Book 09 The Bottle Factory Outing Beryl Bainbridge - Masterful storytelling

Beryl Bainbridge is one of those authors I have always wanted to read and I suspect I am not alone. Nominated for the Man Booker prize five times you know she is no slouch with a pen. So it was pleasing to see her on the list of books I am to choose 100 from to read in a year with my lovely man +Daniel. We are both realising that we are on track to complete the task although it is early days and already we find that nicer weather brings more chores and less time to read.

I picked this next on the list as it was relatively short and I could easily carry it on my recent business trip to Cornwall. I read most of it on the train back. In between glimpsing the brilliant countryside that particular trip provides. In fact a few times I put the book away after glancing up to see we were crossing a vast bridge over the sort of picturesque valley you see in picture books. Stone built farms next to a babbling brook with green fields leading to forest and sea. Another distraction to my reading time but one that improved my Instagram output.

Photography is a major hobby and part of my life. I keep dreaming of one day making it a profession but the jump from regular day job to erratic self employment seems so vast when we still carry debt on our backs like a weight of oppression. At least the debt is nearly gone so new dreams can begin.

I start this blog with that little mundane preamble, as it is appropriate for The Bottle Shop Outing, which is a strange little book about mundane people doing mundane things but having dreams of something more in their lifes. Of course the book is also about something completely different which is always the mark of a good writer. There is an awful lot of information packed into 200 pages but Bainbridge is an artist at allowing just enough information out to fire the imagination and ensuring your head fills with more detail than she ever offers.

The story is of two women in their early thirties who share a bedsit in London and have secured a job at an Italian run bottle shop. Most of the other workers have been brought over from a small Italian village to work for the wealthy Mr. Paganotti and speak little English. In fact their dialogue is so colloquial that the Italian owner hires a translator for disputes. The Italian workers see their boss as their saviour and would never say a word against him or the deplorable working conditions and pay. This is the obvious reason he has accrued wealth.

The two women are thin Brenda who allows herself to be subservient, and the luscious and larger Freda who has aspirations to be a movie star and marry a man of wealth. To say they are an odd couple is an understatement. Whereas the male version of that moniker relied on slap stick for humour, The Bottle Shop Outing is a much darker affair where the jokes come at the expense of another character’s dignity.

Both women are sure how others see them and both are wrong. It is this expert unravelling of their true selves while being privy to their slightly deluded self perception that makes Bainbridge a master of her craft. In peeling behind the everyday bigotry and prejudice that the characters present she is peeling back the layers of the society in the early 70s. Much of the humour is set within the language and cultural differences between the two English ladies and the Italian workers. As well as a burly Irishman. All the while the jokes are laid at your feet and you are unsure whether to laugh or be embarrassed. Layered throughout this dark humour is an extraordinary tension that something is going to go terribly wrong.

The outing in question is a bus trip to a stately manor and the whole factory has awoken with possibility. While Freda presumes that everyone wants her, it is Brenda in her meek subservience that attracts more attention. Freda is horrible to her friend because of this but then Freda is fairly horrible to everyone in her self opinionated righteousness. The Italians see the day as a day of great freedom and little by little it is revealed that the company is not as generous as it first seems with a Sunday being chosen and everyone putting in to pay for the bus and food.  

Nothing happens as it should and the outing itself is nothing that is planned. Many of the workers miss out on the day and those that make it end up with a day of farce and tragedy that will change the lives of some forever. Part of the humour is that keeping face and social position is as important for some as change is for others. When we are afraid of change it tends to be thrust upon us.

Much of the story appears to be the preparation for the big day out but in reality is just a chance for us to get to know the characters and have a bird’s eye view into not how many people had to live in London in the 70s but the inner workings of these people’s minds and ultimately ourselves. It is not always nice viewing as we get to see the difference about how we are seen and how we see ourselves. Most of all how we treat others based on what we think they are.

