#190 Aspects of British Political History 1815-1914 (1994)

Author: Stephen J. Lee
Title: Aspects of British Political History 1815-1914
Genre: Political History
Year: 1994
Pages: 340
Origin: Library book
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

Stephen J. Lee’s Aspects of British Political History is a guide to the various differences and pitfalls of the nineteenth century political scene. It is a “nuts & bolts” approach that attempts to select the key areas and people of ninety-nine years of history, in an attempt to understand their actions and the histography that has since surrounded the effects of their decisions. In the first paragraph of the introduction, Lee sets out his stall in his hope to ‘capture the imagination of the general reader who likes to go beyond narrative into the realm of debate’.

Published in the dearth of the Tory political landscape of the early 1990s, the book certainly adds plenty of debate. Lee is keen to always bring in the historical interpretations of ‘Whig’, ‘Tory’ and ‘Marxist’ history. Such approaches have appeared to have lost favour in academic and the book market in recent years; with us contemporaries gloating in the short-sighted belief that we are perhaps at the end of history (fall of Communism, triumph of Capitalism, seeming victory of TV reality shows).

Major themes include the years of Tory rule (1812-1830), the reforms of the Whigs in the 1830s, the fall of Peel and the Corn Laws in the 1846, the golden years of Palmerstone, the changing fortunes of Gladstone and Disraeli, British imperialism and years of “splendid isolation”, the great reforms of the New Liberals, and the rise of Labour. Furthermore, Lee concludes the book with chapters based on a long view of the ninety nine years (including British foreign policy, the economy, and policy towards social problems), as well as a short chapter on valuable primary sources available for the student and keen lay reader.

Despite being published relatively recently (1994), the final finish of the book shows shoddy tables and graphs of a pre-digital era (though, in truth, the lack of 3-D pie-charts has only served to have endeared the Worm to the book). Yes, there are more beautiful books, and many more that concentrate on nineteenth century politics that carry a stronger, more distinctive narrative. But this was never Lee’s intention, as he clearly states in the introduction. This is a book for readers who wish to swim deeper in debate, to go beyond mere name recall and recognition of key events, to gain an understanding to the all important why these events happened. It is the Worm’s hope that this book will heighten the analytical senses of students for many years yet to come.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aspects-British-Political-History-1815-1914/dp/0415090075/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1356802834&sr=8-3

Big Nodders

The fourth reading season has seen the return of many famous names and friends on the Worm’s reading hit-list. We welcomed the Victorian novelists Arthur Conan Doyle in another Sherlock Holmes adventure, as well as the life of Charles Dickens’ “favourite” David Copperfield. T.S. Eliot was again on show, this time in the weighty and fantastic Selected Poems, as has Alan Moore, and – of course – the unshakeable William Shakespeare.


All of which has forced the Worm’s hand at bringing together a new list: ‘Top Author Nods’; otherwise, affectionately known by the Worm himself as “Big Nodders”. To obtain a mention on this – admittedly – pointless list, an author must add up all of their nods achieved by the Worm’s partisan judgement. If ten is totalled or beaten, their name is slapped on the list to the sound of champagne corks popping across the room. Metaphorical sounds and corks, of course.

So far, seven authors have made the grade. These range from the serious (Tom Paine) to the happy (Bill Bryson), from the sensationalist (Bret Easton Ellis) to the downright annoying (David Starkey). The seven names say a lot of the Worm himself and his reading habits these past three to four years. The question he asks of himself: “Was it worth it?”

The current front-runner. Yes, him – Shakespeare! – once again. 7 reads and a healthy dose of nods (including 5 nodders in the form of Macbeth and Richard III) confirm him as a cut above the rest. The gauntlet has been laid down for the others. Even David Starkey.

1. William Shakespeare (7 books - 29 nods)

2. Alan Moore (3 books - 12 nods)

3. Bret Easton Ellis (4 books - 12 nods)

4. Niall Ferguson (3 books - 11 nods)

5. Bill Bryson (4 books - 11 nods)

6. David Starkey (4 books - 11 nods)

7. Thomas Paine (2 books - 10 nods)

#189 Y The Last Man

Authors: Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra
Title: Y The Last Man
Genre: Graphic Novel
Year: 2002-2008
Pages: 1,500 (approx)
Origin: read from the collection of Mr. C
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5

‘When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth, and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.’
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

During much of September and October of this year, the Worm was involved in the reading of the comic series Y The Last Man. Spanning six years of publication history and sixty issues, the story finds the reader following the adventures of Yorick Brown: the last man on the planet. All other mammals – bar his pet monkey (not a euphemism, you dirty minded readers) – have been wiped out in a quick, bloody and – ultimately – mysterious plague.

Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra (and including the additional talents across the long run of Goran Sudzuka, Paul Chadwick, and Jose Marzan Jr.), Y The Last Man ticks the boxes of the sci-fi, dystopian adventure genres. The annihilation of the human race is not an original concept, but this particular story deviates from the central idea in a number of interesting ways. Visually, instead of the usual bleak, dark city skylines so often employed in these stories, Y The Last Man is filled with bright skies and grassy fields. Of greater difference is the lack of male characters; what could be deemed a risky strategy in what is a male dominated comic market, both in terms of readership and the characters (for every Wonder Woman there are hundreds of Batmen, Supermen and X-Men); something the story’s creators should take full credit for.

The central characters include the never-do-well Yorick, his monkey sidekick Ampersand, his assigned tough-guy bodyguard Agent 355, and the brains of the operation Dr. Allison Mann. Across sixty issues, this team traverse the North American continent, across the Pacific, Australia, South East Asia before finally ending in Paris – all in the hope of finding answers and a way of saving the human race (along with locating Yorick’s girlfriend, Beth). Throughout this series various characters and plots unfold, including love affairs for all central characters, a Russian solider, Israeli commandoes, a ninja in the vicious form of Toyota, and – as obligatory fare for end-of-the-world dystopian fiction - a crazy doctor who is intend on killing all.

Earlier storylines (including ‘Unmanned’, ‘Cycles’, ‘One Small Step’ and ‘Ring of Truth’) see the series at its ramping finest in the establishing of the narrative. They are aided with the addition of smaller stories that build upon the theories of man’s destruction and the role of gender (including ‘Comedy & Tragedy’). It is a shame that the stories become all the more convoluted and sensationalist in later issues (including a contrived naked lesbian scene). The series suffers by an overload of back-story issues of central and minor characters; a clear indication that the creative team were running out of ideas of where to take the main storyline. Such a decline is alleviated – slightly – by the pitting of rivals in a fight to the death in the later storyline of ‘Motherland’; but even this fails to recapture the earlier spirit of the series. The original intentions of the comic’s length is left uncertain, but a journey that did not extend beyond the confines of the United States could have resulted in a happier, more succinct conclusion for all – readers and creators alike.

The Worm is not adverse to including a “spoiler” or two in his reviews; the ending issues of Y The Last Man reveals a late – almost forced – romance, followed by the shock death of a principal character in the rather rushed storyline ‘Whys and Wherefores’. The final issue (‘Alas’), set decades in the future, unsuccessful attempts to resolve the various question marks surrounding the central characters. It is regretful that this future society, in which countries continue the old fears and suspicions of the past, but with a certain stabilisation in the clones of Yorick’s genes, is not developed in greater detail. Although the fate of Yorick himself is, thankfully, left open-ended for the reader.

The feminist aspect to this series remains its strongest attraction. Previous works of fiction have pondered a world without men, including Mary Shelley’s The Last Man and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s fantastic Herland. Vaughan offers glimpses as to how society may unfold: some believing that all is lost without their husbands, brothers and sons to those who seek to avenge the servitude of the female race by grabbing power (as shown in the group the Amazons). Attention is paid to how dominant the male gender is within key professions, including the armed forces, transport and politics (the new President of the USA being the holder of the unknown post of Secretary of Agriculture). And although Yorick may be the chief protagonist, the success in their adventures is down to the females surrounding him: the fighting is done by his protector, Agent 355, whilst the lion’s share of the thinking by their companion Dr. Allison Mann.

The mystery that is the plague remains to the final page, with no definitive answer given. Vaughan himself noted the delight in teasing the audience: ‘I feel that there is a definitive explanation, but I like that people don’t necessarily know what it is. In interviews we always said that we would tell people exactly what caused the plague. The thing was, we never said when we were going to tell. We weren't going to tell you when we were telling you, I should say. We might have told you in issue #3. There might have been something in the background that only a couple people caught. It might have been Dr. Mann's father's very detailed, scientific explanation. It might have been Alter's off-the-wall conspiracy theory. The real answer is somewhere in those 60 issues, but I prefer to let the reader decide which one they like rather than pushing it on them.’ Theories include the time-bomb trigger that was the first human clone; mysticism in the form of a sacred ring; religion playing a part in the Rapture taking all men from the Earth as punishment for original sin; or perhaps even by ‘death-by-chick-flick.’ In the manner of all great question marks, the origins of the plague will hopefully continue to keep the flames of debate stoked for many years to come between the series’ faithful readers.

