Reviews
SOCIAL DRAMA SALMAN RUSHDIE Shalimar the Clown
(Jonathan Cape) COO.
Once there was a certain reverence floating around whenever Salman Rushdie published a new novel. At one point he had become almost untouchable: how could we slag off a guy whose life was under threat just because he wrote a fable which could be viewed as criticism of someone else's religion? That over-sensitive approach couldn’t last forever and he certainly went through something of a backlash round about the late 905 when he stumbled round with The Ground Beneath Her Feet and felt the wrath of rabid reviewers for Fury in 2001.
Now with the passing of time and the fatwa having been usurped by other more visible atrocities (on all sides, mind) journalists seem more intrigued by his love of Spurs or friendship with Bono rather than how he deals with having 24-hour security. Maybe now is the moment to return to the actual books and conclude whether he is still an important author. And well, yes, he can still write a cracking yarn.
Shifting between different eras and places (19505 India, contemporary LA) Rushdie tells the grand tale of a former American ambassador Maximilian Ophuls (nothing to do with the director apparently) who is slain at the front door of his porn-loving daughter India (something to do with the country undoubtedly) by his driver, the book’s eponymous anti-hero. Everyone suspects the work of a shady assassin but the slaughter is of a more personal nature, a silent, stalking feud having simmered for decades, exploding in bloody mayhem on the streets of America. And it’s so sad, that you may well eventually weep. (Brian Donaldson)
SOCIAL SAl IRL BRIAN HENNIGAN
The Scheme of Things (Polygon) 0..
For this second novel. Brian Hennigan has chosen to satirise the ripe world of business. and does so With an undeniable gusto that
sweeps the reader along With him. Many of the comic writing traits that the Scottish author displayed in his successful debut. -’atrrc/< Robertson. also appear in The Scheme of Things. making it a light read peppered Wlill excellent ()ll()'|lllt}l'53 and
ridiculous scenarios. Pommy Freiberg is an oldschool. bullish business beast and head of a multinational corporation. who makes a scapegoat of one of his employees. Nick. for the sake of the company. Distraught. Nick plots revenge. and
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a forthcoming society event gives him the perfect opportunity. It's a simple enough scenario without much in the way of depth. but Hennigan does enough to keep things moVIng at a bristling pace. especially towards the end which expertly draws the various plot strands together in an hilarious climax.
(Doug Johnstonel
Ml‘DlA DRAMA TONY PARSONS Stories We Could Tell (HarperCollins) 000
Tony Parsons draws on his Nil/7E days for this semiautobiograpliical novel about three young men working for hip music Journal The Paper on 16 August. 197/. the night Elvis died. Terry loves punk but is
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flattered when old school rocker Dag Wood offers him friendship. before trying to seduce Terry's girlfriend in front of him. Ray is hanging on to his hair and flares but the new music is leaving him behind: only an interview with John I ennon. in town for one night. Will save Ray's job. Meanwhile. Leon spends the night in a Saturday Night Fever disco dodging the Dagenham Dogs. the vicious fans of a band that he has savaged. Parsons captures the mood of the time well. but this slightly pompous. overly- sentimental account of a time when anarchy in the UK turned into a whimper seems an all-
too fitting tribute to a false musical dawn. (Shirley Whiteside)
POETRY
ALAN SPENCE Clear Light (Canongate) 0000
Ever since his first published collection of poetry. Alan Spence has exhibited an enviable knack for precisely pinning down life's little moments in only a few short words. His depiction of the stars coming out one by one in 'ah!‘ is as pleasantly soothing as the real thing. It's fitting. therefore. that the
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Glaswegian author's latest work is a collection of haiku.
The poet takes as his subject the ‘world of things' though. typically. there are no subjects that are beyond everyday recognition. Rather. Spence's gift is to vividly evoke familiar situations in a way that gives the reader a new experience of them. Among these seasonal snapshots. we discover stand-alone images such as 'the late evening light/just touching/the tops of the trees' while others. 'autumn nigh/ the unanswered phone/in the next room' are thrilling; catalysts to the imagination.
(Allan Radcliffe)
DOMESTIC ADVICI: BENJAMIN MEE The Call of DIY (Atlantic) .00
If. like me. you are a complete dolt when it comes to matters connected with drills.
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Books
'toolkit of practical wisdom' is exactly what you need. The day WIH surely be nearing when you can unblock sinks and repair coinices without threatening the safety of everyone Within a two-mile radius.
Thankfully. domestic buffoons have BOlljitlllll) Mee on side. haying written his ‘Viye le DIY' column in The Guardian Weekend mag for some time. Lxcept I haven't seen it. too busy have I been in doing absolutely anything on a Saturday other than the stuff that needs attended to: painting the shed. re ()lllilll()”lll(; iil(} i)£lill {ill(i. most crucially fitting a video entryphone.
Here. he insists that soon you'll be more than useless round the house. but Will also stay sane and amused in the process. Yet Wlill such rich material at his disposal. this is nowhere near as funny as it should have been. (Brian Donaldsoni
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Robert Crawford Selected Poems An anthology. taken from his first six books. of lyrical, rich and wry Scottish poetry. Jonathan Cape. David Woodhouse & John Leigh Racing Lexicon A wacky and informative guide to all of those horse racing terms you've been dying to understand. including 'doughty‘ and fig- 109'. Faber.
James E Fraser The Roman Conquest of Scotland: The Battle of Mons Graupius AD 84 A historical reappraisal of why the Romans invaded Scotland. Tempus. Neil Gaiman Anansi Boys Charlie's life is tough enough but when he finds out that his dead dad was a spider god. how much harder can it get? A fair bit. Head/me.
1);) Set) (3 Oct 9005» THE LIST 29