Reviews
SPIRITUAL DEBATE
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS
God is Not Great (Atlantic) 0.”
Christopher Hitchens is not a man to shy away from a difficult situation. On stage in Hay a couple of years back, he confronted his right-wing press pack brother Peter after a détente in which they hadn’t made eye contact for four years over some joke or other about Stalin. Humoroust awkward throughout, Christopher’s chain-smoking catapulted one irritated woman to flee from the room in outrage at his gall. So, you have to wonder about the reaction of the religious sects who have been put firmly to the sword with this direct and swingeing strike at the heart of
their beliefs.
Hitchens simply has no truck with anyone who holds faith dear to them (including his sibling) and were he to suffer the same death-threatened fate of his friend Salman Rushdie, you could imagine Hitch simply sticking two fingers up to his would-be assassins. Of course, he only happens to be either absolutely correct or very convincing indeed in all of his arguments within chapters which bear highly contentious titles such as ‘Rellgion Kills’, ‘Religion’s Corrupt Beginnings’ and ‘Is Religion Child Abuse?’ Not one for pulling any of his punches, he seeks to expose the gross hypocrisies and penetrate the woolly myths as well as rip apart the acres of poppycock which have passed for gospel down the centuries from all ecclesiastical sides. He may be putting his head firmly on the block, but Hitchens is merely testing the faith and showing us just
how tolerant religions really are. (Brian Donaldson)
FAMILY DRAMA EDWARD DOCX Self Help
(Picador) eee
gait
I, Eva.
Evidently written with one eye on the literary prizes. Edward Docx's second novel is an ambitious, cultured affair. but one dragged down by the weight of its own ideas. Set in St Petersburg. London. New York and Paris. it rings with echoes of the old East/West dichotomy, superimposed by the complex relations of the Glover family: mother Masha. her estranged husband Nicholas. and grown twins Gabriel and Isabella. When Masha dies. the children are forced to face down their cruel father (a process complicated by the emergence of mysterious stranger Arkady) and fragile truths are whittled away to reveal a twisted web of deceit.
The book has a distinct lack of forward thrust. however. Intent on meticulously
describing in detail every emotion, every thought, every slab of concrete old world and new. Docx renders the story itself second to his prose style. It's passionate and sweeping but all too heavy. even at the book's wholly unexpected conclusion. (Malcolm Jack)
MILITARY HISTORY
HODGES
AK47: The Story of the People’s Gun
(Sceptre) so.
This is a horrible book and an astounding read. covering the inventor of the AK47. General Mikhail Kalashnikov. Sudanese child soldiers. American rappers and Islamic terrorists. Michael Hodges recounts its shifting cultural significance in a narrative that is unrelentingly violent and grim.
In his quest to install the AK47 as a cultural symbol, Hodges tracks
rim
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it through a remarkable series of incarnations: it is a Hollywood scene stealer; the 'Coca Cola of small arms'; a symbol of resistance. struggle. anti-US imperialism. rebellion and independence;an image exploited most notoriously by Osama bin Laden; a signifier of manhood. respect, power and celebration (most commonly. weddings); and an African cry of despair: ‘Kalash'. Though Putin gifted Bush a bottle shaped like an AK47. attempts to rebrand it as vodka have been largely unsuccessful. The gun's use, like that of any weapon. is testament to globally endemic violence. far more than to any symbolic significance. a point Hodges makes abundantly clear.
(Katie Gould)
COMING or AGE DRAMA NIKITA LALWANI
Gifted (Viking) m
The phenomenon of mathematical child prodigies is fascinating. First-time novelist Nikita Lalwani makes just such a character the centrepiece of her assured debut. as we grow up with Rumi. brought up in Cardiff by Indian parents. At five years old, Rumi is told that she is gifted. and through a regime of
study enforced by her strict father, winds up at Oxford University a decade later.
So far so good. and there's much to admire about Gifted with Lalwani's prose confident and vivid, and her central character wonderfully depicted. But there is a rather aimless quality to the first half of this book which fails to drive things along, and it's only once we get to the teenage Rumi — addicted to cumin seeds. experiencing puberty and discovering boys — that things come to a head and become properly engaging. Nevertheless. this is a solid debut which promises much for the future.
(Doug Johnstone)
SPORT MEMOIR ALEX HIGGINS My Story: From the Eye of the Hurricane (Headline) 0..
I wonder if Headline won the race to secure the life story of Alex Higgins as this rebel with a cue was rarely
away from them in the papers. Never one for the modest approach. Higgins' assertion that he changed the game of snooker forever is hard to counter. What was once an old man's sport was turned on its head by the Hurricane. a nickname which reflected his playing style and the destruction he often left in his drunken wake. What
also seeps through is his genuine regret at the pain he has caused fellow professionals during tournaments and family members away from the baize.
With this straightforward and often naive autobiography. Higgins recalls the massive highs and plunging lows of a life fought in a dazzling public glare. What you yearn for is 8 Gordon Burn or a David Peace to do justice to the cultural and social contexts in which
. Hurricane raged and
then blew himself out. (Brian Donaldson)
Anonymous Touch Wood Subtitled ‘Confessions of an Accidental Porn Director’. our secret hero goes from being the son of a vicar to a pioneer of the flesh industry. Sphere. Wendy Salisbury The Toyboy Diaries The introduction says it all: 'This expose is a 60th birthday present to myself. written with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek or, wherever possible. somebody else’s.’ Old Street.
Sylvia Kristel Undressing Emmanuel/e The Dutch icon who epitomised the 1970s soft porn era had a tough old life with drink. drugs and death stalking her every move. Fourth Estate.
Miss 8 Confessions of a Working Girl The main consultant on the forthcoming Bel/e de Jour film tells of her time as ‘one of London’s top five escorts’. Penguin.
Pat Shipman Femme Fatale This is the stirring biography of Margaretha Zelle. the seductress. housewife, mother, exotic dancer and spy somewhat better known as Mata Hari. Weidenfe/d & Nico/son.
1 5 SEX BOOKS
21 Jun—5 Jul 2007 THE LIST 27