What I've been reading

The Guns of Navarone
by Alistair MacLean

narrated by Jonathan Oliver

"Twelve hundred British soldiers isolated on the small island of Kheros off the Turkish coast, lives that could be saved if only the guns could be silenced. To Captain Keith Mallory, skllled saboteur and mountaineer, fell the task of leading the small party detailed to scale the vast, impossible precipice of Navarone and to blow up the guns. "

A cracking story written well, and clearly destined for the movie it became with the dour Brit, drawling American and thoughtful New Zealander.

The Sound of One Hand
by Satyadasa

"For Satyadasa the Buddhist path has been fulfilling and often joyous, but also full of doubts and obstacles. What does it mean to be a Buddhist in the West in the twenty-first century? And is being born with one hand a curse – or a blessing?"

At last, the memoir of a Buddhist who can actually write, so an enjoyable and informative read. He writes about tackling the same issues as I do: about how uncomfortable change can be in a non-spiritual society, and about grappling with the personality of Sangharakshita, the founder of the Triratna community, whom he met a few times. So the right book at the right time for me.

An Accidental Man
by Iris Murdoch

"Austin is one of those people who needs to survive through the destruction of others. The others, in Austin's case, include his successful elder brother, Matthew, and the women who, one after the other, are so touchingly convinced that they can 'save' him."

For someone feted as a great author, I don't much like Iris Murdoch's books. I imagine she was probably writing about people and types that she was familiar with, but I have never met anyone like any of the people in this book, and there are loads of people in this book, all of whom seem to be related or know each other, but who behave in inexplicable ways. And there are deaths, many deaths - one child is run over by a car driven by one of the characters who may or may not have killed his first wife, then he almost kills the stepfather of the child whom he killed by running her over, and his second wife electrocutes herself in a bath, and then another child dies when she falls off some scaffolding, which is mentioned at the end just incidentally, and at least two people try to kill themselves by overdose... I just don't recognise any of them. I don't think I'll bother with Iris any more.

Madame Bovary
by Gustave Flaubert

narrated by Juliet Stevenson

"A deeply felt and sympathetic portrait of a woman who, having married a country doctor and found herself unhappy with a rural, genteel existence, longs for love and excitement. However, her aspirations and her desires to escape only bring her further disappointment and eventually lead to unexpected, painful consequences. "

Another classic that I think most people would have heard of. A bored wife has two major adulterous love affairs and ends up owing a load of money to support her profligate habits, and her husband continues to have no idea. Verdict: annoying.

East West Street
by Philippe Sands

"When he receives an invitation to deliver a lecture in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, international lawyer Philippe Sands begins a journey on the trail of his family's secret history. In doing so, he uncovers an astonishing series of coincidences that lead him halfway across the world, to the origins of international law at the Nuremberg trial."

This was good, but more of a history book than an easy read. There are a few coincidences about the origins of the people described thereafter, and it is a reminder (if one were needed) about the horrors of the holocaust and the fate of most families. Also, interesting to find out more about the origins of the terms 'genocide' and 'crimes against humanity'. As well as being well written it's well edited too, which it needs to be given the number of names and dates to remember.