“John Adams” by David McCullough – A Neglected Hero

This is my review of “John Adams” by David McCullough.

It is not widely known in the UK that John Adams was the second President of the new republic – as his eldest son was the sixth- but this biography goes some way to compensate for our ignorance of the book-loving New England farmer turned lawyer. After a somewhat confused and dull start, it gets into its stride with the scene where Adams earnestly argues with pacifist Quaker grandee John Dickinson the case for American independence at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Then we see Adams leaving his long-suffering wife Abigail, and risking the life of his eldest son, to take the perilous voyage to France (including a broken mast and battle with an enemy vessel), where he is charged with the task of persuading the French to supply the support needed to succeed against the British. He goes on to play a part in supplying and organising the army and navy, framing the new American constitution, obtaining vital loans from the Dutch and negotiating the eventual peace treaty.

Although he may have been conceited, prickly, resentful of those with greater influence (such as Benjamin Franklin) and argumentative, his energetic ability and good intentions are not in doubt and he seems to have been savagely maligned by a scurrilous press, partly supported by his sometime friend Jefferson. The account of the complex and changing relationship between the two is fascinating. The more famous, and superficially more attractive, handsome and polished Jefferson, does not come too well out of this – a man who could condemn slavery in principle, while his own slaves worked outside the window. He could not afford to release people whose production helped to pay the debts arising from his extravagance. By contrast, Adams seems to have been a more prudent,straightforward and genuinely egalitarian “man of the people”, although his biographer may have painted too flattering a picture.

However, you cannot deny the evidence of Adams’ prodigious writing – although long-winded, he was a profound and sophisticated thinker, too often misunderstood. While the southerner Jefferson, a founder of Republicanism, accused Adams of having been corrupted by his time in Europe into becoming a monarchist sympathiser, Adams was convincing as a genuine democrat, who wanted the legislature and executive to be both elected and subject to checks and balances. Also, Adams was quick to see correctly the danger of the violence of the French Revolution, which Jefferson naively admired, overlooking the excesses of the guillotine.

This gripping biography provides many insights into the causes, progress and effects of the American Revolution together with a fascinating social history of the time, portrait of a marriage between two equals, and descriptions of the American landscape. It repays reading for an initial overview, and then rereading….

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


“John Adams”
 

“The Grass Is Singing” by Doris Lessing – Lingers in the mind and retains the power to shock

This is my review of The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing.

It is easy to understand why “The Grass is Singing” made such an impact in 1950, because the “no holds barred” presentation of naked racism, from which I suspect many current writers would now shy, must have served the purpose of shaming people into confronting their own prejudice, or galvanising them into trying to change the culture. The book may now seem a bit dated, with the end of apartheid in South Africa and of white colonialism in Southern Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – where the book is set. Also, the recent revolution in feminism and sexual equality may make it less likely that a woman like Mary Turner would endure her grim life on a remote farm until it drove her mad.

However, the racism remains shocking, with the added point that it helps one to understand, although not condone, the recent “turning of tables”, with Mugabe’s extremism and the violence perpetrated on white farmers by embittered and impoverished black Zimbabweans.

From the first page, we are catapulted into the drama of the murder of Mary Turner, wife of a unsuccessful farmer, and witness the cynical closing of ranks of the local white community – Mary has somewhow broken the code of “keeping on top of the situation” by failing to control her native staff in the right way – not least the “house boy”, actually physically impressive man, Moses, who has accepted responsibility for her death. The rest of the book is a description of Mary’s life, showing the train of events leading inexorably to her murder. It provides a minutely observed analysis of her ongoing state of mind, shifts in her thinking and motivation, and her ultimate mental deterioration. The same applies to her husband Dick. The two are clearly incompatible, and destroy each other, but show redeeming features and finer qualities, so that one empathises with them both, despite Dick’s weakness and Mary’s excessive cruelty towards the workers.

Then there is the aspect which I admire most of all – Doris Lessing’s vivid evocation of the African landscape, the sights, scents, wildlife, shifting weather and seasons. This is what also struck me most in her very different and perhaps even more famous work, “The Golden Notebook”. She has the gift for bringing alive a continent one may never have seen, in all its wild beauty and oppressive heat – the bush is poised to reclaim in a few months the homestead and farm which Dick has slaved for years to cultivate.

