rolling into town. Not yet are the streets festooned in flags, bunting and the Olympic rings (officially merchandised of course…) but the posters are getting ever more ubiquitous, the ‘buzz’ is more audible, and some of us are discussing heading for the hills, if we haven’t taken up the offer to rent our flats out for £8,000 a week as per the ad splashed on the tube last week.

For the phlegmatic rest of us life will go on, albeit one a little more crowded, busy, exasperating and exciting. London is both a ‘world city’, home to expats from almost every corner of the globe, and an old hand, having hosted the summer Olympic Games twice before in 1908 and 1948. Times of course were different then: in 1908 sport was still wholly amateur (and largely male) and amateur meant gentlemen of leisure; in 1948 the world was still recovering from the traumas of six years of war, and the Wembley Olympics were very much a make-do affair as can be seen in Janie Hampton's 'Austerity Olympics'.

Today the talk is of ‘legacy’, for the sportier elements of the nation as a whole and for the inhabitants of East London. Too many past Olympics have left debts and white elephants but now accountability is all the rage. Taxpayers’ money is handed over to the organising committee who answer to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Exclusive merchandising rights are sold to the usual subjects; expect a summer of burgers, fizzy drinks and trainers. And money. Not everyone is convinced, check out Iain Sinclair’s trenchant arguments in ‘Ghost Milk’ and perhaps be afraid.

It is perhaps at this point I should declare an interest in these games: I’m a slightly abashed Olympic stat nerd: ‘Bermuda? Yep, one bronze medal in boxing. Montreal 1976.’ ‘Monaco? ’65 year old Paul Cerutti disqualified for taking amphetamines in ’76 despite coming 43rd out of a field of 44.’ All human life is here and I want to watch it although I don’t particularly wish to pay for it (or have to walk to work). What will the opening ceremony be like? How will Danny Boyle and Underworld tackle the thousand year history of empire and fighting the French without offending anyone, and let’s face it we’ve fought the Dutch, the Germans, the Irish, the Americans, the Japanese, Russians and Chinese at some point or other? Will they jump from 1066 to the swinging Sixties? Will there be Morris dancing??

It’s easy to be turned off, angered, protest camped by the spectacle, the hype, the money, the spoilt millionaires, the toffs and the bureaucrats but many individual medallists’ stories show people struggling against immense odds: poverty, crippling disease, discrimination, bullying, and wartime incarceration, before they bow their heads to receive their medals.

　

1960 100m sprint champion Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely, suffered polio, double pneumonia and scarlet fever, and wore a brace until the age of 11. She was also one of 22 children of a poor Tennessee Afro-American family. Her Olympic triumph came at a time when the profile of black women in the world was practically negligible. Since the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 the profile of the competitors has mirrored the changes in society and the world. What was a white, male, aristocratic elite playground now encompasses women from all corners of the world with China dominating table tennis and diving, Indonesians winning at badminton, Ethiopian girls from poor, remote villages dominating the long distance running events, and Arab women from the Middle East and the Maghreb shaking off societal disapproval to compete and win. The rise of working class athletes, of black and African athletes, of women athletes from the developing world, the appearance of openly gay/lesbian athletes, and paralympians, racial politics, Cold War politics, gender politics and gender bending Nazis …it’s all there in the Olympics, mirroring the changes in society:

Lis Hartel of Denmark, dressage champion in 1952, not only the first civilian and woman to win the gold in an event that had unbelievably been open only to commissioned officers (male of course) until 1948, she had polio and had to be helped on and off her horse.

Duncan Goodhew, British breaststroke swimmer and gold medallist 1980, bullied at school for being bald and dyslexic.

Camilla Andersen of Norway and Mia Hundvin of Denmark, the first married couple to compete against each other, in the women’s handball tournament in Sydney 2000.

Poland’s Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz’s rather rude gesture to the partisan Soviet crowd in Moscow 1980 after winning the pole vault gold (Google it…)

Dora Ratjen, German high jumper in Berlin 1936 who was actually Herman Ratjen and had been ordered by the Hitler Youth Movement to compete as Dora… teammates were alerted by his/her five o’clock shadow. 

Bruce Kennedy, a javelin thrower picked for the Rhodesian team to Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976, games from which the Rhodesians were barred due to the regime’s racial policies, made it onto the American team for Moscow 1980. The American team were made to boycott...

And finally China’s 1992 silver-medal winning shot putter Huang Zhihong who loathed her event: "If I knew the shot would make me so fat, I wouldn’t have taken it up."

Meanwhile the British seem to be expert at anything that involves sitting: cycling, rowing, sailing & equestrianism. If there was a competition for TV viewing we’d doubtless romp home first too…

　　

I’m indebted to the Olympic bible: David Wallechinsky & Jaime Loucky’s 'Complete Book of the Olympics 2012 edition' for the nerd facts and stats quoted.

Neil

Something for the Weekend.. Wildwood

Wildwood

by Colin Meloy
with illustrations by Carson Ellis

I have to admit there's really only one reason why i sought 'Wildwood' out to read, & that is Colin Meloy's 'day job'. He is the Lead Singer/guitarist/song writer in American folk rock legends 'The Decemberists'. Much more popular in their home country than here (catch up England!), they are a great band. I won't go on about them as this is a book review (but go and buy my favourite 'Picaresque' right now & then the collect the rest - they haven't done a bad album). One of Meloy's gifts is that in his songs he can, & often does, tell a great story ('The Mariners revenge song' is a particular highlight). So when i heard he was writing a book it seemed like a very natural thing for him to do.

Aimed at the early teens Wildwood is a pretty epic tale, weighing in at over 500 pages. Along the way it includes some beautiful illustrations by Meloy's wife Carson Ellis. Some of these sit alongside the text & some are single colour sheets -you may be tempted to snip some of these out & put them up on the wall - they're delightful.

The plot centres around Pru a young girl from Portland, Oregon (where the Meloys live) whose baby brother Mac is suddenly & inexplicably stolen by a murder of Crows who fly away with him into the nearby 'Impasabble Wilderness' -as the locals call it as it's.. well you can guess... Obviously distressed by this Pru sets off to rescue him & is joined by a shy local lad called 'Curtis'.  Making their way into this enchanted forest they encounter a group of bickering Coyotes in soldiers uniforms, and so begins a quest that will take them a great distance with much heartbreak & involve them both growing up a bit faster than they may have cared to.

Wildwood has a lot going for it, Meloy has a good ear for dialogue & there are some nice modern cultural references. There's plenty of action to keep all ages entertained, good guys to cheer for & villains to hiss &  who doesn't like talking animals? In the Wildwoods he's created an intriguing mini-kingdom, a society with different factions not quite in harmony with itself. The book is sub-titled 'The Wildwood Chronicles Book 1' & i can see there's a lot of scope for future stories (but don't worry it does have an ending!). If I had one, very minor, quibble it's that anyone who loves Terry Gilliam's 'Time Bandits' will be shocked at a pretty obvious erm.. 'homage' around the half-way mark, you'll see what I mean.


Gary

Buy it here