Review by Justine Solomons.
A novel about work, the City and graduates wouldn't necessarily be my idea of fun, but I enjoyed this book. What do bankers sacrifice for high salaries and what is the City's attitude to women in the top jobs? Why do bankers put themselves through such torment? All these questions are explored in 'Golden Handcuffs.'
With a first in physics from Cambridge, Abby is hired as an analyst at City bank Cray McKinley. We watch her first year at the bank and see how she and her friends, Mike and Justine, cope with being at the bottom of the food chain. Working fourteen-hour days, seven days a week and often through the night, they are bound by the £8k signing bonus, the golden handcuffs of the title.
I know a few people working in the City, and have often wondered just how much they sacrifice for their salaries. Well if this book is anything to go by, an awful lot. I found this book claustrophobic. While reading it I was desperate for fresh air and light, which is, I imagine, exactly how Courtney wants us to feel. Whether she manages to elicit sympathy for the City analysts, I'm not sure. Is it their fault we live in a money-crazed high-pressure society? I don't think so. But the choices we make within that society are up to each individual, and that's ultimately the main thesis of this novel. This book is a close as I, personally, want to get to the City life. It's an accomplished self-published novel, which is a far more impressive feat to me than anything achieved by the City high fliers.
Review written by Julia Newhouse.
Perhaps the most common thing heard in cinema foyers these days is how a movie was or wasn’t ‘just like the book’. The one universal truth I stick to is to at least attempt to read a book before seeing the film. You can never quite recapture your own imagined interpretation once you have seen the characters in the flesh. For example I vaguely remember ‘my Katniss’ from The Hunger Games being a lot younger than Jennifer Lawrence, but beyond that, the film and book have now become fused in a way that is both wonderful and sad. All of this relates to this review for Chbosky's novel, which has just been released as a film.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower pulled me in from the off. It is written as a series of letters beginning ‘Dear Friend’, and through these letters, our protagonist Charlie relates the details of his life, his trouble connecting with people, and the fractured way he looks at the world. At a school football game, Charlie’s life begins to change, he meets seniors Sam and Patrick, and through them, their friends and their encouragement Charlie comes out of his shell. We learn about both what made him a ‘wallflower’, and just how the time has come for him to stop observing life and start living it.
The novel has the most beautiful language, mixed with the simplest syntax, a combination that makes it readable, striking and completely enjoyable. I love to read, but this is the first book in a long time that I read from cover to cover in one day. I think I can pinpoint the exact sentence that got me hooked. “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be”. A sentiment that aptly sums up how a lot of us often feel about life not only as teenagers but also as adults. There are linguistic gems scattered throughout the book, beautiful words that I can’t wait to see projected on the big screen. As far as adaptations go, I am dubious about the film being as good as the book (despite the author directing the film), but with that said, I have my ticket booked, and can’t wait to see Sam, Patrick and Charlie being infinite on the screen.
Guest post by Tracey Sinclair.
I’m not a great networker. While I find it extremely easy to ‘sell’ myself in a one-to-one (or one-to-several) meeting, put me in a room full of strangers and I’m likely to fall to pieces. I’m never the cool, efficient person who comes out with a useful string of email addresses – I’m usually the one who gets so nervous I neck back three glasses of wine in short order and gibber away to the one guest who isn’t a good contact at all.
So while I was excited about the concept Byte the Book, the new digital literary soiree, I was also cynical: would it be anything other than yet another chance for me to fluff meeting people (albeit in the impressive surroundings of the Ivy rather than some ugly corporate hellhole). But, having now attended three of their evenings, I must admit I’m rather taken with the whole experience.
Much of this is due to the tireless founder, Justine Solomons, who as well as being passionate about publishing, is one of those people who is extremely good at making connections, and enjoys introducing attendees to those she thinks will be useful – so, for instance, she introduced me to Zoe Cunningham, who interviewed me for her Zone One radio show, and who has now invited me to be a judge in the radio play competition that the station is running, I've also had some paid editorial work from a writer Justine introduced me to. Plus I’ve met some nice authors and publisher types – so who knows where that will lead? The talks themselves are usually very interesting, with high calibre guest speakers (I must admit there was a degree of pop star worship when one of last week’s speakers turned out to be Fergal Sharkey) and so far, at least, I haven’t embarrassed myself by tripping over the furniture. This means I’m getting better, right?
The next meeting is on 24th October – if you’re in London and fancy coming along, please register here.
