Reviews
COMIC TALE MARINA LEWYOKA Two Caravans (Fig Tree) 0000
Newcomers will quickly appreciate the talent for voice, character, humour and honesty that earned Marina Lewycka such plaudits for her debut novel A ShOrt History of Tractors in Ukrainian. The two caravans of the title make up the male and female accommodation of largely East European strawberry pickers in Kent and within a few pages the reader has been sparingly but categorically introduced to a cast of 11 colourful characters. each with their own contrary traits and allegiances.
These players are represented with commendable empathy and in a variety of written styles, and as their stories branch out. roam and converge they encounter a host of appalling working conditions and despicable gangsters,
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LITERARY NOVEL
AL KENNEDY Day
(Jonathan Cape) 000
all underpinned by a slow-burning romance. Ultimately the real trick that Lewycka pulls off is to draw attention to the struggles that legal and illegal immigrants to the UK face in the most upbeat, human and often humorous way without ever descending into farce or lecture. (Mark Edmundson)
MUSIC HISTORY HUGH BARKER & YUVAL TAYLOR Faking lt
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The concept of ‘keeping it real' is one that has been ever more bastardised by popular music recently, when even the most formulaic and constructed of bands can drop the phrase as some self- imposed token of relevance. Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor recognise this in their excellent collection of essays, and cut to the chase by revisiting ten moments when authenticity really mattered with the history and theorising pitched perfectly.
ls Donna Summer’s faked. 14-minute orgasm on the extended version of ‘Love to Love You. Baby' any less relevant a piece of art (remembering that women moaning over repetitive beats had never been heard before 1975) than the exaggerated Showmanship of punk? Does anyone else see the paradox in Kurt Cobain (the archetype of authenticity) worshipping the music of blues icon Leadbelly (a construction of the primitive hype of his day)? A book for people to whom music really matters. (David Pollock)
POLITICAL DRAMA BLAKE MORRISON South of the River (Chatto & Windus) OO
It is really quite apt that South of the River opens with New Labour’s landslide election win in 1997, becausethe subsequent disappointment many felt at the party's antics is reflected in Blake Morrison’s frustrating latest work of fiction. The subject matter is certainly interesting, containing personal and political events and emotions many of us can connect with. However, the award- winning author of such works as When Did You Last See Your Father? and As If soon clouds it
AL Kennedy’s latest creation, Alfred Day, finds his purpose through the Second World War, enjoying a sense of camaraderie as tail-gunner in a bomber crew. His narrative switches between this time and 1949, when a broken Day is trying to recover his life while working as an extra in a POW film. This is a neat device, allowing subtle comparisons between the real horrors of war and the anodyne recreation of it, between reality and myth. Also, setting the book primarily after the war allows Kennedy to depict the jumbled morality of that time. While there are obvious comparisons with our current situation in Iraq, the author wisely handles any parallels with
great care.
As the book progresses we learn what has changed Day from being the confident part of a gang to the hopeless, empty shell he is in 1949. Although this is dealt with well, at times there’s too much introspective internal monologue and observation, and simply not enough by way of plot or action, the tense and visceral wartime bombing raids aside. Compensating up to a point is the writer’s supeme vivid portrayal of Day’s complex character, and the depiction of the complications of war. Also, there is something in Kennedy’s prose which is somehow cumulatively impressive, as if by the end, the sheer weight of words makes you care what happens. This is not always an easy read, and not as engaging as it could be early on, but it’s an intriguing piece of work nonetheless.
(Doug Johnstone)
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with overly wordy and often unnecessary descriptions, clumsy metaphors and contrived sections of political commentary. And there's really no excuse for such tediously predictable characters as fox- hunting fanatic Jack. failed writer Nat, his hotshot advertising executive wife Libby and eco-warrior Anthea, all connected but unhappy in different ways. It’s a shame. because with some major tweaking this could have been a compelling and timely read. but as it is you probably won‘t make it past the first few chapters. (Camilla Pia)
FAMILY DRAMA RUPERT THOMSON
Death of a Murderer (Bloomsbury) 00
With artworks, dramas and songs having been created about and around Myra Hindley, there is no particular reason for Rupert Thomson’s eighth novel to be inherently
Books
offensive. What genuinely upsets here is the paucity of much of the writing; from such an experienced author, some of the prose, dialogue and analogies are simply embarrassing, leading you to laugh out loud (‘he wanted to kiss her eyes back into focus”: eh?) when the subject matter should have you crumbling inside.
It’s 2002 and PC Billy Tyler is handed the unenviable task of guarding the corpse of Ian Brady's partner. This sparks off a series of memories and worries which slowly peel away Tyler’s own dark past and reveal the malevolent urges which apparently lie dormant in us all. While Tyler has fantasised killing his pantomime baddy father-in-law, his wife confesses to contemplating the murder of their disabled daughter. A cack- handed and clumsy attempt at confronting the concept of evil. (Brian Donaldson)
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ALSO PUBLISHED
5 BIOGRAPHIES Steven Bach Leni The life and times of Leni Riefenstahl, the controversial filmmaker who maintained right up til her death four years ago, that the footage she filmed of Hitler and his like didn’t mean that she was a Nazi herself. Oh contraire, reckons Bach. Little, Brown. Charlotte Chandler lngn'd The opinion- dividing wn’ter behind the life stories of Groucho Marx, Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock has the legend of Bergman in her sights. Simon & Schuster
Frances Elliott at James Banning Cameron The first major biographer of the man who would be PM aims to bring him out from behind the spin. Fourth Estate. Mick Blown Tearing Down the Wall of Sound As Phil Spector’s murder trial prepares to have all of America gossiping, this book comes from the journo who interviewed him just weeks before his arrest. Bloomsbury. Justln WIntIe Perfect Hostage The prominent Burmese peace campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi is the subject of this one, as we dip behind the headlines to find the real woman. Hutchinson.
29 Mar—12 Apr 2007 THE LIST 25