1984 – George Orwell

Re-reading 1984 after a gap of fifty years would, you hope, prove a less menacing experience. Think again.

As a reminder, Winston Smith, a low level functionary in the Party, lives a dreary life under constant surveillance of his masters, symbolised by Big Brother. He starts to doubt the Party’s propaganda (indeed his job is to assist the re-writing of history) and wonders if there is a better way. Even thinking such a thing is an offence – ‘thoughtcrime’ in Newspeak – and after a brief secret rebellion, he is brought in for a horrific rehabilitation.

The central themes – surveillance, towing the party line, subscribing to their version of events, re-inventing truth – ‘what the Party holds to be the truth is the truth’ - is all frighteningly relevant today.

Where Orwell had Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia in mind, we now have Putin, Trump, the Taliban, and more authoritarian regimes besides, able to replace facts by their truth and impose acceptance through ignorance, corruption, and coercion. Instead of re-writing history, as Winston does, they label it a lie, fake news, a western/liberal elite/infidel (delete as applicable) plot.

Back to the book. Orwell paints a graphic picture of life under a totalitarian government. Smith is no hero, just an ordinary cog in the machine that goes wrong and needs repair. The lengthy and wordy treatise detailing the political science underpinning the regime sits a little uncomfortably in the middle of the book (though repays the reading), but either side of that the story flows well enough to a well-known and unwelcome conclusion.

So, well worth the re-read.

Eden – Jim Crace

In Jim Crace’s eden (with intentional lack of initial capital) there live angels and humans. The angels take the form of large, blue-feathered birds, and the humans take the role of farmers and labourers, working the land for their own sustenance and to provide for the Lord and his host.

It is a hard life for the men and women, and it is eternal. For there is no death in eden, and by implication no birth, no children, and no sex. Also no escape, eden is enclosed by a wall, the only gate carefully guarded and only opened to export meagre alms to the mortals outwith.

Even in paradise there are misfits. Jamin is an angel who fell and damaged a wing and who, uniquely in the host, enjoys fraternising with the humans, particularly Tabi. Tabi has a spark of life about her, a curiosity that sets her apart, makes her noticeable, and she, alone, questions the regulated existence and the angels’ version of the world – leave eden and you will die. Her attractiveness bothers Alum, a surly man and self-appointed informer of transgressions and punisher of lapses, tolerated by the angels for his usefulness. He keeps a close eye on Tabi and pounces on any misdemeanour.

When Tabi goes AWOL, it is not just Jamin and Alum that miss her. Co-worker in the orchard, Ebon, realises how much he valued her companionship. He, like Jamin and Alum, seeks answers to her disappearance and a way to get her back from over the wall.

Benevolent imprisonment and immortality versus a dangerous freedom that promises death is the theme. But it is not just an individual’s choice. One person’s actions can have implications for the whole community.

Beautifully written with a deceptive simplicity that masks a depth of character and plot.

Trust – Hernan Diaz

This is a story of the rise of Andrew Bevel, an American tycoon who plays, even manipulates, the financial markets through the early twentieth century to make his fortune, and about his wife Mildred. He is driven by ambition and is reclusive. She is similarly self-sufficient but active in supporting philanthropic and cultural causes, until she dies relatively early. The twist is that the tale is told in four versions.

The first is in the form of a novel in which an author, Harold Vanner, presents a thinly disguised fictional portrait of the tycoon and his wife. The second is Andrew Bevil’s incomplete attempt at autobiography, penned in response to Vanner’s novel, presenting the ‘real’ story of his business success and his relationship with his wife.

The third part is an historic account by Ida Partenza of how she was recruited by Bevil to turn his dictated ramblings into readable prose augmented as necessary to ‘fill out’ Mildred’s personality. Finally, Mildred’s own voice, in the form of recently discovered notebooks, is transcribed to give her version, shedding light on a hidden aspect of her life with Bevil.

An interesting concept and structure, but in truth only Ida Partenza’s contribution satisfies as a novel, providing characterisation and dramatic tension; the other sections are rather dull.

But what else to expect from a winner of one of the heavyweight prizes, be it Booker, or as in this case, Pulitzer. Will I ever learn?