The Blackhouse – Peter May

DI Fin Macleod returns to work in the Edinburgh Police following a personal tragedy only to be despatched to the Isle of Lewis to assist in enquiries into a gruesome murder. Not only does the crime resemble an unsolved case he investigated recently, but he was born and bred on the Isle, so he knows the turf and can speak the Gaelic.

However it has been 18 years since he quit the island and though many of his generation remain they have changed as well as him. As Fin unpicks the crime’s motives and opportunities, some threads lead back to the time of his youth, causing him to recall and relate the events of his formative years.

The contemporary murder investigation combines satisfyingly with the coming of age tales through well-crafted linkages. The Isle of Lewis is lovingly described, with the wide open landscapes and huge horizons contrasting with the claustrophobic nature of island society, where secrets are held close, strangers are mistrusted and returning exiles resented.

Added into this is the strange (and apparently authentic) custom of an annual expedition by a select group of men to cull or ‘harvest’ two thousand young gannets needed to prepare the local dietary delicacy of ‘guga’. Fin’s one and only involvement ended in tragedy, and this year’s trip, almost due, may have a bearing on the case.

The various ingredients provide a heady mix of topography, mystery, nostalgia, loss and redemption. It is well written and richly layered with an exciting climax and resolution uncertain until the very end.

As the first part of a trilogy it will be hard to follow, but harder to resist.

Ladies and Gentlemen by Adam Ross

Read as part R of the “Along the Library Shelf” reading journey

Chosen because

My eye was drawn by the unusual cover showing a hotel door handle, complete with hanger displaying the book title rather than Do Not Disturb. A peek inside revealed a collection of short stories (not previously featured in the journey) and the opening pages of the first one soon hooked me in.

The Review

The seven stories, ranging from 14 to 60 pages, show slices of contemporary middle income life in the USA.

In ‘Futures’ a job interview has an unexpected outcome. In ‘The Rest of It’ and ‘When in Rome’ professional men move out of their comfort zone into murkier depths of society. The prospect of an extra-marital adventure arises in ’Ladies and Gentlemen’, as in ‘Middleman’ does the chance for an adolescent to finally connect with an out-of-his-league dream-girl. ‘In the Basement’ questions whether beauty is only skin deep and ‘The Suicide Room’ draws some college kids into dangerous territory.

These well-varied story situations are used mainly to provide a stage to examine a range of personal relationships and interaction; as such not all have a neat resolution, indeed some are left deliberately, and not inappropriately, ambiguous.

The prose is sharp and the dialogue particularly authentic, which makes for a satisfying read in bite size, meaty chunks.

Read another?

It would be interesting to see his style and characterisation operating in a full length novel, so I will look out for ‘Mr Peanut’.

Ten Top Sports Books

The sport reading journey has been going unofficially for some years and these are the best of the back list. Presented in chronological order of reading.

Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby

An account of growing up as an Arsenal fan in the 1970s and 80s. Perceptive, funny and bitter sweet with coming of age episodes recalled through inevitable links to his obsessive (at this time) support of his favourite club.

French Revolutions – Tim Moore

One bike enthusiast’s hilarious account of his attempt to ride the Tour de France course.

3 Nights in August – Buzz Bissenger

This uses the St Louis Cardinals v Chicago Cubs three game series in August 2003 as a backdrop to delve into major league baseball. The back stories of the players and staff alternate with the tension, tactics and action on the field.

Moneyball – Michael Lewis

The account of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s iconoclastic attempt to apply statistical analysis, more at home in business and finance, to bring success to a major league baseball franchise; buying players undervalued by traditional ‘experts’, proving their worth, and selling them on at a profit.

The Damned Utd – David Peace

Told as if by Brian Clough, expletives not deleted, this gives an explosive account of his 44 days in charge of Leeds United in the autumn of 1974. Alongside we have his reflection on his career up to then, particularly his success at Derby County and his fruitful if fraught partnership with assistant Peter Taylor.

Friday Night Lights – HG (Buzz) Bissenger

In 1988 the author spent a year immersed in the Texas town of Odessa following the fortunes of the high school (American) football team, Permian Panthers. He discovers a passion for the game that both exacerbates and transcends differences in race and class, and puts tremendous pressures on the young men who carry the hopes of the town as well as their own college sporting ambitions.