Talk of a big screen adaption have been mooted for years. However, the Worm is of the firm opinion that such a movie – in one-off form – would not serve such a long-winding narrative. As one-time slated director of the project D.J. Caruso stated, it wouldn’t do the story ‘justice’. Other options include a possible TV series; but, perhaps the beauty of the comic book format is the prospect of telling an extended story, with various subplots and character develop, in a way that no other medium can offer (as Alan Moore argued in a book reviewed on the pages of this blog just a month or two ago). For readers who want an adventure story with a brain, Y The Last Man is a series to be enjoyed. The Worm highly recommends the series to serious readers of dystopian fiction.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Man-Deluxe-HC-Vol/dp/1401219217/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353856226&sr=1-1

#188 The Darwin Wars (1999)

Author: Andrew Brown
Title: The Darwin Wars
Genre: Science
Year: 1999
Pages: 220
Origin: bought in a charity shop during September 2012
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

Hailed by the author himself ‘as a history if ideas with all the messy bits left in’, The Darwin Wars is a book about evolutionary theory and the different positions that have developed ever since Darwin’s initial mutterings on the subject. Within ten – rather brief – chapters, Brown attempts to include the main viewpoints and theoretical standpoints, whilst looking at the human motive behind such scientific work.

Writer and journalist, Andrew Brown has written a career’s work of books on many differing eclectic subjects, from the intriguing book title In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite to the London police (Watching the Detectives). Throughout The Darwin Wars he shows his journalist’s touch, making the words on the page relevant, and removing any superfluous material; resulting in a modest and manageable 220 pages. Furthermore, his schooling in the topic is vast, having served as Religious Affairs Correspondent for The Independent for a decade.

The central dialogue and debate during the book is between two groups; labelled by Brown as the ‘Gouldians’ and the ‘Dawkinsians’. Led by their anointed leaders (Stephen J. Gould and Richard Dawkins), Brown pits them against one another in a fight, in the words of the book’s subtitle, for ‘the scientific battle for the soul of man’.

Numerous characters pop up during the book, with Brown always interested in not simply the theory but the human story that led to the theory. This is the strength of the book, in hooking the reader with that keen journalistic eye. Such people include not only Gould and Dawkins, but also William Hamilton, Richard Lewontin, John Maynard Smith and even obligatory space for the likes of Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler. The most interesting of all is the story surrounding the torn soul that was George Price, who serves as the main focus for the book’s opening chapter, ‘The Deathbed of an Altruist’.

A decade after The Darwin Wars first went into print, Brown won the 2009 Orwell Prize for the book Fishing in Utopia. The Darwin Wars never threatens to obtain such a lofty position, with Brown himself labelling such work as ‘pop science books’: pages for the general public and not simply the specialists. As a short and compact book that attempts to explain the different positions of the various thinkers on the theories of evolution, it is a welcome book to the collection. It is not Brown’s intention to supersede the meatier and involving works of Dawkins & co, but rather to serve as a window for these works to the uninitiated.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Darwin-Wars-Scientific-Battle/dp/0684851458

Check out the website promoting the book:
http://www.darwinwars.com/index.html

#187 The Adventure of English (2003)

Author: Melvyn Bragg
Title: The Adventure of English
Genre: English Language / History
Year: 2003
Pages: 320
Origin: Library book
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

Mr Bragg is a man of industrious action: broadcaster, presenter, interviewer, commentator, novelist and – as shown here – a man who takes his English language very seriously. He is popularly known for his work over three decades with the BBC presenting the South Bank Show; and the book The Adventure of English is an adaptation of a documentary originally shot for the TV screen.

Subtitled ‘The Biography of a Language’, The Adventure of English briefly traverses across one thousand and five hundred years of history of the English language. It encompasses the first Germanic settlers, its seeming eclipse after the invasion of William of Normandy, the come back against the French incursion of words, right through to the glorious victory of the language in its triumphant export around the world. Bragg is in particular good tone when discussing the global reach of English, dedicating chapters on its journey across America, India, the West Indies, Australia and more.

Bragg continues to labour the point that the English language’s chief success has been its flexibility: in linking to existing languages wherever it has invaded. The years from 1066 to 1400 are seen as the dark ages of the language, yet it came through its trials and tribulations – particularly the dominance of French – to become supreme once again. Bragg points to the growing rich tapestry of various wordsmiths – such as Chaucer and Shakespeare – but also dedicates a commendable amount of space to the important contribution of the religious reformers, including Tyndale and others who wished to see the bible translated into the English tongue (seen in the chapter ‘God’s English’).

The author is most interesting when he discusses the remnant words and terms that have survived from previous ages. In writing about the continuing effects of the French language on class division, he comments:

‘You can take an (English) “bit” of cheese and most people do. If you want to use a more elegant word you take a (French) “morsel” of cheese. It is undoubtedly thought to be a better class of word and yet “bit”, I think, might prove to have more stamina. You can “start” a meeting or you can “commence” a meeting. Again, “commence” carries a touch more cultural clout though “start” has the better sound and meaning to it for my ear.’

The theme of class division is further explored in the chapter ‘The Proper Way to Talk’, with Bragg discussing the effect of standardised writing and the attempts of language-snobs – such as the infamous Noah Webster – in their attempts to purify the English language.

