Shylock is My Name – Howard Jacobson

The setting for this modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice is the money belt south of Manchester around Alderley Edge. Here live, in conspicuous affluence, the main protagonists: Strulovitch, a well-heeled Jew; Plurabelle, a wealthy heiress with a celebrity lifestyle; and D’Anton, friend and factotum to Plurabelle and implacable enemy to Strulovitch, based purely on a disagreement over the latter’s planned development of a local gallery to exhibit Jewish art.

Plurabelle and D’Anton are casually anti-Semitic; Strulovitch while not religiously devout is culturally mired in his faith, content to field prejudice and return it with interest. Not anti-Semitic (despite his Nazi salute style goal celebration) is Plurabelle’s and D’Anton’s friend Gratan, a big footballing fish in the small pool that is Stockport County. In fact he has a hankering for Jewish-looking girls, currently centred on Beatrice, Strulovitch’s sixteen (but going on twenty-five) year old daughter.

The scene set, enter Shylock.

Strulovitch meets him in the cemetery and, unfazed by the presence of a fictional character from a four hundred year old play, invites him back to the house for a meal and to stay a few days. For Strulovitch it is an opportunity to quiz his guest on his ‘recent’ experience and to seek advice on his own predicament. For Shylock it is a chance to reflect on and explain a point of view the bard omitted from his play.

The plot in Cheshire’s ‘Golden Triangle’ develops along Venetian lines. Barnaby (Plurabelle’s lover) wants something Strulovitch has; D’Anton seeks to get it and makes a risky bargain that includes Gratan, Beatrice and an unwise forfeit. Will it end familiarly or will there be a twist this time?

There are some wordy bits around the Jewish condition but Jacobson uses words very well, and there are plenty of mannered comedic episodes too. A familiarity with Shakespeare’s play will help to appreciate the sense of unfolding fate (I refreshed my schoolboy memory with a quick browse of Lamb’s Tales) but the story can stand alone to give a modern and more balanced, though not anodyne, picture of Jewishness in contemporary western society.

The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets – Simon Singh

From its opening episode in 1990 “The Simpsons” animated series has implanted mathematical nuggets into episodes, sometimes as part of the story but more often slyly into a background graphic or throwaway line. Mainly unnoticed by the viewer these are the private jokes of the some of the scriptwriters (who include a preponderance of maths graduates), shared with some fans who use freeze frames to capture the figures and decipher the message. In this book Simon Singh combines his love of maths and The Simpsons to bring those mathematical titbits out of the background and in entertaining fashion explain their history and significance.

Thus we are treated to mini-treatises on universal constants such as pi and e; theorems such as those of Pythagoras and Fermat (his last one that provided enough material for an earlier book from Singh); and the maths behind ideas such as six degrees of separation. He also covers some social issues such as the under-representation of women in maths (taking his cue from the “Girls Just Want to Have Sums” episode).

To give an example of how it works, one episode briefly displays three answers to a multiple choice question to fans at a baseball game, inviting them to guess the attendance. The options are 8191, 8128, 8208 and in the context of the show are meaningless. But to mathematicians they are highly distinctive: 8191 is not only a prime number but a ‘Mersenne’ prime formed by raising 2 to the power of a prime number (13 in this case) and deducting 1; 8128 is a ‘perfect number’ (the fourth) as its divisors (other than itself) also add up to the number (easier to check the second one, 28 = 1+2+4+7+14); 8208 is even more arcane as a ‘narcissistic number’ equal to the sum of its digits each raised to the power of the number of digits (again easier to see it in the smaller 153 = 1 cubed + 5 cubed + 3 cubed).

Game theory also gets an airing, explaining the strategies for winning rock-paper-scissors, as well as the superior (less prone to ties) version of rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. Fun is had with infinity (apparently there is more than one) and multi dimensions; and classic example of the pitfalls of statistics are recounted.

It is light hearted but not dumbed down, and the periodic inclusion of joke maths test papers provide such gems as: Why did 5 eat 6 (because 789); what is the volume of a pizza of radius z and thickness a (pi.z.z.a); and what are the 10 kinds of people in the world (those who understand binary numbers and those who don’t).

For anyone with an interest in maths it is a very good read, explaining the sometimes complex concepts clearly and concisely. A liking for the Simpsons (and Futurama which is also covered) is less essential but aficionados probably won’t be that surprised by the care and attention lavished on the details, inconsequential to the plotlines, included in the programmes.

