Reading - November 2022

Exit Stage Left by Nick Duerden (2022)

There's a persistent fascination with the idea of the fallen star, as evidenced by a myriad of "where are they now" tabloid exposés, TV series and even films, looking at ex-footballers, ex-soap stars and ex-musicians. Duerden focusses particularly on the more critically acceptable end of the pop star market and attempts to draw out themes and insight from the stories of people as varied as Joan Armatrading, Echobelly's Sonya Madan, Shaun Ryder, Lloyd Cole and many more. But the real interest here isn't any more sophisticated than those tabloid columns - we just want to know what people are doing now. And the themes? I don't think there are any really. It turns out people are just as varied in pop stardom as they are in any other walk of life. A good read, albeit a little bitty (the chapters are quite short) and feeling like a collection of, well, tabloid columns rather than a book. 

Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov (1986)

I last read this eight years ago, but it's still very familiar. I know the surprise at the end but I can still remember being delighted by it the first time round. Of course, you have to have read most of Asimov's other books to understand the reference, otherwise it would be a complete damp squib.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020)

This was recommended to my by a friend (thanks Zoë!) and I'm pleased, because I wouldn't have read it otherwise. It's essentially a "what if" kind of story: what if I had asked her out, what if I hadn't taken that job, and so on. The story ends up pretty much how I expected but nevertheless the journey is interesting and moving, and if the moral is fairly obvious, you're not being whacked over the head with it. And it's nice and short too (a very under-rated quality in literature, in my opinion) and only took me a couple of days to read.

The Firm by John Grisham (1991)

I read this not long ago, but this time I'm struck by the implausibility and plot jumps, where suddenly the main character knows a bunch of things and you think, "when did he work that out?" In that respect, he's a bit too good and a bit too clever to be realistic. It's still a great read though.

The First Time by Matt Everitt (2018)

6 Music is theoretically exactly the kind of radio station I should like - serious about music, its history and place in society and dedicated to playing good music, not just commercial music. Yet for some reason I just don't find it engaging. Unfortunately that means I miss things, like Matt Everitt's series of interviews asking a wide range of "music icons" (it says here) about their formative experiences with music. I've listened to a few since finding this book and they're really interesting - as is this collection of them. Everitt's brief introduction to each interviewee is nicely judged too, and extra points for only once mentioning his old band, and then not by name (I had to look it up - he was in Menswear - but I think he's been a music presenter for a lot longer now!)

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham (1992)

The cartoon baddie who orders everyone killed who crosses him, just because, is almost straight out of a Bond film, and the romance between the two main characters is somewhat contrived and, frankly, improbable. But the story moves fast and keeps interest up.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1920)

Poirot's first outing and it's ironic that he's portrayed as an aging man who is perhaps past his best - given how long he subsequently "lived". Like Miss Marple, he started out old and never got older. Still, it's fiction so never mind! All the hallmarks of Agatha Christie are present and correct, including the big reveal at the end and the clever way the clues can all point several ways. A classic in its own way. (read so that I could have a half-way intelligent conversation about it with someone who had just read it for the first time!)