There are some excellent scenes with love fumbling in unusual places and too many people in the bedsit can create all sorts of mayhem. Especially when a gun toting mother in law shows up to put the wind up Brenda for leaving her drunken abusive husband. Brenda really is the saddest of the group. Brought up with manners so impeccable that she can only say no when she truly wants something and has to say yes whenever she doesn’t want to for fear of offending.  

Despite her obvious weaknesses we are constantly reminded that she has left her husband. A courageous thing to do at the best of times but there is no applause for this act as she is judged but what people see and not by what she has done. Bainbridge has stated that this character was based upon herself that probably accounts for the darkness of the honesty shown Brenda.

The outing occurs and the bad thing brewing occurs and thus begins an even darker part of the book as all the early character flaws and fears are the basis for covering up a tragedy that befalls the group. The humour is more biting as social appearances are pushed to the limit while at the same time adhered to in a traditional sense but in the most surreal circumstances. I found myself laughing at the silliness of the people but gasping at the seriousness of the situation. Those socially embedded responses can be used to cover a multitude of sins.

Bainbridge is artful enough to provide a mystery and even directs the answer but never actually brings it up in an open scenario. All the clues are there. All the players have played the part expected of them. Only Brenda is the potential loose canon but she chooses the easier path. To allow things to lie and to return to her parents. After her ex in-laws refuse her advances.

Flawed characters in dank settings with no real hope within their trapped existence but handled with such skill by a masterful practitioner in the art of writing that the darkness is tinged with lightness and a love for life that endears you to the tale and the people within.

When I finished it felt complete.

Book Eight The Snow Child Eowyn Ivey - Love at first Frost Bite

I fell I love with this book. +Daniel had warned me this would happen but like any such emotional event it is something you need to experience for yourself. One of the blurbs on the back of the copy I was reading said The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey was a fairy tale for adults who no longer believed in fairy tales.  This is a fitting description for a book that was about very adult themes of loss and grief and love but written in a way that made you want to dance through the Alaskan wilderness in full winter as if there was no danger.

Very few books have ever produced tears in my eyes but this one did and the times when this happened were very surprising. Who would have thought shooting a moose could be so emotive. Or an ending that you are warned for most of the book will happen still catches tears in the back of your throat. How a person’s name yelled the right way could sound like a wolf baying. The skill of the writing had me checking the claim that this was Alaskan native Ivey’s first novel.

In a nutshell the book is about Mabel and Jack who have been married for a number of years but later in life than those around them. In attempting to deal with the long held grief of a stillborn child they bravely pack up from East Coast USA in the 1920s and move to Alaska to start a new life. The first thing you realise is that Mabel is not suited for such a life and Jack is not keen on involving her in the man’s work.

The live next to and around each other and each chapter moves the point of view from one to the other and we are privy to their private thoughts and fears as their past is unveiled and their hopes revealed. A number of things happen that change their lives and one of the most notable is the Benson family who through the force of nature that is Esther, the matriarch of this family of men, intrude upon their lives to become their friends. The Bensons, including George the Dad and Garrett the youngest of their three sons, prove to Jack and Mabel that we cannot live life alone even when we want to.

Not surprisingly winter is harsh and for the first thirty pages I kept hearing Ned Stark warn that winter was coming as the Alaskan weather dictated the moods and fears of the small homestead struggling to find its feet. The tension between the couple is palpable but each holds a deep affection for the other that they have difficulty expressing.

One night the couple find themselves behaving like children as huge flaked snow falls around them and they make themselves a beautifully described snow girl in a rash of sadly unusual moments of love for each other.

The book itself is based on an old Russian fairy tale and Ivey chooses to not only highlight this fact but incorporates into the story. This means you know fairly early where the book has to conclude for the magic to work. Over the years following that night a young girl enters into and out of their life and may or may not be the result of their handiwork in the snow. None of this is really important as you go on each character’s journey of self discovery that explores how we can all go further than we ever imagine, how friendships can be formed in the most unlikely places and how love has a strength all of its own. Faena is the girl in question and comes back into their lives each winter bringing gifts both visceral and intangible. Jack and Mabel discover their capacity for love and protection and their grief is overtaken by their determination and love.