Throughout the entirety of the book, Bragg continues to get across the message that language is continually changing: attempts at standardisation will fail due to the fast paced nature of this change. Particularly more so in the digital age, in which new words and terminology are being born on a seemingly weekly basis on the pages of Facebook and Twitter, and within text messages on mobile phones. Bragg attempts to calm the public with his message: that change is inevitable and should be embraced. The Worm himself welcomes such a message, and in recent years has become an opponent against the growing grammar-Nazis on social media sites that are happy to string up people for incorrect use of apostrophes.

Bragg’s The Adventure of English offers nothing more than a welcoming read through the past thousand years of history of the English language. It is short on the spectacular, but it would be mean of the Worm to be too hard on Bragg’s effort and intentions. It is a perfect read to while away a few short hours, with some interesting conversation fodder, whilst trumpeting – however silently – the triumphs of England; in short, the perfect book for middle aged, middle Englanders.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Adventure-English-Melvyn-Bragg/dp/0340829931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353855540&sr=8-1

#186 Richard III (1591)

Author: William Shakespeare
Title: Richard III
Genre: Historical Play
Year: 1591
Pages: 180
Origin: read on a Kindle during September 2012
Nod Rating: 5 nods out of 5

‘A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!’

These are the enduring words from Shakespeare’s Richard III; the desperate, villainous king searching in vain for his salvation. As all viewers and readers know fully well, Richard’s plan to take the throne by wicked and corrupt deeds is foiled by the triumph of the Earl of Richmond. The young earl ends the division and begins healing the scars between the houses of York and Lancaster and their Wars of the Roses. Richmond brought forth a new dynasty: the Tudors. The very same Tudor family who a hundred years later – in the guise of Elizabeth, Richmond’s granddaughter - would influence Shakespeare to write this tale in a particularly favourable light. Richard, the last of the Plantagenets is painted the villain, and the new king is seen as virtuous and defending poor old England from wrong.

Of course, fiction and fact can – at times – be wildly contrasting forces. Yet throughout history we have seen the art of fiction overcome fact: the tale of Richard III, is perhaps one such example. The naked seizure of power is truth, but the motive and the outcomes have become overshadowed. In this manner, it has been played out again and again, from the Jacobin globe theatre, through the Victorian era, to the cinematic interpretations of Laurence Oliver (pictured above) and – perhaps most intriguingly – a fascist England in which the masterful Ian McKellan plays the doomed character.

For those readers out there who tuned into this blog during 2011, the background to Richard’s rise is portrayed in Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy: his father, the Duke of York, makes a claim – perceived as a rightful claim – to the throne of England, intending to overthrow the weak king, Henry VI. The Duke is killed in battle, with the throne eventually becoming the property of Richard’s older brother, Edward IV. The wars between rival houses appear to be at an end, when Edward’s IV unexpected death provides the cause for a tumultuous period in history. Edward’s sons vanish (with the mystery of their fate continuing to this day), with Richard taking the throne; only to isolate all of those around him. His defeat to Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth ends his two year reign.

Shakespeare deals with Richard’s bloody rise to the top and the climax finish of the battle. Richard is portrayed as a scheming plotter, marrying those who might advance his position; killing his brother (the Duke of Clarence) who might stand in his way; offing rivals – once former friends - who might oppose him (such Lord Hastings and the Duke of Buckingham). The murder of the nephews – the ill-fated princes in the tower – are described by Richard’s henchman: ‘The most arch deed a piteous massacre that ever yet this land was guilty of.’ Queen Margaret describes the rising body count to those around her:

‘I had an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him; I had a Henry, till a Richard kill’d him: Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him; Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard kill’d him.’

It is the females of the play who see Richard for who is really is, with Queen Margaret playing the role of Cassandra in predicting future discontent. Anne deems him a ‘villain, thou knowest nor law of God nor man: No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity’; with the former queen (wife of the killed Henry VI) calls him ‘a murderous villain’; and his very own mother calls out:

‘Thou elvish-mark’d, abortive, rooting hog! Thou that wast seal’d in thy nativity the slave of nature and the son of hell! Thou slander of thy heavy mother’s womb! Thou loathed issue of thy father’s loins! Thou rag of honour!’

Later in the play, his mother continues with her description of her son:

‘From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept a hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death: That dog, that had his teeth before his eyes, To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood’.

In such a manner, Richard truly plays the role of ‘hell’s black intelligencer’. But in contrast to everyone else, Richard sees it as his right to claim the throne and lead England back to prosperous days: ‘the world is grown so bad that wrens make pretty where eagles dare not perch’. More interestingly, is Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard as a man capable of comic flourishes, especially so in his – somewhat – endearing asides as he allows the viewer/reader into his schemes. Having met the young princes, he tells the audience: ‘So wise so young, they say, do never long live’; and having flattered and wooed Queen Elizabeth and kissed her before she leaves the stage, he curses out: ‘Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman!’ It is the part set out in Richard’s opening, famous soliloquy: ‘And seem a saint when most I play the devil.’

