Thoughts on our travels through Europe from Italy to Albania

World Book Group Edinburgh, first UNESCO World City of Literature

These are my thoughts and mine alone, jotted down as I was reading each book (except for the first one for reasons which will become apparent). No-one else can be blamed for these opinions. The purpose was to provide me with an aide-memoire for discussion at the monthly meetings. If you are planning to read any of the books you might prefer to skip these notes until you have done so, since I might give something away.

The group was set up by the George Street, Edinburgh, branch of the much missed Ottakars chain. I was not at the opening meeting of the group and so did not find out which book had been read until the second meeting. You should also be aware that our approach to the books has changed since we read the first few. The original options were that we could read fiction by a native writer, fiction by a non-native writer, but set in the country (hence the selection of "Setting Free the Bears" by John Irving) or a travel book (hence the selection of Goethe's "Italian Journey".

It soon became clear, however, that the preference of the group members was to read books by native writers, so that is what we have pursued since we left Austria. If you want to read any of these books (especially the non-European ones), and can't find them in your local library, you will have to buy them from one of the internet sources, such as Amazon or Abe. My notes are not meant to be a telling of the story but, especially in the case of the later books, I found that they were developing towards points for discussion at the book group, probably because we started off at nearly twenty, and are now rather fewer so there is more scope for all to contribute. The scores which are given against each book are the average score out of ten given by the group members, except for the first four which are my own scores from before we started to keep records.

It is my intention to add a book to my comments list as often as I can find the time to do that. The first entry will be for

Italy - "Italian Journey" by Wolfgang von Goethe (Score 7.0)

I first read this book several years ago when on holiday in Italy, visiting the Italian lake region and staying in Malcesine. Goethe visited Malcesine during his journey and stayed there for some time. I found his description of the town and the surrounding area very colourful, and I could follow some of his travels myself. The one thing we did in Malcesine which he didn't was to be caught in a mountain thunderstorm, a temporale, and get thoroughly soaked.

Austria - "Setting Free the Bears" by John Irving (Score 5.0)

I didn't make any notes for this book. It is not a work of literature with beautiful writing to discuss, or with great characterisation. It simply tells a simple story. It is not the best book by John Irving which I have read. I would say - only read this one if you are an Irving fan, or if you are a completist.

Germany - "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind (Score 8.0)

As you will all be aware, this book has been made into a film since we read it. I enjoyed the book, and look forward to seeing the film sometime to see how much they have messed the story about. I sympathised immensely with Jean-Baptiste and his predicament from the start of the book (I also sympathised with Carrie and thought that her fellow pupils deserved everything they got). After the christening of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (frog) there is no use of his first name until much later in the story. There is no hint that he is evil until his soul is described as "black" just before his first kill. There is some powerful imagery in the description of his life, flowing like a river (find it yourself). The perfumer, Baldini, does not like the fact that the Enlightenment has happened. His death in a Bacchanalian frenzy seems to be a parody of the Christian sacrament. Suskind seems to be trying to make Grenouille less than human in an attempt to take away our sympathy. The rather forced attempt to do this using the needless first murder failed in my case because it seemed at the time to be too obvious a devise. In retrospect, while typing this I am beginning to wonder if that was the intention all along. Grenouille retained my sympathy right through to the point when he embarked on mass murder.

Poland - In my Father's Court" by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Score 6.0)

I found this to be very much a book of 1/4 and 3/4. I gave it up after the first 70 pages as being the most boring book I had ever read. Since I had never before in my life not finished a book once I had started it, this was a huge departure. However, after the book group meeting at which about half had found it equally boring, and half had persevered to find it enjoyable, I had another try. It did improve a bit as he got older and the incidents became less childish, but I still don't think it was great writing and, for me, it contains nothing memorable. It certainly doesn't come into my 500 favourite books, it doesn't live up to the author's reputation, and it's difficult for me to understand why it received special acclaim at his Nobel award ceremony. Was it merely a case of "Buggin's Turn" that he won at all?

Czechoslovakia - "Closely Observed Trains" by Bohumil Hrabal (Score 7.8)

I didn't try to define Hrabal as being either Czech or Slovak since the book was written before they went their separate ways, and the events take place in Czechoslovakia. The great unanswered question for me is "Does the narrator die on the last page or not?" This book shows the ultimate futility and waste of war in many places, of which one is in the approach of the narrator to the dying German, even though he ends up killing him. There is a comic scene with the pigeons while the stationmaster is telling the story of the stamps, and then with the countess. There is the stated, closely observed, horror of the beasts in the wagons, in comparison with the unstated horror of the forced starvation of those from whom they were stolen. This was a deliberate policy, and there was no attempt to ensure that the beasts reached slaughter in a state fit to eat. Dresden fire bombing etc. Watch the film if you get the chance.

