The Last Great Frenchman

Subtitled a biography of Charles de Gaulle.
This was a very readable book that analyses a complex man with a great deal of clarity and shows how myth (in the good sense) is created.
The key point he makes is the difference that de Gaulle seemed to draw between the "I" and "The General", with the latter standing for and representing the soul of France.
He must have been absolutely terrible to negotiate with but no-one reading this book can doubt his love for his homeland. Highly recommended 9/10

Savage Paris

Known as le ventre de Paris in the original, this is the third novel in Zola's Rougon Macquart series. I found this the best so far with absolutely gorgeous descriptions of the food markets of Paris and the life that goes on there.
There is one vivid piece on the making of black pudding which you definitely do not want to read after eating!
The story revolves around a young man who returns to Paris after escaping from Devil's Island. He is very naive and the adventures that unwind are perhaps predictable but do not take away from the enjoyment of the feast Zola dishes up. 8/10

A Good Year

Read very quickly while in Paris at the end of August.
This is a very light and very comical book which I greatly enjoyed.
It made a welcome break from La Curee.
If you want a good curl up in front of the fire with a glass of wine book, this would be good.
7/10

The kill(Le Curee)

Zola's second novel in a series.

This is bleak stuff about corruption and incest.
None of the characters endear themselves and are almost too evil to believe at times.

It paints a great picture of the rebuilding of Paris and of Parisian society and in Mme Sidonie is close to comedy.

I need a break before I start on Le ventre de Paris-some light relief. I need a nice character! 5/10

The fortune of the Rougons

The first novel in Zola's Rougon Macquart series.
This sets the scene and when he is not getting in to his social theories is a good story.
As ever with Zola the good guys get shot but at least there were some good guys.At least the major characters have been introduced 7/10

A Short history of Tractors in Ukranian

This was sometimes funny, sometimes sad with characters I felt affection for and annoyance at and everything that adds up to a good story. I even learnt a little bit about tractors but not much Ukranian. Definitely worth reading 8/10

Leo the African

A fast moving book by Amin Maalouf which was a good read. I found the final chapters were a little too fast moving as they became a rapid summary of European history at the time of the Medicis. However, apart from this I loved the personal adventures and storytelling and felt exhausted by what he achieved by his 40th birthday! 9/10

Sideways

A very funny book. I loathed the central character but could not help laughing at some of the antics these 2 got up to. Much better than the film and very different.
The only problem with this book is that it upped my wine consumption considerably! 8/10

The Elephant Vanishes

This collection of short stories by Haruki Murukami was a mixed bag. As with anything I have read it kept me wanting to read it but I found some of the stories a little iffy and as with all short stories I get really frustrated by all the loose ends. Still a good read though. 7/10

The Plot Against America

This book has taken me a long time to read. It was recommended as one of the best books of 2004.
While it cannot be doubted this is a very clever book in concept and, being Roth, very well written, it never captured my soul.
To me a good book will not let me put it down. This book I could put down at any stage and not be upset by the interruption. The characters were well drawn but I just left it with the impression that the story never raised itself beyond the great idea of what would have happened if...
All in all 4/10

Quite a week

Well this has been a major week for news. A pope dies and clogs up Rome, an election called in the UK, Saul Bellow is dead in the US, Prince Rainier is dead in Monaco and one of our biggest clients is close to dying and taking us down with it. Thank goodness the baseball season has started and Chelsea beat Bayern 4-2.

Betrayal in Naples

Read this book in a few days and really enjoyed it. It has a great pace and would be a fantastic read for those people who have to read the last page as it tells you what happens on the first page.
There are some great pictures of Naples drawn and the varying betrayals going on are dizzying.
I still don't know how his landlady fits into the picture though. A great holiday book providing you are not going to Naples 9/10

More books

PG Wodehouse-Some Jeeves title
Great train read. Made me smile and passed the time of day. Just what I wanted. 8/10

Naples '44
A great picture of Naples as it emerged from war. Not so much the city but the people. I didn't want this book to end and would love to find a similar diary updated to the 21st century. 9/10

Norweigan Wood

Finished this book yesterday.
I really enjoyed it. The prose-even in translation-is effortless and captures the dilemmas and heartache faced in love, and the finality that death brings and doesn't bring as well as anything I have read.
Like any modern novel it ends with so many questions. It is a book I will be churning around for weeks to come. 9/10

AMSTERDAM

AMSTERDAM

This is one of my favourite Brel songs. The above site is great in that it has many lyrics to Brel songs.

There are a number of things this world needs including
1. A good english biography of Brel and
2. A book of lyrics with English translation

or maybe I just need to improve my French!

Latest Books

Of Water and Spirit
Think the title is correct. It was about the initiation rites in an African tribe and the clash of culture with Western christianity. I read this soon after a novel-Jonanthan Strange-about magic in England and I had to keep reminding myself that this was based on real life experience. All in all it was a fascinating book which raised more questions than it answered, and that was part of its enjoyment. 8/10

The Da Vinci Code
I enjoyed this although it was not written in a great prose style. It was exciting and although it may be total drivel -it was a novel for goodness sake-it kept me hooked until the end. I wouldn't read another of his books but this one gets a 7/10