list.co.uk/books COMIC
HORROR HANNAH BERRY Adamtine (Jonathan Cape) ●●●●● British graphic novelist Hannah Berry’s near-perfect debut, Britten and Brülightly, was a detective yarn inspired by Graham Greene and Carol Reed. But the familiar post-war milieu was given a surreal comic twist with the inclusion of a character that was a talking teabag. Berry’s follow-up is also a very knowing take on a familiar genre – modern horror – and once again it confounds expectations, here with a genuinely unsettling tale of the inexplicable.
The action takes place aboard a train that comes to an unexplained stop between stations in the middle of nowhere and deep into the night. As the handful of disturbed travellers attempt to make sense of what’s going on, the characters’ back-stories are revealed in a series of narrative flashbacks. All of this takes place during the aftermath of the trial, acquittal and subsequent disappearance of a suspected serial killer named Rodney Moon.
Berry’s elliptical narrative ensures the meaning of what’s going on remains enjoyably elusive and much of Adamtine’s pleasure lies in how disconcerting it all is. The tricky narrative, however, is nicely counterbalanced by Berry’s clear and carefully detailed illustrations, and a deceptively simple visual style that keeps the storytelling on solid ground, even when things take an alarming turn for the weirder. (Miles Fielder)
ALSO PUBLISHED TRAVEL BOOKS
He may be a man of Glasgow, but Hardeep Singh Kohli (pictured) knows a thing or two about travelling around London. In The 38 Bus: A Love Song to a Bus Route (Unbound) he pours out the emotions he has for the route which has served the capital for a century, taking in the East End, Soho and Covent Garden. In Samanth Subramanian’s Following Fish: Travels Around the Indian Coast (Atlantic), her journey has her investigating everything from the use of fish to treat asthmatics in Hyderabad to the ancient art of building fishing boats in Gujarat. The book aims to reveal an unknown India.
Terry Darlington’s Narrow Dog to Wigan Pier (Bantam Press) features the quest undertaken by the author and his similarly septuagenarian wife Monica as they popped into a new canal boat and headed north to Liverpool, Lancaster, the Pennines and Wigan Pier. Among the supporting cast are their dogs, Jim (with his broken ear like a flat cap), and Jess (known with good reason as the Flying Catastrophe).
UK folk legend Mike Harding shunts his way into the travel section with The VW Camper Van: A Biography (Aurum). He tells the tale of the vehicle which was invented immediately after the war and became the transport mode of choice for West Coast hippies and Australian surf bums. Sophie Kinghill and Jennifer Westwood’s area of interest is The Fabled Coast: Legends and Traditions from the Seas and Shores of Britain and Ireland (Random House). They ask such questions as: did the monstrous Kraken ever exist? Did a Welsh prince discover America centuries before Columbus? And what happened to the missing crew of the Mary Celeste? (Brian Donaldson)
EVENTS Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to books@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Charlotte Runcie. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 24 Glasgow FREE Unwind with a Book Glasgow Women’s Library, Mitchell Library, 15 Berkeley Street, 248 9969. Noon–2pm. A weekly women-only reading group. Contact the GWL for details and to sign up. Every Thursday until 21 Jun. FREE Scottish Writers’ Centre Debate: Other Worlds – Other Dimensions Scottish Writers’ Centre, CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7–8.30pm. Debate the place of speculative fiction in all kinds of writing.
Edinburgh FREE From ‘Belles-Lettres’ to ‘Eng-Lit’: Criticism and its Publics George Square Lecture Theatre, George Square, hod.englit@ed.ac.uk. 6–7.15pm. Professor Stefan Collini discusses the history of literary criticism and the study of English Literature as a subject. FREE Sandy Clark: From the Heart Waterstone’s, 98/9 Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Leith, 554 7732. 6–7pm. Hearts legend Sandy Clark signs copies of his autobiography.
✽✽ FREE Edinburgh Reads: Alistair Darling Central Library, 7-9 George IV Bridge, 242 8100. 6.30– 7.45pm. The former Chancellor talks about his new book. Booking essential.
