Denerick's Log

3.

Michael Davitt, from the Gaelic American, by John Devoy (Ed. W.J. Mc Cormack + Carla King)

This is not a book as such, but a compilation of newspaper articles John Devoy wrote in the American newspaper, 'the Gaelic American'. It discusses the 'New Departure' mentioned in the other post, in light of Davitt's death and the various chattering of what happened in those months. Its rather dull and Devoy comes across as insufferably self important. I'll not rate it, because its a memoir and not a book as such, and it does help illuminate the sequence of events rather clearly. I'd only reccomend this if you are researching Davitt or Devoy for some academic purpose, otherwise you are completely wasting your time on something almost mind nummingly dull.

5.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

A couple of years ago I read G.R. Elton's 'The Tudor Revolution in Government', and from that moment onwards I was in awe of Thomas Cromwell. Few men are so scantly remembered by history for doing so much. A practical man, who has done much more than most political theorists in effectively laying down the foundations of the modern nation state, Cromwell's great achievement was - and it is always vital to remember his humble background, and his meteoric rise to power - was to in effect, revolutionise government science in Britain and hence across Europe. He was at the forefront of the the transition from the government of the Kings household + high clergy to the archetypical 'commoner' - effective governmental machinery which created an environment of meritocracy. It is the basis of the modern world.

The reason I wanted to read Mantels book was because I've always been fascinated by this man. Competant as the writing is, I feel it is greatly lacking in many areas. The dialogue is hard to follow and it only gives a cursory skurting of Cromwells great achievements - something of an outrage considering the book was 650 pages long; the exception being his relationship with Thomas More, which is the one theme in the book which I really enjoyed. At times this book was a chore, and took me two weeks to read in between others. I don't recommend it, and am amazed it won the booker prize.

5.5/10

P.S- I should add that it does do a good job at portraying Cromwell the man (IE, genuine reformer, kind to kittens, loving father etc.) as opposed to the typical casting of him as manipulative and cold (Though it does show side of him also, but usually from the mouths of others)

7.

Been reading a lot of nonfiction recently, mainly chapters and essays etc.

Otherwise, I finished reading:

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Read this when I was younger, the short stories are as good as ever, indeed they grow with age. Typically intelligent parables of ethics in this world. The three laws of the robots... I don't have the energy to explain it. Very profound!

7/10

11.

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

This is clever satire which bites both the obviously intended victims and the protagonists. A young bohemian wannabe called Carol marries a small town doctor (Will Kennicott) and takes up abode in an archetypically mid west US small town. I enjoyed reading 'Babbit' last year, and the style of writing is much the same. It begins with joyful enthusiasm and contentment. It ticks on with a eagerness to reform. It matures with cynicism. Packed with powerful insights and a willingness to see all perspectives with a charitable harmony, its a wonderful portrait of small town America in all of its glory.

8/10.

I've been run off my feet recently with college work (Had to hand in my thesis, don't you know) so recreational reading hasn't been on the agenda. However, I've been reading loads of articles and stuff recently. Also, have read these over the last couple of days:

13.

Danial O'Connell, The Year of Repeal by Frances McCaffrey

14.

Robert Emmet, Patrick Geoghegan

15.

Robert Emmet, the making of a legend, Marianne Elliot.

I enjoyed all three. I'm not giving a rating for any however. That seems a bit smug...

17.

Douglas Hyde: A Maker of Modern Ireland, by Janet and Gareth Dunleavy.

Not bad, but no footnotes!!! An interesting writing style that makes even the slightest contribution to cultural nationalism seem significant. And also a nice hagiography of one of our more overlooked cultural figures, a scholar as well as a Gaelic revivalist.

19.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This was a marathon. I didn't have the time to read this properly so instead it was spread out over about six weeks. By doing this, you lose momentum in the reading cycle and at times, have to prompt yourself to remember just what exactly is going on.

This is really a book in three parts. 1) We have the early life of Dantes, his imprisonment, his revelation and his transformation, 2) We are introduced to his life in Italy and his early years in Paris, and 3) the culmination of Dante's plans then becomes evident.

