Doors Open by Ian Rankin

I mourned with many when Edinburgh writer Ian Rankin brought his series of Rebus detective novels to a close, so I did take some consolation in his new thriller, Doors Open. Not much, though. The story of three middle-class, upstanding citizens who foolishly decide to dabble in crime was entertaining but somewhat fluffy. Protagonist Mike, the bored millionaire, wasn't savvy enough and the twist wasn't turned good and tight. It left me feeling melancholy and under-nourished because I could detect whiffs of the great Rankin lurking here and there between the pages, not unlike the delicious aroma of curry sometimes found in the back lanes of Edinburgh...

Jarretsville by Cornelia Nixon

My take on Cornelia Nixon's 2009 novel, Jarretsville, recently aired on Maryland Public Radio. An excerpt follows below and you can hear the entire review here.

"One gets to the end and asks what was it really about? The author seemed unwilling to choose which flavor should take precedent. Which is a shame, because the meat at the heart of Jarrettsville is so juicy: Nicholas McComas was not man enough for Martha Jane Cairnes and Martha Jane Cairnes was sure too much woman for him. What wonderful irony in his decision to return to Jarretsville to strut alongside his brother-soldiers in celebration of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, only to be felled by a slip of a girl.

Damn!"

The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen

The Last September (1929), chronicles the decline of an aristocratic way of life in Southern Ireland, amidst the rising tensions of the Anglo-Irish war. In the late summer of 1920, Lois Farquar, the young ward of Sir Richard and Lady Myra Nayler, lives within a privileged prison, an exquisite country house in which tennis parties continue despite sectarian tensions outside its gates. She captures the heart of a decent but hapless English soldier serving with the Black and Tans, whose guilelessness blinds him to her indecisiveness. Lois knows the world is changing, and that women's roles are changing, yet she finds these prospects both attractive and frightening. Bowen's book has a lyricism infused with vagueness, the setting and scenes unfold within a gentle yet threatening miasma. Violence seems perpetually crouched in the shadows at the end of the dying garden. The central question of the novel is one Lois asks of herself, and one increasingly being asked of the class to which she belongs: "What do you think I am for?

Kindle Killer....

Could the introduction of the iPad may be the real cause behind this past weekend's stand-off between Macmillon and Amazon? So argues Salon...

J. D. Salinger (1919- 2010)

"Gin a body

meet a body

Comin' thro' the grain,

Gin a body kiss a body

The thing's a body's ain.

Comin' thro' the rye, poor body

Comin' thro' the rye,

She draigl't a' her petticoatie

Comin' thro' the rye.

Ev'ry lassie has her laddie

Nane they say have I,

Yet all the lads they smile on me

Comin' thro' the rye."

Robert Burns

(Obituary in The Guardian).

Will the iPad transform the book business?

Looks like Amazon was right to be worried. Some takes on how Apple's new iPad may transform the book industry can be found at Boldtype and Forbes. Many of the biggest publishers have signed on to provide content, but noticeably absent is Random House, so Apple's library is far from exhaustive. Although I love my iPhone, I'm hanging fire for the moment on any kind of e-reader, still happy to clutter my tables and shelves in the old-fashioned way. Also the iPad doesn't appear to have tackled two key issues: battery life, and an attractive screen that is easy on the eyes. Also, how easy is it to flip back and forth through the pages and mark the text? As a reviewer, I like my 'victims' to be malleable...

Costa Book of the Year - Surprise!

The strong favorite amongst literary pundits and bookies to win the 2009 Costa Book of the Year Award, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, has been trumped by poet Christopher Reid's A Scattering. A poet hasn't scooped this major prize since Seamus Heaney won in 1999 for his triumphant new translation of Beowulf. Reid pockets the tidy sum of around $48,000 as well as the knowledge that folks like me are now googling around furiously to find out more about him, and eager to read his work.

I must admit to feeling rather relieved, as I seem to be one of the few who did not fall in love with Brooklyn. The strongest element in Toibin's work was his visceral understanding of the alienation the emigrant feels on returning home, but, well, you can read my thoughts....