What I've been reading

The Human Mind
by Robert Winston

"It is the most complex and mysterious object in the universe. Covered by a dull grey membrane, it resembles a gigantic, convoluted fungus. Its inscrutability has captivated scientists, philosophers and artists for centuries. It is, of course, the human brain."

Another one from my bookshelves - I'm sure this was great the first time I read it, but it was published 20 years ago and I imagine quite a bit has changed in the world of neuroscience. The writing now seems pedestrian and I quickly lost interest in the technical terms for the different areas of the brain. I've read quite a few books now about the mind and the brain, and I'm not keeping this one - I've passed it on to a friend already.

Joseph Andrews: The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams

by Henry Fielding

narrated by Rufus Sewell

"Joseph Andrews refuses Lady Booby's advances, she discharges him, and Joseph and his old tutor Parson Adams set off to visit his sweetheart, Fanny. Along the way, they meet with a series of adventures in which, through their own innocence and honesty, they expose the hypocrisy and affectation of others."

Very good narration, and a road trip like no other, the main theme of which seemed to be that they kept staying at inns and alehouses and forgetting that they had no money, then being surprised when payment was required. It's true that a couple of times they did have money but it was stolen before the time came to pay, but that isn't what I'd call 'innocence and honesty'. A secondary and more distressing theme was that more than once Fanny really seemed to be at serious risk of rape; solo travel was clearly very perilous in the 18th century. Then a classic twist in the last two chapters when they'd finally got home, and all's well and a happy ending.

One of Ours
by Willa Cather

narrated by Kristen Underwood

"Claude Wheeler, the sensitive but aspiring protagonist, has ready access to his family's fortune but refuses to settle for it. Alienated from his uncaring father and pious mother, and rejected by a wife whose only love is missionary work, Claude is an idealist without ideals to cling to. Only when his country enters the Great War does he find the meaning of his life."

She won the Pulitzer Prize for this book, and she really does know how to write,. She describes beautifully the farming setting in the Mid-West and then the lives of American soldiers who went to Europe to fight in the Great War, as well as the French people living in the line of fire. The narrator has trouble with the French words in the book, which distracted me a little, but on the whole it was a fine read.

A Brief History of America
by Jeremy Black

"Discover the shaping forces of American identity, the journey to independence, the conflicts that fractured and made a nation and the rise of a global superpower."

I saw this in the library and thought it would be exactly what I'm after - a newly published overview of the key events in American history from the start of colonisation up to the present day. But it was probably the worst book I can ever remember reading, and I didn't get further than about three chapters before I took it back to the library. The text was so poorly written that I sometimes had to re-read a sentence two or three times to make sense of it, and it lacked any maps and diagrams for anyone not intimately familiar with North American geography. When I realised that we had reached the 1800's with hardly a mention of the American War of Independence, I knew this was not the book for me.

The Best of Me
by David Sedaris

"Sedaris shops for rare taxidermy, hitchhikes with a lady quadriplegic, and spits a lozenge into a fellow traveler's lap. He drowns a mouse in a bucket, struggles to say “give it to me” in five languages, and hand-feeds a carnivorous bird."

The first contact I had with David Sedaris was when, long ago, Sister D gave me one of his books as a present, and I didn't like it because his writing and the topics he chose seemed so cruel. Years later I heard him on the radio reading some of his memoir and diary material and wondered at the difference. Had I been reacting to the gift? because now he seemed much more benign, and funny too. Subsequently I've read and enjoyed many of his books and I listen to his broadcasts whenever they are on, so when I saw it in the library I borrowed this anthology of his 'best work'. It  contains some short fiction as well as memoir, and it is that fiction which is so jarring.