West Dunbartonshire FREE Booked! West Dunbartonshire, 01389 608978. Times vary. Last few days of the free book festival, with a celebration of Burns, discussion events and girls’ and boys’ nights out still to go. Until Fri 25. Tickets available from all West Dunbartonshire libraries.
Friday 25
Edinburgh Curious Joe Presents Writing Out Loud Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, 229 1442. 7pm. £4 in advance; £5 on the door. Contemporary writers perform poetry, short stories and more. Neu! Reekie! Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House, Trunks Close, 55 High Street, 524 0160. 7–10pm. £5 (£4). Avant- garde spoken word, film and music fusion night. With Clare Pollard, Fiona Soe Paing and Ziggy Campbell and Found. Guid Crack Club Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. 7.30–10pm. £3 suggested donation. Regular storytelling club. This month’s session, hosted by Donna Bowyer, is entitled, ‘We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s Bairns’.
Saturday 26 Edinburgh FREE Peter Cormack: From the Cowshed to the Kop Waterstone’s, 98/9 Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Leith, 554 7732. 1pm. Hibs legend Peter Cormack signs copies of his autobiography.
Sunday 27
Edinburgh Shore Poets The Lot, 4–6 Grassmarket, 225 9922. 7.45–10.15pm. £4 (£3). Regular local poetry meet. Robert Crawford reads with Martin McIntyre, Joan Lennon and music from The Whole Shebang. FREE Pressure Valve The Pear Tree House, 34 West Nicolson Street, 667 7533. 8pm. Weekly open mic session for poetry, music and spoken word. Every Sunday until 17 Jun.
✽✽ Jem Rolls: Ten Starts and an End The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers
EVENTS Books
Street, 220 4298. 9pm. £4 (£3). High energy performance poetry night from Jem Rolls with Jenny Lindsay, Bram E Gieben and Michael McGill. Monday 28
Glasgow Meet Jeffery Deaver Waterstone’s, 153–157 Sauchiehall Street, 332 9105. 7–8.30pm. £3. The thriller writer presents his new James Bond book, Carte Blanche. Edinburgh FREE Edinburgh Creative Writers Pulp Fiction, 43 Bread Street, 229 4444. 7–9.30pm. Social meet-up for creative writers, with readings and writing-related discussion. Every Monday until 18 Jun.
Tuesday 29
Glasgow Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle The Ogilvie Centre, 25 Rose Street. 8pm. £2. Sci-fi writers’ group. FREE Reading the Leaves Tchai- Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. Join guest writers for an evening of poetry and creative writing. Wednesday 30
Glasgow FREE Glasgow Poetry Book Group CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 7.30pm. This session looks at two poetry pamphlets: Maitreyabandhu’s The Bond and Christy Ducker’s Armour.
Edinburgh ✽✽ John Irving Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo
Square, 226 2666. 7pm. £7. The author discusses his new novel, In One Person, with John Boyne. Tickets available from Waterstone’s Edinburgh West End, 128 Princes Street. See review, page 70.
Ayrshire ✽✽ Burns an’ a’ That! Festival Various venues, 01292 269793.
Times vary. Prices vary; some free events. Literary, music and film festival celebrating the life and times of Robert Burns. Until Sun 3.
Thursday 31
Glasgow FREE Book Launch: Colin Poole and Tawona Sithole CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 6.30pm. Two Glasgow-based poets launch their new collections, Verse Versus the Bourgoisie and In Living Spirit. See page page 5 for Sithole’s Realist suggestion. Edinburgh FREE The Sexual State: Sexuality and Scottish Governance 1950–1980 Blackwells, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Talk and launch of new book looking at the impact of the 20th-century sexual revolution on governance in Scotland. Tickets available from the front desk.
Friday 1
Glasgow FREE The Magic Carpet Cabaret Tchai-Ovna House of Tea, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. A night of poetry, songs and stories, with open mic spots. Saturday 2
Glasgow Word Play Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. 8.30pm. £2. Open mic night with acoustic music, poetry and prose, hosted by The Word Factory.
Edinburgh FREE Ash Dickinson: Slinky Espadrilles The Canon’s Gait, 232 Canongate, 556 4481. 8pm. Multiple slam champion and performance poet reads from his debut collection. 24 May–21 Jun 2012 THE LIST 71