However, not even his ambition and thirst for power can guide Richard to ultimate success. His actions of lies and deceit force his followers to flee, one by one; the victims of growing paranoia and insanity. Shakespearian convention is followed (alongside predictions and ominous dreams) in the shape of ghosts who return to haunt Richard on the night before the Battle of Bosworth. The young princes return to call upon Richard: ‘Dream on thy cousins smothered in the Tower. Let us be lead within they bosom, Richard. And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death! Thy nephews’ souls bid thee despair and die!’ Whilst they point to their potential saviour, the Earl of Richmond, to ‘beget a happy race of kings! Edward’s unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.’

Alone and without hope, Richard descends to schizophrenic ranting – again, another blessed stable of Shakespeare’s titular characters. It further showcases Richard’s complex role:

‘The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What, do I fear myself? There’s none else by. Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No; yes, I am. Then fly. What, from myself? Great reason why. Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself! Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good that I myself have done unto myself? O, no! Alas, I rather hate myself for hateful deeds committed by myself! I am a villain: yet I lie, I am not.'

Continuing with his lonesome conclusion:

‘My conscience hath a thousand several tongues. And every tongue brings in a several tale. And every tale condemns me for a villain. Perjury, perjury, in the high’st degree. Murder, stern murder, in the dir’st degree. All several sins, all us’d in each degree. Throng to the bar, crying all “Guilty! Guilty!” I shall despair. There is no creature loves me; And if I die no soul will pity me.’

The victory of the Earl of Richmond at the play’s finale (the same man formerly dismissed by Richard as ‘a little peevish boy’) puts right the wrongs of Richard’s reign. The defeat of Richard, and indeed the entire play, has been labelled as through and through case of Tudor propaganda. Perhaps Shakespeare – bankrolled by Tudor blood – was aware of such an accusation. There are hints throughout the play, but none more so than in Queen Margaret’s words to Elizabeth about her position to Richard: ‘Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were, And he that slew them fouler than he is’.

‘Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this son of York’ are the immortal words of the play’s opening. A play that confirms all of the powers of Shakespeare’s ability to write dialogue, to plot out action, and to thrill and entertain his audience. It is amongst the most popular of his canon; and the Worm makes the case that it is amongst the strongest of his catalogue. If you have not seen or read it during the past four hundred twenty-one years, then you have much to catch up on.


Read it here:
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-richard-iii.htm

Read the reviews for Henry VI: Parts One, Two & Three here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/08/hnery-iv-part-one-william-shakespeare.html
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/11/henry-vi-part-two-william-shakespeare.html
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/12/henry-vi-part-three-william-shakespeare.html

#185 T.S. Eliot's Selected Poems (1954)

Author: T.S. Eliot
Title: Selected Poems
Genre: Poetry
Year: 1954
Pages: 120
Origin: a present from Mrs. W
Nod Rating: 5 nods out of 5

‘What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.’

The above quote – from the hand of T.S. Eliot himself – is fitting of this paradoxical, puzzling and enigmatic poet. His work is synonymous with the twentieth century, from musings on the passing of time, to the chaos and disorder of a post-war world, and then onwards to his own religious conversion.

This collection was originally selected by Eliot himself and published in the 1950s; it has remained in publication, culminating in the Worm’s particular addition, printed as part of Faber’s eightieth anniversary celebrations (along with other poetic heavyweights such as Betjeman and Auden). It covers the most renowned and feted of Eliot’s catalogue, including poems from Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), Poems (1920), The Waste Land (1922), The Hollow Men (1925), Ash-Wednesday (1930), Ariel Poems, as well as selected choruses from his play The Rock (1934).

‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ featured in an earlier book review this year (see below for the link); the Worm then highlighted the polarising opinions that Eliot’s work seems to evoke in readers: from prophet to pretentious poet, from ground-breaking to bore inducing. But yet this is a poet who continues to enjoy popular appeal, from undergraduate reading lists to even being referenced in an episode of The Simpsons. Prufrock contains the forever entertaining lines: ‘For I have known them all already, known them all / Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons / I have measured out of my life with coffee spoons.’ Eliot writing as a man (still of comparative youth) lamenting the passing of years, his own naivety and innocence.

Other early highlights include ‘Portrait of a Lady’, ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’, and the celebrated ‘Gerontion’. The last, on first glance, continues with the Prufrock theme: ‘Here I am, an old man in a dry month / Being read to be a boy, waiting for rain.’ But deeper analysis offers different interpretations, possibly that of a man whose values have been destroyed by the advent of the Great War. Eliot writes of the areas of destruction: ‘Blistered in Brussels, patched and peeled in London’; but concerning the individual on a personal level: ‘The word within a word, unable to speak a word.’ Meaning has shattered in pieces, with a loss remaining; the poem itself ending with the harrowing lines ‘Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season.’

