“Musical Chairs” is Kinky’s fifth novel and and was first published in 1991. As with his other books, Kinky has cast himself as the amateur-PI hero – though he doesn’t take too many liberties. The book’s Kinky (unsurprisingly) is a cigar-smoking, cat-loving, espresso-guzzling, whiskey-drinking, ex-country and western performer. Naturally, Kinky isn’t the only ‘real’ person to appear in the book – Rambam, Ratso and McGovern – Kinky’s ‘Village Irregulars’ – have all been based on actual friends while the Texas Jewboys – Kinky’s old band – also turn up.

Unfortunately, it’s the Texas Jewboys who appear to be in trouble. With New Year’s Eve approaching, Kinky receives a phone call from one-time bandmate, Tequila. Freshly landed in New York, short on places to stay and in need of a world-class PI, Tequila somehow manages to persuade Kinky to help him. However, while Kinky calls at a nearby comvenience, a killer calls at the loft and leaves Tequila the Guitarist floating in the bath. Things go from bad to worse : Kinky then gets a phone call from Cleve, the former manager of both the band and the Lone Star Cafe. Cleve, who is spending a little time in the Pilgrim State Mental Hospital after having dispatched three country singers, wants to put the band back together. Kinky initially resists the idea…but when he discovers that two futher ex-Jewboys are also very recently deceased, he begins to get very suspicious….The only good thing in Kinky’s life at this time is Kelli, a very sweet Texan dancer. Kelli, like Kinky, isn’t without her troubles : she has recently parted from her deranged Texan boyfirend and compounded that by spurning Winnie Katz, noted Lesbian Dance Class instructor. (Poor girl : she escapes from two predators, only to be snared by a third).

“A Case of Lone Star” has much in common with the other books by Kinky I’ve read. While it’s not an entirely serious ‘whodunnit’ it is a fast moving and very easily read book. It’s also packed with superbly delivered one-liners and – while his quips won’t be to everyone’s tastes – it was a book I thoroughly enjoyed.

“The Corpse Bride” is a stop-motion masterpeice from Tim Burton and is set in the nineteenth century, in an apparently English town. Although what we see on-screen are the models, there is an all-star cast providing the voices. Johnny Depp plays Victor, the hero, while Helena Bonham-Carter provides the voice for Emily, the Corpse Bride. Others who lend their voices include Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Christopher Lee and Tracey Ullman.

Victor’s wedding for Victoria Everglot has been arranged, with the film opening on the day of their wedding practice – an event that will see the bride and groom meeting for the first time. Victor’s father, William, is a very successful and – as a result – very rich Fishmonger. Victoria’s parents, on the other hand, are Lord and Lady Everglot. Although they aren’t exactly happy about their daughter marrying ‘new money’, they no longer have their own ‘old money’ to match their status – hence the wedding. They would’ve preferred a more suitable son-in-law, but presumably nobody with a title was available.

Victor and Victoria have quite a bit in common though – they’re both romantic, artistic souls – and they fall for each other the moment they meet. However, Victor is also quite newvous about the whole event and the practice is a disaster. Pastor Gaswels refuses to allow the wedding – set for the following day – to proceed until Victor learns what to do and say. Victor stumbles off into the woods to practice his lines : reciting his vows perfectly, he slips the ring onto what looks like a fallen branch. Unfortunately, it turns out to be the wedding finger of the Corpse Bride – and with the vows now made, she doesn’t want to give her new husband up.

Victor’s Corpse Bride was called Emily when she was alive. Although Victoria is very pretty, it’s clear that Emily was also on the other side of the grave. (In fact, at the risk of being considered somwehat odd, I would say she still is). However, while Victoria still has a beating heart, Emily has a maggot living in her head – who also appears to be her best friend. Her right eye also has the unfortunate habit of falling out and rolling around the floor. Victor, naturally, is initially desperate to return to Victoria. However, the Land of the Dead is much brighter and (would you believe) much livelier than the dull and drab Land of the Living. He also finds that his old dog, Scraps, is still living there. There’s also plenty of singing and dancing, much of it led by the very jazzy skeleton, Bonejangles. Upstairs, however, the situation is being complicated further by the devious Barksi Bittern. With Victor missing (presumed married), the smarmy, vain, money-grabber steps into Victor’s shoes for the wedding.