There are scenes and sections that held me like very few books have before. I may be a gay man but I do not believe the general clichés of the world are true so do fall for the line that we gay men are more sensitive than other men. I do not see emotional connection such as this book offers to be of the realm of the female. I only see men and women whose emotional connections are repressed. This is one of those reads that delves into the recesses of even the most cynical and allows them to experience life like they probably never will. For most of us it is a harshness of life we do not want to. The ease of reading but depth of emotional content put me more in mind of someone like Chekov who I consider a master of the sublime through the mundane.

This is one of those books that will be in book clubs and Oprah lists, like The Time Traveller’s Wife, and will generally considered a woman’s book but I believe this does it a great disservice. This is a layered and nuanced read that enables the reader to climb inside a number of different character’s minds and experience their world. A rare achievement in my reading experience. Every character is richly drawn and all go through real change that life puts us all through.

It is only the snow girl Faena who is more than human but she is no mere fairy tale creature skipping through the drifts, and is able to hunt and kill and skin to stay alive. This may be a fairy tale but you are constantly reminded at the harsh and dangerous world we are in.

I am not a great fan of excessive snow falling where I live, as +Daniel will attest but I found the descriptions of the geography and the weather in this book to be so engrossing that I found myself on romantic internal journeys over the wilds of Alaska just to actually see what was in my mind. Of course my common sense would always remind me it was just a book.

Faena is of the woods and of the snow and for much of the book only the couple can see her allowing the reader to doubt the veracity of their experiences. This was such a clever device as normally fairy tales like this occur to people in isolation. Bringing the tale into a real world setting allowed the line of sanity and imagination to be artfully explored. One of my favourite lines was in a letter from Mabel’s sister who represents what they left behind and expresses the families growing admiration at what the couple achieve.

‘I remember with some shame that the rest of us teased you about seeing such spirits, but now my own grandchildren chase similar fancies and I do not discourage them. In my old age, I see that life itself is often more fantastic and terrible than the stories we believed as children, and that perhaps there is no harm in finding magic among the trees.’

Mostly this book is a visual treat to the imagination and cries out to be made into a movie. I found myself wanting to see the cinematic version immediately, which is rare. There is no need to change much as the magic and dialogue is already there. I still want to see the characters and situations brought to life even though I know it will never come close to the movie that keeps playing in my mind.

The only negative thing I can say to this book is that it has slowed up my reading in the 100 book challenge as The Snow Child has stuck with me and plays out in my mind making it very difficult to follow the words in another book. Thank goodness for long train journeys as I intend to crack onto the next one on the 5-hour train trip I am now on.

Book Seven – Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith.

Pooter’s Paradise 

The Diary of a Nobody is one of those books that I had heard of but one that lived on the edge of my consciousness, rarely entering my awareness enough to be read. Entering in at number seven of the 100 books I am reading over a year with +Daniel it is another that I am pleased to make acquaintance with. First published in serial form in 1888 it made its initial appearance in Punch on May 26^th, which happens to be my birthday but 80 odd years earlier.

The Diary of a Nobody is considered a work of comic genius and really does live up to its reputation. I found myself giggling along with the diary’s author Mr Charles Pooter. A man whose self-importance enables the reader to explore and laugh at the class system of England in the 1880s. The back of the book contains vital footnotes as much of the setting and gags are contemporary commentary that we 21^st century modernists would have little inkling of. I found myself speaking in my head in a rather posh voice as I imagined Pooter would and this poshness continues as I write about his adventures and foolishness.

Charles Pooter lives in is ‘well-appointed’ house in the up and coming suburb of Holloway on the edge of an expanding London with his wife Carrie and son William, who prefers to go by his second name Lupin. His son’s decision to take the second family name as is preferred name is actually a dig at George Grossmith’s brother who preferred the family name Weedon and illustrates the book with as much comic flair as the story.

George and Weedon Grossmith were both famous individuals in the 1880s and were creative souls involved in music, theatre, writing and anything else they could get their hands on. Despite the eventual fame of The Diary of a Nobody, (it has never been out of print) it was very much a side affair for both of them and they dismissed it as a bit of whimsy that was not as important as their other work: most of which has been forgotten. This suggests a shade of Mr Pooter resided in both of them.

