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.

Book learning 61. An utterly exasperated history of modern Britain by John O'Farrell.

John O'Farrell is one of those people who wrote an outstanding, original and very, very funny book about 15 years ago and has yet to come close again. I suspect he never will. I suspect he knows this.
Having just bitch-slapped him in the first sentence it should be pointed out that I enjoyed great big chunks of this book, his analysis of the 1980's reminded me of all the reasons why Thatcher was and continues to be odious and completely mental. The take on the 1950s and 60s was great, reminding those of us born in the 1970s that it wasn't all hippies and cheeky scousers and that economically things were pretty bloody dire. He also reminded us how much decent, level headed progress we have made in the name of 'political correctness gone mad' (You mean we're not allowed to be racist? Homophobic? Sexist? How the hell are we supposed to have any fun any more?)

I particularly enjoyed the act of reading.

The twins were born in March and this was the first book I had even attempted to read. I spent part of the summer picking it up on the loo and shoving it in the back of the pushchair in case both boys fell asleep and the weather was nice and there was a bench handy. I had some good times with this book, it was what was needed.

Book learning 60: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.

The Uncommon reader by Alan Bennett

Ah, Mr Bennett, you of wuffly National Treasure delightfulness!
Having recently dipped my diseased toe into the post war trauma of 1918 it was high time I found some joy.
And such joy it was, stolen, witty, approachable yet deadly.
Using that most recognisable yet unknown of central characters , a devilish plot within which reading is a vice and a host of good supporting characters Bennett crafts a tale which is a pocket sized gem with a sting in the tail, a twist so unthought of, yet so logical.

Wonderful stuff, Thank you Mr Bennett.

Book Learning 59: The Great Silence 1918-1920. Living in the shadow of the Great War. By Juliet Nicolson

The Great Silence 1918-1920. Living in the shadow of the Great War. By Juliet Nicolson

I'm not sure if my childhood obsession with World War One has ever really been too prominent in this blog. It's the historical obsession that predated the historical obsession with American history. Between the age of 11 and 17 it was all about the Schlieffen plan, Passschendaele, Zeppelins, President Wilson's 12 points (oh? Do you see a link?)

Cut to 2010 and the pile of books delivered by Santa.

This surprisingly accessible read deals with the zeitgiest of the two years immediately following the November armistice in 1918, as such, it's primary concern is grief. The book follows the seasons as the nation tries to come to terms with the apocalyptic loss of the previous four years. Along with the extremely traumatic side of things such as severely disabled veterans, early forays into plastic surgery and the various coping mechanisms of the bereaved the book also looks at elements of popular culture, the mood of the people, industrial relations and the decisions behind some of the iconic monuments commemorating the loss of the Great War (The Cenotaph, The Unknown soldier). Throw all this together and it makes for a powerful and absorbing read.

I began reading this in the full flush of health, then I got a hefty dose of swine flu. I couldn't read or do anything for a few days and when I did eventually sit up in bed I wasn't so sure that I wanted to be reading about the effects of Spanish flu, however the time did allow me to really get into the book in a way that's just not possible when you grab twenty minutes before bedtime. Having said all that, I would not recommend swine flu as an aid to reading.

It was the human angle that came through strongest, the book was based largely on anecdotes or diaries and the emotions people experienced were refreshingly honest, some thought the idea of a ' tomb of the unknown warrior' insincere or disrespectful, children were creeped out by disfigured veterans, young women who just wanted everyone to get over it. A good insight into a lost age and not without lessons for our own times.

Book Learning 58: Blue Blood by Edward Conlon

Blue Blood by Edward Conlon.

The first of the Christmas books bites the dust.

A pacey first 350 pages which stalled abit after that, became a bit repetitive. I still thoroughly enjoyed it even if I did flick a bit towards the end. The most enjoyable parts were the history of the NYPD and the folklore angle.

At various parts of this, I felt homesick for the old place.

I'm gonna pass this onto a good old friend.

Book Learning 57: Lincoln's melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Lincoln's melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk

This is a Presidential biography, not a textbook on depression. I picked it up (almost three years ago) as a presidential biography, enjoyed that part and also enjoyed the mental health part.

As mentioned, it's taken me almost three years to finish this. A transatlantic move can do that. A transatlantic move and a missing book, a missing book that is then picked up again in between some others.

Despite the logistical struggle to read and finish, I thoroughly enjoyed this account of Lincoln's life, work and mental health. The contrasts between the fabulously gothic nineteenth century approach to the mind and the more clinical twentieth/twenty first century treatment of depression was illuminating. The accounts of Lincoln's own depression and struggles centered the work in a way that a more straightforward narrative about depression would probably not. In short, I learned a bit about depression that I would not have done otherwise. I also learned a bit about Lincoln.

I absolutely loved the gothic tone, found the overview of Lincoln's career fascinating and was completely absorbed by the Civil War chapters ( LIke so many, this was the Lincoln I first learned about). This book (or at least the final couple of chapters that I've just polished off prior to a few new arrivals on the 25th) perfectly fitted my present mood, the dark winter nights, the bitter cold, the American gothic Victoriana. Wonderful stuff.