Mooching along through this racing thread - thanks south for keeping us going.
My brief say on recurring topics:
Love Michel Faber, including The Crimson Petal, The Book of Strange New Things and Undying
Thought TTOD and NLMG were fine but not outstanding
Not yet read Into Thin Air although it sits on the bookshelf in the TBR pile
And was one of those teenagers who used Stephen King as a gateway to adult books.
My latest reads:
4. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe.
Well researched account of The Troubles of Northern Ireland from the 1960’s, and the beginnings of the Provisional IRA, to the Good Friday Agreement and the present day. The history is told through four main men and women whose life stories interweave with one another. Two are well know from the press (Gerry Adams, Delours Price) and two lesser known (Brendon Hughes, Jean McConville). Mrs McConville represents ‘the disappeared’, people kidnapped and murdered for being allegedly touts (snitches, working for the British Army).
The third part of the book reveals an oral archive (The Belfast Project), initially held in secret at Boston University, which gathered the oral histories of combatants from the front line of the conflict, with the promise of continued secrecy till death (of the interviewee). This changed when the N. Irish authorities found out about the archive and subpoenaed the tapes and documents to investigate a murder.
This is a remarkable account of the people involved and the personal and collective consequences of civil war and conflict.
How do you heal a nation in which there has been civil war, where your neighbour kidnapped your mother, your son or brother? When you walk down the street and pass someone who a year ago was your enemy? A difficult, fragile and long process.
If I had one niggle then it would be that there are more experiences from the Provo IRA point of view than the Loyalist but the author does address this in his concluding chapters.
5. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne.
Bought by a friend for my birthday last year. Similar in topic to Alan Hollinghurst’s The Sparsholt Affair but this is set in Ireland. The story follows the life of Cyril Avery, a gay man born in 1945 to a 16 year old girl.
This was a very popular book a couple of years ago. I tend to avoid very popular books but gave it a go as it was bought by a good friend. It was fine, I’m just not a massive fan of coincidences/fate as one of the major plot lines, but it was funny and sad and easy-to-read with all that is needed to make a bestseller.