Victorian England was awash with Diaries at the time and the inspiration of the book was to take the micky out of the esteemed offerings available. The memoirs of a man who is sure of his won place in society while equally sure that others are not provide an insight into the mind of the middle classes determined to be correct without realising it is only their own vision of what is correct.

Pooter likes to look down his nose at those he believes are lower than him and is a sycophant to those he feels hold a higher social position. Most of the humour is told through his lack of awareness of his own snobbery and sometimes cruelty to others.

He believes he is a great joke teller but is not able to take what he dishes out. He cannot see what bores his friends are and is unable to keep up with a rapidly changing world. He is of the school that the way he was brought up is the only correct way and is laughingly ignorant of fashion and trends in everyday life. The cruelty of his behaviour not only underlines the inequality that was around him but succinctly identifies such inequality as from the behaviour of members of society rather than society itself.

One of the fears of reading any book out of its time is that much of the language and nuances are lost in a contemporary setting. Dickens is someone that I find this to be true and reading him can be a struggle, as I know Daniel is finding as he pushes through David Copperfield. Luckily Mr Pooter’s memoirs do not fall into this trap and entertains and educates with its lessons of self-importance and awareness. This is amazing considering the latest inventions are bicycles and the youthful exuberances are new parlour games and local theatre.

Grossmith’s tales and writings transfer to any time and are a wonderful reminder that so many struggles about change and society that we are convinced are unique to our time are in fact eternal. Parents never fully understand the jargon of their children. Most humans are stuck in their views and ways and change is difficult for most. All these things are part of the eternal struggle and there is no better way to be reminded of these lessons than through a good giggle.

The Diary of A Nobody has been made into a TV show, radio show and rewritten in many formats including a blog. It could be said to be the inspiration of diaries of other non-entities such as Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones. A radio version was recently done with Johnny Vegas as the main character. As soon as I saw this I thought that to be completely appropriate which gives an idea of the sort of book it is to read.

+Daniel and I continue on our challenge but now that good weather has finally returned to Blighty we realise how much harder the task will be made by outdoor weather. I am off to enjoy some sun with my beautiful man and may start to take longer to complete the books without the wintry weather to crawl under the duvet with my latest read.

What shall I read next?

Book 6 – The Godfather Mario Puzi - An offer I resisted for too long

Although I have enjoyed other books on the list that +Daniel created so far, this is the first one that I am truly grateful that I have read. One of the goals of such a list was to read things you normally would not and this is one those books. I am not a fan of the crime genre in book or movie form despite having read a few gems before. I find there is too much dross to pour through to get to the good stuff. The Godfather is a book I have been meaning to read since I saw the movie over 20 years ago. I regard the movie highly but do not get quite as excited as those who claim it be the greatest film ever. The overhyped visual experience with my distaste of the genre meant it stayed on the to do list.

What a pleasure to find a book that claims to be a modern classic and deserves the moniker. While I am sure that from a purist literary point of view there are more refined and technically better books this is story telling at its finest. A masterpiece of structure, characterisation and dialogue, I was hooked from the beginning. The story of the Corleone family was a gripping tale that showed you inside a family that operates outside of a law it fails to recognise as just. The skill in which Puzo spins his magic leaves you sympathetic for a gallery of rogues, hookers, murderers and thieves whose head is a narcissistic dictator broaching no dissent. You end up loving them all.

Dickens is known for capturing a time and place and Puzo can be considered in the same category as he deftly imagines post war America finding its feet and explores the layers of power that make up any society. He may do it from the perspective of what are essentially the criminals but the journey explores the social structures that control destinies. He explores the very nature of power itself.

