The Sacred Art Of Stealing
Another rather enjoyable thriller, this time mostly set in Glasgow.
Angelique de Xavia, the scots-asian police officer introduced in “A big boy did it and ran away”, is pulled out of a match at ibrox to get
involved in an unusual bank heist in the centre of Glasgow. The plot deals with the implications of the robbery and the attraction between the lead robber and de Xavia.
It starts off remarkably well, then tails off. Worth a read though.
Understanding Comics
This a serious discussion of the nature and potential of sequential art written in comic form.
It’s a very persuasive and powerful piece of work.
Probably for people who’d like to have some insight into the theory and practice of comics.
A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away
An essentially silly and massively enjoyable thriller.
It tells the story of Ray, a new father and a new teacher, and what happens when he sees an old university friend at an airport when the friend is meant to be very dead.
Littering the story with all sorts of references to pop culture makes this a very enjoyable read if rather unbelievable.
If you like big dumb action packed thrillers with a very Scottish voice, you’ll like this creation.
Night Watch
This is among the very best Discworld novels, along with the likes of
Small Gods.
A bit darker than normal, and with much less emphasis on the humour, this is an Ankh-Morpork Watch story.
Sam Vimes (who has grown to become perhaps my favourite Discworld character) is thrown into the past to hunt down a psychotic killer and finds he has to relive one of the formative experiences of his youth and take on the mantle of his mentor in order to heal time and get back to his present and his newborn child.
The plot is a device allowing Pratchett to really get under the skin of a character.
It’s a beautiful piece of writing.
24 Hour Party People
This is the novelization of the script of one my favourite films of
recent years.
It’s a very entertaining fictional acccount of the true story of Factory
Records.
The book is by Anthony Wilson who ran Factory Records and who fills the
book with asides that point out the bits of the film that are utterly
untrue, kind of true or just plain true. It’s an enjoyable read
“all the lonely people”
The story of a lonely woman in her thirties who discovers the son she gave up for adoption at sixteen, only for him to die four months later from aggressive ms.
Six years later Vienna police contact her and she discovers the father of her child is a dentist with ocd living there. The book ends with them a couple, her pregnant and possibly with radiation sickness.
Very slight, very readable. It’s a pity that Coupland can’t ever get under the surface of things as he’s got a really enjoyable writing style.
Rating: B
A very interesting selection of essays and articles.
The articles about celebrities and his part in the Fight Club movie are a bit disappointing. However the profiles of ordinary people are fascinating and well worth reading. I particularly liked the articles about men who build castles and submariners.
Good stuff.
Rating: A-
Bizarrely flawed attempt a horror novel by one of my favourite authors.
Rating: B-
Both Doubleday anthologies of Pekar’s comic about his life as a working man in Cleveland.
Sometimes very good, sometimes a bit obvious and trite.
Rating: B
This latest Discworld novel focuses on the efforts of the expert conman Moist Von Lipwig to re-establish the Ankh-Morpork post office after being manipulated into the role of Postmaster by the Patrician Vetinari.
Probably his most overtly political book yet, this is not quite prime Pratchett. It’s still very good, just not as outstanding as Pratchett can be.
If you’re reading Discworld books, you’ll want to read this already.
If you’re not reading Discworld – why the hell not?
Though I don’t think this is the best book to start reading Discworld with.
Rating: B+