David & Goliath: Underdogs, misfits and the art of battling giants by Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell is one of those writers whose carefully chosen words fall over you like a patina of erudite wisdom. But don’t think you’ll be in for a dull ride. His bright, breezy books are the polar opposite to scholarliness. A journalist by trade, he has an exceptional talent for making connections between ideas, pulling together a collection of disparate stories to create fascinating insights into contemporary life.

In his latest offering, he examines the relationship between the strong and the weak, the powerful and the oppressed, and, of course, revisits that famous day when the small shepherd boy confronted the colossus Roman soldier and won. Turning cultural myths on their head is his forte. In David & Goliath, he tackles issues that range across military might, crime and punishment, IRA terrorism, school failure, the fight to cure leukaemia, and the fortitude of bereaved children. The powerful or advantaged aren’t always the ones to come out on top, he argues, as sometimes adversity can bear fruit with surprising results.

While Gladwell is always engaging and has a fantastic ability to turn black and white into dazzling shades of grey, David & Goliath is, unfortunately, not up to his usual standard. I found his previous books Outliers: The Story of Success and The Tipping Point to be much more enjoyable reads as they both possess a greater unified theme and sense of flow. His books are always invigorating, however, as he allows his trademark curiosity to travel the world and shine a spotlight on diverse corners of society.   Gladwell's books are definitely worth a dip into.

Reviewed by Spot

Catalogue Link: David & Goliath

Read More: Author’s website

Autobiography by Morrissey

The Smiths and I are old friends, that is to say I have known of them for a long time. We had a rocky start; I was at university when I first heard of them. My girlfriend was talking about them. I couldn’t comprehend what sort of band would want to call themselves The Smiths. Apparently a pretty good band, but at this point I was still a long way from realising that. It was some time later at a record sale (now single) that I picked up 'Hatful of Hollow' and my interest was piqued. It is now many years later and I have all the albums (now on CD) and still play them regularly.

The reason we are here is to discuss the Morrissey autobiography. You wouldn’t be reading this unless you were more than a bit interested in the man. He writes with flair in a style that is particularly his own, and why not - it’s his story. The English music press have always been brutal but Morrissey has survived and surprisingly flourished. His last three albums have sold better than anything in his career and he has no reason to ever contemplate a Smiths reunion. Once you have read about the court case you will see the other reasons.

I recently saw him live in Wellington and obviously he is comfortable with his past as he included a lot of Smiths songs. He gives it all on the stage and I think it is the only place he really comes alive. Expect no revelations about his personal life, he remains a private and complicated person. He has no recording contract but remains strangely optimistic. It seems he is at peace with his life.

Posted by R Meyers

Catalogue Link: Autobiography
 

White Horse by Alex Adams

In Alex Adams’ debut novel, the ‘white horse’ of the title is a terrible disease, its name coined by a religious leader foretelling apocalyptic doom – which is particularly apt for this dystopian novel. The story is told from the point of view of Zoe, a fragile woman in therapy after the death of her husband some years before. She works as a cleaner for a pharmaceutical company where she is regularly given injections supposedly against the flu.
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Simultaneously two things happen to Zoe that derail her routine. First of all a strange urn appears in her living room that she cannot account for. She also starts seeing a new therapist, the handsome Dr Rose, for whom she feels a strong attraction. Things might have turned out differently, if suddenly all around her people hadn’t begun to die.

Woven in with this narrative is one that begins over a year later when the world is a hellish nightmare, its few survivors struggling to find food or to fight off the genetically altered monsters the virus has created. Zoe, beginning to feel ill herself, is determined to reach Greece but her journey is hampered when she rescues a blind English girl. When they team up with a violent Swiss, the three form an uneasy alliance.

While Zoe is a fighter, she is also determined not to lose her sense of humanity, which makes her character one the reader can have sympathy with. Her development from the emotionally frail woman of the time before the virus also makes her interesting.

White Horse is one of the most compelling novels I have come across this year. However, with its scenes of violence and frequent bad language, it is not for the faint-hearted. This novel will no doubt appeal to readers who enjoyed Justin Cronin’s Passage novels. It is similarly the first book of a trilogy.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue Link: White Horse

The Adoption by Anne Berry

In the world of Anne Berry’s novels, families regularly include people who don’t fit in and who have difficult relationships with parents and siblings. The Adoption begins with the story of Bethan and her impossible love for a German POW working on her parent’s farm in Wales just after the war. When Bethan falls pregnant, adoption is the only choice.

Baby Lucilla is taken in by Harriet and her husband, Merfyn, fellow members of the temperance league. They bring Lucilla up in a rigidly puritanical environment, but Lucilla has a wildness to her, a longing for open spaces, dogs and a talent as an artist her parents can’t fathom. It is hard to imagine a more incompatible family.

Berry’s novel flips back and forwards through the years as Lucilla, following Harriet's death, decides to trace her birth mother,. Slowly the stories of all three women are revealed: Bethan’s inability to forget her first baby, Harriet’s disappointments as a mother and Lucilla’s frequently unhappy childhood, and eventual rescue by Henry.

