What I've Been Reading

So, I've been trying to read Scottish books while I'm here, and extremely conveniently Aye Write (Glasgow's book festival) created a list of two books from each decade called Scotland's Bookshelf.  I've been working my way through the most recent decades with some sidelines back to murder mysteries and other novels just to keep things interesting.

Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi (also a movie with Ewan McGregor) is a bleak novel from the 1950s, quite reminiscent of The Stranger by Albert Camus.  The protagonist, Joe, narrates a drifting story about the accidental death of an old girlfriend and the subsequent trial where an innocent man is accused of her killing, interspersed with his loveless affair with his boss's wife.  Similar to Camus, Trocchi seems to be showing the lack of reason and purpose in life, following the aburdism beliefs that people seek meaning even though there is none to be found.  If you like dark novels that depict the randomness of life, this is one for you.  (side note:  Joe works on a barge that transports goods on the canals where I now bike on the trails alongside of them)

The classic The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark was one of the picks for the 1960s.  Although I read this book years ago, it was interesting to read it again after being a teacher for so many years.  Miss Brodie's attempt to select and foster an elite set of girls seems incredibly elitist to the modern reader.  Yet, set in the 1930s, Miss Brodie's attempts to encourage her girls to pursue intellectual lives would have made her a radical and a feminist.  Her other attempts to encourage them into premarital affairs could also be conceived as radical and feminist for the times, but seem too manipulative to warrant any excuse.  The cult of personality still exists in many classrooms, arising the question of should students love their teacher or love the subject?  This novel reveals the world of Edinburgh private schooling and provides complex and flawed character development of both the protagonist and her girls.

One of the picks for the 1970s was also set in an earlier time.  Docherty by William McIlvanney tells the tale of a miner and his family in an epic span through the first half of the twentieth century.  Tam Docherty, a larger-than-life figure, wants more for himself and his family than a life of poverty and debasement.  His courage and strength make him a natural leader, yet he is unable to articulate what he wants.  Torn between traditions and his desire for something better, Docherty fulfills his classic hero role with its inevitable result.  This novel is filled with Scots language giving a true portrait of a Scottish miner's struggles and hopes.  As McIlvanney was the son of a miner, the realism comes from the source.  A novel that gives a sympathetic depiction of miners, I recommend it if you want to learn more about that aspect of Scottish life.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (a pick from the 1980s) is one of the many novels I've read with a Asperger's style narrator.  Maybe Banks just meant to portray Frank as a cold-blooded killer and I've just become a product of the seemingly ubiquitous diagnosis of Asperger's, but regardless the main character describes his life in a flat, unemotional tone which makes what he is doing seem logical and natural.  Despite the harsh subject matter, this book is a great read since its descriptions of Frank provide a creepily compelling look inside the brain of very odd person.  The twist at the end explains some of Frank's issues, but does not excuse his actions.  If you can stomach violence with no remorse, I think this book is excellent with its strange horror and intense characterization.

A break from bleakness and betrayal, The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell (Irish, not Scottish) uses the in vogue literary techniques of multiple narrators and connected stories in different time frames.  A story both about Lexie, a girl who escapes her narrow, 1950s, suburban existence for London, where she loves a married man and becomes a journalist and about Elina and Ted, a couple who in modern day are struggling with the demands of parenthood.  A easy read about these two couples and their lives, this book was fun to read.

Continuing my delving into less harsh stories, I read I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (who went on to write The Hundred and One Dalmatians based on her own dalmatian and a friend's comment about how the dog would make a lovely fur coat).  This book, a beloved classic in the UK, describes a quirky family struggling to get by in their rented English castle in the early 1930s.  The family (father, a writer who hasn't written anything since his first ground-breaking novel; step-mother, a beautiful artists' model who dotes on her unproductive husband; and three children, a school-age boy and two daughters of marriageable age) could have arisen from a modern Jane Austen novel, especially when two brothers appear on the scene who could save the family from its penury.  What saves this book from its romance novel is the use of narrator.  Written as though Cassandra (the younger sister)  is writing a book about her life as practice for becoming a novelist, Cassandra's humor and bewilderment as she navigates late adolescence, love, parents, and poverty makes the story come alive.  Its tempered happy ending also creates a story that is not only a page turner but also realistic.  Definitely stands the test of time, and I see why many Brits love this book.

Finally, a dabble back to the Americas.  Still on the light side, The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards (who also wrote The Memory Keeper's Daughter, another good book) delves into the complexity of parent/child and sibling relationships once all involved are adults.  The main character returns home from her international wanderings and finds that her mother and brother have new lives and don't necessarily need or want her advice on how to live them.  Inter-tangled in Lucy's attempts to   salvage old and forge new relationships with people from her past, she begins a search for an ancestor who has been purged from her family's history.  Unravelling this mystery allows Lucy to determine her own path.  A great read which I highly recommend.