MAGIC REALISM
Shamrock Tea (Granta Books 214.99) 00000
It would be a great injustice to attempt to precis this stunning novel. Suffice to say. the narrative is strikingly original and centres around. among other things. a portrait by Jan van Eyck. time travel. a host of historical figures from Wittgenstein to Conan Doyle and detailed explorations into the lives of the saints.
All this is woven together with fiction, fantasy and philosophy. and a liberal dose of the eponymous hallucinogenic to create a fairy-tale. dream-like work of art which is flawlessly put together. The story is told in 101 chapters of two pages each. all named after and themed on a particular colour. some of which stand on their own. but all of which are relevant to the story as a whole.
Every word of this novel counts. so don‘t be tempted to rush through it: savour it. then go back to the beginning and start all over again.
(Kirsty Knaggs)
FUTURISTIC MEMOIB EMILY BARTON The Testament Of Yves Gundron (Canongate £9.99) 0...
Technology and its effects have long been
a popular subject for fiction. usually involvmg future worlds where human invention leads to destruction. In an impresswe flight of imagination. Emily Barton creates a myth- ical Village. sheltered from modern life. and shows us what happens when technology enters the frame.
At the tales heart is narrator Yves Gundron. A farmer. he kick-starts the whole process by inventing the harness. saving the village a lot of work, not to mention dead horses. His labour-saving creations develop and the community's lives change accordingly. Thrown into this scene is Ruth Blum, an anthropology student who discovers the village and tries to study the community without influencing them. That. of c0urse. proves impossible.
In Mandragora. Barton creates a village that seems true to life. with evocative language and a memorable narrator. As the stOry speeds along mixing humour with morality. we share Yves' joy at progress. but also the seeds of doubt sown alongside it. (Leuisa Pearson)
CRIME THRILLEB MARK POWELL Snap (Weidenfeld & Nicolson $39.99) 0..
Following the death of Girl Garner. East — erstwhile member of the Stepney Berserkers - flees to escape the retribution of the Garner brothers. Unfortunately, he's accompanied onto the mean streets of Essex by his needy and conspicuously disfigured younger brother. West.
As an exploration of the shifting relationship between siblings. Mark Powell's debut is occasionally poignant. Where the book irritates is in its cl0ying fusion of cartoon violence and ‘he loves his old mum' sentimentality that has become familiar from recent British gangster films.
For all Powell's street
Credentials Ithe authpr dropped Out of am- verSity to run With a New York street gang) there's a teach at the Ali G's about the skinny white boy posturing of his gangsters. while miner characters are lifted from one of Guy Ritchie's two- dimenSional wet dreams. It's also hard not to reference DJ Tim Westwood when the author comes Out With lines like 'Dis one gan Out to da Stepney massive!‘
(Allan Radcliffe)
MUSIC HISTORY ASHLEY KAI-IN Kind Of Blue (Granta E20) 0...
Like Guinness. William Burroughs or Oxford United FC. jazz is often dismissed as ‘an acq- uired taste'. Not so with Kind Of Blue. Miles Davis' 1959 recording. Hugely influential on the worlds of jazz. rock. funk. film soundtracks and trance. the album continues to sell up to an incredible 7000 copies a week.
Kind Of Blue: The Making Of The Miles Davis Masterpiece is an erudite but accessible study. not over-dwelling on ‘dalliances with atonality' or ‘modal endeavour' nor skimping on context or detail. The best compliment you could give any music book is that it fires you to hear more of the subject and this is certainly true with Ashley Kahn's writing. The research is impressive and the input from those who worked with Davis insightful.
Quincy Jones saw the LP as both a Valentine to Charlie Parker and farewell to bebop. while pianist Bill Evans was more direct. merely calling it “the most beautiful. human music‘.
(Rodger Evans) F
, . EVENTS AT BORDERS
Books
MONDAY 19TH MARCH 7PM
AN DY DOUGAN
will be (lit;( ussingj the legendary Iaotball match in I942 between a German Lullwalle team and a local team Irom occupied Kiev.
DYNAMO: DEFENDING THE HONOUR OF KIEV WEDNESDAY 215T MARCH 7PM
HANIF KUREISHI
will be reading lrom and discussing his new novel
GABRIEL’S GIFT
MONDAY 26TH MARCH 7PM
BIG FLAVOURS AND ROUGH EDGES
Join chels lrom the Eagle pub tor a cookery demonstration as they wave au revoir to nouvelle cuisine and a big hello to modern comlort lood
MONDAY 9TH APRIL 7PM
DAVID GEMMELL
author ol the classic ol heroic fantasy Legend is here to launch his new novel
RAVENHEART TUESDAY IOTH APRIL 7PM
FIONA WATSON
Scotland's answer to Simon Schania will be lauching her new book to coincide with her landmark ten part television series In Search ol Scotland
SCOTLAND: A HISTORY
FRIDAY I3TH APRIL I2 NOON EXCLUSIVE SCOTTISH APPEARANCE
WILBUR SMITH
will be signing copies of his eagerly awaited new novel
WARLOCK
WEDNESDAY 25TH APRIL 7PM GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL
JAMES ELLROY
author of LA. Conlidenlial and will be discussing his new novel
THE COLD SIX THOUSAND
Ticket price C? available from Borders
LOOK OUT FOR STUART DAVID, IRVINE WELSH, SEBASTIAN FAULKS, 11:9 LAUNCH, NICK HORNBY
BORDERS
98 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW GI 38A TEL: 014] 222 7700 OPENING HOURS: 80m to I lpm, Monday to Saturday, lOani to 9pm Sunday www.bOideisstOies.com/st0res/283
‘5—29 .'.‘{2' .5 .‘ THE LIST 99