#am reading The Paying Guests

Author: Sarah Waters

Discovered: Foyles, Waterloo station

Where read: (in part) The 15:55 from Victoria to Maidstone

What's the story?

In the aftermath of WWI Frances and her Mother are forced to take in lodgers to their suburban home in South London. As a young professional couple, The Barbers, move in Frances must come to terms with the life changing consequences of sharing her home with other adults.  

The Word's Shortlist view:

Though Sarah Water’s is well established as a writer of contemporary fiction The Paying Guests is the first Waters novel I have read and reviewed. First impressions? Beautifully written, well structured and perfectly captures the post war period with grieving and dismayed people (most often women) adjusting to a new world.

The first half of the story sees Frances’s infatuation with lodger Lillian Barber turn into a visceral and physical relationship as picnics in the park turn to parties and snatched moments of intimacy on the landing. “What did she want? Frances couldn't tell......There had been too much dancing back and forth.” 

Waters expertly builds the tension as the couple’s relationship develops within the suffocating intimacy of the house right alongside France’s mother and Lillian’s husband Leonard.“I barely knew I had skin before I met you”; Frances reveals following an afternoon in the scullery.

In the second half the novel turns crime drama as the couple are thrust into the heart of a violent murder that pushes their embryonic affair to the limit.   

The book is most successful in the early chapters, in which characters are given centre stage over events, and does feel a little heavy in the later court room scenes. The ending won’t appease all readers but I particularly enjoyed the ambiguity around what punishment looks like. A page turner, for the most part, with explicit realism and authentic characters that are a cut above much of the top 10 paperbacks you could pick up this summer.  

Who should read this book?

Fans of Sarah Water’s period lesbian dramas and fans of memorable contemporary fiction.

What’s next on the bookshelf

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

Tweet of the week:

#book review JG Ballard 'High Rise' http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.com/2015/06/with-media-ben-weatleys-adaptation-of.html?spref=tw … @HighRise_movie @recordedpicture

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'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

#readmore

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With pre-release media for Ben Weatley's movie adaptation of High Rise creating eager anticipation you've just got time to pick up a copy of JG Ballards orginal novel.

First reviewed by The Word's Shortlist in 2014

Watch the “Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.”

With a new film in production, with Tom Hiddleston and director Ben Wheatley, and the Tate Britain exploring the enigma of ruined architecture, in current show Ruin Lust, this is the perfect time to pick up a copy of JG Ballard's 1975 sci-fi gem Highrise.

In the novel Ballard imagines a scenario in which society, in this case within the microcosm of a luxury Highrise development, completely breaks down. What begin as minor malfunctions such as faulty lifts and waste disposal systems soon escalate to life threatening events as the inhabitants turn feral within the luxury carpeted halls. Social order is literally thrown from the high rise balconies as a new dystopian order seeps through the concrete structure of the vertical city.

The story centres on 3 key characters who neatly represent the social worlds that exist within the complex. On one of the lower proletariat floors is Laing, a lecturer who we meet early on in the novel roasting an Alsatian on a pyre of yellow pages. Higher up lives TV producer and social climber Wilder. On one of the upper floors is Royal, architect, urbanist and idealist.

The work is at its best when the boundaries blur between the social strata creating an anti-society no-mans land. Ballard allows us to experience this through the eyes of the three main protagonists effectively. This wouldn't have worked as well told through one single view point.

The challenge with the novel is to recognise that this is essentially a period piece. Much has changed since 1975 and the book is markedly void of digital interference.

A great read with a unforgettable first opening sentence that will hook you in whether browsing in the library/bookshop or trying a kindle sample. Your perfect hit of post-apocolyptic mayhem.

More about the film adaptation here http://ind.pn/1b1WTjX

More about Tate Britain's show here http://bit.ly/1bIF221

Tweet @wordsshortlist if you're planning to read

#am reading Dance, Dance, Dance

Author: Haruki Murakami

Tags: #japan #awildsheepchase #eighties

Discovered: Working my way through the Murakami back catalogue

Where read: (in part) Novotel, Blackfriars Road, Southwark, SE1

What's the story?