I can only describe the film as flawless. It looks fantastic, it’s very entertaining, the music is excellent, there’s plenty of puns that will raise a chuckle, while Victor and both of his brides are genuinely likeable characters.

“The Name of the Rose” is set in the fourteenth century and is told by Adso of Melk – an aged Benedictine Abbot looking back to a journey he took as a novice. Adso’s father was a German nobleman loyal to Louis the Bavarian and arranged for the young Adso to travel with him to Italy – there, he hoped to see Louis crowned Holy Roman Emperor. However, with his father’s time subsequently taken up with the Siege of Pisa, Adso was placed in the care of William of Baskerville – not only a shrewd, learned and wise Franciscan, but also a former Inquisitor. Together, the pair travel to a Benedictine abbey in the northern Italian mountains.

The arena in which William and Adso operate is at least as political as it is religious. There are great differences of opinion between the orders on a number of topics – the most relevant to the story involves a difference in opinion about poverty between the Franciscan Order and the Pope. Since the Pope and the Emperor don’t see eye-to-eye either, Louis has obviously sided with the Franciscans. The Order’s Head, Michael of Cesena, has been summoned several times to Avignon – where the Papal Court was held at the time – officially to deal conclusively with the matter. However, since many suspect this would actually involve Michael being charged with heresy, the Emperor feels it best if Michael travels as part of an official Imperial delegation. As the whole matter is proving increasingly difficult to deal with, a preliminary meeting has been arranged to lay out the opposing points of view. William has been appointed the Emperor’s representative, and the meeting is taking place at the abbey to which he and Adso are travelling.

As it happens, the pair are given much more to think about than just the meeting. Not long before William and Adso arrived, one of the abbey’s most skilled illuminators – Adelmo of Otranto – had been found dead at the foot of some cliffs beneath the abbey. The Abbot suspects the young monk was murdered, and asks William to investigate. Things are not made entirely easy for the pair : although Adelmo may have been pushed to his death from the upper floor of the library, they are forbidden from entering that area. Nevertheless, with the meeting imminent, they know it’s vital to have everything cleared up as soon as possible – preferably with out any more deaths…

This is a hugely enjoyable book – the only real flaw is that it’s occasionally a little over-descriptive. However, it makes a nice change to read a murder-mystery than relies solely on the skills of the investigator – particularly one as likeable as William – without any help from forensics, fingerprinting or DNA sampling. The ‘back-story’, relating to the meeting, added a nice political spin to things. It also added a certain amount of panic for some of the characters, as the Pope’s representative is also a practising Inquisitor . Very highly recommended.

The story is set in 1930s Maycomb, Alabama, and is told by Scout Finch. In it, she looks back to her childhood, between the ages of six and nine years. A lively, intelligent and fiercely loyal child, she has one older brother called Jem, whose main interest is football. Despite an age difference of nearly four years, the siblings are clearly very close. Their mother died when Scout was two and they have been brought up by their father, Atticus – who proves to be a man you can’t help admiring. Calpurnia, their housekeeper, seems to have been a great help to Atticus in raising the children. At times, Scout seems to have seen her as something of an adversary, though they become much closer as time goes on. Among their neighbours are the mysterious Radleys – Mr. Arthur, better known as Boo Radley, hasn’t been seen outside for many years. He has become something of a legend that inspires a certain amount of fear among the children. Another neighbour, Miss Maudie, is an entirely different proposition – a very likeable character, she proves to be a very good friend to the children and one of Maycomb’s more admirable residents.

Another of the children’s friends in Chet Baker Harris, a boy from Mississippi who is better known as Dill. He spends his summer with his Aunt Rachel, another of Scout’s neighbours. Dill is the driving force behind one of the book’s major themes : the quest to make Boo Radley come outside. The other theme, however, is a lot more serious – it deals with a court case where a black man has been charged with raping a white woman, on very flimsy evidence. The attitude of many of the townsfolk to the man in question, and to the black community in general, confuse the children greatly. The consequences of these attitudes have a direct impact on the Finch family, given that Atticus has been appointed the defence attorney.