It is a theme returned to in greater detail in The Waste Land, perhaps the pinnacle of Eliot’s work. It is a poem of great sadness and bewildered ambition; the inclusion of an extensive notes section gives readers hope that sense can be found within its rambling words and pages. But perhaps sense is the one thing that can no longer be found in a world in which has changed beyond all recognition by war and revolution. As Eliot states in the first section (The Burial of the Dead):

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock

The narrator (or should that be narrators?) attempts to continue onwards with life, but within the ‘Unreal city’ of London (now a falling tower), it is a hard to step forward into the darkness:

‘My nerves are bad tonight. Yes, bad. Stay with me.
Speak to me. Why do you never speak? Speak.
What are you thinking of? What thinking? What?
I never know what you are thinking. Think.’

Confusion is central to the poem, with Eliot writing (in numerous voices) the pointlessness of life: ‘Do you know nothing Do you see nothing? Do you remember / Nothing?’ and ‘What shall we do tomorrow? What shall we ever do?’ The narrator, standing on Margate Sands, is unable to connect the old world with the new, ‘Nothing with nothing.’

This monumental poem concludes with Part V (‘What the Thunder Said’), in which Eliot writes: ‘He who was living is now dead / We who were living are now dying.’ The reader searches – in vain – for a resolution as to a full understanding; Eliot himself appears to hint at such fulfilment by listing a large list of references alluded to in the course of poem, both literary and historic (ranging from those of ancient Greece, to that of Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Leicester sailing on the Thames). But perhaps such understanding is, as the voices in the poem show, impossible to find. Eliot himself is hinting that the modern world has no use for an older language of references, and that a new lexicon is needed in order for fresh problems to be surmounted. The ending words of Sanskrit ‘Shantih Shantih Shantih’ allude to the death of the old world, rather than the key to unlocking the future.

Interestingly, Eliot himself appears to solve such problems by seeking truth and enlightenment internally, through religion. This development can be traced from The Hollow Men, again dealing with themes of alienation and confusion: ‘This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper’; and more crucially Ash Wednesday in 1930. Hailed as Eliot’s “conversion poem”, Ash Wednesday finds the poet in turmoil over which direction to proceed, as found in its opening lines:

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn.

The inclusion of sections of The Rock (first performed in 1934), is perhaps most intriguing. As expected, a narrative is hard to find, the beginning starting in typical Eliot-ian fashion:

The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.
O perpetual revolution of configured stars,
O perpetual recurrence of determined seasons,
O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying!

Eliot himself wrote an apparent disclaimer to The Rock: ‘I cannot consider myself the author of the “play”, but only of the words which are printed here.’ It is the type of paradoxical language that infuriates the legions of Eliot detractors in the world; but perhaps that which embraces many more.

Such a collection – of the fantastic, puzzling and enjoyable – marks out T.S. Eliot has a supreme poet; not just one of high stature in the twentieth century, but of all time. As noted in the previous review, it is all too easy to dismiss him as a snob; it is far better - for the reading eyes and the soul – to embrace him as he is. The poems are a delight to read aloud, as well as to muse over. What is clear, having read the selection, is the interesting direction in which Eliot’s own choice of career took: from the outside who is up against the grain, to voicing concerns and the mood of a generation, to religious convert and the worthwhile works that resulted from this, to become an accepted part of the literary establishment. Selected Poems is the collection gathered on his own terms; its contents make for a fantastic addition to any bookshelf.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Selected-Poems-Eliot-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0571247059/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351541480&sr=8-1

Hear The Waste Land performed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP9taUtLlYQ 

Read the review for Eliot’s Prufrock and Other Observations (1917) from July 2012:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/prufrock-and-other-observations-ts.html

#184 The Dark Knight Returns (1986)

Author: Frank Miller

Title: The Dark Knight Returns

Genre: Graphic Novel

Year: 1986

Pages: 220

Origin: read online during September 2012

Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5

2012 was to be the year of the Bat. Christopher Nolan’s climactic ending to his Dark Knight trilogy was released to screams of… well, perhaps indifference. Accusations of plot holes and long bouts of tedium were thrown at the director, all of which detracts from the material that Nolan gleamed from the atmospheric and emotionally charged comics from the 1980s. Key among these was Frank Miller’s visualisation of a particular dark and violent tale of the Batman; and it is interesting to trace the origins of the recent hype and hysteria back to the 1980s, and in Miller’s work, in particular.