For me one of the most impressive things about the read was the language and dialogue that has not aged one iota. I find this to be extraordinary as comparable works from the late sixties do not hold the command of language that Puzo exhibits. Material from before this time tends to be full of colloquialisms and Puzo demonstrates that they should be used sparingly. Firstly because people do not speak like that all the time and secondly to ensure longevity of the story.  I realised that many contemporary authors are unable to create such a compelling read and so many are trying to recreate his efforts. I had a better understanding as to why so many gangster themed movies and books are like the Godfather.

It is not a template. It is the template.

In exploring power in such a male dominated world Puzo could easily have maintained a misogynist approach and while we definitely are privy to how men had the external appearance of control, he deftly explores the power of women as much as men. His ability to explore sex as a weapon as well as a binding tool is truly impressive with one of the most interesting chapters essentially exploring the rebuilding of one character’s vagina.

A scenario that did not make the movie adaption.

In fact with the final scenes of the book you could argue that the whole book was actually an exploration of the women in the family but I am not giving away that spoiler. Puzo ensures his female characters have as much depth and interest as the men.

Puzo’s dialogue is wonderful and is extensively used but I never felt bored by it. His pattern is to explain a character in exposition but may do this before you meet them in dialogue or some time after. Despite a similar style to each book and chapter he constantly mixes up the time flow to create different dynamics and dramatic punches that consistently surprise and entertain. We move through a decade of change within the family as well as visit the old country and the earlier life of Don Vito. I found the imagery and story to stay in my head when I was not reading the book and even infiltrated my dreams. The sign of a very good story.

The book has more detailed and nuance than any of the movies and despite their brilliance the book is better. In fact some of the characters are overdone in the movie versions. Brando makes Don Vito much more surly than he truly is and the theatrical tone is amped up for the visual feast. Some changes in the movie defeat some of the book’s folklore such as Michael not wearing a hat when murdering two people. This is important for the process of such events taking place but is removed from the movie so the viewer gets a better look at the star when in fact the perpetrator is supposed to be hidden from clear view. Small things I know but niggled away as I read the book.

He does not shy from the violence or sex scenes and both are visceral and at times shocking. Partly because his writing style is so absorbing creating a true page-turner so you are fully there when the action occurs. There is no prudishness to the language or the tone of such events but he manages to maintain whatever is appropriate to that scene. This means he is capable of a number of styles and is not repetitive when describing similar events with different characters. When it is Michael having sex it is a very different scenario to Sal or Carlo and when Clemenza metes out the violence it is very different to Luca Brasi. Every character is provided with a back-story to help you understand how they reached their destiny.

I know not all 100 books will be as invigorating as this one but it has ensured I face the task with renewed vigour. I have chosen a slower, older and more humourist book for the next read. Deliberately moving to another highway completely so the part of my brain that enjoyed such a violent absorbing book can keep pulling me back in.

Book 5 – Honest by Tulisa Youthful Wisdom or Titty Stupid

 Being famous is fickle at the best of times but doing it in the UK is a tightrope walk with the media constantly trying to push you off. The young Tulisa is finding that out now. Her first autobiography, (no ghost writer credited but evident) was only released at the end of last year and already the wheels have been falling off the positive rails she ends her book with. As +Daniel pointed out in his review of her book here, Tulisa was not someone really within our radar but my magpie mind knew enough about her reasons for fame to have a better idea of who she was before I picked up the book.

Tula Paulinea Contostavlos, better known as "Tulisa" was born 13 July 1988. Her moniker arose as her grandmother was also Tula and Tulisa was a family name for little Tula. She became famous as part of urban grime group N-Dubz with her cousin Dino (Dappy) and his best friend Richard (Fazer). All three are known by their nicknames and had a few years of genuine success crossing over into mainstream sales. Fame attacked their young egos and the band dissolved leading them off into solo careers of varying success. Tulisa landed a job as mentor and judge on the X-Factor, one of the UK’s biggest reality shows, which is a big deal but also a precarious position of fame.

