Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

The writer George Orwell spent the first part of 1937 in Spain fighting against the Fascists who were attempting to overthrow the government. His memoir, Homage to Catalonia, describes the fighting he took part in as well as the boredom of waiting for action to start, and he also describes the confusion of the times. Despite contemporary newspaper reports it was not simply a case of democracy versus fascism: many of the working class aimed at revolution and complete social change. This was exemplified in Orwell's P.O.U.M. militia, where officers and men were on the same pay and nobody was addressed by a title. Events moved fast however, and by the middle of 1937 other political parties were in the ascendent. Orwell and his wife barely managed to escape prison before they fled the country. It is poignant to read this book with the benefit of hindsight, and to know that Orwell's fears of fascist victory actually came about. As well as reading this, I have been dipping into Voices from the Spanish Civil War: personal recollections of Scottish volunteers in Republican Spain, 1936-1939 (edited by Ian McDougall). It is amazing to read of the commitment and bravery of ordinary men and women who made their way to Spain to fight with the International Brigades. These were men from the mining villages of Fife, for example, some of whom must still be alive today - a direct connection to history.

On a completely different note I had an easy and enjoyable read next, with the children's book A Very Proper Fox by Jan Fearnley. It features a naughty rabbit and a knicker-ironing fox! This is a favourite of a little girl I know, but adults will enjoy the sly humour and witty illustrations nearly as much. It would be ideal for a 3 to 5 year old.

Then, inspired by the film Withnail and I, I decided to read the play Journey's End by R C Sherriff. I had read this at school, but was reminded of it when Marwood in the film was reading a copy (presumably for his audition). This is a cleverly-constructed play with many touches of humour and excellent characterisation. It conveys the idea that the trench fighting in many cases may have been completely pointless, but that the individual heroism was not. It is a tragedy nevertheless.

Day 113; Book 113

In which the reader must imagine rolling tumbleweed, whistling winds and Clint Eastwood as the High Plains Drifter arriving at a deserted town ...

Because today I have nothing to put in this lonely post, having failed to complete yesterday's book, George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. I'm about half way through, so will be back tomorrow with my thoughts on this Spanish Civil War memoir.

Withnail and I: the Screenplay by Bruce Robinson

I watched Withnail and I on Sunday on dvd and loved it so much I decided to read the screenplay in case I had missed any of the lines. In fact it was well worth reading because the directions in the screenplay reveal a lot about the characters' motivations.

Withnail and I is a cult British film made in the 1980s but set in London and the Lake District in 1969. It is a semi-autobiographical tale by the writer and director Bruce Robinson. It's beautifully constructed with many hilarious but also a few touching moments, as the drugged-up protagonists approach the end of their own particular era. A definite must-see and must-read. Here is what seems to be the definitive review of the film, explaining its appeal.

The screenplay was fairly short so I was also able to read "T N Foulis: the history and bibliography of an Edinburgh publishing house". Again this was fairly quick to read as much of the work consists of lists of books and of illustrators associated with the publishing house. They were in business from about 1903 to 1926 and produced many beautifully illustrated books, many intended to be given as presents. Jessie M King was one of the Scottish artists who illustrated their works. The books are still available from second-hand shops and websites, but some are extremely rare. The "Friendship Booklets" form a particularly attractive series. Here is an example for sale on Ebay - scroll down for the best image.

Day 111; Book 110

Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

This took me ages to finish, probably because I wasn't really enjoying it. I loved the first Odd Thomas novel by Koontz, as it was so original and the character so sympathetic. It had an exciting story with a bit of a twist too. This is the fourth Odd Thomas novel though and I felt it was a bit predictable - not so much the writing as the concept. Odd is still a great character though, and some of the one-liners are really funny. Unfortunately the style of writing gets a bit wearing sometimes as Koontz ALWAYS seems to choose a long word over a short ...

Next I had an Agatha Raisin, and I was enjoying it so much I finished it in a few hours. This one was Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye. The author has introduced a promising new character, but she still kept us up-to-date with all our old favourites (except the Boggles, sadly! Apparently they have moved away).