The Worm has previously taken the time to read and review one of Miller’s previous works on the Dark Knight legend, Batman: Year One (see below for a link to that review). Of greater importance was his setting of an older Bruce Wayne in a bleak and troublesome world, far away from the camp of previous incarnations of Batman from the 1960s and 1970s. Issued in four parts during 1986, Miller assumes the creative force and direction of this series: writing and doing the principal pencilling, it was later left to other talents to complete the visual art; including Klaus Janson (Inker), John Costanza (Letterer) and Lynn Varley (Colourist). The series’ renowned title – The Dark Knight Returns – in fact, alludes to the first issued comic; the remaining titles including The Dark Knight Triumphant, Hunt the Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Falls.

Having retired his cape for the past decade, Wayne returns as Batman after a realisation that he cannot escape from the mountain that are his scarred memories (the old chestnut of the death of his parents, as well as the haunting memory of a long, lost former Robin employee). Donning the outfit once more, he takes to the streets in what has become a city that has lost all hope of progress and success; old foes are taken down, including Harvey Two Face (who despite surgery, cannot escape the dual personality of his nature: both good and evil), as well as new ones in the form of a vicious gang called the Mutants. Such actions provide the causation of other events, including the birth of a vigilante group called the Sons of Batman, as well as the reawakening of a previously catatonic Joker (the trading of escalation between the forces of good and evil well used by Nolan in the blockbuster The Dark Knight in 2008). Such is the mayhem of the city during these issues, with Superman called in to pacify the situation, ending in a climatic fist-fight between the two legends.

Superman himself is never seemingly far away from a large DC comic book involving Batman, much to the chagrin of the Worm; however, Miller uses his presence here to contrast the two roles and personalities of the two heroes. Superman is welded to authority, the good boy who never does wrong; whilst Batman is the dark, lurking presence who deals in the shadow of night in the underworld. The ending is a perfect way to the end the series, with Miller fittingly commenting on society and the possibilities of dealing with the wrongs in the world at that time.

Thematically, The Dark Knight Returns is a triumph in including issues of great importance to the eighties (such as the threat of the Cold War and the power of the media). Television plays a massive role – in moving the story forward as well as in highlighting the negative effects it can play in society. There is constant cutting away from the action to read an interview and comments from “experts” and leaders in Gotham society: criticising the efforts of the Batman to bring justice to the city’s criminals. Undoubtedly, Miller would have rich pickings for today’s role and power of social media and how this may influence how a vigilante such as Batman could operate. Such thematic links are aided by the great illustration and interesting dialogue that Miller provides.

However, there are inclusions that disrupt these positives, including that of a new Robin. In a teenage female form, it is perhaps the ending result of the character’s transformation that makes most sense to readers (the former male Robin having played a subservient role to the forceful tutoring of the older Batman); however, it is none the less annoying because of it. More concerning is the direction of the comics, from issue one to issue four: from a seeming desire to position Batman in a real world with real limitations, to the involvement of supernatural powers such as Superman and Kryptonite.

Miller later returned to this version of Wayne-Batman, writing and illustrating a sequel in the twenty-first century, The Dark Knight Strikes Again. The Worm will continue reading and delving into Miller’s twisted, cynical – but yet strikingly familiar – world.

Buy it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Batman-Knight-Returns-Frank-Miller/dp/1852867981/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349517100&sr=8-1

Read the Worm’s Batman: Year One review right here:

http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/batman-year-one-frank-miller-david.html

#183 Traitors of the Tower (2010)

Author: Alison Weir
Title: Traitors of the Tower
Genre: History
Year: 2010
Pages: 80
Origin: Bought for 99p from an Oxfam Bookshop
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

Is there anything that Alison Weir does not know about the Tudor age? The Worm had the pleasure of recently reading one of her larger works – Elizabeth the Queen (see the link for the review below) – earlier this year. Another addition to the Worm’s book shelf places her in competition with another popular Tudor historian: the smug and inflammatory David Starkey. But where Starkey appears convinced that he must shout as loud as possible, Weir takes a different approach: an aim to simply tell a good story.

As such, Weir’s books have grown in popularity in the past decade. This particular book – Traitors of the Tower – is no more than a taster of her bigger, meatier works or research. Published as part of the ongoing series Quick Reads, it hopes to add to the growing catalogue of books that will hook in new and uninitiated readers across the land. As the Quick Reads website (see below for a link) promote, they are ‘bite sized books by big name authors and celebrities. They are perfect to engage people with reading as they are short and use clear language but still have fast-paced, brilliant storylines.’

Weir – a true big name in historical reading circles – has chosen to focus on short chapters on those who succumbed to the scaffold during the reign of various Tudor kings (and the last Plantagenet), extending from unfortunate Lord Hastings in 1483 to the bold and foolish Earl of Essex under Queen Elizabeth in 1601. In a fast paced tour, Weir brings in the back story and the downfall of the seven protagonists. Many have been told – and in greater detail and space – many times before, including the likes of Anne Boleyn and her ‘little neck’ as well as the intriguing case of England’s nine day queen Lady Jane Grey (Paul Delaroche’s 1833 painting The Execution of Lady Jane Grey adorning the cover of the book). Of greater interest is Weir’s focus on Margaret Pole, whose death strikes a chord with the still lingering influence of the Wars of the Roses a century earlier.

