BOOK REVIEWS

Below are some books that members of our humanist group have enjoyed reading. They include titles that have opened our minds and others that have moved our hearts. We plan to include both fiction and non-fiction works among the books reviewed.

BLUE DIARY by Alice Hoffman, Chatto & Windus (2001)

At the beginning of this story we are introduced to the apparently perfect couple, Ethan and Jorie, and their 12 year old son Collie, who live in the small Massachusetts town of Monroe.

Ethan is idealised by many in the town where they live, but their lives fall apart when the sheriff arrives at their door one morning to arrest Ethan for a rape and murder that he committed fifteen years earlier in Maryland. The book then explores the impact of this terrible act (which Ethan admits) on all those who have come to know and love him.

On reflection, one questions the initial premises on which the story is based (that Jorie would marry Ethan knowing nothing about his past, and that Ethan was a changed man after meeting Jorie). However, if one accepts the initial premises, the book explores in a convincing way the effect of this traumatic event on all involved. It also raises interesting questions about crime, forgiveness (or the lack of it) and the need to atone for ones misdeeds. Alice Hoffman also has the ability to evoke a sense of place. (Sue Wright)

INGENIOUS PAIN by Andrew Miller, Sceptre (1998), 352pp

Set in 18th century England and Russia (with a short detour via France) this book explores the impact on a person's development of being born without the ability to feel pain, either physical or emotional. While the initial premise is rather unusual, Andrew Miller convinces the reader (or at least this reader) and tells the story of James Dyer from his rather unusual conception, via his training as a doctor, a trek to the court of Catherine the Great to inoculate her against smallpox, and finally his meeting with Mary, his nemesis, and the consequences thereof.

The structure of this novel may not be unusual these days, but the way in which the author moves backwards and forwards in time is essential to the gradual revelation that the pleasant, rather quiet man we meet in the earlier chapters is the same arrogant doctor we meet later. When James does finally learn to feel pain, he suffers retrospectively all the pain he should have felt throughout his life and is, for a time, admitted to Bedlam because of his inability to cope with it. The change in him is described, but the reader is asked to accept that this is because of what has happened following his meeting with Mary, without really being helped to understand it. While the story is interesting, the characters are not fully developed.

The premise of the book is interesting, particularly for a Humanist. The author clearly believes that the inability to feel pain influences the way in which James Dyer develops, his lack of empathy or understanding of those around him, and his totally amoral approach to life. However, despite the book's emphasis on the inability to feel pain, it is clear that James Dyer feels nothing at all. He is as devoid of joy or happiness, as he is of sadness, hurt or physical pain. Perhaps the 'message' of the book ultimately is that, to be human, we need to be able to have some common experience with those around us. This is not a new idea, but it is explored from an interesting perspective. (Sue Wright)

Amazon reviews

ANTHEM by Tim Binding, Picador (2003)

Esquire says that this book "…is as close to the Great British Novel as you can get." Whether or not this is true you can decide for yourself. However it is certainly a novel that grows on the reader. The author plays around with time, moving between early 1950s London smogs and the early 1980s with the Falklands War and its impact on those (majority) British who were not directly involved. It is partly the story of Henry, a small boy in the 1950s who inevitably becomes involved in the Falklands War. However it is also the story of the residents of a small suburban cul-de-sac, and of Henry's family. Indeed Henry disappears from the narrative (as he does from his friends and family) for considerable parts of the novel. The resolution of the narrative is both surprising and disappointing (in the human sense) but is more convincing than many "Happy Ever After" endings. Definitely worth a read, even if you don't conclude that it is "the Great British Novel." (Sue Wright)

Times Review

BLINDNESS by José Saramago, Vintage Classics (2005) 309pp

Saramago is Portuguese writer who was very deservedly awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. Blindness is a fascinating book and a real page turner. It presents a world where people are struck by unexplained blindness. Fearing that it is contagious the authorities start to quarantine those affected. We follow a particular sub-group who are locked in an asylum. The book explores the different personal responses to blindness and what happens when the scarce food supplies are requisitioned by a group of blind thugs. Eventually, after a fire, the inmates escape into the outside world where everyone else has gone blind and food distribution and the entire economic and political order has broken down. The book offers many thought-provoking insights into our own world and lives and raises the important question for Humanists of whether and how good will prevail. (Steve Hurd)