At times, the bleak sadness of Mary’s life felt unendurable, and I was forced to put the book aside for a few hours. Towards the end, the sexual tension, perverted mutual hatred and fascination betwen Mary and Moses, is built up with great skill. I agree with reviewers who have said that the final chapter, although very powerful and imaginative, loses some of the striking clarity of the earlier prose as regards the behaviour of the two protagonists, Mary and Moses. Perhaps Doris Lessing intends to portray the confusion of Mary’s madness, but I am left a little uncertain as to what Moses’ precise motives for the murder are (plus I was half-expecting a final plot twist!). On a second reading,I saw how Moses might have been driven by misplaced jealousy rather than just the desire to dominate Mary.

On technical grounds, you could perhaps criticise Lessing for using too much of a “telling” style of narrative. Nevertheless, this Nobel-prize winning classic is worth reading, to remind one of what “good writing” – written from the heart, without any artifice but with startling insight – really is in a world where one’s mind can be blunted with the over-hyped pap of too many current bestsellers.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars


The Grass Is Singing
 

“Sister” by Rosamund Lupton – Art or Craft?

This is my review of Sister by Rosamund Lupton.

This is a page turner, and the twist at the end did not disappoint me as expected. The author is an experienced scriptwriter, which explains the carefully worked out plot and slick crafting. The “voice over” is Beatrice who sustains an intimate imagined musing with Tess, the sister whose disappearance has brought her back hotfoot from a high-powered job and safe planned marriage in the States. The monologue, which explains much about the sisters’ in many ways tragic family life, is inter-cut with accounts of Beatrice’s interviews with “Mr Wright”, a lawyer at the Crown Prosecution Service, who is checking out the details she has obsessively gathered on what has befallen her sister. All this has the makings of a riveting plot. Yet, warning bells ring from the outset, triggered by the way passages clearly meant to be moving are often mawkish, spoiling insightful observations by laying emotion on with a trowel, while dialogues are too often very unnatural. In the second half of the book, by which time I had invested too much effort to “switch off”, the plot details become implausible, and most of the characters seem to talk in the same style – that of the narrator herself. I also noticed the odd “Hitchcock moment”, of the sinister fingers beating on the pane variety, no doubt included as spurious cliffhangers should the book be serialised. Then there are the inevitable (hint of) sex scenes, however unlikely, and, without giving too much away, the arch-villain seems clumsily welded into the story and therefore unconvincing.

This book is selling so well that it obviously appeals to many people – I suspect mostly female readers. I like the way that Beatrice tends to suspect everyone she meets, and how the investigation of her sister’s life brings her to a better understanding of herself, and changes her as a person. But, as with many TV serials, I was left feeling that the novel promises more than it delivers and does not amount to much.

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars


Sister
 

“Long Time Coming” : Crime Thriller by Robert Goddard – A Turn Up for the Books

This is my review of Long Time Coming: Crime Thriller by Robert Goddard.

Robert Goddard writes old-fashioned yarns distinguished by intriguing convoluted plots, usually linked to some interesting historical situation. This makes up for the reliance on coincidences, at times cliché-ridden or oddly condensed prose (“railinged terrace” etc) and somewhat two-dimensional characters, with a preponderance of seedy, under-achieving middle-aged men and over-romanticised females.

I agree with those who find “Long Time Coming” a marked improvement on the recent annual production of rather mediocre pot-boilers. The “interesting history” in this case is the situation in 1940s Dublin, where Eamonn Devalera was reluctant to enter the war as an ally of Britain, partly since he believed that the Germans had a better chance of winning. The story commences in 1976 with Stephen Swann stunned to find that, far from dead as he had been led to believe, his Uncle Eldritch has in fact spent 36 years in an Irish gaol, for a crime which he refuses to reveal, there being no public records available. Eldritch enlists Stephen’s help in proving that some Picassos were stolen from his former employer’s family…..and so the labrynthine plot is set up.