Bitterness has taken its toll on all three women. Only Lucilla has the strength of character to rise above this, and she is a brilliant creation, a free spirit with a wicked sense of humour.

Berry is an excellent storyteller and has produced a compelling book with an ending that offers hope. The Adoption lives up to the promise of her two previous novels: The Hungry Ghosts and The Water Children, all of which I would recommend, particularly to readers who enjoy books by Margaret Forster and Penelope Lively.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue Link: The Adoption

About the Author

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Gold, prosperity, status, a chance to prove oneself, a chance to free oneself – New Zealand offers fresh opportunities for the brave and willing. The Luminaries conjures up a world you will never visit. Set in the rugged West Coast town of Hokitika during the 1860’s gold rush, its location may be familiar but it’s a setting far removed in time and possibility.

Catton’s majestic novel deals with human nature, freedom, and constraints in a uniquely structured 800 page epic. The characters you meet are described in detail, and yet they are not quite real people. This is a story using astrologically influenced personalities who are let loose in a landscape that offers the chance for them to believe that their dreams can come true and that they can reconstruct themselves as they choose.

Coming from near and far, these disparate characters converge on the small township, all with their own particular reasons for being there. It is a land sparsely populated and they expect plenty of opportunities to come their way, with no one and nothing to restrain them, except the forces of nature and the limits of their own grit. That is the illusion, and it is the dispelling of this illusion that is the driving force of the novel.

As the story unfolds (and is retold), it is clear that instead of freedom, the characters have quickly started to gravitate toward one another, with weaker characters being drawn into the orbits of the more forceful. At the heart of the novel is a murder mystery, and the old world plot, historical setting, and language lulls you into believing that revelations will fall into your lap with the regular rhythm of each chapter’s close.

But Catton’s astronomically derived structure provides periods of confusion and you are reminded that you need to work, like the old diggers, to sift for crucial nuggets of understanding.  There are parts of plot and themes running throughout the book that aren’t fully articulated. It is a novel which toys with the idea of a destiny that is already writ and there is something objective and dispassionate about the creaking machinations of the plot, which conjures to mind the vastness of the universe and the smallness of the human experience. But overall, whether it was by intention or not, it isn’t the plot or theme, but the elusive and atmospheric nature of the story that lingers in the mind. The Luminaries is a unique literary creation by a young and talented author.

Reviewed by Spot

Eleanor Catton is the winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize - read more
Catalogue Link:  The Luminaries 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Graeme Simsion’s novel, The Rosie Project, is without doubt the funniest book I have read this year. It is told from the point of view of Don Tillman, a genetics professor at a Melbourne university who, nearing his fortieth birthday, is looking for a wife. The problem is that in spite of being tall, fit and reasonably good looking in a Gregory Peck kind of way, he has Asperger’s Syndrome, which can make social situations like dating difficult.

Don decides to solve his problems with The Wife Project – a questionnaire designed to weed out unsuitable candidates: women who smoke, are late, vegetarians – there is quite a list. But then he meets Rosie. She wants Don’s help to track down her biological father. Although Rosie would tick very few boxes on Don’s questionnaire – she smokes, works in a bar, is disorganised – Don is surprisingly attracted.

What transpires is a very comical screwball romance centred around two very quirky and interesting characters. Although both have their issues, Don and Rosie are hugely sympathetic. There are some very funny scenes – you can tell the author is a screenwriter – as the two go about secretly collecting DNA samples to track down Rosie’s dad. There are some poignantly sensitive scenes too that round out Don’s character, especially those that explain his family relationships.

The Rosie Project will likely be compared with Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time as they both deal with characters with Autism Spectrum disorders. This novel is rather lighter with many laugh out loud moments, its main character learning a lot before the inevitable happy ending.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue Link: The Rosie Project

Sane New World: Taming the Mind by Ruby Wax

Feeling a little crazy at times is quite normal, according to Ruby Wax. And, she should know. Despite being an internationally recognised comedian known for her bubbly, brash extroversion, Wax has been plagued with recurrent bouts of depression throughout her life – except for the last five years.

So what changed? When her television career nosedived following a nervous breakdown, she decided enough was enough. Why pay someone else to ferret around in the most intimate corners of her mind, when she could try and fix it herself? At 52, Ruby Wax went back to school – to Oxford University, no less, and graduated triumphantly with a Masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy gave her the tools to challenge the endless stream of self-critical thoughts that made her continuously anxious. Wax now describes herself as a recovered ruminator. She has learnt to still her overactive brain by using techniques that focus on calming sensory experiences and turns the table on negative thoughts by challenging the false assumptions that cause them.

These tools are powerful stuff and have improved the lives of thousands of people, but they do take a fair bit of practice to master. In Sane New World, readers are entertained, inspired, and educated by a passionate advocate with first-hand experience. If Ruby Wax can learn how to calmly exist in the 21st century, you can, too. And, while it won’t happen overnight, this handy guidebook to a sane, less stressful life will speed you on your way.

Reviewed by Spot

Catalogue Link:  Sane New World

Ruby Wax's TED Talk on Mental Illness