BAGKLIST
iBOOKS .EEHEE_
calm. almost elegiac tone heighten the novel’s powerful charge. of
Award-winning Scots author Iain Banks ‘ BROTH ERLY LOVE emotion recollected when I On The Crotters’ Trail David Craig talks about his life belore he made his . . . . tranquillity is unexpectedly (Jonathan Cape £5.99). Craig name with The Wasp Factory. Brettlféthf‘m _( ‘lmm EP'S‘MI?‘ . disturbed. Haunting. humane and approaches his subject — the ,. H ‘1“ “ 0 [lif’dimi tugs—d I”; profound. beautifully modulated Highland Clearances—with an 11,19”? "TEOT’EHEK‘I .0 3“"‘2 h l and controlled — you'll be hard ptit to immaculate sense of respect. and an ‘1“ um“ I k ‘ Lr‘ 1‘0"" lot L i read a better novel this year. (Sue ability to conjure an entire
bad‘. turns up on the doorstep of i Wilson) Edward‘s luxurious home. the product of respectable professional success. From this beginning we return to an earlier one. as Edward sifts through his tnemories of their growing up. of Lawrence as hero and ’ mentor. rc-examining the pervasive influence of this central relationship in his life. Innocence and experience. betrayal and forgiveness — or revenge — are the recurring themes. as the narrative probes at
; themysteriousquestionsofwhat
tnakes us into the people we become.
i Limpid. unsentimental prose and a
environment in a few lines of evocative prose. lfonly history lessons had been as passionate — or as honest.
I Stephen Spender: Journals 1939-1933 (Faber and Faber £9.99). I‘m not sure that Spender is the poet he‘s cracked up to be. but as a diarist few can match him. If he's not dining with Virginia (Woolf). Eliot (T.S.) or Auden (W.H.). he‘s engaged in some glorious bout of navel-gazing. It‘s strangely compulsive. and utterly genuine. and l. for one. would love to share his next pot of tea.
I The Devil’s Own Work Alan Judd
i (Flamingo £3.99). As an allegory on ‘ the propensity of post-modern
i does not PAYE. Royal Fortune is literature to turn forever in upon 1 I longon detail. where the argument itself. obsessed with its own rlwemdownto London whemwas 25_ i I Royai Fortune phith “a” , against royal taxprivileges could be literariness. thisisa pertinent fable. the welHrodden mum at young 1 (mamshury. £18.99)AS with other accommodated in a pamphlet. ()r. But it's a very British one. and for all unemployed Scots_and t8" intoaioh i ChmwupsunhC Sumbrich~ [hiS l for republicans. a pithy and obscene its entertaining merits. merely with a big solicitors‘ firm. I was what’s I detailed account of regal tax ! $05111”3NCVCFIWC§S~ i“ it PM that banging 0" 1‘ “'CH'WOF" drum; called a law cost draughtsman, or a ! avoidance and wcuhh accumulation i Sunday Times serialisation I As It Was Sybille Bedford (Picador . . - . ' .. - .- . . . -. . z ‘ " ‘ ' ‘ " 99).It’sashamethatthis coshng clerk. h satiny hum of , dmm [hdmt (mum plumb l discour tgcdwidcrpublicity forthe Lb. . . semi-profession, with no lormal Edward VI 1. it‘s hinted. made his ' “00k — iht‘ Nil-“Will “USS-Party COHCCUOH Dies-“HE'S ShOUld Open With quahficahons’ you just smdy under { hue {mm dodgy deals on [hC money consensus (with even the SNP a series of travel pieces which. all somebody use who does it. we had to markctg; Whi]c [hc wmdsors hunk making noises about the Queen as laborioust quaint description and make mes, (haw up bins, "me every i IhCh-(‘h-il Li‘s-15mph“. the head of state in an independent no substance. do the author little phone can, count every letter, then gmcmmcm [00kg the Other (my; .Scotland) makes it all the more credit. Her forays into the British present it a” to a taxing masyer’ or I thunkS [0 our urchaiC wnshmhon‘ important that dissenting voices be legal system. in contrast. are sometimes a judge, and argue a case I fawning politicians ( Lahhm and heard. (Keith Davidson) marvelloust incisive and In. or try to argue down the opponent. I Tory) and royal tenacity. the Queen i themselves merit the cost 01 the Especially when an award lor costs has l [700“- been made, there has to be some sort BERGER KING this collection ofessays contains at formal mechanism