I like the well-worn but in this case effective device of switching between 1976 (authentically free of mobile phones, PCs and the Internet etc) and 1940. This made the scenes more dramatic than lengthy reported explanations from Eldritch would have proved.

My one reservation is that Eldritch seems remarkably undamaged and free from bitterness for the inordinately long time spent in gaol. We are told about the innate resilience of his 1940s self, but that didn’t seem sufficient explanation. Also, Stephen appears very lacking in empathy or imagination in not thinking about what his uncle must have suffered, especially if not guilty. However, in general the plot “adds up” quite well, and this is a good read for a long journey, or if you want a spot of undemanding escapism.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


Long Time Coming: Crime Thriller
 

Pas complètement déphasé

This is my review of Streetwise French (Book + 1 CD): Speak and Understand Everyday French (Streetwise!Series) by Isabelle Rodrigues,Ted Neather.

As an English speaker with A Level standard French, I do not know how truly accurate and topical the phrases in "Streetwise French" are. However, this attractively presented book is very easy to use with "parallel text" French/English conversations ( on how to complain, give advice, tell a story, express an opinion, and so on), slang and idioms highlighted in italics and thoroughly explained, a CD of conversations, and some written and aural tests to check learning. Despite the picture of young people on the front, and the opening conversation all about "gueules de bois" hangovers, the colloquialisms covered are wide-ranging and of interest to would-be French speakers of all ages.

I am working through this book to improve my ability to read modern French fiction and articles, understand French films better and last but not least make out more of "real conversations" when in France – plus I feel this is a good complement to the more academic text books available. I gather that French has changed a good deal recently – even for native-born speakers who have lived abroad a while – so it is good to have an accessible book to fill the gap somewhat.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Streetwise French (Book + 1 CD): Speak and Understand Everyday French (Streetwise!Series)

“The Post Office” Girl by Stefan Zweig – An unexpected gem

This is my review of The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig.

“The Post Office Girl” deserves to be more widely read. It has clearly not suffered in translation. The crystal-clear prose captures the changing moods of Christine, the young Austrian woman whose childhood and youth have been blighted by the effects of WW1. Running a village post office single-handed for a stifling bureaucracy, caring for a sick mother prematurely aged by war work, Christine’a life is transformed overnight when a rich aunt visiting from America casually invites her to stay at a luxury Swiss hotel. Christine is utterly entranced by the sudden immersion in wealth and apparent freedom. Her delight and eruption of enthusiasm and confidence attract fair-weather friends who imagine she is wealthy. When the aunt abruptly withdraws her hospitality, Christine returns to a dull routine made all the less tolerable because she has seen that the grass is greener! Then she meets a kindred spirit, Ferdinand, a young man who has been similarly embittered by ill fortune – the loss of his family fortune in hyperinflation, his years spent as a prisoner in Siberia which have left him disabled. The two then conceive a plan of action which will enable them to assert their freedom from the trap of their current lives.

Parts of this book make for gloomy “Jude the Obscure”- type reading, and Ferdinand’s self-absorbed rants did get on my nerves BUT my respect for the book was increased greatly through considering its context. Zweig was a wealthy Austrian Jew who was appalled by the destruction of European culture by the Great War and the rise of Hitler. Influenced by Freud (whom he knew personally) he was interested in the way that a chance event may trigger self awareness and a sense of being really alive. Zweig and this wife died in a suicide pact in 1942, so that it is haunting to reflect that he had his characters contemplate an extreme solution which he was prepared to carry out himself.

Although the relentless bleakness of some passages is at first repellent, Zweig has the power to enable you to view life from different perspectives, even to the extent of seeing a logic in apparent madness, and fulfilment in tragedy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


The Post Office Girl
 

“David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider” by Roy Hattersley – Flawed genius and a dose of “Plus ça change!”

