Thwacks Lyrical

I've just finished 'Sword Song' by top, pop historical fiction writer Bernard Cornwell.  'Sword Song' is the fourth of Mr Cornwell's Saxon Stories, all set during the reign of King Alfred the Great and narrated by Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

'Sword Song' by
Bernard Cornwell
(HarperCollins, 2007)

Uhtred has been living in relative peace, working to rebuild defences at Coccham and protecting the Temes river, all part of King Alfred's plan to fortify Wessex against Danish attack.  He is settled with his wife Gisela and young family, but remains embittered by his oath to the king.   When King Alfred weds his daughter Aethelflaed to Uhtred's cousin Aethelred, he gives them overlordship of Mercia and the city of Lundune.  Unfortunately, Lundune is occupied by two unfriendly new arrivals, Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilhson, brothers who look towards the defiant young kingdom of Wessex with hungry eyes.  Ordered to reclaim the city for his hated cousin and to secure the frontier once more, Uhtred the feared warlord again finds himself dancing to Alfred's tune, an instrument of Wessex's will.

The last book in this series, 'The Lords of the North', seemed to go a bit odd at the end (there was a character communicating with dogs for goodness sake), but Mr Cornwell is definitely back on form with 'Sword Song'.  It's classic Cornwell, full of bloodthirsty battles, duplicitous warlords and impossible challenges.

I absolutely love Bernard Cornwell books (except, weirdly, his best known work, the Sharpe novels. Go figure!), but they aren't music to everyone's ears.  They are incredibly violent, the characters are usually uncomplex and having to translate old place names into their modern day equivalents is enough to make your head spin.  But I find I get completely lost in them.  I love the way England in the Dark Ages is recreated and places that I know now are given echos of the past.  I love imagining the heat and fervour of shieldwall battles and fearing for the lives of the characters at war.  And I love the character-driven politics of it all, the network of oaths and allegiances, the blood feuds and promises of vengeance, the friendships and family ties.  His books are tales of heroes and villains and it's hard not to get a buzz from it.

'Sword Song' and its siblings are certainly not to everyone's taste, but if you're a fan of Cornwell or love a good adventure, it may be worth you tuning into the first in this series, 'The Last Kingdom' or 'The Winter King', the first of the equally superlative Warlord Trilogy based on the legend of a post-Roman King Arthur.

Let's hope the next in this series is also a hit!

Rescue Me

After far more months than I can remember, I've finally finished dragging myself through 'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' by Neil Forsyth.  This is the follow up to 2007's brilliant  'Delete this at Your Peril', one of the first books I wrote about when I started this blog last year.  I thoroughly enjoyed 'Delete...', but am sad to say I don't feel the same about its sidekick.

'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' is the autobiography of the spammer-botherer Bob Servant.  It tells the story of his life in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and his efforts to become a hero (sort of).  'Delete this at Your Peril' included his eccentric correspondence with email spammers and this book appears to aim to flesh out the characters and escapades mentioned in his messages.  As such, we find out the truth about the Cheeseburger Wars, the window cleaning racket and how he met Frank the Plank, Chappy Williams and Tommy Peanuts, as well as his unsuccessful pursuit of 'skirt'.

Sadly, this book feels like a writing exercise that, much like Bob, got a bit too big for its boots.  It has its moments, but it's neither consistent nor laugh-out-loud funny.  At best, it's gently amusing at times, but, as a reader, I felt that I had to work really hard to get from one joke to the next.

'Delete...' worked so well because it was original, something every internet user could relate to and (secretly) something we'd all like to be able to do ourselves to turn the tables on a bane of modern life.  Effectively, the spammers acted as Bob's stooge or straightman.  The first book was often funny because Bob's responses could be elusive and cryptic and leave things to the imagination.  

'Hero...' leaves behind everything that made the first book work and fills in gaps best left unfilled.  It's basically a case of a good joke being told, then ruined because someone explains it to you.  Or seeing behind the mask of your favourite superhero.

The book does start to improve towards the end, when it begins to feel like a series of snapshot-like newspaper articles.  Perhaps this would be a better direction for the character; a regular column where he reacts to current news stories.

Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone.  To be honest, I wish I hadn't read it.  I feel it's tainted my enjoyment of the first book and put me off reading the third, which is a real shame.  Hopefully I'll forget all about it in time and be able to read the third book, but it's hard to tell right now.  Sorry Mr Forsyth.

Now, time for a classic I think...

Picture Perfect

I've just finished reading a second book for New Books Magazine (www.newbooksmag.com), a review magazine for books clubs.  ‘Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures’ by Emma Straub charts the life and career of a Hollywood actress from the 1930s.  I love old films, so was immediately drawn to this story and am glad to say that I wasn't disappointed by it.

'Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures'
by Emma Straub (Picador, 2012)

Laura Lamont began life as Elsa Emerson, the youngest daughter of Mary and John, owners of the Cherry County Playhouse, Door County, Wisconsin.  The youngest of three sisters by ten years, she spends idyllic summers in the rural setting, in awe of the actors and fascinated by their relationships on and off stage.  Her formative years are marked by tragedy and triumph, until she marries and leaves her home for the bright lights of Los Angeles, California, the home of Hollywood and the movies.  Although desperate to spread her wings and have her own career as an actress, she's soon caught up with the responsibilities of motherhood and beginning to feel as though her time in the spotlight may never come.  Then, at an employee party at Gardner Brothers Studio, she's unexpectedly spotted by one of the owners, Irving Green.  Suddenly she has a new name, a new patron and a golden opportunity for the career she's always dreamt of.I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  

Although it's a first novel, it's consistently well written and engaging throughout.  I think it's strength lies in the fact that it doesn't go to extremes; it doesn't become the clichéd fame morality tale ending with a bitter, drug-addicted, surgically altered Laura desperately begging to return to the limelight.  It remains grounded with the lead character, her life, experiences and feelings and, consequently, it's easier to identify and sympathise with her.  You keep reading because you want things to turn out OK in the end, even though she's 'living the dream' in a way most of us never will.

There is also quite a lot going on in terms of themes.  The story explores identity (Laura changes her name and sometimes wrestles with who she is and who she was), truth (the reality Hollywood creates, the falsehoods in her own life), love and loss (her relationships with the men in her life and her children).  This means that there's a lot to think about and much for book groups to discuss, but the themes are secondary to the story, so don't worry that you'll have to analyse it to enjoy it.

Overall, I really enjoyed 'Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures' (Although I've had trouble not adding 'Motion' to the title for some reason!) and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys character-driven stories and family sagas.  I'm looking forward to seeing more from Emma Straub in the future and plan to track down her collection of short stories, 'Other People We Married', just as soon as I've read a few more titles on the list.

As a footnote, it was interesting for me to compare this with 'The Somnambulist', the first book I read for New Books Magazine, and also a first time novel.  One difference stood out: the acknowledgements and thank yous were at the back of 'Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures' and at the front of 'The Somnambulist'.  I commented when starting to read the latter that this made it feel like the author wasn't expecting people to get to the end and see them there and ultimately I found I struggled with the book.  Perhaps I've stumbled on something afterall!  I will certainly be looking out for this in the future to see if I can spot a pattern!

Now, what next...?