Tring Book Club - Girl by Edna O'Brien

 

After I read "The Little Red Chairs", my first attempt at an Edna O'Brien novel, I added this comment:

"My first Edna O'Brien and if this is the best she can do, it will be my last. OK, it was a very powerful novel, shocking even. Something to endure rather than enjoy. It should really come with a warning."

The same could be said of our latest choice for book club. Knowing the subject matter, I started to read with some trepidation, especially as this was too close to reality for comfort. It should have been advertised as dramatised non-fiction. My first impressions were "let's write a story about the most awful events imaginable". There is no lead-in to the horrors of the book, just straight in with a bang.

The fact that it is written in the first person by "Girl" makes it even more disturbing. The first part is remorseless in it's violence. The rest is the aftermath and the traumatic effects it has on Maryam. I'm not sure about much of the prose, is it lazy or trying to mimic our narrator? I also become tired of the various diversions, stories and anecdotes from characters who had nothing to do with the main narrative.

But I guess this is an important story to tell, albeit in a fictionalised format. Edna O'Brien has been brave to tell it, it does have heart. In a way, the men are worse off than the women, they face horrible injury and death. We are back to the Middle Ages. Thank goodness I had something light on my bookshelf to start next, hurrah for Deborah Moggach and Buffy's Ex-Wives.

The Valhalla Murders, DNA, The Nordic Murders, Monster, Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders and Spiral

 The Valhalla Murders

Some of these foreign police series are from way back. First from BBC 4 comes The Valhalla Murders, set in Iceland and notable for the parachuting in of a detective from Norway, the tall guy at the back. Not my favourite of these recent series, I found it hard to keep up with the plot.

DNA

Much better was this mystery detective series, this time from Denmark. And again on BBC 4. Set in Copenhagen, Northern Jutland and Poland, Yet again it does have yet another specialist drafted in, this time Charlotte Rampling as French detective Claire Bobin. And as well as the French Connection, there is also a link to a convent in Poland. And of course DNA. There were eight episodes, although it should have been less, it was too slow at times. But the last two episodes were exciting even if the conclusion was identical to a thousand thrillers that have gone before.

The Nordic Murders

On Channel 4 comes Nordic Murders, and we are off to Germany. Actually the action is set on the Island (peninsular?) of Usedom in what was the north of East Germany on the Baltic Sea. Just over the border is Poland (again) where we visit on occasions.  This location is therefore one of the best things about the series, great photography and visually stunning. Each episode is a separate story so that was good. Not a lot of plot, more a character study of investigator Julia and her ex-con mother Karin who was the district prosecutor. Yes! However, the series soon disappeared from Channel 4 so will wait for it's return?

Monster

Channel 4 again and we are in Arctic Norway near the Russian border. Once more it's isolation leads to a detective arriving to help. But he doesn't. Poor Hedda, (the most unglamorous and unlikely female tv detective ever) out of her depth and with boss Ed soon to retire (both above) she finds it hard to communicate with the new Dreyer. It takes the difficulties of new partners to a whole new, violent level! A complicated plot, not a lot of dialogue but it's all about the scenery. I didn't have a clue of what was going on half the time, but it was curiously addictive. 

Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders

This was weird. I came across the second series of this Channel 4 series (it is also on Sky so will be there for ever) , and having watched the first episode, I found that Series 1 was on catch-up. So back to it's first episode. But the lead detective (Rebecka) seemed different, very weird. But investigating on Google, I found that the actress had changed for Series 2.  The setting is the far north of Sweden, is everybody trying to get more north that the other? So we have snow and ice in the depths of winter as lawyer Rebecka returns to her home town of Kiruna. And murders. Currently watching in tandem with Spiral.

Spiral

I think I must have watched all the series of Spiral, the French crime series on BBC 4 set in the dark side of Paris. We have now reached the final series and the team is in trouble after the disasters of the previous episodes. It seems a long time since we last saw Laure and Gilou. But the photography of Paris is as great as ever especially the chase sequences with a hand held camera. Watch this space.