This is my review of David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider by Roy Hattersley.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”. We see Lloyd George condemning the arms race and immoral wars, such as against the Boers – how would he have applied his razor-sharp scorn to the Iraq War? He campaigned for non-conformist teachers to be allowed to teach in Welsh schools , so presumably would have spoken against faith schools and for Welsh devolution, had he lived today. He foresaw how the embryonic labour party threatened the long-term survival of the liberal party and eventually advocated a “centrist” coalition with the Tories to effect constitutional change. The level of faction-fighting within the Liberal Party foreshadowed what may be about to happen again now. And then there were the issues of Irish independence and the power of the Lords to block legislation, eternal thorns in the flesh of Westminster.

Lloyd George got himself noticed by attacking people through breathtakingly rude yet witty insults, on a scale which would probably be quite unacceptable today. His “weathercock” attitude to many issues makes for confusing reading at times. He opposed votes for women on the practical grounds that this would give the Tories an unfair advantage until suffrage was extended to men without property. This illustrates the ultra-pragmatism which enabled him to negotiate with employers and unions to avert strikes, and bring peace to Ireland – yet always there was his tendency to give different parties different impressions – to the point of appearing to lie – so that “solutions” were too often short-lived.

We are told that LG “felt no loyalty to either institutions or individuals …yet he remained true … to a few ideas… for which he was prepared to sacrifice other political objectives”: he was unyielding on national insurance for sickness and invalidity, based on contributions from employers and workmen. For this and his leadership in WW1, he deserves praise – although he seems to have withheld vital troops from a military leader he wanted to remove, but lacked the power to do so.

On a personal level, he sailed close to the wind, risking scandal through indiscreet affairs, fathering illegitimate children. He sold honours for cash with astonishing blatancy, even joking about the “dirty money” which the Liberals held their noses and asked him to raise.

Ffion Hague’s recent biography of Lloyd George has already provided a detailed character study of the charismatic but selfish and manipulative “Welsh Wizard”, but it tends to focus on his relationships with women, notably his long-suffering (“blind” because it was the easiest option?) wife and emotionally abused mistress Frances Stephenson. I looked to Roy Hattersley for a clearer analysis of the political aspects of his life.

It is a challenge to produce a book which is accessible but suitably “scholarly”, without getting overly bogged down in detail. For the most part, the author manages this, with a good blend of analysis, telling quotations and fascinating anecdotes. Once Lloyd George achieves his ambition of cabinet office, first at the Board of Trade but then as Chancellor, the book gets into its stride and manages to be quite gripping, even over such a superficially dry but important topic as his battle to get the 1909 Finance Bill through the Lords – or did he want it to fail in order to force a crisis over the undemocratic power of the higher chamber?

I spotted a few errors – “wining” for “winning” etc, which gave me the confidence to think that has been a lack of editing. Also, some topics are introduced in a fragmented way, without sufficient initial explanation. So, I was often forced to break off reading and comb the index to piece together an understanding of, say, the aims and effects of various education acts (all tied up with the imposition of Anglican RE on nonconformist Wales) or the ins and outs of Irish dissidence, which then as now had the power to split and bring down Westminster parties. One of the worst omissions for me was the lack of explanation of the role of Joseph Chamberlain in breaking up the Liberal Party before LG attained office. I had to consult Wikipedia to find out about the formation of the Liberal Unionists (not mentioned in the index for this biography) who governed in coalition with the Tories. There are also some odd leaps in the text , such as the jump on p.367 from the need to produce shells in WW1 to the drive to reduce the consumption in alcohol.

Hattersley does not much like, but admires LG, a viewpoint which it is easy to share. I recommend this biography, although the 650 pages require a serious commitment of time and concentration – probably worth buying so you can reread to get the full benefit…..

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars


David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider

Prophecy of Doom from the Other Stephen King

This is my review of Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity by Stephen D. King.

The global economist Stephen King has produced an analysis of "the emerging threats to western prosperity" that is clear, readable yet ultimately more chilling than a thriller from his namesake.

