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Cocker, Mark – Crow Country
***
Crow Country is a detailed, almost spiritual account of the author’s study of rooks and
jackdaws following a move to a remote part of Norfolk. With his insights into
why he has done this painstaking work, it is unclear as to whether the intention of Cocker’s book is primarily
as a scholarly work or a more populist tome about birdwatching. With its footnotes-a-plenty
it’s probably more of the former though straddles both camps to a certain extent.
Crow Country is hard-going in places for the casual reader. It is
an admirable, dedicated piece of work though fans of the recent glut of excellent popular birding books by Bill Oddie, Stephen
Moss and others may find it a bit too heavy going.
Read by me: 21.9.08-7.1.09
Coelho, Paulo
– The Alchemist
B
Famous and highly regarded
short story about the journey of a young Spanish shepherd who follows an omen stating that he will find his fortune at the
Egyptian pyramids. His journey across the Mediterranean and over Africa is a
deeply spiritual voyage of self-discovery and learning, providing a metaphor for the main underlying message of the book about
pursuing your omens and dreams. An excellent, thought provoking story with a
positive ending though the underlying philosophy didn’t move or inspire
me to quite the extent that say, Benjamin Hoff’s “The Te Of Piglet” did a few years ago. I generally prefer more contemporary novels about human relationships though The Alchemist is still an
excellent and very worthwhile read.
Read by me: 25.6.04-1.7.04
Collins, Andrew
– Where Did It All Go Right?
**1/2
Andrew Collins is undoubtedly a great
bloke – a knowledgeable and witty film and music critic and the authorised biographer of the great Billy Bragg to boot. All of which makes it all the more surprising that his autobiography of a normal 70s
childhood is rather dull and uninspiring.
Written as something of an antidote
to the tragic childhood recollections of Dave Peltzer and others, Andrew’s story of his happy upbringing in suburban
Northampton is surprisingly short on the poignant, incisive memories and free-flowing witty prose which I was expecting. Some chapters such as his analysis of childhood phobias are excellent but the selected
entries from his exhaustive diaries are tedious and rather self-indulgent.
As
someone of similar age and background to Andrew, I was hoping for perceptive and pertinent memories. Unfortunately these were few and far between in a book not living up to my expectations.
Published: 2004
Read by me: 4.2.06-29.3.06
Cunningham, Michael - The Hours
B
Acclaimed novel about three women linked by Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway - Woolf herself,
a frustrated suburban post-war housewife who reads the book and a modern day Mrs Dalloway who is about to host a party. The
Hours is written in a similar stream of consciousness style to its parent book. This occasionally makes it a bit too wistful
and dreamy but there is still a cohesive story in this clever and original novel which has been mad into a superb film starring
Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore.
Dates read - 25.12.03-23.1.04
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