What We're Reading

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Neil

Testimony, by Robbie Robertson (William Heinemann 2016)

Robbie Robertson was the guitarist and creative heart of The Band who found themselves at the centre of many significant musical events in the 60s and 70s. He grew up half-Jewish, half-Mohawk on the Six Nations Reservation in Ontario, Canada, then, at 16, left on a musical odyssey that saw him travel to the Mississippi Delta and elsewhere, playing music with a range of influential collaborators including Ronnie Hawkins and most notably Bob Dylan.

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Neil

Crash Land, by Doug Johnstone (Faber 2016)

Very much a thriller in the vein of Harlen Coben, I only read this because it's set on Orkney, and I wanted to relive that landscape. Johnstone evokes the island extremely well, his knowledge of the towns of Kirkwall and Stromness, as well as the more remote areas, is well portrayed. However, the plot and characters are not all that plausible or memorable; the book races along without ever truly convincing this reader that anyone would behave in the manner that these characters do. That's not unusual in a thriller, though, and this is a pretty enjoyable one.

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Neil

You Disappear, by Christian Jungersen (Anchor 2014)

I came across this book, originally published in Danish, on the Brainline website, where it was reviewed from the perspective of a person either with a brain injury, or the caregiver of such a person. I ordered a copy. The novel is a psychological thriller, in which a man's personality changes as a result of his brain tumour, and the personality change triggers his catastrophic subsequent actions. It's narrated by his wife, and the tension hinges around how much of his behaviour he is culpable of, and how much was inevitable given his condition.

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Neil

Hillbilly Elegy, by J D Vance (William Collins 2016)

Hillbilly Elegy is subtitled A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, and as the title indicates, that culture is 'hillbilly', the poor white people of the Appalachian region of the US. The book came out around the time that Donald Trump was being elected president, mostly, we are told, because the rust belt states which surround Appalachia 'changed sides' due to disaffection with political elites in Washington, and the improving economy not improving their own lives.

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Neil

Atlas of Improbable Places, by Travis Elborough & Alan Horsfield (Aurum 2016)

I like a good atlas. This is a very good atlas of the world's curiosities, the obscure and bizarre, the weird and hidden places; mostly caused by human intervention and neglect, rather than being naturally occurring. The brief text - in some case too brief - is accompanied by interesting maps and photographs. The book is arranged by theme - Dream Creations, Subterranean Realms, Deserted Destinations etc with a handy world map at the front marking all the locations in the book.

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Neil

Grant & I: Inside and Outside The Go-Betweens, by Robert Forster (Hamish Hamilton, 2016)

The Go-Betweens were one of Australia's most talented and influential bands, but they never became as popular as they deserved to. They were formed in Brisbane in 1977, by Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, and released 9 albums, the first in 1981, the last in 2005. During that time they moved between Australia and London, regularly changed record labels and line-ups, and broke up a number of times, but they seem to be on a creative high when Grant McLennan died in 2006 of a heart attack, having been a lifelong heavy drinker.