New York Times Review

QUANTUM PHYSICS: ILLUSION OR REALITY? by Alastair Rae, Cambridge University Press (1986) 121pp Google Books

This is not a new publication but it is one that I have admired for a long time and one that I think might make an interesting change from the usual novel. It is that rare thing - a book aimed at a general audience that manages to communicate some challenging ideas of science (in this case physics) in a way that does not traduce the subject matter and which commands the respect of professionals.
The author's claim to have used this slim book as a text for extra mural classes is quite believable. The whole discussion is based on the physical observations that can be made on the elementary particles of light (known to physicists as "photons"). By this simple device the author is able to give a lucid account of the conceptual problems of quantum physics and of the various philosophical interpretations that these have thrown up - some of which are quite fantastical. There are very few mathematical equations - non more complicated than simple algebra and trigonometry. Yet the reader is brought face to face with the mysterious nature of the elementary processes underlying the physical world and is able to understand the significance of the famous debates between Albert Einstein (a "realist" who famously declared that "God does nor play dice") and Niels Bohr (the author of the "Copenhagen Interpretation"). (David Dugdale)

JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL by Susanna Clarke, Bloomsbury (2004) 782pp

This is a long book - rather too long - but deals with some interesting themes. It is about magicians in England during the Napoleonic Wars, and seems to me to be an irreverent and amusing comment on religion, human credulity and various other human flaws. There is a lot of historical background too in a period that interests me a lot. (Sue Willson)

Review and author information

THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins, Bantam Press (2006) 406pp

Richard Dawkins wrote this best-selling book "The God Delusion" to be a consciousness-raiser for those who, in Dawkins' words, " have the vague yearning or clear wish to leave their parents religion but just don't realize that leaving is an option". The central message is the reassurance that you can be happy and moral, well balanced and fulfilled as an atheist - a very humanistic message in fact.
The book presents a hard-hitting attack on religious beliefs of all kinds delivered with all the wit and lucidity characteristic of Dawkins' style. In keeping with the consciousness-raising objective there are no apologies for disbelief here. Although always polite and with all points well argued, Dawkins does not extend respect where it is considered undeserved. The forthrightness of Dawkins' attack and its lack of deference may be the reason so many reviewers have applied to the book and to Dawkins himself such terms as " atheist fundamentalism" and "dogmatic atheist"
All the usual arguments for and against God and religion are to be found here and much more - the fundamentalist subversion of science, speculations about the evolutionary origins of religious belief and of our moral sense, faith schools, inspirational messages from many writers including Albert Einstein as well as some shocking ones attributed to T. H. Huxley and H.G. Wells.
In short this a modern comprehensive handbook of atheism, well worth a place on the book shelves of any Humanist or indeed of anyone else. (David Dugdale)

DIGGING TO AMERICA by Anne Tyler, Chatto & Windus (2006) 277pp

This is ostensibly the story of two very different families who adopt baby Korean girls. They meet for the first time at the airport as they collect their children and thus begins the relationship between them. As with all Anne Tyler novels, family relationships are at the core but here they are interlaced with issues of nationality, immigration, identity, customs and adoption. It is a sad yet very funny book - her characters are painfully realistic. As the novel evolves, the focus moves imperceptibly from the the two families, to Maryam, an Iranian mother-in-law with an identity crisis of her own. A very readable and thought-provoking novel. (Dorothy Lamb)

Review

BLACK SWAN GREEN by David Mitchell, Hodder & Stoughton (2006) 371pp

This book will come as a surprise to those familiar with earlier novels by David Mitchell as it seems to have an autobiographical element. It is a captivating "rite of passage" novel which chronicles 13 months in the life of the narrator, Jason, who, as the novel opens, is an intelligent but naïve and gauche13 year old boy living in rural Shropshire in the early eighties. He emerges at the end of the book as a sadder, wiser but more confident and mature adolescent. Themes of family relationships, handicap, and bullying are all covered with humour and poignancy. Once started the book is difficult to put down. (Dorothy Lamb)

