[books 2011] Will Self

57. The Book of Dave by Will Self

Was this month's Bibliogoths selection.  I've been thinking I should try reading something by Will Self for years, so this was a handy opportunity.

It's a novel in two strands - one in the present day, focusing on a demented London cabbie called Dave, and in a far post-apocalyptic future where the society is based on the Book of Dave.

I *hated* the first two chapters.  To the point where I wasn't going to bother.  I wasn't so much put off by the difficult future language (though in retrospect, trying to read it on the bus was a big mistake), but because Dave is such a repellent character, and, as a result, the future society is really repellent as well.  It also had the quintessntially British "everything is crap" bent which I really hate - the cabbie & his chavvy mates are complete jerks, but so are all the aspirational and middle class characters - but it turns out to be a send-up of that too.

But I decided to give it a bit more of a go, and it got really interesting.  I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, because all the characters are completely repellent (intentionally), but the structure is intricate and clever.  I still don't think it's as clever as Self probably does - satire on religion is an easy target, after all.  I did, however, appreciate it - there's really a lot going on, to the point that at the end I ended up thinking "hang on, is the future society all in Dave's head?".

Anyway, it generated a lot of discussion at the group; those who got past hating the first part of the book ended up finding it a rewarding read too.

It's a hard read - not just the Mockney future-language, but the whole thing is very dense, and it replaced my non-fiction reading for last week.  I will, however, at some point read more of Self's stuff.

Those of you who read my Facebook will know that Amazon tried to sell me a French-language version.  I now wonder how the translators dealt with the issue of the colloquial language (not just in the future parts).  I can't work up to paying for a copy but will see if I can get the library to track one down for me.

[books 2011] yet more Dresden Files

58. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

This series has been getting steadily darker; this volume opens with the surprise supernatural bad guy killing one of the Alphas (Harry's werewolf buddies), and gets more grim from there.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved it and there's some seriously tear-jerking moments, but the disproportionate price that Harry has to pay for doing the right thing was downright painful at the end.

And for those of you who are tired of me going on about this series, you'll be relieved to hear there's only three books left.

[books 2011] Travel classic

59. I the Heart of the Amazon Forest by Walter Henry Bates

This is part of the "Penguin Great Journeys" series - short out-takes from the important travel literature of history.

Walter Henry Bates was a 19th-century naturalist who spent 11 years in the Amazon in Brazil.

It's very Victorian, ie. full of racist observations about the Amazon natives, but is also interesting on the subject of travelling in the rain forest, and seeing how the natives make a living at it.

The over-riding impression is So. Much. Water.  Made me feel very grateful for dry land.

[books 2011] Millennium

60. Millennium, edited by Douglas E Winter

This is what the editor calls an "anthology novel" - ten short stories, one set in each decade of the 20th century, being in some way related to death & destruction.

I picked it up in a charity shop because it's got contributions from Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell and Poppy Z Brite.  Those three stories (the Poppy Z Brite one is co-written with someone called Christa Faust) are by far the best in the collection.  Especially the PZB one, "Triads" - for the 19330s she didn't choose any of the obvious subjects, but the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, which I thought was cool.

Unfortunately, the rest of the stories range from OK to downright unreadable (Whitley Strieber - the only other name on the cover I'd heard of).

It's going straight back to the charity shop it came from.