Aylesbury parkrun - the flood

 

This is a photo of the start of the alternative course at Aylesbury parkrun that is used when the main route is flooded. There is a video on Aylesbury parkrun's facebook page for the 22nd January. I'm not sure if you could actually run through the flood it seems so deep. Except there are now some not-parkrun results for Aylesbury last week. So it may already be better. Will have to give it a go.

A Week of Ice

These are pictures, above and below, that were in the news last week of the Thames frozen over at Teddington Lock. The first time for many years.

At the same time, the Weston Turville Reservoir was also frozen around the edges when I visited on one of my walks. I wish I had taken my camera.

A Frozen Garden

 

The last few days have been the coldest for years. Although there was not much in the way of snow, what we had is sticking around despite the sunshine. 

 So the crocus are not very happy. 

They were much better over a week ago.

Before the frosts I did find the mini tulips in flower under some shrubs where I must have stuck them last spring after they died down in their pots.

I found the following photo from last March, so they have appeared quite early this year.

The container with the fountain has been frozen for over a week.

Today (Monday) it has thawed so I could lift the 50mm ice off the pot.

The crocus are also much happier this morning.

New Running Shoes

 

As my old running shoes had developed a hole near the toe, I went online for a new pair of Asics GT 1000 that I always wear. The latest Series 9 were far too expensive, most were well over £100 on Amazon.

However, I did find a pair of Series 8 which I found to be just as as good. And at £54.95 including postage, that was cheaper than I have paid for the last few pairs. Not the colour I would have chosen, but who cares. Especially as they are for the spring and summer. Thank you Seaton Sports.

A Single Thread, The Understudy and A Stranger City

Despite the many positive reviews, I found this very disappointing especially as I had enjoyed Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures", "New Boy" and, of course, "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". To me it felt like a lightweight story of single woman in her thirties, after the first world war, built around Winchester Cathedral, the embroidery of it's cushions and kneelers and bell-ringing.

Violet Speedwell is resigned to spinsterhood now the male population has been decimated by the war. She has the obligatory dominating mother and brother with a growing family. It is her new found friends who are broderers who bring her joy. It's not a bad book. There is the occasional warm sentence: "Of course the vergers complained because the collection took twice as long since everyone wanted to inspect the (new embroidered) alms bags and that rather threw out the timing of the service" positive reviews, I found this very disappointing especially as I had enjoyed Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures", "New Boy" and, of course, "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". To me it felt like a lightweight story of single woman in her thirties, after the first world war, built around Winchester Cathedral, the embroidery of it's cushions and kneelers and bell-ringing.

Not the best of David Nicholls' novels. Unfortunately the main character, failing actor Stephen C McQueen, is such a pathetic person. As a vehicle for humour, this just didn't work. Which was unfortunate as a comedy about an understudy had huge potential. That is not to say there were no funny moments. When Stephen is talking to Nora, wife of star actor Josh, and explains he is his understudy, she replies "Want me to push him downstairs for you .... make it look like an accident?" But it is this relationship that is the best thing about the book, as were those in "One Day", "Us" and "Sweet Sorrow".

Having read all of Linda Grant's novels, I was not sure what to expect. Some are excellent, some less so. This book falls somewhere between the two. I found it a mostly depressing picture of London, maybe because this is possibly set in a near future. Post Brexit haunts the story. It is certainly not the city I knew in the fifties and sixties. Horrible things happened then as they do now, well this is London. The author sees an even worse time here. "Our London is coming to an end, what we knew is disintegrating soon we wont recognise the place. You've got to go with the change, Marco (son of a Lebanese immigrant). It's not our fault, we didn't initiate it, but you need to prepare, make plans, have your exit route arranged".

The multiculturalism of London is of course on show. A cast of many characters, their narratives slipping in and out . Alan, the documentary film maker and his Persian wife Francesca seem an odd pair. But the book, for me, seems held together by Chrissie, the single Irish nurse. An unexpected social media sensation for those five minutes of fame. Vic and his Afghan hounds. Retired policeman Pete Dutton, whose quest to find the identity of the dead woman from the river which is at the heart of the story. But the book is really about the city. The writing sometimes seems as elusive as London itself. This is a book that needs to be read again. So although it is not a comfortable read, it is unforgettable.