Four books to put on your Christmas list
A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING*** By Bill Bryson Broadway, 2004 Despite Bill Bryson having won me over with previous books, he had his work cut out to keep me interested in his most recent publication, A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bryson dedicated three years of his life to understanding and writing about science at a level that is not too technical or demanding, but not too superficial either. He probed and pestered “saintly, patient experts prepared to answer a lot of outstandingly dumb questions” in order to find answers to life’s most profound questions—from the Big Bang theory to the rise of man. Bryson writes with his usual blend of wit, wisdom and sharp observation and is insatiably curious. Descriptions of unlikely geniuses, obsessed amateurs and competitive professionals lend the book a soap-opera slant, and save it from becoming too serious. His explanations are coherent and amusing—for example, he compares the challenge of finding a supernova to being “a bit like standing on the observation platform of the Empire State Building with a telescope and searching windows around Manhattan in the hope of finding, let us say, someone lighting a twenty-first-birthday cake.” While I appreciate that A Short History of Nearly Everything is a staggering achievement—Bryson certainly fulfilled his aim—and an astoundingly well-written book, I still found that it did not hold my interest. I’m not saying Mr. Bryson is entirely responsible for this fact, and think perhaps I should do the same with this book as my school report suggested I do with science—try harder! SCHOTT’S SPORTING, GAMING & IDLING MISCELLANY** By Ben Schott Bloomsbury, 2004 This book is the third in the best-selling “Schott’s Miscellanies” series, after Schott’s Original Miscellany and Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany, and follows the same quirky formula. The author, Ben Schott, is a photographer, designer and trivia collector who obviously derives a lot of joy from compiling books of obscure facts. This informative volume will teach the sportsman, gamer and idler the words to the Haka and the rules of elephant polo, as well as explaining the breathtaking antics of Kabaddi, the importance of snooker to nuns and all about sporting ailments, ranging from joggers’ nipple to housemaid’s knee. At times highly amusing, and at times just downright weird, Schott’s latest work is certainly an unusual read. THE HOTEL BOOK: GREAT ESCAPES SOUTH AMERICA*** Edited by Angelika Taschen Taschen, 2004 The objective of the Taschen “Hotel Book” series, which has already explored great escapes in Europe, Africa and Asia, is to seek out the world’s most unique and inspiring hotels. This most recent volume unearths a selection of hotels, posadas and haciendas across South America—from Argentina to Bolivia, Equador to Uruguay. The highlights include a converted monastery in Peru, a hacienda perched high in the Andes Mountains, an adobe hotel in the Chilean desert, an eco-lodge in the Amazonian rain forest and a hotel built entirely of salt in Bolivia’s Uyuni Salt Desert. The stunning photography is the work of Tuca Reinés, a native and resident of São Paulo. Taschen books always make great gifts as they are available in many languages (English/ French/ German and Italian/ Spanish/ Portuguese) and are beautifully presented. Great Escapes South America is a fascinating book—even if you never make it to these places, it is worth buying just to indulge in some coffee-table escapism. THE LINE OF BEAUTY**** By Alan Hollinghurst Bloomsbury, 2004 This novel recently and controversially won the Man Booker Prize, beating the runaway favorite and best seller Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. There has been a lot of commentary about the fact that it is the first gay novel to win the Booker in 36 years, although just what constitutes a gay novel I am not sure—does it mean that the author is gay; all the characters have to be gay; it can only be enjoyed by gay readers? The book is set in 1980s Thatcherite London and follows a young man in his search for love, sex and beauty. It is the summer of 1983 and Nick Guest, an Oxford postgraduate, has moved into the Notting Hill home of a wealthy and powerful family, the Feddens. As the boom years of the mid-1980s unfold, he becomes entwined in the opulent life of Gerald Fedden, a Tory MP, and his family. Hollinghurst has created a spectrum of vivid characters, though it is Nick, seemingly so uncomplicated in the beginning, who is perhaps the most complex. His selfishness and snobbishness are counterbalanced with curiosity, an eagerness to please and his informed aesthetic sense. Despite his flaws, Nick’s innocence and impressionability make him a likeable character, so his fall from grace is a depressing, if inevitable, event. The Line of Beauty is a social satire, observant and exquisitely written. Hollinghurst deals with such substantial themes as class, homosexuality, politics, AIDS and mental illness in an effortlessly elegant prose. There are references throughout to Henry James, whom Nick is writing his thesis on; indeed The Line of Beauty itself has been compared to the work of James. Certainly, in terms of quality, it comes very close.