King may be doing no more than bring together the information which can be deduced from regular reading of daily broadsheets, but it is thought-provoking to have the evidence for our inevitable terminal decline set out in one place. Writing from the viewpoint of a "westerner", we are in a Catch-22 position: we need the rising economies of the east, most recently China and India, as areas for new productive investment, sources of capital for us to borrow in turn, sources of labour as our own working populations decline. Yet, at the same time, the swamping effect of the Chinese surpluses invested in US bond markets destabilises our financial system. Increasing earnings and rising expectations create intense competition for scarce resources of energy etc. In the bargaining process, what is to prevent, say Russia, from making gas deals with the east rather than the west? Just as old eastern empires declined and the west "succeeded" because it was flexible and entrepreneurial, the tables may now be turned back again. Retreat into a protectionist bunker, such as the formation of "The Independent EU", is a sterile solution, as we should know from the US attempts at protectionism which exacerbated the World Depression of the 1920s-30s. Our complacent assumption of being in a permanently superior position cannot last.

There is already evidence of the truth of King's predictions of increasing internal unrest, as say, "the Tea Party" in the US provides an example of economic nationalism in what is likely to be a futile effort to stem the changing balance of world power.

In reading this book , one is frustrated again by the short-termist attitude of our political leaders, who persist in the fallacy that continual growth is possible and "fiddle while Rome burns" by encouraging us to focus on immediate relatively minor issues and "scandals" rather than face up to the "bigger picture" long-term.

Although King is good at painting this picture, and certainly covers a wide range of interconnected political and social aspects as well as the economic, there is the odd occasion when he forgets to explain the basics for a lay reader (e.g. the operation of the US bond market – very important since developing countries invest so much of their surplus wealth in currently "safe" US bonds). The small number of diagrams included do not shed much light (e.g. p. 69 of hardback) and the book becomes rather repetitive, even rambling, after a while, as though a very busy man has thrown it together in a hurry.

His solutions also appear a little thin. Suggestions for e.g. a small number of major financial power blocs rather than reliance on the US dollar is interesting, but the suggested common currency for China and Japan sounds a bit Utopian! He fudges the issue of increased migration into areas like Britain to offset the "demographic deficit", saying that "it is not time to close borders", without addressing the counterarguments adequately. I was left with the depressed conclusion that King has no real answer for "coping with the West's diminished status" apart from accepting it with an air of defeatism. It may be indefensible for the West to have obtained its unfair advantage in the first place but, having identified the problem of our inevitable decline, one could wish that "experts" could come up with better strategies for how the decline might be managed.

At least this book enables us to understand more coherently what is in store for us in terms of a permanently reduced standard of living, with increased inequality within countries, not least for the growing numbers of pensioners reliant on declining savings…..

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

Losing Control: The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity

Creative Device Works – This Time

This is my review of Ghostwritten by David Mitchell.

Ghostwritten defies an accurate description of what it is really about, but seems best summarised as nine – or ten -short stories, each with a strong sense of place and well-developed main characters. Mitchell is very versatile and ultra-imaginative, so he can transport us from Japan to Hong Kong, then Mongolia, Russia, London and so on, with some ingenious plots, good sense of comedy, very humorous dialogues, yet also situations of great tension and menace, heightened because we know the author is ruthlessly prepared to destroy any character to serve the drama – although he seems to have a soft spot for his "nicer" creations.

The stories are loosely connected – in some cases these links could be missed, so that part of the fun is looking out for a familiar character or an event from a previous tale. Often, disproportionately serious outcomes arise from minor or random events.

Then there are the ghosts. I may have failed to notice them all but they take various forms: the mischievous poltergeist pestering the corrupt financial lawyer in Hong Kong, or the wise spirit in the Chinese Tea House Tree which turns out to be the transmigrating force which hops from body to body in Mongolia. Then, there is the charming London drifter perhaps on the brink of "facing up to responsibility" who is quite simply a ghostwriter for minor celebrities.

I was not always certain what purpose these ghosts served, and if you do not care for Sci-fi or magic realism, the paranormal aspect may be unappealing. The parts where I for one lose patience are where, say, the state of the migrating "non corpa" is analysed and "explained" with a kind of "ludicrous logic". Likewise, the AI taking control of the world's computerised defence systems is "over the top". Yet, I agree with those impressed by Mitchell's prescience. I had to check that the publication date preceded 9/11, the weapons of mass destruction and invasion of Iraq. I suppose that Reagan's "Star Wars" may have triggered the writer's imagination.

