Books
WAR TRAVEL
I work However, a like that would fail to flgfluAN vainglorious ego and a reflect the true essence The Dressing Station | certain morbid . of the novel. or Richard (Picador 915.99) I eccentricity eventually Rayner's ability and
I lead him into the war 1 determination. Civil war.
architecture and murder combine and reflect one another, reinforcing a well-planned story. Beginning with the story of a mother's suicide in traditional. fairy tale-esque Finland at the turn of the century, the sense of fantasy is lost in the urban utopia of a debauched. prohibition- era New York. Gangsters. art and sensuality abound in a novel that is well written. enjoyable. and will more than likely enhance your knowledge of all things
zone wilderness working
for various medical
charities in Kurdistan,
Burma. Eritrea and
Mozambique. as well as
a truly appalling spell as
a cruise ship doctor on
the South China Seas. Kaplan is a great
storyteller; vivid. honest
and unpretentious. he
. bravely allows jaw- dropping horror to follow
; moments of hurtful
; revelation attained in
futile blood red
landscapes. (Paul Dale)
.lt‘IITtIHIEIH Kaplan
As army medics in the ‘free‘ world get ready to
be dra ed into Vietnam 2 Jongfian Kaplanis ? HISTORICAL MYSTERY ' RIC ARD
surgical Odyssey is a I HAYNER
curt. humane and The Cloud Sketcher architectural. intelligent reminder of (HarperCollins £5.99) (Rowan Martin) the battlefields realities. 000
FAMILY DRAMA
i EMMA RICHLER Sister Crazy (Flamingo 9:12.99)».
Trained as a doctor in South Africa during the most worrying years of government backed pro- apartheid action, Kaplan decides to depart for England to evade military service and then train as a surgeon. Initial greed leads him to America after qualifying for lucrative consultancy
The tale of The Cloud
Sketcher can be summed up simply with a few well-selected phrases. It's a doomed romance between
artists. set amongst
; dramatic worldly goings- on. with tragedy. passion and high drama. However. describing it
If you've grown up with brothers or sisters yOU'll find something to relate to in this novel. Through treasured memories. we are drawn into the world of Jemima Weiss. a girl devoted to Action Men.
\“' QLIti~‘.S"I"I(.)NS ANSWERS
REAIf) I NC:
WRITE" ’
EXCLUSIVE TICKET 0
and Zadie Smith come to Edinburgh to t'fitheflames Tait Black Memorial Prize._ScotIand's stilliteraiy prize. They are taking the stage together ' hefirst time for a question and answer session.
WEDNESDAY 3IST OCTOBER ' _ AT chRcESQUARE THEATRE. ,, UNIVERSITY or EDINBURGH u “.6PM t: -'
50 free pairs of tickets have been set for List readers, just send a stamped ' addressed envelope to:
Iames Tait Memorial Prize Event ' i The List. l4 High Street, Edinburgh EHI
106 THE LIST 4—18 Oct 2001
and who has a tendency to say ‘bloody' a lot. With a well-developed imagination she sees her father as a gunslinger and her mother as a good witch.
Emma Richler has a keen eye for detail. exploring the complex relationships between siblings — from friendly torture in the snow to questioning the universe — painting a picture of family life that is both comic and moving. But all is not rosy. Through the loose and free- flowing narrative we gain glimpses of the grown- up Jemima. depressed and self-abusing. someone who would rather live in memories than face reality.
Sister Crazy could easily frustrate with its lack of structure or adherence to conventions. but its insight and imagery conjure up enough magic to compensate. (Louisa Pearson)
POETRY COLLECTION STUART MCHARDY ED
Scots Poems To Be Read Aloud (Luath Press £25) 0000 In his introduction. Stuart McHardy states that ‘one of the great strengths of Scots has always been its capacity for strong rhythm and rhyme' and this is powerfully illustrated in this varied selection. Those familiar with the Scots tongue will enjoy this anthology while those of us who are unable to fully understand some of the more traditional verse will nonetheless appreciate their strong lyrical formation. The contemporary moments in Scots Poems To Be Read Aloud will be more easily understood. for example “The Mairch o the Legions' by Liz Niven. an amusing aCCOUm of Our
resistance of the Romans. And some poems. such as ‘Oor Neibor's Pianny' can be set to a tune. Whichever form of performance is chosen. however. the opportunity for some of these poems to be sung is testament to the Scots language's ability to create beautifully concise rhyme and metre. (Helen Waddell)
HORROR STEPHEN KING & PETER STRAUB
Black House
(HarperCollins £15.99) .0.
STEPHEN
jiilla
lack
PETER STRAUB
Hardcore fans will be familiar with elements of this unholy collaboration. a sequel to Peter Straub and Stephen King's The Talisman. In Black House. we're reunited with retired copper and now amnesiac. Jack Sawyer. who's on the hunt for 'The Fisherman'. a geriatric child-killer controlled by an entity from another dimension. accessible thr0ugh the titular house.
An array of silly characters (including the unintentionally hilarious ‘philosophical bikers' called The Hegelian Angels) aid the quest. with King and Straub's labyrinthine narrative suspending all disbelief. All the necessary elements of King-fiction are here. from the lonely. self-contained North American settings. to his fascination with memory and internal universes.
Sadly however. King's notorious trademark ‘slightly ludicrous ending syndrome‘ also rears its ugly head. For the most part though. Straub restrains King's unfortunate tendency to allow gratuitous spectacle to cheapen the subtle intensity and menace that characterise his stories.
making for a fiercely imaginative. if lengthy bad dream.
(Olly Lassman)
MUSIC HISTORY DAVE HASLAM Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel (4th Estate E10) 0000
Say the words ‘superstar DJs' and who
- do you think of? Fatboy
Slim? Paul Oakenfold? Sasha? Even Paul Van Dyk if yer a cat in the know.
But what about the original superstar DJ. Sir Jimmy Savile’? Did you know he invented this concept of DJ as performer and artist way back in the 50s? Former Hacienda resident Dave Haslam knows this and provides not so much a comprehensive histOry of the DJ (that was done already by Bill Brewster's Last Night A DJ Saved My Life) but a selection of insider case studies dipping into various points of the superstar DJ evolution.
His specialist knowledge is unsurprisingly excellent. a point personified with his detailing of the embryonic days of the 19608 London R88 and Mod club scenes. He is also refreshingly frank about his contemporary turntablists. highlighting some star's nerdyness or precoci0usness as much as their crowd- moving prowess. This may well be the best book on the superstar DJ phenomenon to date. (Mark Robertson)
FICTIONALISED HISTORY SYLVIE MATTON Rembrandt’s Whore (Canongate £9.99)
.0
Artists' lovers have been all the rage of late. Picasso's multiple amours have been proving endless fodder for film and theatre. but Rembrandt is