"My Life a Fake" by Peter Carey

Well written throughout. The plot is good during the first and last thirds, but for some reason the middle third of this novel seems to lose its way. Having said that, this is by no means Peter Carey's worst novel, that honour is awarded to the Illywhacker.

The novel's themes of lies and fakery were interesting, and this book began to promise much, but failed to deliver. 2/5

"Empire of the Sun" by J. G. Ballard

From a European perspective, this is an important book. Our narrative history of the Second World War is dominated by the Euroapean theatre of that conflict.

Empire of the Sun is important as it is a reminder of the Asian theatre, British defeat and humiliation in that part of the world, and the ultimate political and cultural significance of the USA's victory in the Pacific. Published in 1984, there is also a hint of the emergence of China as a great power.

Clearly this was a very personal book for Ballard, and draws heavily on his personal experience in China during the war. Yet it was decades after the war that Ballard felt able to write a book based on his experience. It begins with a very 'boys own' style, but is still very engaging.

Thought provoking and important; this book gets 4/5.

"White Teeth" by Zadie Smith

The sign of a great book can be seen in its second reading. Not apparent on the first time of reading, themes appear which highlight previously unaware depths to the book. This is so true, that it has be known that authors of books, whose works have not read so well second time round, can find themselves no longer on the ‘To read’ list.

This book has been read by your correspondent at least five times, so it will come as no surprise to the reader that this is a great book. This column could eulogise at length about the beauty of this book, but will restrict itself to the following; ambitious, clever and wise. Themes touch upon society, history, religion, and science. To top it all – it is also very funny, whilst dealing with serious topics. It is an important book of our times.

Disappointing though Zadie Smith’s follow up, ‘The Autograph Man,’ this fifth reading has encouraged me to give Zadie Smith’s third novel ‘On Beauty’ a read.
‘White Teeth’ has much to recommend it – a must read. 5/5

"In Cold Blood" by Truman Copote

This is a compelling novel which appears to be ever so dispassionately factual. However the themes of the book are anything but. Crime, punishment, pity, forgiveness, abuse, poverty; themes that resonate and are relevant to us today. There are lots to learn from this novel, but thankfully, the abuse meted out to children is, with the odd gruesome exception, on the wane. A great book which is deep and well worth reading – 4/5.

An (almost) Open Letter to Vancouver

Below is an edited email I have sent to a Canadian friend. It deals with the Winter Olympics and the criticism it has received by some in the British media. Oh - and it was sent before Amy Williams won her gold....


"The Vancouver 2010 Olympic director has been on British TV. Apparently some of our media have been slogging the games off.

My view on this is simple - our media are a bunch of whingeing poms (some of my fellow countrymen really try to live down to the worst reputation that others have of us.) Slagging off the winter games is so very convenient - because there is a parallel story here; "Look - it’s rubbish! The Olympics are a waste, and it’s going to be so much worse when we have them in London....and we will be paying for it!!!!!"

I’ve seen some of the games on TV - and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. Ice skating - bobbins, utter rubbish.
Ice Hockey = good fun, downhill racing on the skis and boards looks groovy. And it’s really funny how our TV gets really into the Curling (it's our only hope for gold).

Anyway - tell your Canadian friends that we Brits are cool - our newspapers are just printed for idiots.

Hope all is well - I’m not though, I’m ill *sigh*
Speak soon"

Amy Williams’ Gold; and what it says about the Olympics, and the world

Congratulations to Amy Williams for winning the Gold in the skeleton. An outstanding performance, by Amy, more so than for other gold medal winners. Nobody had her down as a favourite, and her training track in Bath is concrete, not ice. But it is even more amazing as she established two track records to do it. She obliterated the rest of the field, beating them by over half a second. That may not sound much, but it means she was 15-20 metres ahead of everyone else.

Whatever happens now in her life, she can look back on this with immense pride, as she has entered into an elite group of people, Olympians, and Gold Medallists.
What was also interesting was what it says about the Olympics. Now, it is very rare for GB to win Gold at the Winter games, which again emphasises even more Amy’s immense achievement. A quick montage from the BBC showed all the GB Gold medals throughout Olympic history, and the differences from earlier times stand in stark contrast to today.

If you watch behind the athletes today, cameras, fans, cheering, screams are now an almost pavlovian response to victory. A quick look at past gold medals could not be more different. The only ones that seemed to be cheering when GB won Gold in the Ice Hockey in 1936, were the team themselves. And to our Canadian cousins, their eyes are not deceiving them, GB did win in 1936.

Now, with cheaper air travel and increased leisure time, thanks to our ever increasingly globalised world, fans can travel to almost any location. For sure the track in Vancouver will have mainly been Canadian, but spectator participation and support has increased at the Olympics, despite the current economic crisis. Within living memory, (let’s say the 1970s and 1980s) it would have been almost unheard of for members of an athlete’s family to have been at an event and to share the experience with them. But Amy William’s mother and father were both on hand to share in the celebrations.

What has not changed is the great experience the Olympics is for the athletes. If anything, increased numbers of fans can only enhance it. Let’s hope London 2012 can be supported as enthusiastically.

6 Nations Review - Thom Evans

Short post this to wish him well. At the time of writing, medical staff are very pleased with his progress.

Join the facebook group and send your message to Thom.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Get-Well-Soon-Thom-Evans/320628272336?ref=ts

6 Nations Review - Down to the wire

The French were outstanding again. And their dominance is Paris against last years’ Grand Slam winners, Ireland, is a clear statement of intent they mean to win the 6 Nations this year. It would not be amiss to keep an eye out for their odds to win the World Cup in 2011 (currently between 8/1 and 10/1).

Of more immediate interest were the other two games. Both the Wales-Scotland and Italy-Dirty Pom games had one thing in common. Both results were in doubt with ten minutes to go. For a game like Rugby this is essential. It is clear that dramatic games make for entertaining viewing, which is great for broadcasters and fans alike. But there is an essential long term factor at stake here.

Rugby, by its nature, is heavily stacked against giant killing, as opposed to say, Football. But more games where the underdog still has a sniff of a chance in the last ten minutes, can only spur the likes of the Italians to greater efforts in the short to medium term future. Many English people would have been cursing their team’s inability to put the result beyond doubt well before the last quarter. This Pom here was more than happy to see the Italians play well – Allez Italia !!

6 Nations Review - Genius of Wee Shane

Dramatic. Immense. Tense and downright heartbreaking for the Scottish. To be leading the game, with minutes to spare and to have it all snatched away has got to hurt. Especially for a Scottish team that has had an indifferent couple of seasons. Off the back of a good autumn series this 6 Nations campaign was meant to be different for Scotland.

Injuries to Patterson and Thom Evans did much to disrupt their back line early on. Having watched the game from a pub in Edinburgh, it was all the Scottish fans could do to shake their heads as two of their players were binned. Wee Shane is difficult to stop when he has quarter of a gap. Quite simply – you have to love him. Wee Shane – genius.

6 Nations Review - The French are coming

Quick note on the games this weekend.

The Irish were steady, but not too impressive.
England were better than expected, but not even I will deviate from saying that the yellow card for Wyn-Jones was crucial.

Scotland were competitive, and showed some good signs. Just a wee bit more cutting edge in attack and beef at prop needed.
Wales - oh dear.

Italy were gallant as ever. But their lineout went backwards, which has got to hurt.

Now the French - stand out team of the weekend. Oh and a word on Bastareaud for any of his opponents. Legs - tackle him there, and he can't run.