whereby you can . some of his most dazzling kills from get the costs you're entitled to under f I‘Keenlng a BENGGZVOUS John Berger the past fourteen years. Naturally. the court order, but you can’t claim for 1 (Drama “4.99) 10““ Bertie? ‘5 an Art is his favourite point of taking yourclientto Bermudalorthree r "NCHCCIUH'Diwali”whoSmmOUL reference. both asan end in itself. as weeks. Sii‘iks “lid am“ his Pref‘f’nh 1‘ _ when he dissects Renoir. Picasso or “It sounds deadly boring, but I quite , Singlc‘m'“9999055 [will mghicmng Pollock. and as a springboard or enjoyed it—they were a big firm and ‘ and hi'PWIIC- ( 9”“ "0m _ filter for philosophical reflections on had lots of interesting personal clients. ; PUN'CZIFK’HS its SHE‘S? 11% “WIN” 5 l mortality. history. politics. sex and a '01 of divorce work, and adoptions .l/Iuguzmt' anti Socialist C Ira/length Shh. which were actually quite heart- Each piece possesses a kind of warming. Also blg corporate clients, implosive energy. You suspect that bi lilm com anies, sol otto read all i s s w r s- ' — w; . . hg n p d 1 g - Bk. TS.” [TU U 4”?“ bin?!“ “if R if,” I The Unmade Bed Francoise Sagan t ese I ms, an I was a alrly is) r v detail oflandsca e . . . . missingt me tin_ p (All ‘) & B ‘b _£( ()9) “Hr "l iascmaimg 50“ movemew Dime that might blast open a new avenue N n [is i )' . ' L no” b . ilCCOTLilng t0
of intellectual inquiry or supply the final piece of some obscure puzzle. His conclusions are usually bold and firm. and while you may not always agree with where he ends up. the sheer body-racking effort exerted to heave you there is nothing short of exhilarating. (Carl Honore)
Macdonald. but who the hell is she'.’ Sagan is okay in doses. and these 200 pages — talented young man with future meets ‘dazzlingly beautiful’ actress. end ofstory — are relatively painless. though originalin was never her strong point.
It was actually quite a good training for fiction, because sometimes I was having to justify the enormous bills that the lawyers were trying to charge the client, so you had to have quite a vivid imagination.
‘I did that job for louryears, writing The Wasp Factory in the evenings. at weekends, and then the book was accepted and the paperback deal came
. . . . . 7.15pm. Free: The biographertingiitha originallist.whichsltowcasestheworkof through. lwas IlVlng In lslington, lust ’ (‘hristie and Edwina Mountbatten will new and adventurous writers. The first flow; thigoad Liar: the “lfrhe and k ; talk about the art ofwritingotherpeople's four titles are Buckequ 'I‘mtgtus. by
no or, e pu W ere a e pun S : life-stories. cit-Merry Mac Duncan Maclean. Under/l and that were. It was about thirty l I Janet Paisley Saunug‘l Dmvs‘s. Nithsdulc I James kelman waterstone's. 83 George ‘r/iin Moon by Livi Michael. Pinckncy seconds swim [mm mere in fact with a } Road. Pollokshields. info 423 1460. MO" Street. 225 3436. Thurs 5. 7pm. Free. A Benedict's 'I'lu’ Wrecking Yurrllall £7.99) . couple of skinheads chasing you, I 7i3llpiii.I:-r(eg. A ‘rcillrlntl.illil‘curimcc reilidingibylthe acclatimid (ilasgow writer and Tom Splan/bapler‘s 'I'lu' Mun ll'lm l-‘t’ll ' ~ i I" ‘C- “U l ’ "5119“ l mm“ V to aunc t t ie paper we ' edition ofhis in [.(Il't’ Wit 2 I u'. omi(£h‘.99). dlrecuy. above a south Amencan i “Timidndwmwwi mm mthth 9‘ short story collection T/lt’ Bum (Minerva. I Michael Palin Lfsher l lall. Lothian » 'evo'"t'°"?w b°°k5h°p' 'Seei“ i° ‘ Shilllls*l<""li “’rilsrs' ("WP- £4.99) Road. 228 1155. Thurs 12. 7.3upm. £3 . 7303”. Wino“ ' was Tame? afraid WOUIU H I Seeker 8t Warburg Launch Watcrstonc‘s. (£2.50). A lecture by the comic actor get tirebombed by the same fascists—l l3 Princes street. 556 3034. 'I‘hurs 12. about his second career as a professional ‘ had my route across the rooftops all I Janey Morgan Shwkhriduc Libra”. 7.30pm. A reading and signing session to traveller. recounting various exploitsand
. matheu 00in Hamilton Place. 332 2173. Wei] .1, mark the launch of S&W‘s new paperback adventures around the world. L- . _ _
Gfi'l‘he List 28 l‘ebruary- l2.\larclt I992