This article first appeared on TraceySinclairConsulting on 24th September 2012
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Review by Justine Solomons
I purposely read this book to coincide with the Jewish New Year. I began reading it on Rosh Hashanah and I finished reading it on Yom Kippur morning. I'm writing this review having not eaten or drunk for sixteen hours with the prospect of another nine hours to go before I can break the fast. It's always an interesting time of year, for me. I'm not a particularly observant Jew, but I do observe these holidays and I was very pleased to have this book as my companion. Set in the North West London in which I grew up, the Jewish ghetto as it was then of Edgware / Stanmore, the people in this book are very familiar to me, for I am a product of this warm, sometimes stifling, community. I understand the characters’ financial ambition: in my house at every Friday night dinner there was a family brainstorm on how to make money.
We first meet washed up Mal Jones in Herne Bay staring out to sea. Once a big success, he has now been forsaken by his family and friends and lives alone in a magnolia-walled bedsit after a stint in prison. His niece Natasha comes to visit him to take the fast with him on Yom Kippur. Through the night Mal tells her his 'off-the-peg to bespoke suit story' of meeting Solly Princeton at Edgwarebury Shul. Combining his business brain with Solly's charm and inventiveness, Mal first helps Solly market his Pollo-Matic chicken soup strainer, and then they build the enormous but ill-fated Sinai Corporation, a restaurant and hotel empire.
If you're a fan of Jay Rayner's journalism, as I am, you'll hear his strong authorial voice and, like me, laugh quite a bit. This novel is about atoning for ones' sins, creating an international business empire from humble beginnings, and lifelong friendship; it's also a really funny and ultimately satisfying read. Rayner is confident in his subject matter and in his writing style. Some lines are jokes that feel as though they've come from my own crowd as a kid, like Solly bragging that he was getting blown by the blow job queen in the rabbi's office on Rosh Hashanah while the rabbi was blowing the shofar. Other bits are just clever funny, with elements of Howard Jacobson, Philip Roth or even Woody Allen, like Mal's mother knew what would make her son happy and marrying a Jewish girl would make her son happy. First published in 1998, it is of its time, but in a good way. If you've ever lived in this area of London, want to understand what it is to be a North West London Jew growing up in Thatcher's Britain, or are a fan of good writing, I urge you to read it. I reckon that just like the chicken soup that features so heavily in this book, ultimately, it'll warm you no matter what sins you have committed.
We thoroughly recommend Salon London events, the next one on 3rd October at the Adam Club sounds great, here are some more details:
For its 30th event Salon takes its Triple X status seriously with X-plore, X-amine and X-tinct. Andrea Wulf charts how science turned global in the 18th century in Chasing Venus. Caspar Henderson introduces ‘The Book of Barely Imagined Beings’, a beautiful catalogue of the world’s most peculiar and threatened animals and Simon Garfield, of Just My Type fame, will be leading you on an interactive journey around maps, apparently making them is as impossible as reading them.
£12 from or on the door or you can pre-order here
To give you a little flavour here's a picture of a Lol Spider which is the basis for Caspar's work, trying to forge an emotional link between 'men' and animals to change thinking about the environment.
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Or try my favourite book of his: In the Country of Last Things
Review written by Justine Solomons
This book was written over Auster's sixty-fourth winter. Deeply personally but written in the second person we the reader flit back and forth over time as if we were living Auster's experiences. This book doesn't have a narrative arc or chapters or even sections, we only become aware that time has passed towards the end when Auster notices that New York is still cold in March. However once we let go of a need for story we learn so much about Auster, including key emotional experiences such as the effect his mother's death had on him and also how watching a dance performance just before his father's death freed him from a crippling writer's block. In addition to these key experiences we also learn so much more about Auster for example: about his relationship with his body including, the last time he was 'permitted' to wet himself as a child; his passion for women, including the many prostitutes he slept with, and then his key relationships. These relationships include his first wife, the writer, Lydia Davis, whose writing style is definitely mirrored here with his intense interrogation of some subjects, and then the deep and profound love he has for his current wife, novelist Siri Hustvedt.
We also learn about all the places he's lived and his constant battle, despite on occasion limited resources, to keep writing. The writing process is a key theme of this book for me, and as it is written in the second person one really feels as though Auster is writing this book for you, whoever you are, as if you were a writer. One feels as though we are all connected to Auster, who describes himself as an 'Everyman' - to use a line of Walt Whitman's, Auster 'contains multitudes'. Also like Whitman, writing for Auster is a physical activity, he explains how important walking is for him, for that is where his ideas start to percolate, he tell us, 'writing begins in the body, it is the music of the body'. Well I for one could listen to his music every single day of my life, I truly believe this man is a genius.
If you are a Paul Auster fan, enjoy beautiful prose, or want to learn more about being a writer, I suggest you make you sure you read this book.