I tend to be very suspicious of a book if it’s referred to as a ‘classic’ – too many of those I’ve read (or been forced to read) have been far too tedious. “To Kill a Mockingbird”, however, is what a classic should be – superbly written, with an excellent story and featuring characters you genuinely care about.

Frank Cauldhame is sixteen yeras old and hasn’t quite had what you’d call a typical upbringing. In fact, he doesn’t officially exist : Frank was never registered, has no birth certificate, no passport and no national insurance number. The upside is that, as a result, he’s never had to attend school – though he was educated at home by his father. (Angus, Frank’s father, did occasionally embellish parts of the curriculem – for example, Frank believed for a time that there was a character called Fellatio in “Hamlet”). Angus is a scientist : the discipline is never clearly identified, though he does appear to be involved in the biomedical sector. These connections have also apparently allowed Angus to provide for Frank’s medical needs – despite his son’s official non-existance. (These needs were increased at an early age, following a devastating encounter with a dog). Angus’ study is strcitly off-limits to Frank and is permanently locked – though Frank is determined to make it inside someday.

The pair are pretty comfortable, whatever it is Angus does for a living. They live on a small island, just off the coast of Portneil in Scotland. Frank never knew his mother, Angus’ second wife, as she left shortly after he was born. (Apparently, she didn’t care much for children). It’s probably lucky for her that she didn’t stick around : Frank has turned into a very strange kid whose values and beliefs don’t really overlap with those held by ‘normal’ society. He’s very fond of general destruction and killing – so far, he’s dispatched two cousins, one brother and various animals. (He’s yet to be caught out). He is also very inventive and has essentially created his own belief system – involving a Wasp Factory, some Sacrifice Poles and the Bunker (a pillbox on the beach, a relic from the Second World War). He also has his own name for various parts of the island, depending on what he’s done there – for example, the Snake Park, Black Destroyer Hill and the Bomb Circle.

The events of “The Wasp Factory” take place over a couple of days – beginning with the news that Eric, Frank’s half-brother, has escaped form hospital. (Eric was committed several years earlier, for setting dogs on fire). The book sees Frank looking back over hsi life, in the build-up to Eric’s expected return. This isn’t something that causes Frank any great amount of stress, despite the fact that Eric clearly still isn’t firing on all thrusters. (Frank’s is more than a match for his brother : the worrying this is that he sees himself as being the “somebody sane who still likes” Eric.) Unsurprisingly, the book can be a little gruesome at times and it isn’t one I’d recommend if you’re feeling a little queasy. However, if you’re feeling up to a challenge, it’s certainly well worth reading !

Jess Harrison is an eight-year old girl, an only child and nearly determined to be a loner. She seems nearly to be afraid of making friends, avoids going outside to play as much as possible and keeps her thoughts to herself. She also reads a great deal – “Little Women” is a great favourite and she is also very partial to Shakespeare. However, Jess often suffers from panic attacks and the occasional strange fever.

Jess’ parents, Daniel and Sarah, met at university. Daniel was born and raised in England, though Sarah is Nigerian and only came to England to study medicine. She promptly switched courses to study English Literature and is now a successful writer. Fifteen years after she left Nigeria, Sarah is now returning to Nigeria for the first time with her husband and daughter. Although there are some awkward moments for Sarah, meeting the Nigerian side of the family also proves difficult for Jess. While the relations she meet include aunts, uncles and cousins, her grandfather proves to be very much the dominant character : he ‘rules’ the compound in which the family live. It’s clear he disapproves of Sarah’s decision to switch from medicine to English Literature and her decision to remain in England. In fact, he doesn’t seem to entirely approve of Daniel either. However, there is a bond between grandfather and granddaughter – he clearly loves her and she seeks her approval. Although Jess knows she has a Yoruba name – Wuraola – her grandfather is the first person to call her by that name. Not being called Jess, however, is something that initially confuses and scares her a little.

The compound in which the family lives was built in the 1870s by Jess’ great-grandfather. Jess’ grandfather currently lives at the centre of the compound, with an old and deserted building called the Boys’ Quarters located at the back of it. It had once been home to the compound’s servants, though it has now been lying empty for many years and now isn’t fit for habitation. The trouble for Jess starts when she realises that someone is, in fact, living in the Boys’ Quarters – apparently without anyone else in the compound being aware of it. The cuckoo is a young Yoruba girl called Titiola who becomes Jess’ first ever friend. As Jess has trouble with the pronunciation, she calls her new companion Tilly-Tilly. While there are a few minor skirmishes in Nigeria, the trouble only really begins when Jess returns to England – and Tilly-Tilly miraculously arrives shortly afterwards. Her friend’s arrival brings a few changes in Jess, and she learns a bit more about her life.