Review

ARTHUR AND GEORGE by Julian Barnes, Jonathan Cape (2005) 357pp

This book is written in the precise and elegant style that Julian Barnes has made his own. It chronicles, at the turn of the 20th century, the very different lives of Arthur (Arthur Conan Doyle) who comes from a gentile but impoverished home in Edinburgh and George, the half caste ,son of an Indian Anglican vicar, from a rural parish in Staffordshire. Their lives converge in connection with the infamous crime, known at the time as, the Great Wyrley Outrages and then they continue on their separate ways. Whilst their stories are told in parallel the first part concentrates on George and the second on Arthur. The novel, based on real characters and incidents, encompasses issues of race, class, discrimination and policing, the criminal law and the changing role of women at that time. It is an ambitious but thoughtful and enjoyable book. (Dorothy Lamb)

Review: http://www.timesonline.co.uk

THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH by Leo Tolstoy, Penguin (2006), 106pp

This is a new translation of the classic novel. Ivan Ilyich, a respected lawyer and jurist, is dead. His colleagues make all the right sounds, but can't help wondering how his death will affect their careers. Ivan did all the right things in his social and professional life, until he realized, from the gnawing pain in his side, that he was mortal. Then he went through all the stages of denial, terror, rage at his friends and loved ones, and the realization of all he had ignored to get ahead. Only in facing death does he realize the meaning of life. By focusing on the horror of death the novel reaffirms the value of leading a full and good life. (Steve Hurd)

Review

THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho, Harper Collins (2006), 155pp

A magical story about a shepherd boy's travels through Spain and North Africa in pursuit of his dream of finding buried treasure near the Pyramids and of the people he meets and adventures along the way.

Humanists need not be put off by references to "finding God". The story is really about the need for individuals to have dreams (goals?) and to follow them, even if that means being prepared to take chances. Ultimately there is a focus on love and, while pursuing our ambitions, to appreciate and get the most from each day as it comes. It is a feel good story of how we might all live our lives. (Steve Hurd)

Review

HUMAN TRACES by Sebastian Faulks, Hutchinson (2005), 615pp

A long book, but a page turner. It explores the debates from the late 19th and early 20th century on mental illness and whether the causes are natural or induced by experiences. It follows the lives of an English and a French "mad doctor" or "alienist" and their attempts to find cures for mental illness. One looks to Freudian psychology and suppressed memories, and the other, influenced by Charles Darwin, is drawn towards inheritance and physical causes, as the key to understanding psychosis and schizophrenia. Medical debates are skilfully embedded within a human story which brings the two men together and explores their lives and loves. You may need to show some persistence to get through two long public lectures outlining the two theories, which come towards the end of the book.

Review by Steve Hurd

Other reviews: http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/human_traces/

THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini, Bloomsbury (2004), 324pp

The book tells of Amir's childhood in Kabul. It is a story of friendship and loyalty among apparent unequals. The political backcloth is Afghanistan before and during the Russian invasion and under the Taliban. Amir escapes with his father and they develop a new life in the USA. However, after his father's death, Amir is drawn back to Afghanistan, where he has an opportunity to atone for a childhood event which led to him carrying a burden of guilt throughout his adult life.

The book gives valuable insights into life in Afghanistan and within the Afghani community in the USA, although it is essentially a universal story of individual conscience and social norms. (Steve Hurd)

Guardian Review

UNLESS by Carol Shields, Fourth Estate (2002), 224pp

This is Carol Shields' last novel, written when she was terminally ill. It deals with many of the themes of her previous work, and can be viewed as her way of drawing her communication with her many readers to a close. It is not an easy or light book, but is a rewarding comment on many themes.

It is narrated by a writer and translator, Reta Winters, whose eldest daughter has inexplicably left her boyfriend and university course, broken off communication with her loving family, and taken to sitting on a street corner with a placard saying GOODNESS. The plot is the family's reactions to this, and their search for a way to communicate with Norah and bring her back to normal life.

The themes covered include family life, the position of women and feminism, communication or lack of it between people, the crafts of writing and translation, the complexity of language, the nature of goodness. (Sue Willson)

Review: http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,,690977,00.html

"To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting." Edmund Burke