PHILOSOPHER HISTORY SIMON CRITCHLEY
The Book of Dead Philosophers (Granta) m0
Alongside religious types, the permanently unhealthy and stand-up comedians, philosophers have a nightly battle with questions about the process of dying and the actual reality of having snuffed it. Naturally, none of them have quite come up with watertight theories about all this mortality stuff, but they’ve had a fair old stab at it. The Egyptians and the Tibetans scripted their own Book of the Dead and this has acted as a spur for modern thinkers to peel away at the layers of confusion and doubt over the end of existence: is it a passageway to another consciousness? ls death merely an illusion that we shouldn’t be duly troubled by? Or is a constant acknowledgement of our bucket-kicking fate the only way to lead a fulfilling life?
As Simon Critchley (author of Things Merer Are and Infinitely Demanding) has discovered during the obviously vast amount of research he’s conducted down the years, not only do philosophers ponder over the moment of expiration, they’ve managed to accumulate an impressive list of strange obituaries within their number. And while Critchley asks some big questions, he also grants us a pick’n'mix of the most noteworthy demises in philosophical history. You may know that Foucault died of AIDS and Barthes was killed by a laundry truck but did you know that Nietzsche’s descent into oblivion was sparked by kissing
a horse in Turin or that Plato died from lice infestation and that the possibly fictional Pythagoras allowed himself to be murdered rather than cross a field of beans? Whether the entertaining Critchley will go the way he predicts, being pursued by a bear, is a matter for cold contemplation. (Brian Donaldson)
MYSTERY THRILLER WILL LAVENDER Obedience
(Macmillan) eee
Will Lavender's debut is a taunting puzzle mystery which explores the dark side of academia. The strangely enigmatic Professor Williams of Winchester University sets his logic and reasoning class a challenge: an 18-year- old girl called Polly has gone missing; find her by the end of term or she’ll be murdered. Homework and homicide is an interesting combination as three students (Brian, Mary and Dennis) stumble upon/are cunnineg directed to a real-life unsolved disappearance uncannin similar to the prof's pet narrative. Actors. dodgy academics and red herrings abound. as Lavender sends his characters scurrying around back—of- nowhere towns, decrepit trailers and disappearing bars. The
40 THE LIST 5-19 Jun 2008
momentum of the plot. partiCUIarly in the last 100 pages, offsets the fairly thin characterisation and occasionally stodgy dialogue. Reader and student protagonists are dragged into a conceptual labyrinth. where personality doesn't seem to matter much. This is a superior thriller and take a gold star if you guess the ending.
(Hannah Adcock)
ALLEGORICAL DRAMA ALEXANDER TEREKI-IOV
The Rat-Killer
(Alma Books) 0m
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Alexander Terekhov
wrote this political allegory when he was 27. Bad timing meant it failed to make waves outside Russia, as critics were busy unearthing older. established writers suppressed under the communist regime. This new edition ten years on, updated by the author. unleashes his intelligent. absurd novel on the West. Svetloyar is a new-
people who'd ‘sell their own mother for a little vodka'. They want to pass Svetloyar off as a dazzling historical show- town on Russia‘s tourist trail, but are plagued by a serious rat infestation.
Two pest—killers are brought from Moscow; one world-weaned. the other with an eye for the ladies. and their extermination efforts kick off a pacy. chaotic plot of greed and corruption. Both the rats and humans seem scruple- free. but Terekhov's black humour, irreverence and insight draws some twisted sense from it all. Original and stylish, he deserves to stand out this second time around. (Claire Sawers)
CRIME NOVEL HELEN FITZGERALD Dead Lovely (Faber) 000
Once I got beyond the fact that the murderer in this crime thriller-meets- chick lit novel resides on my Glasgow street. I found plenty to enjoy in Helen FitzGerald's debut. Opening with Krissie‘s confession that she's cheated with her best friend’s husband and that Sarah is now lying dead by her hand on the West Highland Way. the plot proceeds in a 'how did we get here?‘ blurt of increasing hysteria. The emotion-
wringing of strained build Stalinist town, full of I
marriage and baby envy
are initially enlivened by Krissie's Cynical ‘to hell
with the consequences approach to life.
Yet FitzGerald. writing with grim humour. has worked as a social worker and the penalties for various characters self-interests are exacted with apposite finality. Sporadically shifting first and third person narratives reinforce Krissie's emotional disintegration and if structured and concluded a little too neatly. Dead Love/y is still a real page turner. (Jay Richardson)
POLITICAL. COMEDY MARK WATSON Crap at the Environment (Hodder & Steughton) 0...
When reducing your carbon footprint. the first thing to do is admit that you're crap at the environment. This is according to stand-up comedian. writer. TV personality and one- man iceberg melter
Mark Watson. who throughout last year transformed from an environmental Doubling Thomas into an Al Gore disciple. Traditionally. green issues are populated by bespectacled scientists or dreadlocked activists. but in contrast Watson comes across as a refreshing. if a bit crap. Everyman.
Full of the fervent. nervous energy that characterises his stage work, Watson writes entertaining confessionals on the tasks and 'funrifices' (fun sacrifices) that he hurls wholeheartedly into before. usually. failing. But Watson does have talent. despite his irrational fear of cycling and uselessness at crafts: he can write an accessible environmental book which is both informative and laugh out loud funny or, if you prefer. ‘funformative'. (Emma Lennox)
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