What I've been reading

Mother London
by Michael Moorcock

"The book follows three mental-hospital outpatients and their friends, in an episodic, non-linear history of the capital from the Blitz to present day. The main character is London itself - the towpaths, pubs, bombed churches and neglected marble angels."

Quite an interesting book, and another from the Classics list - I've now come to expect these Classic books to have very little story or plot. Someone who knows London well would probably enjoy walking along with the characters through familiar streets. I can't quite put my finger on why I enjoyed reading it, but I did.

Julia
by Sandra Newman

"London, chief city of Airstrip One, the third most populous province of Oceania. It's 1984 and Julia Worthing works as a mechanic fixing the novel-writing machines in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth."

This is the companion piece to Nineteen Eighty-Four, written from the perspective of Winston Smith's partner in sexcrime. The descriptions of torture are just as harrowing as in the original, and the ending is interesting but with a similarly depressing attitude. Today I was listening to an analysis that divided politics into Trump, Putin, and Xi and I thought "Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia." Lies have become truth.

The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiel Hammett

narrated by B. J. Harrison

"Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But when Spade’s partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby’s trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?"

I managed to keep track of the story by dint of not leaving huge gaps between chapters. Lots of story threads to keep track of, and it is worth the effort.

Sharpe's Eagle
by Bernard Cornwell

narrated by Rupert Farley

"Richard Sharpe finds himself clashing with incompetent officers and an inexperienced company, making himself dangerous enemies, even on his own side. Sharpe knows he must redeem the regiment by capturing the golden Imperial Eagle, a standard touched by Napoleon himself."

Not something I would have chosen but for its appearance on the Classics list, and for some reason that list only features the eighth book in the series. Evocative of the period, much description of battle and incompetence and heroism and foolhardiness and clashing male egos. The only woman with a name who features is a camp follower, but I wouldn't have expected much consideration of the female viewpoint in a book about 18th century soldiers in Spain. Unusually for one of these Classics, there was a semblance of a plot.

To Say Nothing of the Dog
by Connie Willis

"Verity Kindle, a time traveler from the 21st century, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned Henry must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right - not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself."

This is one of the books that I keep and re-read regularly. The reason I picked it up this time is because I bought another copy to give as a present, and wanted to remind myself of the story. It's been a while since I last read it (blog says 2012) and it felt as fresh as ever - meaning that I had forgotten lots of the details. Reading this (and one other of hers) I can forgive the author for the terrible books that she's written since.