Hungary - "Embers" by Sandor Marai (Score 7.6)

I enjoyed this book. It is suffused with images of isolation and aloneness (not necessarily loneliness). Note the Countess's trip to Hungary after the wedding, with the descriptions of the endless Hungarian plain, the castle in the forest, the wolves, the child in Paris, the tropics, the staring woman. The mother is always "The Countess" and the father is always "The Officer of the Guards". There is an interesting use of tenses. Everything is in the present tense, even the events of 40 years ago. On page 19, see the "sway bellied stove". The child calls, on page 27, for Nini rather than cuddling his mother.

Ukraine - "Diary of a Madman and other stories" by Nikolai Gogol (Score 7.7)

"Diary of a Madman" - In aristocratic households even the dogs eat woodcock with fine sauces in contrast to the spartan life of peasants and serfs. How far are the dogs in the letters representative of humans. December 03 - very socialist thoughts, how did this escape government censorship? December 05 - Is this really supportive of monarchy, or is it ironic? December 08 - "England wouldn't stand for a queen" - written just a few years after Anne and just before Victoria. This story is very mocking and seems extremely subversive.

"The Nose" - A piece of whimsy? What's the message? Don't judge by appearances? Don't chase after the unattainable? Gogol closes by effectively denying that he is the author, but is merely passing it on - and it is all stupid anyway. The joke is on us!

"The Overcoat" - Is Akaky Akakievitch a Christ figure? "Why do you torment me?" (to St Paul) - I am your brother. Or does he perhaps stand for all the persecuted and tormented people in the world? Gogol uses many non-sequitures. For example, in the description of Petrovitch the tailor he says "... in spite of being blind in one eye and having pockmarks, business was good". Gogol also frequently interposes as author, rather than as fictional narrator, a style which doesn't seem to be used much nowadays. See, for example, the last paragraph on page 78, on to page 79.

"The Quarrel of Ivan and Ivan" - This is written in a very different register. There is a modern first person narrator and it's very colloquial and conversational. This is an excellent comic story and I think it would make a very funny short play. There is a "Bleak House" type of theme.

"Ivan and his cat" - Even though you have read the introduction and know that the story does not end, it catches you out and leaves you wanting a resolution. Did Ivan get the deeds? Did he marry the blonde? Etcetera? Very comic. I wanted to read more Gogol, and tackled "Dead Souls" next. Give it a try. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Romania - "The Land of Green Plums" by Herta Muller (Score 5.3)

I found this book to be extremely pretentious and, at the same time, mediocre. There were many nonsensical statements. For example, on page 34 "Always tying ...", on page 99 "I said yes, ....", on page 144 "Even if the man ...." and on page 154 "Because of the mixed up ...." (Granta 1999).

Serbia - "The Dawning" by Milka Bajic Poderegin (Score 4.7)

This book achieved the lowest score of any we have read, before or since (3/10). It is 360 pages of nothing much. There is no characterisation. I could not relate to the cardboard cut-out characters, nor could I feel for them when they suffered. Where was the religious tension which must have existed? After all, the Balkan wars of the 1990s did not come out of nowhere. "You could write a story, Granny. Why don't you try?"

Albania - "Broken April" by Ismail Kadare (Score 8.3)

Thank goodness for this book after the previous two. It was an excellent selection, and was the first to give me a real feeling of being introduced to a completely unknown world and culture. Kadare was still nearly two years away from being the first Man Booker International prize winner (2005) when we read this book. We voted it straight to the top of our list (January 2004) and it stayed there against several serious challengers until it was pipped recently by "Reading Lolita in Tehran", of which more when we get to Iran. The topic of the book is the vendetta or Kamun. The approach reminded me very much of Robert Silverberg's "A Time of Changes" and Ursula Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness", both of which introduce the reader to familiar, yet unusual, worlds. The inevitability of Gjorg's death is the thread which binds the whole story together. I wonder if the Kamun was introduced originally to control and limit the number of revenge killings which were taking place. The horrific perversion of the Kamun is shown clearly in the section in which Mark Muses on how to increase the income from the blood money so as to preserve his position (and his livelihood) as if human lives can be traded like horses. Could someone from outside that culture truly understand such an alien way of life? Thank goodness Kadare resisted any temptation to reconcile Bessian and Diane. After finishing this book I read, within a couple of months, every one of Kadare's books which had been translated into English. If you only read one of the authors whom we discuss, make it Kadare. You won't regret it.

Greece - "Uncle Petros and the Goldbach Conjecture" by Apostolis Doxiadis (Score 7.5)

This is the story of one man's attempt to solve a centuries old mathematical mystery. I don't have much more to say other than that it is a pleasant enough read, though with no tension.