books

review

SOCIO-POLITICAL FICTION Andrei Makine

Confessions Of A Lapsed Standard- Bearer (Sceptre £14.99) a r: -.» s.

There is a poetic economy to the prose style in this brief story of two boys growing up in post-World War II Russia The style seems to illuminate even more brightly that which goes unsaid, as they play the drums and tr';iriipet in a band that sets off every summer to march towards the bright dawn of the new Sovret Union.

In the same way, although the rose trrit of memory has made every detail of therr lives in the collective housing compound seem fantastic and herOic, it only makes the slender minutiae of how their parents SurVived the wOLindS of the war even more tragic

\‘VI‘II’LOII in the early 90s» as a letter from one to the other when they have EOIIQ gron'. n up and emigrated to the West » this is a book that speaks as 'much about Rus‘saari emigres today as it does of a time long gone rThom Dibdini

POLITICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Ernesto Che Guevara Bolivian Diary (Pimlico £8.99)

Ernesto Che Guevara

V‘v/III‘. an introduction from Fidel Castro and a publishing history t'nat boasts its free distribution in Cuba, Bo/ivran Diary is so leftfreld that to touch it would burn your fingers Radical, hero, antithesis of American imperialism aside, however, this DOOK paints a rather more iri-depth picture of a man that sir! :nspires students to wear his T- shirts

Initially embroiled as a doctor in the successful Cuban Revolution, Guevara’s passionate beliefs protected him into an rrripossr'ole position as leader of a feaderless lot against the might of a Boi'vra.n dictatorship Relig ously- ‘.'.'r:tteh diary entries (Caucwara rarely misses a day; tell of the guerrilla '.'.'ariare, the internal bickering, the aingle diseases, the treachery of Bolivian peasants, and his innermost fears as to his missioii's fate

Bo/iv/ari Diary is written in a terse and simple prose that :s so far inside Che Catrwara's mind that you wrll walk a‘.'.'ay from this srrielling of cigar 8111)?!“ (Joe lvchvoyi

RELATIONSHIP FICTION Dermot Bolger Temptation (Flamingo £9.99) .e if

, Alison, husband Peadar, and their three

young children are off on holiday. At the hotel she notices another guest, Chris; the first boy to ever love her. In him she catches sight of the girl she was at eighteen, and when Peadar has to leave unexpectedly, she begins questioning the life she has led.

Set against a mundane holiday haze, Temptation marks a tonal shift for Dermot Bolger, whose prevrous SIX novels have skirted darker worlds. His writing here is spare and elegant but sometimes Just too flat. As midlife crises go, Alison’s is slight and familiar which does not automatically mean it rs not worth writing about. More objectionable, however, is the plot’s sheer mechanicalness.

Temptation is as thoroughly worked- out as the innards of an alarm clock and the obvrousness begins to rupture the story, ticking steadily toward a concIUSion no one will find particularly surprising (Damien Lovel

SHAKESPEAREAN FICTION John Updike

Gertrude And Claudius (Hamish Hamilton £I6.99) rt In this prequel to the gloomy happenings of Shakespeare's play, John Updike imagines old King Hamlet's Elsinore as a hotbed of conspiracy and dangerous desires Teenage Gerutha (Gertrudei is sensual and self-reliant yet marries gruff Horwendil (the future King Hamleti out of loyalty to her father Left isolated by her detached husband and a lack of maternal feeling for their son, Caerutha eventually seals the fate of the kingdom by entering into a passionate, torrid affair with the king's brother

As in Updike's chronicles of suburban Americana, participants and episodes have a slightly cartoonrsh edge Feng iCIaudius'i keeps falc0ns and is described in terms of a beautiful predatory animal while counsellor Corambus (Polonrusi is ’a stout prop to the throne’ In keeping with Ham/et's .ntrrgues, Updike’s middle-aged lovers steal moments behind tapestries and in barnyards

Not a dry, academic exercise then, but a vrvrd, dramatic exploration into the redemptive and destructive power of love IAllan RadcliffeI

ADVENTURE FICTION

Kimberly Kafka True North (Ivtacmillan £9.99) Bailey Lockhart is a bush pilot eking out an exrstence for herself in a part of Alaska owned by the Native Ingalik tribe. Fleeing a shady past and avoiding unnecessary human contact, Bailey uncjharacteristicalIy agrees to ferry a young couple with hidden agendas into the reserve land bush only to face dire personal consequences

Kimberly Kafka may be a distant relative of Prague's most paranoid celebrity but she certainly hasn't been reading much of his work lately What she has been reading is lots of lack

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BOOKS

JULY/AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS

7PM THURSDAY 6TH JULY

MICHAEL BULLER

Sample line French wines, cheese and breads with Michael Buller as he takes us on personalised trip among his friends - the great French Chels.

7PM TUESDAY 11TH JULY

HUGH DOUGLAS

THE FLIGHT OF BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE

Hugh Douglas will be discussing this episode from Scottish history.

7PM WEDNESDAY 12TH JULY

THE HERALD BOOK OF THE OPEN

ion DOUGLAS LOWE AND ALEX BROWNLIE

for the launch ol the complete story of the Open Championship. Refreshments will be served

7PM TUESDAY 18TH JULY

LOUISE YEOMAN

Presenter ol the BBC2 Stirring Times guides you through Glasgow's history from the load riots ol IBOO to the Clydebank blitz.

7PM TUESDAY 25TH JULY AND TUESDAY 29TH AUGUST

FENG SHUI

Come and learn the principles of this art and h0w to apply them to enhance y0ur day-to-day living with Feng Shui Scotland.

7PM WEDNESDAY 9TH AUGUST

JOHN FLETCHER - DEER VET

Join vet and author, John Fletcher, for an illustrated reading from his autobiography

A DEER FOR LIFE: A DEER VET TELLS HIS STORY AND THEIRS

PICK UP A LEAFLET IN-STORE OR PHONE OUR EVENT HOTLINE ON OI4I 222 7700 (OPTION 2) FOR DETAILS OF OUR VARIOUS WRITING/DISCUSSION GROUPS

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98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW GI 38A TEL: Ol4l 222 7700 8am to l lpm, Monday to Saturday, IOam to 9pm Sunday www.bordersstores.com/stores/283

6 “20 Jul 2000 THE lIST103