Golyadkin – Arthur Hofn

My reads, not the books that came out this year…

This is the second part of my look back at some of the books I’ve read this year, including the end of the world as we know it and turn of last century Kenya. Again I’m trying not to give too much of the actual plot away as I like it to unfold as I go along so don’t want to spoil it for you, instead here is a general outline and how I felt about it.

The Day Of The Triffids – John Wyndham. I bought this second hand in 1995 and started it then; for some reason I couldn’t get into it and I decided to have a break. Nearly twenty five years later and it was time for the break to be over! When I started it again I failed to understand why I had such difficulty with it the first time. It’s gripping! I had in my head what I thought I remembered happening in it and was amazed to discover that not much of it was in the plot, I’d invented a whole load of other things. I was convinced they went to Paris at one point, where that came from I’ll never know but I was looking out for it for quite some time. I guess it’s set at the time it was written, the very early fifties (nearly seventy years ago!) and tells of that world changed overnight. It’s bleak reading but the narrator takes you through his story in such away you really feel for the characters, and want to know what they make of the various massive issues they now have to contend with. It’s also quite realistic in how they deal with what is happening, with plenty of human faults on display and some good as well as bad choices made by all. There is a logic to a well thought out plot and I really enjoyed this so I’m not annoyed I put it down so long ago as I think I got so much more out of it this time.

“Nobody is going to be muddle-headed enough to confuse ignorance with innocence now – it’s too important. Nor is ignorance going to be cute or funny anymore. It is going to be dangerous, very dangerous.”
― John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids

The Double – Fyodor Dostoevsky. I’ve not much of Dostoevsky’s cannon left to read so I’m savouring what is left as much as possible. However it’s been a while so I allowed myself to read this one now. To be honest I don’t think it’s his best work. It starts of well enough but the style of narration began to get a little wearing. The “Hero” of the piece, as he is called, is somewhat annoying and I can understand why he’s having such a tough time of things. The concept (given in the title of the book so it’s not a spoiler) is that Golyadkin meets a duplicate of himself, the only difference is this one succeeds at everything whereas the original one is failing. This leads to problems. Not just in the actual plot but also as the prose becomes a bit too wordy it’s hard to not lose focus. It’s deliberately vague in places and you only really have the not very pleasant Golyadkin to give us opinions on what is happening. I did get through it and there are some things to enjoy, but it was a bit of a struggle. A further note is that in 2013 Richard Ayoade made a film of the book and it’s brilliant. I watched it after I read the novel, something I rarely do, but because I’d struggled with it I wanted to see what others made of it. There are some changes, it’s not set in mid-19th Century St Petersburg but in a dystopian version of the 1980’s – ish and the main character is very likeable. I’d recommend reading the book if you like Russian literature, but after go and watch the film.

“Sorrow is concealed in gilded palaces, and there’s no escaping it.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Double

The Making Of Modern Britain – Andrew Marr. This is a follow up to the excellent A History Of Modern Britain. Whilst the first book deals with events from after the Second World War finishes (very thoroughly and with insight that helps you see the whole history given in isolation but also as part of the big picture – go and read that as well) this one keeps to the early part of the 20^th Century. It’s subtitled “From Queen Victoria to VE Day”. Over all it’s a chronological account of that exact period, first dealing with an overview of each sub era and then breaks it down into the nitty gritty trying to help the reader see what it really would have been like to have been living through these events and the general changes to British culture and politics. There is a huge amount to learn here and the writer’s style is easy to digest, but not lightweight. For lovers of history I’d recommend both this book and its brother.

“My dream is that by returning to our not-so-distant history, I might remind readers why, with all its faults, this is a lucky place to be living in, and one we can be quietly proud of.”
― Andrew Marr, The Making of Modern Britain

Out Of Africa – Karen Blixen. I vaguely remember the very long film and that is love story. This is the real account of Blixen’s life and it’s not remotely about romantic things at all. Well not romantic in the “woman falls for man” kind of way; it does however show some very pleasant sides to what living on a large farm just outside of Nairobi before the First World War would have been like. It sounds brilliant, although I wonder how much of it is seen through rose tinted glasses as I’m sure it was a lot more hard work than Blixen makes out. She seems a very nice person who values the natives and their culture just as much as she does her role as the farm manager. She writes about individual members of the tribes who live on her land and work for her as well as anecdotes that happened during her time there. She is never condescending but shows real interest in differences in their way of life to hers. It’s a dense read, you can’t really get through it quickly but is well worth the effort to see Africa through Blixen’s eyes.

“No domestic animal can be as still as a wild animal. The civilized people have lost the aptitude of stillness, and must take lessons in silence from the wild before they are accepted by it.”
― Karen Blixen, Out of Africa

Buy The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham
Buy The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Buy The Making Of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr
Buy Out Of Africa by Karen Blixen