T O B O R D A B © O T O H P
BOOKS | Reviews
FICTION JJ ABRAMS & DOUG DORST S. (Canongate) ●●●●●
S. is one of the most beautifully produced books published this year. Presented as a fake library book, this project from JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, pictured) and Doug Dorst (The Surf Guru) is complete with marginalia and stuffed full of postcards, notes and photocopied telegrams. It’s a difficult book to sum up, as it’s
a story-within-a-story-within-a-story. The central text, a novel called Ship of Theseus, concerns an amnesiac on a vessel where all the sailors have their mouths sewn shut. The footnotes, apparently by the book’s translator, tell
another story of a collective of revolutionary writers, hounded by the government and headed by mysterious author VM Straka. Then there’s the narrative handwritten in the margins by two university students, Jen and Eric, whose relationship grows as they explore the true nature of Ship of Theseus. However, like everything in the book, Jen and Eric are not quite what they seem.
Part of the s. appeal is that the reader can choose on what level to read it. You could stick to Ship of Theseus’ amnesiac narrative of mutinies and political upheaval, or explore the footnotes (there’s even a code wheel in the back of the book), or go all-out and read the three narratives at once.
All of this is great fun, but it feels more like style over substance. The conspiracy aspect is unconvincing, and Jen and Eric’s nudge-wink nods to future happenings frustrate rather than intrigue. In terms of narrative, s. is a little disappointing, but for sheer spectacle it’s a thing of beauty. (Kirsty Logan)
AUTOBIOGRAPHY MORRISSEY Autobiography (Penguin Classics) ●●●●● ANTHOLOGY SHAUN USHER (ED) Letters of Note (Canongate) ●●●●●
MEMOIR ANN PATCHETT This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (Bloomsbury) ●●●●● FICTION CHARLIE HILL Books (Tindal Street Press) ●●●●●
Occasionally magnificent, mostly maddening: but then what did you expect? Having stirred a storm- in-a-teacup before publication, Autobiography lands with a 457-page thump of badly-edited, chapter-break fearing prose, awash with hubris and hilarious turns of phrase.
A compelling first act recounting Moz’s upbringing in ‘Manchester’s armpit’ vividly illuminates his dismally unhappy early life. But then, just as he meets salvation in Johnny Marr, the pace accelerates and The Smiths years pass with infuriating haste, Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis cruelly reduced to pantomime oaf. The solo years are peppered with
recollections of Michael Stipe popping over for tea, and breakfast with Bowie. His infamous 1996 High Court legal battle with Mike Joyce unleashes a foaming-mouthed diatribe against his ex-band mates, as well as judge John Weeks whom Morrissey, at his whimsically bitchy best, describes as resembling ‘a pile of untouched sandwiches’. No love lost, but not much gained either. (Malcolm Jack)
44 THE LIST 14 Nov–12 Dec 2013
Over the past three years, Shaun Usher’s Letters of Note site has become a treasure trove of celebrated correspondence, the finest examples of which have been selected for inclusion in this stunning volume. Witty, tragic, educational and inspirational – there are over 150 letters here – the anthology includes scans of many handwritten and typed originals. The impeccable design, from cover to typesetting and layout, befits a project that is clearly a labour of love. Beyond surface curiosity, the
collection hits hard, and emotions stirred by random browsing are as varied as the themes covered, from the Queen’s note to President Eisenhower with her recipe for drop scones, to Virginia Woolf’s suicide note.
The highlights are many, but among those leaving a real mark are exchanges from lesser-known individuals, such as Sol LeWitt’s letter to fellow artist Eva Hesse encouraging her to overcome her self-doubt. The letter is touching, inspiring and affectionate, much like the anthology itself. (Kevin Scott)
From almost any other author, that title would be the heavily ironic cap on a tale of marital strife and family dysfunction. Yet Ann Patchett is blissfully, intelligently uncynical: the title essay in this memoir collection does, indeed, tell of her contented marriage and how her husband makes her a better person. But getting there – after painful divorce, years of doubt and serious illness – was no easy happy- ever-after, and her love story is told with a sense of wonder: how did she come to be where she is? Patchett’s introduction modestly
presents her non-fiction writing (first for teen mag Seventeen, then for travel monthlies) as a day job that supported her ‘real’ work until her career took off with Orange Prizewinner Bel Canto. But her novels' virtues can equally be found in these elegantly crafted pieces about dogs, opera, Winnebagos, bookshops, writing and other personal topics. Each sentence is direct, thoughtful and often terribly funny; she has something new to say about even such apparently ordinary subjects. A real treat. (Andrea Mullaney)
They say bad art can rot the brain, and in his second novel Charlie Hill takes this idea literally. He introduces us to the monstrously middle-of-the-road Gary Sayles, an author whose writing is so mediocre that it causes the electrical signals that pass through his readers’ brain cells to weaken and fail. Leading the fight against this threat are alcoholic bookseller Richard Anger and tightly wound professor of neurology Lauren Furrows. As the bodies start to pile up, they must find a way to change people’s reading habits before the release of Sayles’ latest novel leads to catastrophe.
Hill’s literary satire has a lot to say
on the state of the publishing industry and the power of words, and even if he does labour his points at times, the story is told with such verve and wit that it rarely feels preachy. The comic extremes of the plot are anchored by credible central characters and a tone that stays on the right side of wacky. Books is an entertaining, pacy read that should not have any adverse effects on your own brain. (Ally Nicholl)