Phineas Redux – Anthony Trollope

This, the fourth, of Trollope’s ‘political’ novels features the return (or more literally translated, the bringing back or revival) of Phineas Finn whose parliamentary and romantic entanglements were the mainstay of the second volume. At the conclusion of that novel Phineas had exited parliament on a matter of conscience, cut his ties with the society women he courted, taken a local government post back in Ireland, and married local girl and first love Mary Flood Jones.

Now with his wife dead and the job tedious, he is tempted back into politics, where he contests the Tankerville seat in an acrimonious election; the longer term goal to gain a remunerative post in the government of the day. Amid much politicking he is also back amid his society women - quite a fan club he has, though two are married (one happily, one disastrously) and the other is a regular companion of the all-powerful, but aging, Duke of Omnium.

As is his wont, Phineas gets into scrapes; publically sniped at by his old enemy the editor of The People’s Banner, more literally shot at by a disgruntled husband, and put into in a perilous situation when a political rival is bludgeoned in the street. All the while he struggles to come to terms with his current romantic feelings and how much they are just echoes of past loves, misdirected expressions of gratitude, and coloured by his need for independent means.

Trollope moves the reader through the political, emotional and moral issues that arise with an assured hand and graceful prose to a resolution of sorts; though as ever with this author, not necessarily the outcome all readers would choose.

The Dream Lover – William Boyd

Two dozen short stories mainly involving relations between men and women, mostly from the male viewpoint and often concerning their perspective of the relationship rather than the reality. So they are more to do with the dream than the love; and less about the love than the desire (with a sprinkling of hate, revenge, ennui and betrayal).

The settings, periods and characters cover an impressive range. To give a taste of those that stuck in my mind: a US serviceman seeks revenge on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific; a schoolboy’s first date, the plans shared in the dorm, has a lot of to live up to; a diplomat’s last night in the tropics provides a long awaited opportunity for sex with a colleague’s wife, but there is an impediment; a man’s obsession for a girl has an unusual genesis and a tragic end; and student affairs at an international school in Nice create tensions and torments.

Stylistically Boyd experiments in some stories, which adds to the variety, but for me he is best when he tells it straight – good characters, intriguing situations, a dilemma to resolve.

Resolution doesn’t always come, not all endings are neat, but most stories say something interesting about men and women and how they relate. And it is not a bad thing sometimes to be left wondering…

Personally I prefer his full length novels but this collection provides a more-than-readable, bedtime-story length assortment of tales; some will resonate, some may jar, but none will put you off the next.

Review of 2016

The move to fortnightly reviews reduced the number of books read in the year to twenty-six, though these included (as planned) some hefty tomes from favourite authors. As a result the overall standard was high and restricting my books of the year to eight was tricky. However from the titles reviewed the following are picked out as the books of my reading year and so are particularly recommended (full review in bracketed month).

Books for serious readers:

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt (Jun) – A traumatic childhood event leaves Theo Decker bereft of family but in possession of a secret treasure; both consequences shape his future in this fine depiction of a developing young man surrounded by richly drawn characters.

Life After Life – Kate Atkinson (Jul) – Time-looping depiction of a 20^th century life, lived over again in an attempt to get things right – the author at her mischievous best.

White Teeth – Zadie Smith (Dec) – Multicultural, multi-generational tale of the intertwined lives of a group of working class London folk; full of comedy, irony and pathos.

The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell (Dec) – Six differently narrated episodes provide a snapshot every decade or so between 1984 and 2043 (with perceptive views of the past and perceptive visions of the future); each a good story, the combination linked by recurring characters and an age old mystic battle between good and evil.

General fiction:

The Journal of Dora Damage – Belinda Starling (Apr) – Unusual in its conception and physical presentation, which both factor into a story that sees representatives of some oppressed minorities rise and take control of their lives via an unconventional bookbinding business, against the odds, in 19^th century London.

Joyland – Stephen King (Jul) – Fine, quick paced and nostalgic yarn of a young man’s 60’s summer working on a run-down amusement park; a fun job that turns darkly serious.

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins (Nov) – Cleverly crafted and unusually constructed modern murder mystery that works to perfection.

Nonfiction:

Manhood for Amateurs – Michael Chabon (Mar) – Short essays from a wise man and a gifted writer who here turns his attention to the male zeitgeist based on his experiences as a son, lover, husband and father.