As a set of short stories, "Ghostwritten" is brilliant – well-written, creative and diverse in style and coverage.

As a novel, the whole seems less than the sum of the parts. I think this is because some of the links between stories are so tenuous. Also, although the stories are page turners (different styles will appeal to different readers), they oblige you to work hard mentally, getting to grips with a set of people and situations, only to end inconclusively (not necessarily a criticism) and force you to start afresh. This is not conducive to the kind of coherence, progression or "structure" a novel requires.

Also, although technically very clever and clearly sincere in, say, questioning our current values and misuse of resources, and the evil of one regime imposing ideas on others, I do not feel that Mitchell has the kind of clear, insightful message that a "great" novel might convey. Individual characters are often too busy wisecracking and being too clever by half to be genuinely moving.

This book is definitely worth reading, and may merit greater prizes than it has won, for its originality and skilful writing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars

Ghostwritten

Master and Man in America

This is my review of Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey.

That this is an old-fashioned "good yarn" was not initially clear to me because, being the work of a twice Booker prize-winner who has chosen to use the style of the early C19 in which the story is set, the sentiments and language tend to be quite wordy and flowery.

The narration alternates between the two main characters. Olivier is the delicate, pampered French aristocratic, whose overprotective mother, traumatised by the guillotining of her close relatives, insists on packing him off to America to escape the risk of prison or worse in a politically volatile France. Parrott, the wily, hard-bitten servant in thrall to the manipulative Monsieur, a close friend of "Maman", is sent off to look after, and also spy on Olivier. From an initial mutual dislike, an understanding and "modern" friendship grows, of the type that could only occur in the New World.

After wading through the first chapter about Olivier, which I found very stiff and unnatural (perhaps intentionally in view of his family's fossilised values), I got used to the style of writing, and became absorbed in the characters and the plot. Many scenes and dialogues are very entertaining or imaginative (sometimes a bit too far-fetched!), and there is some powerful drama, as in the scene where men leap, their bodies on fire, out of a blazing building. Descriptions of Dartmoor where Parrot spent some of his childhood are very vivid, and his nostalgia for life with his long-dead father is moving.

Some of the minor characters are rather sketchy, even unconvincing, although Godefroy father and daughter are "flesh and blood" representatives of a new-style "meritocracy". I could never quite believe in the beautiful Mathilde's apparently unquenchable love for the much older, grizzled Parrott, who for much of the book seems to be something of a loser. However, Olivier and Parrott are portrayed as complex characters, and we see how their emotions are formed and changed by experience. I found myself in sympathy with Parrott, portrayed as a man who survives against the odds, but is tortured by his lack of achievement as an artist.

It is interesting to think about what life must have been like for the children of aristocrats who survived the first violent waves of killings in the French Revolution. It was unclear how long the restored monarchy in France would last and one could be penalised for having chosen to stay in the country and keep a low profile, rather than flee into exile with the remnants of the royal family. Also, it was uncertain what sort of democracy might be established in France and what its effects would be. So, Olivier, whose official excuse for being in America is to study prisons, actually becomes fascinated with recording this new democracy . He is in fact modelled loosely on the writer De Tocqueville.

I like the way in which Parrott adapts easily to American life, and takes the opportunity to advance in life, whereas Olivier is unable to shed totally the constraints of his formal, convention-ridden upbringing. Yet, he has the last word because he can predict how "democracy will not ripen well", the "perfidious press" will feed people's ignorance, and "the public squares will be occupied by an uneducated class who will not be able to quote a line of Shakespeare." Although he is a hopeless snob, when you think how things have turned out under Bush Jnr and the prospect of Palin, he has a point.

I was distracted by minor discrepancies e.g. Parrot says on p.109 he has lived with Mathilde for six years, but implies on p.163 that it is only two. There is also a tad too much reliance on coincidences. The language can be a bit too convoluted at times, but I think that is to create a C19 atmosphere.

Overall, this is an entertaining, often funny and moving read, which proves thought-provoking at the end. It would make a worthy Booker winner.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Parrot and Olivier in America