The next "book" was only 26 pages: Short Stories by Irvine Welsh, as supplied with Scotland on Sunday. Irvine Welsh, for those who don't know, is the author of Trainspotting. First was an extract from his novella 'I am Miami', which was perceptive but miserable! I won't be reading the whole thing. However, Vat '96 and Where the Debris Meets the Sea were hilarious in their different ways. Vat '96 is skillfully written in the classic short story format, and Where the Debris ... turns celebrity worship on its head. Both will leave you amused and horrified at the same time, although for different reasons. Lisa's Mum Meets the Queen Mum was again well-written but rather fizzled out for me.

Finally I decided to be celebrate Burns' Day with Rhymer Rab: an anthology of poems and prose edited by Alan Bold. The introduction provides a good recap of the poet's life, and then the middle section gives a choice of his most famous poems, followed by a selection of his prose writing including many letters. Any study of Burns seems to raise as many questions as it answers eg how did he reconcile his politics with his employment as an exciseman (necessity probably) and how did such a romantic explain his treatment of the many women in his life? It's not surprising that he is still read and studied more than 2 centuries later. This book does illustrate how well-read the poet actually was, even if he did play up the heaven-taught ploughman angle to his readers. I didn't manage to finish this one though, so I'm not counting it towards my Book-a-Day totals.


Day 110; Book 108

Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie

Sadly I've come to the end of my borrowed stash of Alison Lurie books. It looks like I saved one of the best till last - Foreign Affairs won the Pulitzer Prize and was a great read, with the usual skillfull characterisation and witty observations. (Apparently it was serialised on TV as well). Once again, you couldn't exactly say the book had a happy ending but it did have a satisfactory ending. Again, several of the same characters cropped up from other books. It's funny for the hero in this one to have appeared as a 4-year old in Love and Friendship but very satisfying to imagine that Lurie's characters are living out their lives in real time. Thanks to Jo for introducing me to this author.

Day 107; Book 105

Favourite children's books

I was thinking about the books I used to love as a child. First up have to be the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton. There was a big element of wish fulfillment in these, as the Famous Five (Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the dog of course) went off on holidays by themselves, rowed to private islands, discovered secret passageways and had perilous adventures outwitting criminals. Of course later came the controversy over Blyton with charges of xenophobia and even poor writing (see this Guardian page for a comment). I never noticed anything wrong with the actual writing itself: perhaps librarians cited this as a cause for not stocking the books when really they were concerned about other perceived iniquities in the books ... I liked the books myself because they were exciting and well-written in that I wanted to read on and on. I think children should be given a bit more credit for intelligence as well. It's quite easy to see that the Famous Five lived in another time and place where the middle-classes all had domestic staff. That didn't make me feel I couldn't connect with the characters at all, and I certainly didn't want the books updated.

Updating of children's books is another concern. I don't think it's necessary as children are quite aware of changes in manners and customs. The worst is when editors partially update books. The Jill books by Ruby Ferguson were also favourites of mine. As well as being about a girl who gets her own pony they have very amusing passages. As they were written in the 50s though, later editors have felt obliged to update the money from, eg 10 shillings to 50 p. As they haven't allowed for inflation though, this makes for ridiculous sums of money being paid for a pony! A child could happily have accepted that money has changed without silly changes being made.

Finally, I used to love the Narnia books by C S Lewis. My friend and I discovered these one summer holiday and we fetched new ones from the library each day. It was great! I'm afraid I read the stories for their own sake (children having adventures in magical lands) and didn't even notice the Christian allegory.

That brings me to my final point - sadly, I think that you can never go back. When the Rock Chick became a keen reader from the age of about 6, I used to hunt out all my old favourites for her from charity shops. Of course I re-read them myself but it was no longer as magical or exciting, as you might imagine. In fact the Christian allegory in the Narnia books I found heavy-handed and obtrusive! However I still envy children coming to these books for the first time.

Day 106; Book 104

I feel a new craze coming on ...

For Finn Crisp original rye crispbreads! They are very thin with a delicious nutty taste. In fact they are so thin they surely can't have many calories ... Yum!

*note to self - make sure to get the really thin ones next time, not the ordinary ones WHICH ARE NOT AS GOOD!