The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru

DATE PUBLISHED: 2002 DATE READ: February 2009 NOTES: This is the rollicking tale of Pran Nath, the spoilt and cruel son of Pandit amar Nas Razdan who is besotted by him – and is especially proud of his son’s pale skin. But Pran is in fact the son of a British officer and this is revealed by an angry servant. Pran is thrown out and is soon destitute but is taken on by a brothel where he is drugged and unaware of what is going on. He is then given into the care of some hirjas who disguise him as a woman and take him to Fatepur to try and put a British officer in a compromising position. This plot fails and following a farcical tiger shoot Pran/Rukhsana walks away and comes to Bombay. Here he lives with a weird missionary couple. But his good looks and sharpness of mind attract him to many and he finds he can often convince colonials that he is English. He eventually arrives in England and assumes life as an aspiring Oxford scholar. In all the roles he plays he lacks any sense of commitment (eg to Indian nationalism, politics, support of friends). His aspiration to assume an identity seems to prevent him from developing as a full human being. His attempts at Englishness appear to succeed – too well in fact when his beloved Star accuses him of being “so English” when he is appalled by her relationship with a Negro in Paris. Pran ends up on an ill-fated anthropological expedition in Africa where he throws off his white identity and just travels (a bit reminiscent of Waugh’s A Handful of Dust). The Impressionist has lots of observations on race, empire and identity. It is very satirical on Anglo-Indians and other castes and classes – no-one escapes! I loved the reference to Major Privett-Clampe’s gin sundowners and how this drink had gradually inched forward in time to nine o’clock in the morning! An excellent read – though I was not really happy about the ending which I thought was a bit vague.

1974 by David Peace

DATE PUBLISHED: 1999 DATE READ: February 2009 NOTES: 1974 is written in a staccato, gritty style – short sentences, phrases and single words (usually profanities). Peace is obviously aiming at “noir” style – but it soon became very wearing for me. The story was confused and garbled after a promising beginning. I am clearly not the target audience – far too many expletives and bodily functions and fluids and gratuitous violence for me….. And am I alone in finding the violent sex scenes somewhat disturbing?

My Life as a Fake by Peter Carey

DATE PUBLISHED: 2003 DATE READ: February 2009 NOTES: Peter Carey uses a somewhat tortuous form of narration. The narrator is a young woman, Sarah, who is telling what Christopher Chubb told her. At times she is telling in great detail what a third person told him. It was all a bit confusing in parts. Carey makes some interesting observations on fakery – many of us are fakes from time to time. Chubb ‘invents’ Bob McCorkle and Weiss (who pretends to be a more knowing publisher than he really is) is taken in. Noussette, a painter, pretends to be a photographer in order to take on another career. John Slater fakes a passport for the ‘madman’ claiming to be McCorkle. Slater (with Sarah’s connivance) fakes a letter to Chubb purporting to be from the Hotel Manager. The whole plot was a bit garbled and I didn’t find this book very enjoyable. The narrator never came to life for me and none of the characters held any attraction. Life in Malaya was well described but the book was disappointing overall.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

DATE PUBLISHED: 2003 DATE READ: February 2009 (audiobook) NOTES: I had resisted reading this book as I dislike the initial premise of a dead rape victim telling her story from heaven. But I decided to listen to it while on holiday. Oh dear, it was all just as bad as I feared. I found the whole thing very twee and unsatisfactory. The idea of examining how a family copes after a tragedy is fine but having them spied on by the girl in heaven was just too ludicrous. I think I missed some bits on the final disc when I fell asleep in the sun but I couldn’t be bothered to go back and listen again. What a load of tosh!

Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke

DATE PUBLISHED: 1990 DATE READ: February 2009 NOTES: Dave Robicheaux, ex cop, recovering alcoholic with lots of demons lurking in his psyche meets up with an old college friend. Dixie Lee Pugh has problems of his own and soon Dave is embroiled in a trail of murders, corruption, and general mayhem. Black Cherry Blues is an excellent example of American crime fiction. The narrative is fast paced but believable while at times the writing is quite lyrical. He conjures up life in the Cajun and Montana countryside so well you feel you are there. Of course, some of the bad guys are oh so bad, while others are bad but have a better side to their character. And Dave Robicheaux is a great character – tender to his adopted daughter, loyal to his friends but ruthless in his treatment of those who threaten the ones he loves. My first James Lee Burke book – but it certainly won’t be my last.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

DATE PUBLISHED: 1997 DATE READ: January 2009 (audiobook) NOTES: After being implicated in a brutal murder Grace Marks (aged 16) is sentenced to hang but this is commuted to life imprisonment – but her accomplice hangs. Grace recounts her story in a sardonic and at times ironic way. She claims to have no memory of the murder taking place although there is much circumstantial evidence of her participation. The truth of her story is never fully explained but she is revealed as a clever, hardworking girl desperate to love and be loved. There is a heartrending description of the boat journey from Ireland and her mother’s death and burial at sea. Grace chooses to have the body wrapped in the second best sheet – though this rational decision haunts her afterwards. Likewise she rationally takes the murdered Nancy’s clothes on the basis that she has no further need of them. Grace is continually let down by the men in her life. Her father is a drunkard and violent. Simon the doctor/psychologist leaves her suddenly (following his own weakness in seducing his landlady). Even young Jamie Walsh speaks against her at the trial having earlier professed his undying love for her. The memory of her first friend Mary Whitney shines throughout the book. Mary is funny, truculent and spirited and dies following an abortion which is horribly described. Grace’s hopes that Nancy will replace Mary are soon dashed – and Nancy’s lover Kinnear soon has designs on Grace (another man that lets her down). The book raises lots of issues on servant/master relationships, the penal system, memory and redemption. Attwood cleverly uses quiltmaking as a metaphor throughout the book. Just as the final pattern of a quilt depends on how the fragments are put together, Grace’s story depends on what she chooses to tell us. By the end we are left with no firm answers about Grace’s guilt but nonetheless come to admire her strength of spirit and her resolve to survive. A brilliant multi-layered classic!

The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

DATE PUBLISHED: 2009 DATE READ: January 2009 NOTES: Kate Grenville’s The Secret River is a brilliant book so I was really looking forward to her latest. The Lieutenant is set in the 1900s. Socially awkward Daniel Rooke (probably on the spectrum for autism) is from a humble background but is brilliant at mathematics. He becomes interested in astronomy and is encouraged by the Astronomer Royal. He joins the navy and travels to New South Wales with 1000 prisoners to set up a colony. His friend in the navy, Silk, is a would-be writer who sees all experiences as ‘copy’. Silk is outgoing and confident and quite different to the thoughtful Daniel. The book is extremely well researched – especially on the languages of the native people of Australia. She manages to convey some concepts through the eyes of the natives (such as the ‘justice’ of the white man whipping the thief). I liked the characters and the first part of the narrative. She is very sympathetic to the indigenous people and their part in the story is told sensitively. But the book seemed to come to an abrupt end which was not very satisfying. A pleasant read but ultimately disappointing, I am sorry to say.