An un-named writer decides to revisit a seedy hotel in which he once spent the night with a woman he loved. Years have passed and the hotel has been redeveloped yet still bears the same particular name, The Dolphin Hotel. A series of surreal experiences transpire in areas of the hotel that are seemingly trapped between the old and the new and only one other person appears to understand. 

The Word's Shortlist view:

Dance, Dance, Dance was Murakami’s sixth novel and is a sequel, of sorts, to A Wild Sheep Chase. The novel was first published in 1998 though not translated into English until 1994 after the global success of Norwegian Wood. Despite the 90s translation the work is firmly, and idiosyncratically, rooted in a neon eighties Japan with references to pop culture from ET: The Extra Terrestrial to Talking Heads.

The novel has a cinematic quality with the protagonist making almost religious visits to the cinema to see the same film and also imagining his life in celluloid; “We knew exactly what we wanted in each other. And even so, it ended. One day it stopped, as if the film simply slipped off the reel”

The book’s dream sequences are classic Murakami (when viewed through the lens of over 25 years further work). Most sequences include the Sheep Man from A Wild Sheep Chase who first urges the narrator to dance; "Yougottadance. Aslongasthemusicplays. Yougotta dance. Don'teventhinkwhy. Starttothink, yourfeetstop. Yourfeetstop, wegetstuck. Wegetstuck, you'restuck. Sodon'tpayanymind, nomatterhowdumb". The Sheep Man's unique voice, demonstrated typografically by eliminating the space between words is an interesting consequence of translation from the Japanese original.

This book may not be the best place to start your Murakami adventure (I’d firmly recommend Sputnik Sweetheart or Norwegian Wood) but if you’re familiar with the the genre that is Haruki Murakami then you’ll revel in seeing  the genesis of themes that will continue to be updated right up to more recent works such as iQ84.

“As time goes on, you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself.” 

Who should read this book?

Fans of the eighties, of Japan and of Mr Murakami of course

What’s next on the bookshelf

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Tweet of the week:

Really, there is now a #HarryPotter style owl cafe in #Japan - http://klou.tt/apyizllr343o 

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

#readmore

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#am reading On Chesil Beach

Author: Ian McKewan

Tags: #bookerprize #novella #dorset

Discovered: Saturday morning browsing the local library.

Where read: (in part)In the sun at Whitstable Harbour

What's the story?

Newly-weds Edward and Florence are spending their honeymoon in a small guest house on the Dorset Coast. The anxiety around their first night together grips the couple. The year is 1962 and both clearly have different expectations around their first night of intimacy and what transpires that night will affect both of their lives forever. 

The Word's Shortlist view:

This is a beautifully poetic novella that won the Booker prize in 2007 and went on to become a book club classic. As a piece of literary fiction this work alone would cement Ian McKewan as one of the best story tellers writing today.

The plot revolves centrally around the build up to the couples first night together; Florence’s extreme fear of sexual intimacy at odds with Edward’s hopes of loving consummation “When they kissed she immediately felt his tongue, tensed and strong, pushing past her teeth, like some bully shouldering his way into a room. Entering her.” The scene’s climax is expertly crafted.

Not a single word is wasted in this story yet the characterization is as vivid and expressive as it is intimate. The prose is clipped and precise just like the strict social code that the story explores so well. “It's shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions. Who, for decorum's sake, has ever slowed his heart, or muted a blush?”  The extreme sexual repression of the early sixties is evocatively brought to life in the setting of the forlorn guest house nestled against Chesil Beach.

Though the story is ultimately about love and loss their is hope rather than tragedy for this is an era very much in the past. Read the novel for an uncompromising glimpse back in time. 

Tweet of the week:

What a treat! Browsing in @harbourbooks on a beautiful summer's day in @Whitstable @whitstablelit 

The Word's Shortlist

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'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

#readmore

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#am reading Us

Author: David Nicholls

Tags: #trains #wanderlust #art

Discovered: New in paperback this week at the local library (big fan)

Where read: (in part)The Deaf Cat, Rochester with a de-caff flat white.

What's the story?

Husband and father Doug plans an ambitious make or break holiday in an attempt to save his marriage to Connie and to restore his relationship with teenage son Albie. Doug’s vision to salvage his family life is to re-create the classic ‘Grand Tour’ of old by criss-crossing Europe visiting leading art galleries from the Louvre and Museo del Prado to The Rijksmuseum. 

