new titles
Medea Christa Wolf (Virago £16.99) a 11' at it
It’s one of the West's most an( ient and enduring myths and has been the obiert of many a retelling Yet Wolf's version of the story of the Wife of Jason who betrayed her own, brought him the fleet e and (ommitted IllldlllK ide and fratrir ide, still brings new IWists As Margaret
Atwood remarks in her intisive
introduction, ‘Medea is no two- dimensional allegory' Rather, rt is a
pan-dimensional, With hidden-
resonante-for-alI-sorts metaphor Although Wolf evokes
understanding of Medea, not blame,
this is no feminist reading Slavery,
the (omplex subjugation of eastern
Germany by western Germany, the
dominante of multinational
(‘apitalism and ethni( (leansing
are all brought into the frame
And by using the first person
singular to (‘II( it varying points
of View from the key players,
Wolf is sending that most (llllK ult
of messages that responsibility
must be taken for our attions
No matter how heinous they may be
(TD)
Hidden Agendas
John Pilger (Vintage £8.99) 1t 1? a a ir In a distinguished jOUHldlISlIC career, John Pilger has exposed injustite in Chile, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam Hidden Agendas returns to all of these troublespots and many more, as Pilger develops his (ritigue of 'globalisation' and what he destribes as the ’new cold war.’
In eloquent, passionate prose, he (‘arries the reader dizzyineg from Iraq to Haiti where girls SlllCll baseballs
for Si 33 a day
and bat k to a Tony
Blair photo-opportunity Ill Ayiesbury
Western governments, he argues, are (arVing up the world for their own ends, with New labour thoroughly
implirated
An antidote to the simplified, sponsor-friendly news we are used to, this is :n fatt the real-life X-Fi/es, with Pilger as the real Mulder But in (ontrast to the faddish TV series, his
(onspirar y theories are (()lt\.’ill( ing, and little is left unexplained Depressing and hopeful by turns, this
is irresistible
Just be prepared to trust
‘ no-one (SN)
f Paradise Toni Morrison (Chatto 8r Windiis
£16.99) « a
’Tliey shoot the white girl first '
Toni Morrison's new novel begins
With the (oldest of opening
3 sententes What follows, though, is sketthed out in guirksilvei
Time and narrative sWirl and eddy through its pages in sinuous, sensuous prose as 200 years of blat k Ameritan history loops around and burrows into Paradise’s framework Sententes begin in one
detade and end in another, \‘Vlll( it
makes for a slippery and potent, if at times perpleXing, read
Set in the isolated town of Ruby, Paradise depit ts a so( iety straining against the marr h of history Under the shadow of Vietnam and
blatk protest, the (ast-iron (ertainties of the town's populat e
are beginning to butkle Old lines up against young, light-skinned against dark-skinned But it is four outsiders,
women at a nearby former (orivent, who are in the firing line when
things finally break The Guardian has Just des( ribed Morrison as Amerita's most famous novelist And we get Jeffrey Arr her (TJl
Continued over page
The Street Lawyer
John Grisham (Century £16.99) it sir it
After eight novels and a slew of movie adaptations, John Grisham has achieved the impossible: he's turned lawyers into folk heroes. Their colleagues might remain morally despicable, but Grisham's idealistic leading men hold true to the noble intentions of their chosen career. Usually that can be put down to youthful na‘ivete, whereas in his latest book The Street Lawyer, the pangs of conscience come over more as an early mid-life crisis.
A black homeless man holds Michael Brock and eight colleagues hostage in their plush Washington
DC offices, but is shot dead by a police marksman. Brock discovers that the deceased's grievance stemmed from his illegal eviction from a building that was the key to a multi-million dollar deal. When a young family who were also evicted die from exposure, Brock gives up dreams of becoming a full partner and making millions to work with the
homeless.
A lawyer with a heart of gold? Escapist fantasy. of course, written in easy, page-turning prose. Maybe Grisham is experiencing feelings of guilt about his own over-stuffed income, but although the story is occasionally a little too righteous and the concept rather patronising. he manages to
hold back from the soapbox. (AM)
Waterstone's Edinburgh
WED
APR 7.30 PM
TH U/FRI
.‘lll these events are free, tir‘kers
available from appropriate bra/it‘ll.
reviews BOOKS
Authors at
Waterstone’s in April
GEORGE ST
ADELINE YEN MAH
“Falling Leaves: An Unwanted Chinese Daughter” (PeriQUiri £6 00)
EAST END
CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT & ROBERT LOMAS
“The Second Messiah ” 'i\ll()W to 9%
WEST END
CHARLES FRAZIER
"Cold Mountain” (Steptre £6 99)
EAST END
MICHAEL CONNELLY
“Blood Work" roiion r 12 om
Tickets now on sale for
JOHN IRVING
at The Queen’s Hall, 24 April, 7.30pm £3, £1.50 cones.
WATERSTONE'S
83 ()eorge Street. Edinburgh
tel: 0131 22:3 3-136
West End. 128 l’i‘int‘es Street. l'idinbui‘gh tel: ()131 226 Zlilili
hast lind. l3»lil l’rinr‘es Street. l':(lllll)lll‘gll tel: ()13] 5563031 :3
X ‘iéitipr 1998 THE LIST95