Its hard to be too critical of a book written in the middle of the 19th century and which has seen so much popular acclaim from generations of readers, but I must say that I struggle to find the 'OMG!' aspect of this novel that so many others have. It didn't do it for me like Tolkien, Heller, or Eco ever could. I felt it lacked a certain realism, and that it propagated a plan that was too all encompassing and which fell together much too easily. Dante's various disguises weren't believable either, frankly. And the business with Valentine was never properly explained.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first 600 pages immensely (The chapters of him in prison are among the best pages of literature I've ever read) but I come away disappointed.

7/10.

21.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundral Christ, by Philip Pullman.

From the moment I heard about this book, I wanted to read it. Although somewhat suspicious that it would merely be another installment in the 'book of atheism', I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it a clever satire about how stories can be shaped, deformed, and bastardised, its also a pyschological inquiry into the limits of what an ordinary man can understand, and an explanation as to how dispirate forces come about to 'simplify' human problems for the masses.

All in all, one of the best books I've read this year. 8.5/10,

P.S- I haven't read many books lately as I've been studying for exams. Poor me...

23. The Book of Evidence by John Banville.

Mammy's boys everywhere will cringe. The poor mother! This book is the confession of Freddie Montgomery, a murderer and thief hailing from a successful Catholic middle class Irish family, who made good in California and abandoned his family in order to run away (And hopefully get cash together) to pay off his debtors.

I never expected to enjoy John Banville. I anticipated that he would write a well trodden Irish novel - priest, pauper, emigrants, sexual frustration with inchoate anger and despair - but the novel is elevated far beyond what I would consider the conventional literary Irish novel of the last half century. At times his insights can seem a little strained - he is guilty, I think, of constantly trying to find that epic line which the greats manage with such ease - but four out of five times he hits the nail on the head with introspection. Literally every page has a nugget of wisom within it, and if you allow yourself to drift at all when reading, you'll have a great time reading this book.

8/10.

25.

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brien.

This is the fourth book of the Aubrey/Maturin naval series, and like the first three I enjoyed the relationship between Luckey Jack Aubrey and the sensitive, intellectual doctor, Stephen Maturin. Unfortunately, I still have not come to grips with all of the naval terminology, and the confusing writing style that O'Brien employs... (He quickly changes and resolves plotlines, sometimes in a single sentance, so if your concentration wanders at all you kind of lose track of where you are)

In general, book 4 was entertaining, though not exceptionable. The book starts off with Jacks married life in Hampshire, a jaded and restless man eager to hit the sea again. Maturin arrives, with an order from the admirality, commissioning Jack to lead a squadron to take the islands off the coast of Madagascar (Reunion, Rodriguez etc.). So the novel takes place in England, South Africa, and culminates in the conquests of these islands.

Of course the central theme of O'Briens books is not so much the Napoleonic Wars but the contrasting personalities of Aubrey and Maturin. And as ever, the two inter-relate in thoughtful, rather humourous ways. Also introduced to this book was the Ulster Presbyterian Mac Adam, a primitive pyschiatrist, a bigot, and all round colourful little character who lightens the load in between dissected limbs and buckets of blood.

The Mauritius Command is a competant, enjoyable little novel. Like O'Briens other books, it makes me want to continue reading on in the series, but not all at once! I'll take a break from him for a couple of months and then hit him again.

7/10.

27.

The American Future, a history, from the founding fathers to Obama. By Simon Schama.

This is a book in four parts, dealing in turn with the American military tradition, American religion, American identity and American aspiration (Or capitalism/lack thereof)

Schama gleefully points out the endless ironies of American history - be it the wonderously enlightened declaration of Independence (that runs concurrent with the institution of slavery, obviously) or the emphatically altruistic words stamped onto the Statue of Liberty, whilst thousands of Chinese migrants were lynched across the country. (Other ethnic groups didn't get it easy either)

At the heart of this book is Barack Obama. Obama is to be the antidote of America's disease, the dream of King now realised, sitting in the Oval Office. But for all of Schama's sanctimoniousness, there is an important heart here too - American aspiration has always been the making of the nation. History ceases to be one damn thing after another but instead it becomes one fourth dimensional current - Jackson, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt all standing as one in judgement against and for everything the nation does. Through its toil and plodding devotion to self betterment, the nation would become the great Republic.

In many ways, this is not the first time this story has been told. And its not exactly a history book either. A certain cynic in me sees Schama cashing in on his good reputation in order to write a book that didn't need to be written, at precisely the time that America elected its first black President. But that doesn't take away from what was an accomplished book, as much a personal insight into the American past as it a prediction of the American future.