The Best a Man Can Get – John O’Farrell

Michael Adams loves his bachelor lifestyle sharing a South London flat with three other ‘lads’ that also serves as a studio for his work producing music for advertising jingles. He also loves his wife and two kids at his home north of the river, which he frequents as often as his ‘work’ (or laddish distractions) allows. Neither household is aware of the other – yet.

But burning the candle at both ends is difficult to sustain and Michael’s best of both worlds is in danger of turning into his worst nightmare.

Rich comedic veins are mined with skill and a commendable avoidance of cliché. But it’s not all played for laughs. As Michael’s troubles grow he has to re-examine his core values and reconsider exactly what is meant by the best a man can get.

Good for a laugh and good for a relaxing read.

The Bone Clocks – David Mitchell

This book is best described as a linked series of six novellas, spaced about a decade apart, with a new first person narrator each time.

1984: Troubled teenager Holly Sykes (treated as a child for hearing ‘radio voices’ in her head) runs away from home in Gravesend and encounters a mix of folk: some normal like Ed Brubeck, a boy from school who gives her practical help and advice; some weird like Esther Little, who seems to know her already and imparts an enigmatic message; and some positively paranormal, though that encounter is immediately redacted from her conscious memory. Her week of rebellion ends when a domestic crisis, little brother Jacko going missing, calls her home.

1991: Hugo lamb, Cambridge undergraduate, clever and he knows it, is in with the posh set, whose members he sees as fair game for his exploitative schemes. While skiing with his rich chums in Switzerland he learns that a scam back home has had unforeseen consequences that make a return unwise, but his companions abroad are also in trouble locally so he seeks refuge with a barmaid he has been targeting with limited success – one Holly Sykes. Sparks fly as estuary girl with attitude meets posh boy with class and charm, snowed-in together in her bedsit. But posh boy has also met some strange characters with a bizarre but tempting future to sell. Which way to go?

2004: It is Sharon Sykes wedding bash in Brighton. Sharon is Holly’s younger sister but the narrator is Ed Brubeck, now Holly’s partner and father to her daughter Aoife. Ed’s a war correspondent in the Middle East and while he recounts the events of the wedding he also reflects on his recent traumatic posting. Then a home based trauma occurs – Aoife goes missing (an echo of Jacko’s disappearance) and it needs one of Holly’s unconscious psychic utterances (a radio voice) to direct the search, during which reference is made to something called The Script.

2015: Our next narrator, for a five year span, is Crispin Hershey, author, living a literary globe-trotting existence on the back of his first novel, well received but not matched since. He’s bitter, cynical and not above taking revenge on a critic he blames for his decline. At conventions around the world he repeatedly bumps into Holly Sykes, now a successful author herself with a book about her ‘radio voices’ experiences. Crispin is at first dismissive of her credentials, but after experiencing one of her psychic episodes first hand comes to respect, indeed love her in his own curmudgeonly fashion. He also has brushes with someone trying to warn him about his part in The Script; when he brushes them off it doesn’t end well.

2025: At last someone who knows what The Script is – Marinus is an ‘atemporalist’ and through his narrative all the weird stuff becomes clearer. It is all part of the centuries old conflict between the good and the evil of their kind, which seems to be building to a cataclysmic clash. Holly Sykes, visiting New York, is an unknowing pawn in the end-game, which game will end with few survivors.

2043: Holly survived, but to what end? Eighteen years later it is a world much changed and in a ‘post-darkening’ decline, sans oil, sans internet, and running low on food and essential medicines. Back at the ancestral smallholding in rural Ireland she ekes out an existence, caring as best she can for her two grandchildren – Aoife’s daughter Lorelei and Rafiq an adopted refugee boy – for whom the future looks bleak. Is this really the end that The Script demanded?

The book is a tour de force. Six hundred pages, six novellas, intriguingly linked, covering six decades with six very different narrators (even the one repeated individual is a different person sixty years on). Around the gripping storylines is perceptive detail of past and present times and speculative ideas on where current trends may lead, chillingly, in the future.

As well as links between the novellas the author reintroduces characters from earlier books: Hugo Lamb is Jason Taylor’s big boy cousin in Black Swan Green; and Marinus has a bit part in The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.

The paranormal element intrudes only slightly into five of the six episodes, barely affecting the mainstream stories (while subtly laying down a breadcrumb trail towards the future); the other episode is full-on fantasy but easily manageable even for someone generally unfamiliar with that genre.

Another typically genre-defying David Mitchell novel of great worth delivered with trademark fluency and style.