The Word's Shortlist view:

You have to admire Doug’s spirit. As a staid and decorous bio-chemist, the effort put into planning and investing in the family Grand Tour is first class when, almost inevitably, his enthusiasm is not shared with either Connie or Albie.  

The travelogue aspects of this book are brilliant and you can expect to experience a good deal of Wanderlust throughout. Combine this with scenes crossing Europe by train and this book will have you filling a suitcase full of novels* and booking a Eurostar ticket before you’ve finished the final chapter. Why didn’t publishers Hodder & Stoughton do a deal with Eurostar on a discount coupon?

Nicholls writing style is accessible and laid-back which makes US a straight forward novel to dip in and out of. The diary or blog style structure, rather than conventional chapters, is ideal for reading in short bursts but means that you’re never completely absorbed in the characters. This could be the trouble with Doug (boring, wholesome and parochial)being the narrator versus Connie (pretentious, affected and ephemeral) or Albie (mollycoddled, rebellious and overblown).

The book just about avoids a cliche ridden conclusion. There is always a worrying inevitable resolution to family dramas but US, whilst playing safe, does avoid falling in to this trap with Doug growing into a late blooming renaissance man.

Read on board a speeding train for maximum enjoyment.

*Obviously consulting The Word’s Shortlist before you do

Tweet of the week:

Serious wanderlust + reading list = need some train journey inspiration @EurostarUK @Voyagessncf_com

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

#readmore

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#am reading Sputnik Sweetheart

Author: Haruki Murakami

Tags: #japan #greece #unrequitedlove

Discovered: Working my way through the Murakami canon

Where read: (in part) Old Town, Margate, Kent.

What's the story?

Sumire is a bookish and awkward student desperately in love with Miu, a woman 17 years her senior. Sumire's college friend K looks on longing for Summer to return his wasted affections. When Sumire disappears whilst working as personal assistant to Miu on a Greek Island K travels from Japan to find her and bring her home.  

The Word's Shortlist view:

Sputnik Sweetheart is a short and simple story, by Muramaki standards, which was published in between his more famous classics The Wind up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore. Slender though the book may be this novel still manages to pack all the typical Murakami elements.

The title of the book refers to the loneliness and isolation of an orbiting satellite and illustrates the key themes of the story well. Both K and Sumire are trapped by a deep unrequited love that Murakami's curt and confined writing style perfectly captures. Murakami tends to write with male narrators so the two female protagonists, Sumire and Miu, are refreshingly different. After Dark also features strong female leads.

The reason I return again and again to Murakami is the way he captures characters and places in a fictional world that is both recognisable and alien simultaneously. The more you read, the more compelling this world is and the more you understand the fanatical global following Murakami generates. This novel may just leave you with more questions than answers but could be the perfect introduction to the genre and ideal pre-read before weightier tomes like IQ84.
     

Tweet of the week:

I'm about $3.7m short to buy this house http://j.mp/1Hk6koz  @GuardianBooks #gatsby

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

#readmore

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#am reading The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Tags: #gonegirl #domesticnoir #train

Discovered: Where have you been? This title has been hard to miss since late last year

Where read: (in part) Rose Cottage, Puddle Lane, Bonsall

What's the story?
Rachel travels in to London everyday in the same seat on the same train and fantasies about the 'perfect' couple she spies on when the train stops at a particular signal. Quickly fantasy turns to suspense as Rachel gets caught up in the lives of the couple she idolises but where does the fantasy end? Rachel is a flawed character whose drinking and erratic behaviour lead to questions about the authenticity of her as narrator.

The Word's Shortlist view:
The Girl on the Train is a page turner and to that extent you should believe the hype comparing the novel to Gone Girl. As a slice of 'domestic noir' Paula Hawkin's book delivers on all genre points (female viewpoint, suburban crime, adult relationships and recognisable settings). 

The writing style is very accessible and the homely settings are instantly recognisable as demonstrated in the title of the book which directly (cleverly) reaches out to one of the largest and most prolific markets for paper-back books. The switching narrators; Rachel, Anna and Megan, tell the story from three different angles which is where Hawkins is most successful. Naomi Wood’s Mrs Hemingway adopts a similar technique.

