Review by Caroline Goldsmith

The sequel to the 2009 Man Booker winner Wolf Hall was bound to meet with intense anticipation and Mantel’s new offering, 'Bring Up the Bodies', does not disappoint. Taking up the story of the enigmatic Thomas Cromwell, this book covers the years of Anne Boleyn’s time as Queen of England and the story of her downfall. Cromwell is one of the most mysterious and alluring figures of Tudor history: a common man, risen up through the ranks of society to become the right hand of the King himself, he survived the death of his mentor Cardinal Wolsey, turned England and the church upside down and was one of the most influential and powerful men of his time.

Mantel’s narrative is filtered through the prism of Cromwell’s mind and 'Bring Up the Bodies' gives us more glimpses into the relatively unknown early past of this man through vivid flashbacks. The other major character of this novel is Anne, the woman for whom Henry defied the church to have as his wife, a figure at once seductively dangerous and perilously unsteady in her defiance. The prose is breathtaking, and Tudor England has never been painted in such vivid colours. Despite knowing the eventual outcome of the story the reader cannot help but be swept up in the scandal and the politics of one of the most enthralling periods of English history.

Mantel’s subtle turn of phrase, her keen eye for convincing dialogue and her clear historical expertise make this novel one of the best of 2012 and Mantel one of the most outstanding writers of a generation. 'Bring Up the Bodies' is quite simply a breathtaking piece of writing. The impatient wait for the final installment has already begun.

Buy June's bookclub book from Amazon here

Or visit Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town, tell them you're a Byte the Booker and get 15% off

Our book club met last night to discuss the brilliant 'Slaughterhouse Five'. It was universally liked by the group. The big debate centered around whether Billy Pilgrim was mad or whether he actually timed-travelled.   As one member pointed out, the name of the planet, Tralfamadore, sounded quite a lot like a prescription drug, thus suggesting that Vonnegut wanted us to  think that Billy wasn't travelling through time but was in fact mad and hallucinating.  All concurred that as an example of postmodern literature there can be no one meaning of the book and that was no bad thing.

Next month we'll be reading 'The Third Policeman' by Flann O'Brien. I'm personally excited about this one as, not only have I never read it, I'd never actually heard of it before. However I'm reliably informed that it was part inspiration for Lost and features an unrequited love story love between a man and his bicycle.

If you're interested in joining us to discuss O'Brien's cult novel come along on Monday 25th June to Map Cafe you can book your place here. If you're interested in linking your book club with ours or want us to help you set up a Byte the Book Book Club local to you then please do get in touch at info@bytethebook.com

Byte The Book - Zone One Radio Books by ZoeFCunningham

Review written by Caroline Goldsmith

First published in 1992, Anno Dracula was reissued by Titan Books last year and not before time. Written by horror guru, Kim Newman this book is the ultimate love letter to the gothic novel. If there is a more knowledgeable expert on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the vampire genre in general than Newman, then I will be surprised. Newman gives us a dark and comedic romp through nineteenth century London on the premise that rather than being defeated, the lord of darkness, Count Dracula has not just survived the encounter in Stoker’s novel, but has slashed his way into the upper echelons of the British royal family. London is overrun with the undead and their growing army of newborns and a familiar dark figure is murdering vampire prostitutes in Whitechapel.

We meet our brooding hero Charles Beauregard, assigned by the mysterious Diogenes Club to ascertain the identity of Jack the Ripper. He is assisted by Genevieve Dieudonne an vampire older than Dracula himself but trapped in the eternal body of a young woman. Together our unlikely pairing navigate the changing landscape of Dracula’s London and uncover the truth about the infamous Whitechapel murders.

Newman has said that this is truly a “vampiric novel” in that it takes the best of fact and fiction making each chapter part of a true “who’s who” of Victorian society and literature. From history we encounter a newly undead Oscar Wilde, Beatrix Potter, Florence Stoker, Alfred Tennyson and of course Queen Victoria and a borrowed cast of fictional characters including Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, Count Orlok from the film Nosferatu, Doctor Moreau, Doctor Jekyll and many more. In fact, so full of genre cross references is the novel that Newman himself has confessed to having checked Wikipedia for the full list (which incidentally is not complete). Anno Dracula is written with wit and brilliance, and is a novel that reminds us why the vampire genre continues to fascinate and enthral today.

Following on from the success of our writers showcase we're also keen to help artists wanting to illustrate or design books. So we are really pleased to be showcasing Alex Shaw this month. This image is entitled 'The Fisherman'.

Alex holds a professional qualification in photography, fine art design and sculpture. He's been passionate about art since an early age and also loves technology.  Alex has been teaching web design for over sixteen years across many industries including education, retail, construction, manufacturing, publishing and leading IT training companies. We were particularly impressed with 'The Fisherman' as it was drawn completely on computer.

If you are interested in seeing more of Alex's work or if you are an illustrator wanting to offer your services in book illustration or design then please get in touch at info@bytethebook.com.