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125 years after his first appearance, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes continues to capture our imagination, whether in the Robert Downey Jr film, the BBC’s superlative reimagining Sherlock, or the New York based TV show Elementary, which reaches UK shores this autumn. It’s hardly surprising then that there are a huge number of spin off novels in existence, albeit many of questionable quality; however Horowitz’s official mystery, commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate, stands out as being a slick, clever mystery that you feel even the great man himself would approve of.
Set in the twilight days of a dwindling Doctor Watson, this purports to be an old case file, kept secret all these years as it was too shocking and controversial to be published when its protagonists were alive. Although the story has twists and red herrings aplenty, it does suffer from the fact that, in these 24-hour-news-cycle, post-serial-killer days the crime (though horrible) isn’t actually that shocking, and the criminals-with-friends-in-high-places theme is one that has been much overused in Sherlock Holmes stories, most notably those relating to Jack the Ripper.
But for fans it’s not really the plot, however well-crafted, that will grip you: it’s Horowitz’s loving recreation of Conan Doyle’s style. His Watson, wistfully remembering the glory days with his truest friend, feels utterly convincing and the denouement is genuinely moving. I’m sure more rabid Sherlockians will find plenty to nitpick, but for everyone else, this is an enjoyable and entertaining read, and a welcome return for England’s greatest detective.
Review by Caroline Goldsmith
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In a secluded English country house, a writer toils away on the final book of a bestselling fantasy trilogy for children. Surrounded by media speculation about the final installment and fighting his own personal demons, he becomes increasingly unstable. When the house is invaded by an intruder and an attractive divorcee moves into the neighbouring cottage he finds himself further distracted from his mission. Plus, there’s the beast in his basement, a shadowy, glaring figure which threatens at any time to break out and destroy his work.
Despite the rather “young adult” sounding title, Jason Arnopp’s novella is most assuredly a horror for grown-ups. “The Beast in the Basement” is a well structured suspense horror dense with grim expectation. Seasoned horror readers will see echoes of Stephen King in the use of the tortured, reclusive writer, but the piece manages to avoid being derivative. Arnopp handles his writer’s descent into madness well, and the moments of revelation for the reader are nicely paced throughout, making it an engaging read. There are few writers than can keep a reader guessing right until the very end and this is what Arnopp achieves, with a twist so unforeseen that it is difficult to write a review without giving away spoilers.
English based horror is a rare creature these days, so my only major disappointment was that so many Americanisms made their way into the piece: baseball bats are seldom found in English country homes. However, “The Beast in the Basement” is a deliciously dark little slice of horror, touching on madness, grief, guilt and the power of the written word. It’s a promising effort from Arnopp and I look forward to reading more.
We can't wait to go along to Zoe Cunningham's brand new and free networking event at Shoreditch House, we're so excited in fact that we thought we should let Byte the Bookers know about it.
Tech Talkfest aims to provide an environment where tech journalists can get to the heart of what they are writing about by meeting with the great start-ups that make London the technological hub that it is. But the events are not just for journalists, anyone with an interest in technology is welcome to come along and find out about what's new in the digital world.
The inaugural Tech Talkfest event is on Monday 22nd October and starts at 6pm at Shoreditch House (Ebor Street, Shoreditch, London E1 6AW). Zoe will be in conversation with Nikhil Shah, one of the co-founders of Mixcloud.com. Zoe and Nikhil will discuss Mixcloud's impressive website, and then they'll be an opportunity for Q&As afterwards.
Entry is free and tickets are available at here.
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Review by Tracey Sinclair
Biographer and historian Nigel Jones has written on a range of diverse topics, but this impressive tome must surely represent his finest work. Meticulously researched and fluidly written, Tower takes us through the history of what may well be England’s most famous building – the Tower of London.
Fortress, prison and even, for much of its duration, exotic menagerie, the Tower of London has a history as rich and fascinating as it is bloody, and Jones does well to wrangle all the diverse strands of its story into a compelling book. Though his decision to divide his text by topic rather than strictly chronologically makes it initially slightly confusing (early chapters deal with the Mint and the Zoo from their establishment to their departure from the Tower's environs), as the book progresses it falls into a loose chronological structure that takes you fairly linearly through the Tower’s colourful past. Bits of this will be very familiar – the execution of Anne Bolyen and the murder of the young princes are tales known to any schoolchild – but much of it is a revelation (for instance, the fact that both Rudolph Hess and the Kray twins were incarcerated in its walls will be a surprise to most people).
Jones has a conversational, readable style that is opinionated enough to never be dry but not so coloured by his own views that it feels biased, and he wears the weight of his research lightly. Don’t let the hefty size put you off, because for such a chunky book, this is a very easy and enjoyable read, and a must for anyone interested in English history and how this one formidable building helped shape it.
