Book learning #67 True Grit by Charles Portis

Comes a point when a man, all done with his daily business will look at a book for escape. Such is the way when I turn to reading a novel. I do so about once a year and moreoften than not, I find the experience deeply satisfying.

I found the language in this novel absolutely wonderful, I was entranced by the dialect and the turn of phrase. Why the hell don't we all talk like that anymore? I loved every minute of it. It also helped that it was a pretty good page turner and, well, just something i was determined to enjoy.

Book learning #66. Game Change. John Heilemann & Mark Halperin

Some years ago, an exasperated brother in law exhaled "Why don't you read something different? Why is it always American politics??"

Because I like American politics.

I like other stuff too, but I like to read about American politics an awful lot.

I recently counted books on the shelf in the living room, just under 50% were somehow connected with American politics or history. That means that over 50% were connected to other things, things such as English history and politics, Irish history and politics, football and gardening.

This was a great read, I had forgotten about John Edwards and his personal and political self destruction, I never really knew what a complete old cow his wife was. Just as I began to get a bit bored of the Obama v Clinton marathon, McCain turned up, all grumpy and swearing. Just as everything seemed to be tied up for Obama, Palin turns out to be a complete nut job. Full of backroom gossip, a cracking yarn, there is just one thing.
I think the book doesn't quite catch the atmosphere of the post convention Obama campaign, the wonderous surge of righteousness that seemed so appropriate at the time. I suspect the one person who had doubts about the nature of it was Obama himself, he was never shy in talking about the hard road ahead.

With the gift of hindsight still a great read with some good lessons for anyone even remotely bothered about leadership or how to run a campaign.

Book learning. We interrupt this broadcast.

There is nothing wrong with writing corduroy inspired reviews of the books you enjoy.

It whiles away the hours between tidying up after the kids and opening the next bottle of wine.

For years this takes place in an uneventful manner, few notice, even fewer take it remotely seriously (it's not supposed to be taken seriously).

Then something odd and slightly marvellous happened.

The author of said book drops a cheery comment on your blog.

I checked him out, he's real.

Book learning 65. Nixonland by Rick Perlstein

Oh Christmas book, Oh Christmas book, I love you because you lasted me into March.

I also love you because you were the warm chocolate bath of US political history that this US political uber-junkie needed. The immersion was almost perfect, good enough for the long soggy winter, the damp problem, the crying babies, the work pressures.

I would leave you by the bedside each morning with a whisper, 'I'll be back, tonight, I promise'.

I kept my end of the bargain, you kept yours. I told my friends about you, I took you places, hell, I even took you down the pub once or twice!

You told me about the hippies, the yippies, the war, the riots. We hang out with Ed Muskie, Spiro Agnew, Jerry Rubin and that swarthy fellow who kept on about the silent majority.

You delighted me with tales of the 1972 election and the insanity of the conventions, the social nuggets and Martha Mitchell.

Most of all, you reminded me why I consider Richard Nixon to be the benchmark of the darker arts of politics, the satanic master of the craft.

Thank you.

Book learning 64. The year of living Biblically by A.J.Jacobs

I've read the Bible. It took about 25 years and I didn't read it in order or with much guidance but I can calmly state that I have read the thing.

This book was purchased in a supposed light hearted attempt to see what the author made of it all. It became much more than that. An example would be the page and a half where he summarises the beliefs of Jehovahs Witnesses. Suddenly years of quiet prejudice against door knockers was cleared. In future when I hear them being slagged off in a mild backhanded way I will quietly step in on their behalf. The book was full of such insights. I passed it on to a dear friend.

I'm no churchgoer but I do have a respect for those who do, more importantly those who try to lead good, worthwhile lives. Apart from being a bit of a laugh this book made me think a little differently about some of the things I do.

Book learning 63.The plot against America by Philip Roth.

My first Roth.

As is so often the way, the way when "finishing a newspaper article is like going to a rave" (sic Julian Barratt), when life and the young unruly children who inhabit it takes you into the slipstream and as an added bonus, swirls you round very quickly, if you are fortunate enough to appreciate the seven minutes in each day that you can call your own, enjoy them, they are truly yours.

Then, as you sit in the bathroom and you pick up that novel, then the hope is that you might come across something as enjoyable, slightly challenging and historically thoughtful as this book.

This was a recommendation from the previous book, the book full of books, the one I enjoyed and the one that took me through the whole uncertain summer of moving house and living as a squatter in other people's homes. This book settled me into our new, beautiful home, the home with space enough to laugh and the freedom to feel alive again after too long in a very small and angry location.

As I fell into my pillow each night, my pillow in the room without the fragile sleep of baby twins, I read a few pages. Not as many as I had hoped when I picked this book up, I didn't hurl myself through it in the fashion I had anticipated, but i did hang onto the end, a good ending, the right ending.

Book learning 62: 'The complete polysyllabic spree' by Nick Hornby.

Oh Nick Hornby.

You have been a good friend to me down the years.
I purchased 'Fever Pitch' on my twentieth birthday and devoured it in hours (those were the days, one had time to read a book from cover to cover in virtually one sitting)
You have churned out some sub par work, but one or two of your books have scarred me for life. I suppose if I were more Hornbyesque in my outlook I would probably list those books right here. I'm not so I wont, except the temptation has now overcome me so I will change my mind and give you that list.
My favourite Nick Hornby books.

1. Fever Pitch. Spawned lots of 'nowhere close' imitations and helped to put footy into the middle class consciousness (where it simply doesn't belong) but I loved it, it was so close to the bone it hurt.
2.High Fidelity. Listmaker once asked me which fictional character I though he most resembled (or something like that) My instant response was 'Rob from High Fidelity'.
3. About a boy. I can't quite remember when I read this or what I liked about it but I do remeber being delighted by it.
4. The complete polysyllabic spree. This book has seen me through the most recent few weeks, the last few weeks of tired phonecalls, emails, huge cheques, last minute hitches, scared phonecalls, happy phonecalls, rearrangements and finally a move to a bigger, more elegant and civilised new home. I actively stalled on the last few entries as I was hoping to carry this book across the threshold of the new place. Needless to say I am now exploring many of the books that Hornby reviewed.