7/10.

29.

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh.

I was very disappointed with this. Either it was a satire or a cheap spoof - either way it did neither genre any justice. The major point that should be borne in mind is that what Waugh is supposedly mocking - Journalistic self importance/sensationalism and playing fast and loose with the facts - is exaggerated beyond the realm of realism. The anecdote about the war correspondent who was sent to a Balkan country only to sleep on the train and arrive in the wrong city altogether, yet who then proceeds to write about the revolution as if it were happening, even though it isn't, leading to to the collapse of the country as a consequence due to market failures... well come on. This is hardly Joseph Heller we're talking about. Hence it qualifies as poorly constructed satire. In terms of spoof - well, I'm not a big fan of the genre but I get the feeling that this wasn't the intention of Waugh at all.

I'm disappointed because both Waugh and Scoop are held in high esteem, but I was immensely bored from start to finish. Its supposed to be an exuberant comedy, but the exuberance merely left me desperately looking for emotional depth (You will find none of that here) and the comedy left me looking for the laughs (Again, you will find none of that here) What he supposedly satirizes doesn't and never has existed, even once you account for the exaggerations inherent in satires and parodies.

In short, a truly awful novel that has somehow survived the interwar era in which it was written. If this is the best of Waugh, I shudder to think what his other novels are like.

4/10

P.S- Just read this on Wikipedia ('One of the points of the novel is that even if there is little news happening, the world's media descending upon a place requires that something happen to please their editors and owners back home, and so they will create news.') That is certainly the intellectual basis of the novel. My opinion is that the novel does this a great dis-service.

30.

All the Kings Men by Robert Penn Warren

This was a chunky one.

I've always been a fan of the West Wing. There is something about the optimism of that show, it re-affirms what is good about American politics. Its anti cynical. All the Kings Men, on the other hand, is an antidote to that optimism.

It is relentlessly cynical.

The story is narrated by Jack Burden, a political hack (Shades of Alastair Cambell) who does the bidding of the Governor of Louisiana in 1930s America. Willie Stark, the would be governor, begins the novel by running for office in the Democratic Party primary. he is virtuous and motivated by what is good. Damn it, he is good, through and through. The only problem was that he didn't know how to play the game. He was a pawn in a political game of chess, and didn't even have the gumption to realise it. He had realistic visions of what the State needed to change for the better - end corruption, fix roads, build schools, that sort of thing. But he came to realise, after some particularly icy revelations by a supposed subordinate that his good nature was effectively being abused in order to split the evangelical, good natured, hick vote and allow the utterly corrupt incumbant to remain in office.

Willie subsequently changes his tack, and becomes determined to work within the rules of the game to make his mark on politics.

Warren's considerable literary skill is demonstrated by the fact that when Stark does reach political office, he bears no relation to what he was in those idealistic early days. In fact, he seemed to become completely corrupt, corrupt to the very bone, both morally and politically. He starts seeing mistrisses and the early family values would be governor is dead and gone, never to reappear.

In the early stages of the novel I was rather disappointed that the narrator was Jack Burden. I wanted a straight up political story detailing the decline of Willie Stark. But near the end I came to appreciate the voice of Burden and how he came to represent the quiet despair that permeates this novel. It seems that it is impossible to be both good and powerful - one must make a choice between one or the other. And Burden realises, somewhere near the end of the novel, that mans personal secret is the path to salvation.

8/10

32.

The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 by Eric Hobsbawm

I really don't know how I managed to study history at college and never got around to reading Eric Hobsbawm. In terms of unique insight, wit and style he trumps pretty much every other modern historian of the grand narrative tradition. The Age of Empire is one a series of books examining the history of the world from the French Revolution to the fall of communism. Each chapter is a thematic exploration of society, economics and politics. The chapters on the emergence of mass democracy, socialism, nationalism and Liberalism are an absolute treat and there are fewer more authoritative and utterly readable accounts like this out there.

Hobsbawm is biased, and there is no point trying to ignore this. The most entertaining history books are horribly biased, full of insight that can only come from an intimate knowledge and understanding of ones political camp (In this case its socialism and a soft spot for Lenin)

8/10