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The Modern Library ranked our next book club selection, Slaughterhouse Five, as the 18th greatest English language novel of the 20th century.  As I contemplate the novel ahead of Monday's book club, the big questions that arise are: Does it deserve it's ranking? Does Vonnegut manage to express the absurdity of war? And, should you read it? Stay with me and I'll return to those questions at the end of this review.

Vonnegut is very much present in this book. He was living in a Dresden slaughterhouse as a prisoner of war at the time of the allied bombing. The book begins with a similar setting, and the reader doesn’t know if the story is fact or fiction, as the opening scene is not labelled as an introduction or prologue, but simply Chapter One. This uncertainty sets the tone for the whole book. We soon meet Billy Pilgrim, a former soldier and POW, later optometrist, and sometime resident of the zoo on the planet Tralfamadore. Billy has become unstuck in time. Reflecting Billy’s predicament, Vonnegut’s narrative is non-linear, jumping back and forth in time and location, leading toward the inevitable bombing at the end.

There are many incredible things about this book, not least the language. Vonnegut succinctly describes hardship by saying: 'We ate snow'. The fatalistic acceptance of death is achieved by the recurring use (106 times) of the phrase 'and so it goes' whenever anything dies, be it man, animal or plant. The expert writing enables the reader to accept the time travel and visits to outer space, but at the same time allows for the ambiguity of not knowing if this is really happening to Billy or if he is, in fact, mad. I found it fascinating that the structure resembles the way one might remember one's own life or a dream, in vignettes, not necessarily in order. The structure makes the reader feel as if he or she has experienced the whole story simultaneously, just like the books on Tralfamadore, which have no beginning, middle or end all, but are experienced all at once.

So now it’s time to answer those questions. Does this book deserve to be lauded as the 18th greatest book of all time? Yes, indeed it does. Does Vonnegut get across the absurdity of war? Yes, absolutely.  Should you read this book? Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!! If you want to come along to our book club on 28^th May to discuss it with us then please sign up here, or indeed if you want to set up your own book club or link an existing one to read in tandem with ours, then please get in touch with us at info@bytethebook.com.

If you are interested in seeing more of Alex's work please contact us at info@bytethebook.com

Music Ally have launched a new apps business information service called The Appside, and have a very interesting event focussed specifically on book publishing apps. BytetheBookers get 20% off, just quote: PA20 to get the discount, further details below:

PUBLISHING APPS - WHAT'S THE STORY?
Tuesday, 26 June 2012, 18:00-21:00, Deloitte Auditorium (London)
http://www.theappside.com/events/

The second in a series of events from the new apps business information service The Appside considers the world of book publishing apps. This event features a quickfire showcase of some of the hottest publishing apps (many of which are yet to be released) and will consider overall trends and statistics in publishing apps, the thorny question of how to market your app in such a crowded marketplace and hear from publishers discussing the economics and the challenges in building and monetising apps. Join us for a great evening of demonstrations, debate and drinks.

The discount code is: PA20 and represents 20% discount, reducing the entry fee from from £84 to £67.20

Review written by Rachel Mann

Buy this book from Amazon here

I wish John Green’s novels had been around when I was a teenager. His characters are too-smart, knowing, sassy, deeply-feeling young people. They are intense, which is exactly how I remember myself at seventeen. Alas, Green’s books came too late for me, but they undoubtedly provide a resonant reflection of the emotional lives of today’s teens, as he is a popular and award-winning writer of young adult novels.

In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel and Augustus meet in Support Group, a gathering of adolescent cancer patients in a church basement. The meeting ends each week with a reading of a list of deceased children who used to be part of the group. Hazel observes dryly: “It was a long list. The world contains a lot of dead people.” Hazel almost died at the age of fourteen, only to be given a second chance by an experimental drug that keeps her alive but will never cure her completely. Now, at sixteen, she lives with a heaviness that stems from a dismal self-knowledge: that of her own mortality. Adolescence is a time of discovery, when children search for their adult selves. What happens to an adolescent who has no hope of becoming an adult? What does she search for?

It’s hard to describe this novel without it sounding depressing. But Hazel and Augustus’s irreverence adds a welcome lightness. They live with cancer every day, so they don’t pity themselves or each other. Experiencing Augustus’s terrible driving the first time (he has a prosthetic leg), Hazel declares that there’s only one reason he could have passed his drivers test: “cancer perk….the little things cancer kids get that regular kids don’t: basketballs signed by sports heroes, free passes on late homework, unearned drivers licenses, etc.”

The two bond over Hazel’s favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, which she treasures because “the author, Peter Van Houten, seemed to understand me in weird and impossible ways.” It is a story of an adolescent girl with cancer, and Hazel can’t get over how exactly right the book is. “It’s not a cancer book,” she says, “because cancer books suck.” The book is “honest about all of it the way no one really else is.” Gradually, Augustus himself replaces Hazel’s favorite book as the source of honesty and mutual understanding that she desperately needs in her life.

The Fault in Our Stars is a story about the existential search for meaning in this world, but it is also a story about the sheer luck of finding someone who really understands you. Green’s novel gets it just right.