February’s Books
With February just recently having drawn to a close, I present you with my second set of mini book reviews.
What’s Left by Nick Cohen
Non-fiction - 386 pages
Big, unwieldy Marmite of a book. I hated it, even though the subject matter should be designed to interest me. It’s written with such self-regard that one might almost think that Nick Cohen is the only right (as in correct) thinking liberal on the planet and, in fact you might be forgiven for thinking that he’s the only person on the planet who knows the meaning of the word. There was, I will admit, a fair amount to recommend in this book. It took me through a lot of the history of ‘liberal thought’ of which I was somewhat unaware. The author’s tone, however, was one of such sneering ‘look what these people thought; what bad liberals they must have been!’ which, with the benefit of hindsight, is all too easy. The final nail in the coffin though, for me, was that he flatly refuses to accept that anyone can have a reason to oppose the war in Iraq without also supporting Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime; as if international law and politics is always a matter of black and white. So…if you think that sounds like your cup of tea then by all means go ahead and read it but I’d recommend saving your time and reading something much more worthwhile. Like the next two books.
The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
Fiction - 280 pages
Ah, Douglas Adams, how you are missed. This is effectively an anthology of some of DA’s miscellaneous writings and communications of note, culminating in the first few chapters of ‘The Salmon of Doubt’. That part is amalgamated from various drafts of a new Dirk Gently book and is very unpolished. There is evidence that he had had an interestingly surreal idea but had little idea what to do with it but what’s there is good. The rest of the book gives a fascinating insight into the man behind the writing and it’s clear he was a very amusing man who was troubled by self-doubt and was very unsure of himself in spite of the success he had. All in all a very enjoyable read, which is laugh out loud funny in many places but which ultimately serves no real purpose other than to call time on the career of a talented man who died before his time.
Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Non-fiction - 219 pages
There’s not actually much to say about this. If you enjoyed Freakonomics then you will enjoy this - it’s more of the same sort of fayre. If you haven’t read Freakonomics then I’d heartily recommend it if you’re interested in looking at subjects in different ways to draw unorthodox conclusions. And that’s it really. Great book, well researched and written and the sort of non-fic I could read endlessly.
I came very close to being able to include a fourth here but February was a month of spending much time with good friends. As such, I don’t feel bad about letting the reading slide, as time wasted with friends is never time wasted!
The last one was a new book and the first two were from my ‘started ages ago and stopped for no apparent reason’ shelf. My favourite this month was Salmon of Doubt and it’s a crying shame that Douglas Adams didn’t live long enough to revisit it and turn it into a proper novel.
If you think you might like to read any of these books, and you live in or near the West Midlands, then by all means ask to borrow them. I’m sure we can work something out.
