Christobel Kent - A Fine and Private Place

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series and awaited this with eager anticipation. Perhaps it did not compare to the Booker list but I found it quite hard to get into. It did not seem to have such a strong sense of place as A Time of Mourning. However,it was a sort of 'country house style whodunnit' and as such the location worked. I like the character of Cellini, our detective and the unfolding of his home life. Where Christobel scores is in her characterisation, one really connects with her characters. This was quite difficult here as the secondary characters were rather thinly drawn but as most of them were murder suspects I could see why! I liked the plotting and the unfolding of the mystery, and as usual I did not guess the murderer. I look forward to the next in the series.

Man Booker

Well I got that spectacularly wrong! But at least I did like the winning novel, this is a first and probably a testament to how good the book is..........

Man Booker

So the results are out tomorrow. So who do I think will win? Well I would like either In a Strange Room or Room to win. I also wouldn't mind if Parrott and Olivier did too. However, knowing the Man Booker from the past I am sure the one I did not like (ssh C) will probably win!!

Emma Donoghue - Room

I left this book to last as I thought the subject matter might lead to sleepless nights. This is not the sort of book I would normally read. I like my fictional entertainment to be a fantasy or entertainment, anything too much like the horror of real life puts me off.

This book is narrated by young Jack who is just 5. His world is a locked room 11ft x 11ft. he was born into it. His Ma has been there 7 years. He sleeps in the wardrobe, and his mother has a visitor at night. At first I was rather irritated by the five year old's speak but as the book progressed I soon got used to it. The book moves on at a pace and it is very difficult to say much without giving huge spoilers as to the plot. It confounded my expectations. This is a book of hope, a book of coping in extreme circumstances, of the sacrifices that are made by mothers. It is also a book that deserves to win!

Howard Jacobson - The Finkler Question

This book is cleverly disguised as the Jewish question, and is really a very intense bit of navel gazing. The story is loosely based around one Julian Treslove. His best friend from school has been the Jewish Sam (Samuel) Finkler, and both their mentors and lifelong friend is the Jewish Libor Seveik. Both Finkler and Libor are recently widowed. Treslove has never married. Treslove looking at his successful friend Finkler and the successful marriage of his friend Libor, ponders whether this is inherently due to Jewishness. He then begins a relationship with Libor's niece and begins the process of attempting to become Jewish himself.
This book has some very funny moments, some sad ones and a great deal of reflection. For instance if you are Jewish but support Palestine does that make you anti-semetic? The scene in the Groucho club between the ASHamed Jews and the music industry followers of Kabbalah was hysterical.
I enjoyed it but I am not sure that it sadly will have a wide appeal. Of course it will probably win now!

Tom McCarthy- C. Man Booker Shortlist 2010

Oh, I struggled with this one. If I had not been reading it for the Man Booker book group Iwould have abandoned it. I did not understand it. I was unable to fathom a plot and not see the point? What have I missed? A strange young man, Serge Carrefax is born into an even stranger family at the turn of the last century. ( Is he autistic?) His sister perhaps commits suicide. He grows up odd, there is a very strange sojourne in a German spa town as a teenager, he then goes to war in WW1 as an observer in the Air squadron. He is shot down, due to his own idiocy and drug addiction. He becomes a prisoner of war in Germany. He survives, gets sent to Egypt as a spy and dies. In between it is all very odd. Is it meant to be a comedy, the seance was hilarious, is it meant to be satirical? I have no idea! Confounded, Confused and Convoluted!

Damon Galgut - In A Strange Room - Man Booker Shortlist

What a strong list they are this year. This is a small book some 180 pages but my goodness it packs a powerful punch.

The author experiments with punctuation in this novel and we have no speech marks. This normally irritates me. However, here is only serves to increase the dream like quality of the writing. This book is made up of three journeys. The first two are written in the third person, and we get this kind of detached , dreamy voyeurism, that is a little creepy but very compelling. Then in the third section we move from Africa to India and are brought shockingly into the first person and our emotions are put on an emotional ride that is disturbing and effective. This book stayed with me a long time after I read it. I am at a loss as to how to describe the effect it has or how it is achieved, it is not poetic but it compels and binds in the same way.

So far this is the one I think should win - extraordinary.