All Played Out – Pete Davies

An extraordinary account of the 1990 ‘Italia’ world cup finals. Having blagged press accreditation and associated access, the author gives a fan’s insight to the competition and the England set up under the now legendary manager Bobby Robson.

The Bodyline Controversy – Laurence de Quesne

An in-depth exposition of the preliminaries, the events and the echoing repercussions of the notorious 1932-33 Ashes test series in Australia when England came with a new tactic to subdue the previously irrepressible batting of Don Bradman. With a 50 year perspective and a scholarly approach, this is an authoritative account covering the personalities, the politics and the sport with an even handed detachment.

A Very British Coop – Mark Collings

An outsider’s look from the inside at the arcane world of pigeon racing, from the back streets of Oldham to the glamour of South Africa’s Sun City. Strangely fascinating mix of working class culture, obsessive behaviour and the lure of high stakes.

The Blind Side – Michael Lewis

An examination of the system of discovering, developing and grooming talented high school athletes to become NFL superstars. Written around the story of Michael Oher, a black kid with no home to speak of but with an abundance of physical attributes and natural ability. He is spotted and taken in by a rich white family to enable him to join their local high school team and progress through college to the NFL. Inspiring or disturbing by turns, but always fascinating.

Headlong – Michael Frayn

When Martin Clay decamps himself with his wife and baby to their country cottage for the summer his expectation is for peace and tranquillity in which to finish his book on 15^th century Netherlandish Art. What he gets is an unexpected invite from the Lord of the (impoverished) Manor to dinner, where first his advice, and then his assistance, is sought to “shift” some art.

Initially reluctant and sceptical, Martin’s interest grows when he realises one of the “makeweight” pieces could possibly be much more valuable than the monstrosity he is engaged to sell on. Is this an opportunity to make his name and his fortune?

As a philosopher by trade, Martin is well placed to articulate and indeed navigate the moral maze created by his potential lucrative liberation of the masterpiece and complicated by the flattering if un-looked for attentions of the attractive and vulnerable Lady of the Manor.

There are considerable risks involved in his scheme and meticulous research is needed to validate the find. So we learn more than we ever thought we would need to know about Peter Bruegal, the Netherlands (of which there were 17) and their repression by the Spanish in the 16^th century. But this is provided in bite size portions interspersed within the on-going, headlong rush of events that progressively slip out of Martin’s control.

Frayn is a good writer, articulate and well able to make the art-history both interesting and authentic. He also has a talent for both ironic humour and farce which keep the pages merrily turning. So much so that it is only after finishing the book that his other talent, for subtly connecting themes (in this case by baler twine), seeps satisfyingly into your consciousness.

To sum up – art, history, crime, love, humour, but above all morality; what’s not to like?

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson

The man in question is Allan Karlsson who decides at the start of the novel to avoid his centenary celebrations by climbing out of his care home window and heading for the bus station. This starts an unlikely, even bizarre, sequence of largely criminal events during which he acquires a large suitcase of cash and an entourage of fellow oddballs.

In pursuit is DCI Goran Aronsson with the unenviable task of forming a hypothesis from the senseless clues left in Karlsson’s wake. Is the old man a kidnap victim or leader of a ruthless criminal gang?

As the centenarian’s unfolding adventure is related, so too is his past. This reveals a disproportionate number of Forest Gump-like interventions in world events throughout the twentieth century.

So it is fun, wacky or silly depending on your sense of humour. I found the current day story more engaging than the back history, which soon lost its capacity to surprise and provided only patchy humour and clunky satire.

The writing style (at least in translation from the Swedish) is very conversational, producing a one-dimensional narrative that tells the story but takes no pleasure in the telling.

I got through to the end without really caring whether DCI Aronsson brings the gang to book or how Karlsson would be involved in freeing Nelson Mandela, bringing down the Berlin wall or capturing Bin Laden (surprisingly none of these).

As a mild diversion, not needing much concentration, it would do the job passing time on a long haul flight or a daily commute.