Tulisa has branded her book honest and it is a title that the reader has no idea whether it is true but if I am completely honest I am unsure that she truly was. There is a sense that she painted herself a little too positively. She wanted to show she was a bad girl and attempts to draws a picture of someone who drama surrounds but succeeds in making the reader feel that she is at the centre of it all. You get a sense that she was a tad more bitchier than she contends as she appears to be talking about her frailties one second and then bragging how everyone called her The Bitch which eventually became the Female Boss. Now I am all for strength in the human spirit but don’t call your book honest and then tell tales that don’t add up. I find when someone cries that drama surrounds them and they have nothing to do with it then they are not looking hard enough at themselves.

That said Tulisa’s upbringing was not normal with a mother suffering a serious mental illness leading to multiple hospital admissions. Her parents divorced when she was young and young Tulisa spent a great deal of time with relatives while Mum was hospitalised. That would not have been nice and although Tulisa wants to paint an upbringing of poverty and toughness in reality she had a loving family surrounding her. Her Dad and Uncle owned a music studio, there was a strong musical history on both sides of the family and she had an introduction to music that most kids only dream of.  She never went hungry and had long vacations in Greece with loving grandparents. She constantly reminds the reader that her family never knew how bad her life was on the streets but it is hard to see it that way.

This is not to say that Tulisa did not see some heavy stuff in the local area but it was often after she put herself in such situations. Hanging out with the tough chicks or being led astray by some other force other than Tulisa!! She paints an incredibly dark picture for the young girls likely to read her story and offers little in the way of an antidote to the life she constantly complains about. Normally this would not be a problem and no more than a media inspired pop star’s rise to fame out of a banal background but Tulisa constantly suggests that she wants to be a positive role model for the young people that look up to her. It is difficult to imagine young kids seeing anything else other than the idea that sex, drugs and skiving are the normal behaviour of teenagers from the age of twelve and they don’t need to take precautions or worry about the consequences of their actions. They can just blame someone else and eventually their entitlement of stardom will come their way.

I think this is one of the major reasons I disliked this book. She made me feel like a cranky old man wanting to tell off the youth of today. I lay the blame squarely at this young lady’s feet for trying so hard to suggest that she is wise at nearly 25 after all she has been through but failing to even attempt to speak to her expected audience. At least enlighten us with some things you have learnt. Most kids will have access to all the contraband she speaks of and surprising as it still appears to be for many people, most teenagers will have to face violence and fear in the world around them.

Today most people like to blame the parents for such social realities but they are normally people who have not experienced such behaviours. Tulisa is no different and constantly wishes her parents had set her better boundaries and at one point disturbingly appears to wish that corporal punishment needs to be reintroduced as a panacea to the confusion of transitioning from child to adult in the modern world. She does suggest that some parents need training to be effective but any positive messages that the girl may have are totally lost in the constant me me me me that she throws the readers way.

I should admit that I was not surprised by what I read or the attempt to pretend a 24 year old would actually deserve a biography. There are no great revelations here or any great discussion on a musical scene or social commentary on young people at a particular time and place. This is tabloid fodder designed to create opportunity in a fleeting moment of fame. Her book only came out at the end of last year and already her solo album has failed despite a number one single and she appears to have been axed from the X factor. Her star is on the wane and she will undoubtedly reform with her cousin and his best friend, who she informs us was her lover recently until her paranoia about his fidelity made her break up with him.

Her tales of love are as tawdry as you would expect of a flowering young lady intent on proving she is a woman as happens to so many women. She lurches from one moron to the next and tries to make out she is strong because she eventually leaves one abusive situation after another. She talks of date rape and losing her virginity against her will as par for the course and offers no suggestion on protection of any kind.

She could have been a role model for all the kids that look up to her and told them some of that information that she wished she had known at that age. Or so she intimates. In truth she was a typical teenager afraid of appearing different to the pack and lacking in the knowledge and skills to find her own way out. She appears to be just as lost and confused as when she was 12. Being pushed out of the limelight doesn’t bode well for this attention seeking young lady. I hope she has invested wisely.

She was lucky to have an uncle who believed in his son and subsequently the band he formed. Uncle B pushed them further than they could have and sadly died before he saw how much fame they achieved.

A lasting legacy would be to make good in his name and become the role model she claims is so important. A good start would to be honest.