A trio of books that I don’t have an enormous amount to write about… but more than nothing?
The Powers That Be – Beverley Nichols
When I bought this, I thought it was a novel. When I explored a bit further, I realised it was non-fiction – an account of meeting various people who claim to be able to do supernatural things. ‘What fun,’ thought I. I had assumed it would be Nichols travelling around and meeting Madame Arcati types, being gently witty at their expense, but with good-heartedness behind the barbs.
Well, there are no barbs; there is no wit. Nichols is entirely straight-faced in this book, meeting people who purport to be able to read minds, sense coal or oil by looking at a map, heal by putting a drop of blood in a black box etc. Nichols is agape and unquestioning throughout. The people he meets are portrayed affectionately, and perhaps they all believe that can do their wonders – but the book felt like an article that had got out of hand, and with none of the writing strengths that make Nichols the author he is.
The Electricity of Every Living Thing – Katherine May
Another non-fiction – about a woman coming to terms with her adult diagnosis of autism while walking the south coast of England. It was a really interesting premise, and I did enjoy reading this – May is very open, not only about her diagnosis but about the arguments and tension in her marriage, and her feelings as a mother.
The thing that was missing for me was perhaps more of an attempt to explain what she means by living with a sense of electricity all the time, and perhaps more abstract discussions alongside the angst about the rain and lost pathways. Or perhaps it just that there’s been so much brilliant memoir recently that this one is more ordinary than some of the others? But definitely still worth a read if the premise interest you.
Once Again to Zelda – Marlene Wagman-Geller
My brother got me this ages ago, and it was one of the final Project Names titles I finished last year – so you can see how long it’s been waiting in my to-review pile. The idea is quite clever – she uses the dedications of famous novels to tell the story behind them. Some of them I was very familiar with, like Emma; others were books I hadn’t even heard of. A staggering amount of research has gone into this, and it’s a fun stocking-filler type of book – if you remember this in December. A good one to leaf through, finding interesting facts and stories in, if not one to read through in one go.
More often than not, the story is about the book and the dedication is an incidental way in, rather than particularly bizarre or intriguing dedications – though there are a handful of those too. Probably the book of these three that I enjoyed most, and if you enjoy reading about books and literary history, I can certainly recommend.
Um. That doesn’t sound like a Beverley I need to read… I love him when he’s snarky and clever, and when he balances that with something a little deeper. But this sounds straight and very un-Bev like. I think I’ll avoid….
I enjoyed the Katherine May memoir well enough, but there were some unfortunate things about the timing and marketing, I think. For one thing, it came out less than a month after Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path, another memoir about walking the South West Coast Path that ended up getting a lot more attention. And then the cover and title are awful – unrepresentative of the contents. If you wanted to try something else by her, her recent book Wintering is really lovely. It’s about the literal season of winter but also about periods of depression, and what helps.
Thanks for the heads-up Simon, I don’t think I’ll be rushing to read any of these. But I am very glad to hear you also have a revewing backlog – mine is terrible, and of course the longer I leave things the less I can remember and the more time I have to devote to reminding myself.
Currently reading Bob Gilbert’s brilliant Ghost Trees, and for once I am taking notes, so that might help.
Ooh Once Again to Zelda sounds like a good one!
Once Again to Zelda is the only one that appeals to me here. The Katherine May would I fear suffer in comparison to The Salt Path (Raynor Winn) which I absolutely adored.
“… meeting people who purport to be able to [read minds], sense coal or oil by looking at a map”.
Ha, presumably one of the excellent British Geological Survey maps showing the coal measures! The first series of these started in the 1860’s. Does not sound like a book I will be picking up. As always I like reading thoughtful and helpful negative reviews as well as positive ones, though I seem to remember I am in a minority here.