For me The Girl on the Train is missing a likeable character, someone to root for and drive you to the end of the story. What’s more, the female characters lack depth - all we really see is their obsession with their boyfriends/husbands. With the pace slowed down to allow for more character development this would be a great novel. That said, its a crowd pleaser and anything that means office banter turns to fiction is a winner for me.

Looking for your next thriller? Try Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng,

Tweet of the week:

Spent a enlightening morning browsing the crooked shelves of @scarthinbooks #peakdistrict #bestbookstores

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture

 #readmore

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The Japanese Fiction special

A round up of The Word's Shortlist top reviews from Murakami to Yoshimoto :)

After Dark - Haruki Murakami

The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami

Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami

Strange Weather in Tokyo - Hiromi Kawakami

The Lake - Banana Yoshimoto

#justread Kolymsky Heights

Author: Lionel Davidson

Tags: #philippullman #coldwar #siberia

Discovered: The window of Daunt Books in Marylebone

Where read: (in part) Ozone Coffee, Leonard Street, London

What's the story?

This cold war spy thriller is set in the freezing tundra of Siberia, one of the most impenetrable places on Earth and home to a top secret Soviet research base and laboratory. The story follows our all adventure protagonist Jonny Porter whose verve and unique native Canadian background provides the perfect linguistic and cultural disguise to infiltrate the high security Soviet base. Classic spy fiction.  


The Word's Shortlist view:

Kolymsky Heights is a page turner from the very off, a secret message in a cigarette package sent to an Oxford professor and a complete preserved Mammoth carcass turning up in Siberia - this is thriller fiction at its most compelling. Porter's journey across the Arctic Sea from Japan to Russia is a masterclass in spy fiction. Davidson invests so much attention in the detail that every aspect of the story is completley believable the only trouble is that the pages and pages of detail can, at times, hold the narrative up. At times I was actually willing the characters on. 

At times this novel is brilliant but at other times boring. My guess is that fans of the genre (Le Carre et al) will delight in the pace but for the rest of us this feels a bit like committing to a 12 episode box set just because the pilot episode is so good. Still, I'll always be grateful for Daunt books for continuing to showcase old and new fiction at its very best. For more wonderful bookstores see the tweet of the week below.

Looking for a thriller in similarly freezing surroundings? My moneys on Arne Dahl's Bad Blood http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/bad-blood-macabre-slice-of-urban-gothic.html

Tweet of the week:

Weird and wonderful #bookshops worldwide – in pictures http://gu.com/p/429at/stw  #books

The Word's Shortlist

@wordsshortlist

'That book guy', tweeting mainly about fiction and reading but with occasional sidebars into art, Japanese culture and architecture #readmore

 Oxfordshire

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Essential Bank Holiday reads...

Colorless Tsukuro Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

Stay up with me by Tom Barbash

Mrs. Hemingway

Author: Naomi Wood

Tags: #Hemingway #poolside #summerreads

Discovered: Marylebone Train Station (after missing my train)

Where read: (in part) waiting for the next train

What's the story?: 

This novel follows the literary career of one Earnest Hemingway through the lives of his four wives Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary. The story moves from from the Cote D'Azur to Key West like flicking through the pages of Time Magazine or Vogue as Hemingway's career moves from war journalist to literary sensation changing his lovers as often as his flannel trousers.

The Word's Shortlist view:

This is a light and enjoyable read perfect for the pool or beach side. Strong female characters and glamorous locations will no doubt mean this book sells by the bucket load at airport bookstores. The star of the story is Mr Hemingway himself and the highlights are the chapters devoted to the Hemingway's summer vacations with F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. An entire novel could have been devoted to their jazz, gin and bridge marathons.

Anyone, like me, interested in Hemingway as a writer will be mildly disappointed - the trouble with the first person narrative from each wife is that Earnest is kept at a distance. That said, as a man who existed in the relationship mire between ex-wife and future wife we actually see much more of the man through his lovers.

For an equally strong female lead, the word's shortlist recommends 'The Miniaturist' http://wordsshortlist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-miniaturist-eerie-prophecy-of-dolls.html

Twitter: @wordsshortlist

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