Category Archives: Book Review

The Living Mountain

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Nan Shepherd. Canongate Books. (176p) ISBN: 9781786897350. Nature Writing, read 18/06/18, Paperback ★★★★☆

The Living Mountain

The Living Mountain

I’ve had The Living Mountain sitting on my shelf for about five years now and for some reason just never got around to reading it, but now that I read a lot of children’s books I always like to read a more serious book as a sort of ‘palette cleanser’.

On starting I was astounded that the introduction for the special edition was almost as long as the book itself, but what a wonderful introduction.

Once I got into the book proper, Nan Shepherd’s writing was so mesmerising I didn’t want to put it down, she transported me into the mountains as no other book about the mountains has done previously.

The strength of her imagery and her obvious passion for the mountains made the whole of her world come alive for me.

Though Nan Shepherd is placed firmly in her time, the timeless nature of the Cairngorms are exemplified by her prose and imagery.

This is a classic of travel, nature and mountaineering and deservedly so and I am glad that I finally got around to reading it and not just having it on the shelf as some sort of trophy book.

Wrestliana

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Toby Litt. Galley Beggar Press. (260p) ISBN: 9781910296899. Memoir, read 18/06/18, Paperback ★★★★☆

Wrestliana

Wrestliana

Wrestliana is a complicated book, on the surface it is a biography of Toby Litt’s great-great-grandfather William Litt, but it is also an exploration of his relationship with his own father, his sons, and representations of masculinity.

I was lucky enough to receive this from Galley Beggar Press to read and I really appreciate the chance as Toby’s writing is clear and impelling.

William Litt was a champion Cumberland and Westmoreland Wrestling athlete and writer and this book follows his life around the wrestling circuit and further abroad.

It is the joining of these two modern day extremes, ‘Jock’ and ‘Nerd’ that Toby explores, both in William’s life and his own.

Positing that William’s era was possibly the beginning of separation of body and mind as distinct social personas, body and mind was commonly combined. But with the rise of educational specialism and professional sports they became irrevocably sundered.

A really great read written with understanding and passion.

Murder Most Unladylike

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Robin Stevens. Penguin. (352p) ISBN: 9780141369761. Middle Grade, read 21/02/18, Paperback ★★★★☆

Murder Most Unladylike

Murder Most Unladylike

Just before Christmas (a couple of years back) we found out that Robin Stevens was coming to one of our local schools to talk to the pupils about her books and writing mysteries, have to say I jumped at the chance to organise something to support the schools librarian and the school (but also to meet Robin 😉 ).

Robin was kind enough to give me a few of her lovely US editions of the series, Murder is Bad Manners being the US name for Murder Most Unladylike, and they are such beautiful editions too, strikingly different art from the UK editions, reminiscent of the 30s John Buchan/Agatha Christie covers.

In this first book, Daisy and Hazel seem to be ironing out the kinks in their relationship whilst trying to discover who murdered their teacher, Miss Bell.

This involves following various clues, red herrings and threads to their conclusion, and in the tradition of all good murder mysteries the reveal is surprising but follows from the clues sprinkled throughout the book.

The pace was well-judged, moving along quickly enough to keep a reader interested but not so quick as to lose the thread of the plot, Hazel is a wonderful narrator in the style of a Watsonesque sidekick, but with a bit more personality than that much maligned assistant.

In Praise of the Garrulous

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Allan Cameron. Vagabond Voices. (208p) ISBN: 9781908251244. Language, read 07/12/14, Paperback ★★★★☆

In Praise of the Garrulous

In Praise of the Garrulous

A wonderfully, garrulous account of language and its development, but also a warning on where our language could go if we aren’t careful.

Love of words, sounds and the full gamut of the English language is sung out loud here, and that song is a rallying cry for those who also love the language as much.

Slang and common-tongue is not ridiculed but seen as a dark slope that can limit the use of words and expression by ‘streamlining’ our speech and thought processes.

As an object I found In Praise of the Garrulous desirable, with a great cover and french folds that holds information and images.

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