This is a fantastic book, and one that I can’t recommend highly enough. I have a great deal of admiration for Helen Oyeyemi – who was born in Nigeria and moved to London when she was four. She wrote “The Icarus Girl” over a seven month period while at school, studying for her A-Levels. By the time she got her results, she’d signed a two-book deal worth an alleged £400,000 – oh, and she won at place at Cambridge University into the bargain.

Quoyle isn’t exactly the typical hero : although a good, kind-hearted man, he has little faith in himself and his self-confidence is non-existent. Physically, he’s a large, red-haired man, with pale eyes, an over-sized chin and no neck. He has little in common with his family : his father is a genuinely obnoxious, self-obsessed bully with no obvious redeeming qualities while his brother is a self-centred, poisonous rat. After stumbling from one trade to another, Quoyle more or less settles on journalism as a career – starting out with the Mockingburg Reporter. He later meets and marries Petal Bear. (Despite his somewhat unorthodox appearance, Quoyle is as prodigious downstairs as he is in the chin department). Initially, things go well : their first month together is genuinely happy, but the following six years bring Quoyle two daughters and plenty of misery. Although Petal has a great interest in sex, she tends to pursue that interest with people who aren’t her husband…

Things change dramatically for Quoyle in his mid-thirties. Following the death of his parents in a suicide pact, he meets an aged aunt (Agnis Hamm) for the first time. Although unable to attend the funeral, she arranges to come down and collect his father’s ashes. However, by the time she arrives, Quoyle is also a widower : Petal dies in a car accident that also takes the life of one of her many boyfriends. Shortly before running off, Petal had also sold their daughters to a very dodgy photographer for $7000…fortunately, the police managed to arrive at the photographer’s apartment before anything to questionable had happened. Having lost his job – leaving nothing for him in Mockingburg – Aunt Agnis suggests moving to the ancestral Quoyle homestead in Newfoundland. Quoyle, Agnis and the two daughters set off for Quoyle point and, although in need of some repair, the old house is still standing. There’s also the promise of a new job : writing the shipping news for the Gammy Bird, the newspaper based in the neighbouring town.

This is a book I’d put off reading for a while. Having won, among other prizes, the Pulitzer I was expecting a ‘challenging’ book without a great deal of humour. I couldn’t have been more wrong : the book is very easily read and – while it isn’t always cheerful – there is plenty of humour in it. Aunt Agnis is a great character – I was particularly impressed how she dealt with her brother’s ashes ! Quoyle has a slight tendency to think in headlines, especially when he feels he’s somehow said or done something wrong. Very enjoyable !

“Down and Out in Paris and London” is a largely autobiographical account or Orwell’s times living on the breadline : working as a plongeur in Paris, being caught out by con-artists and life as a tramp on his return to England. The book was originally called “A Scullion’s Diary” and – it would appear – focused only on his days in Paris. However, after a few rejections, Orwell tried his luck with the stories of his life on the streets in and around London added.

To be honest, I find it a pity this happened, as the stories set in Paris are much more readable. While some of the characters we meet – Charlie, for example – are far from admirable, Orwell himself doesn’t come out of the book entirely unscathed. His occasional foolishness is forgivable, but his apparent snobbery and insincerity can be a bit hard to take. For example, as the book closes, he comments he’d like to know people like Paddy (a fellow tramp he’d met in England) “intimately” – a character he’d plainly looked down on since their first meeting. However, on the very same page, the news of Paddy’s apparent death is met with barely a shrug of the shoulders : “perhaps my informant was mixing him up with someone else”.

From the book’s beginning, it’s clear that things are operating under slightly different rules than those we’re used to. The story is set in England and is told by Kathy; although she spends much of the book looking back over her life, the ‘current’ date is somewhere in the late 1990s. Kathy has been working as a carer for eleven years, though she will probably be stepping down within the next twelve months. As a carer, it’s her job to look after organ donors. Given that her donors tend to have excellent recovery times, it’s something she seems to be very good at. However, it’s also clear that the donors she cares for donate repeatedly. In fact, from early in the book, there’s the suspicion that her patients are only ‘allowed’ to stop donating when they die – or ‘complete’, as Kathy puts it.

Kathy studied at Hailsham : more or less a boarding school, apparently quite prestigious, though also a little unusual. There’s an air of familiarity between the pupils and the staff – who are referred to as guardians, rather than teachers. The pupils don’t appear to follow the standard curriculum – there’s no mention of GCSEs or A-Levels. (For that matter, there’s no mention of summer holidays or family either). In recent years, Kathy has been able to choose some of the patients she cares for. Two of the patients she has selected are Tommy and Ruth, friends from her days at Hailsham. “Never Let Me Go” sees Ruth looking back over her life with Tommy and Ruth, from their earliest days at Hailsham together right up until the present day. In doing so, it becomes clear what role she, Tommy and Ruth play in society and why Hailsham was so unusual.

“Never Let Me Go” was the first book by Kazuo Ishiguro I read, but I’ll certainly read more by him. Although very sad, it’s one of the the best books I’ve read in years and would easily make it onto my ‘Desert Island Books’ list. Sometimes, when a book has left its mark on me, I find myself wondering what has happened to a character after the final page : Kathy is a character I found myself wondering about.

“The Man in the High Castle ” isn’t necessarily what many would consider to be a ‘typical’ science-fiction novel : there are no little green men, androids don’t appear, nobody feels the force and the heroes aren’t boldly going. Set in the 1960s, the story takes place in a world where the Allies lost the Second World War : Japan is in control of Asia, while Germany is in control of Europe and Africa. The Germans have also drained the Mediterranean for farmland, and have applied the `final solution’ to the peoples of Africa. America, meanwhile, has been divided into three states. Much of the action takes place in the Pacific Seaboard America region, which is under the control of Japan. The eastern section of America is ruled by Germany, while between the two is the Rocky Mountain Buffer State. Life under the Japanese is presented as being relatively benign – pleasant, even. This appears to contrast sharply with life under German rule, despite the fact this isn’t actually shown in the book.

The book follows the lives of a group of very loosely connected individuals – though what affects one has repercussions for all. Robert Childan is introduced first : a native of San Francisco, Childan can vaguely remember life before the war. He runs American Artistic Handcrafts, which sells “ethnic” American antiques to the Japanese, such as guns, comic-books – even framed, signed pictures of Jean Harlow ! Childan knows his place : the Japanese are at least one step above him on the ladder and, although there’s a certain amount of admiration for them, there’s also a great deal of resentment directed towards them also. His admiration for the Nazis, however, is untroubled by any such conflict. Nobuske Tagomi, the Head of the Japanese Imperial Trade Mission in San Francisco, is an occasional customer of Childan’s. Tagomi is being used as a middle-man for a meeting between a representative of the Japanese government and a man called Baynes – apparently a Swedish national – and is hoping Childan will be able to supply a suitable gift.

What Childan doesn’t realise is that much of his merchandise is fake. When Frank Frinks is introduced, he has just been sacked from his job with one of Childan’s suppliers. He then goes into business himself, creating original jewellery – something he’ll obviously need a market for. Frank has been divorced for about a year, though he seems to think constantly of Juliana, his ex-wife. Juliana, meanwhile, has been living in the Rocky Mountain State, working as a judo instructor – things start to change dramatically for her when she meets a lorry-driver called Joe.

Two books play a key role in “The Man in the High Castle”. One is the “I Ching”, the ancient Chinese Book of Divination. Many use it to guide their decisions and lives on a daily basis – Tagomi in particular. The other iscalled “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy”, a work of fiction written by a man called Hawthorn Abendsen. It describes a world where the Allies won the war – as a result, it has been banned by both the Germans and the Japanese. Given his unpopularity with the world’s two great powers, Abendsen is said to live in a heavily fortified home and has become known as “The Man in the High Castle”.

This is the first book by Philip K Dick that I’ve read, though it won’t be the last – an excellent book, that’ll appeal to more than just the ardent science-fiction fan.