The book – like most in the Quick Reads catalogue – is one of style over substance. Little analysis can be added in ten pages per chapter, besides that of a nuts and bolts narrative that is more akin to a Wikipedia article than a book. More annoyingly is Weir’s choice of language throughout: simplicity is the conscious method here, as if Weir is writing for children readers rather than those who are less inclined to pick up a book.

The Quick Reads agenda is a commendable one; but as can be expected, eighty “bite sized” pages are hardly enough of a meal when a reader is ravenous to find out more. For those who wish to read a book by Weir, her other involving reads are available and strongly recommended. Traitors of the Tower is one to leave to hook the uninitiated book worms that walk among us.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Traitors-Tower-Quick-Read-ebook/dp/B0038AUYEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350069963&sr=8-1

Read the review of Elizabeth the Queen here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/elizabeth-queen-alison-weir.html

Find out more about Quick Reads here:
http://www.quickreads.org.uk/what-are-quick-reads/introduction

#182 David Copperfield (1850)

Author: Charles Dickens
Title: David Copperfield
Genre: Novel
Year: 1850
Pages: 980
Origin: read on the Kindle during August-September 2012
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5

‘Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield.’
(Charles Dickens, 1869)

Such is the beatification of David Copperfield: Charles Dickens has blessed it as his favourite, whilst other writers – of the high ilk of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Woolf – appear to be in unison on the greatness of the novel. Woolf, in particular, was read the book on several occasions, assessing it ‘magnificent’. These are massive endorsements, especially when considering the bulk and expanse of Dickens’ canon of fictional creations.

David Copperfield (or, to give its wondrously large original title: The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)’) was initially published in serial form across two years – similarly to many other Dickens novels. It follows the life of its title character, from childhood to manhood, in what is hailed an example of a bildungsroman novel.

For the Worm, this was to be the second attempt at reading the novel whole. The first began many moons ago, having bought a cheap copy in a second hand book shop and spending days not going to class but rather read dusty volumes in a nearby park. Pretentious? Yes. And far too long for the attention span of a sixteen year-old. The moons have continued to pass, and now it was time to return to the novel, to continue beyond page two-hundred and finally attain closure on this story. Of course, the old dusty volume is no longer with us and is long gone; in its place is the robust and ever-ready (dependent on battery life) Kindle, that now homes many of Dickens’ famous novel. David Copperfield is one of the first in a journey through the mind of one of the world’s greatest writers.

Although the storyline is not – arguably - as well known as the other novels in Dickens’ catalogue (principally those of Oliver and Great Expectations), the colourful character descriptions find the author on the top of his game. Here are a few examples, including that of his nurse Peggotty, with ‘eyes so dark that they seemed to darken their whole neighbourhood in her face, and cheeks and arms so hard and red that I wondered the birds didn’t peck her in preference to apples’; the ominous arrival of the Murdstone’s: ‘the gloomy taint that was in the Murdstone blood, darkened the Murdstone religion, which was austere and wrathful’; the hilarious and bumbling Mr Micawber ‘who was a thoroughly good-natured man, and as active a creature about everything but his own affairs as ever existed, and never so happy when he was busy about something that could never be of any profit to him’; the villainous Uriah Heep: ‘All this time he was squeezing my hand with his damp fishy fingers, while I made every effort I decently could to get it away’; and the rather more cheerful names for his wife, Dora: ‘Child-wife’ and ‘Little Blossom’.

Furthermore, the description of thoughts, feelings and surroundings find a writer who has improved from earlier “fancies”; a writer who is stepping into a second, in-depth and all the more creative period of his life. The Worm delighted in reading the young Copperfield’s earliest memories of his dead father:

‘the remembrance that I have my first childish associations with his white grave-stone in the churchyard, and of the indefinable compassion I used to feel for it lying out alone there in the dark night, when our little parlour was warm and bright with fire and candle, and the doors of our house were – almost cruelly, it seemed to me sometimes – bolted and locked against it’.

And the recalling of his wedding day to his ‘Child-wife’:

‘Of her waving her little hand, and our going away once more. Of her once more stopping, and looking back, and hurrying to Agnes, and giving Agnes, above all the others, her last kisses and farewells. We drive away together, and I awake from the dream. I believe it at last. It is my dear, dear, little wife beside me, whom I love so well! “Are you happy now, you foolish boy?” says Dora, “and sure you don’t repent?” I have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me. They are gone, and I resume the journey of my story.’

The novel – the plots and subplots of which are far too vast to fully cover in this review – enrapture characters of the good (Traddles, Peggotty and her brother, Mr Peggotty, as well as Dr Strong), the bad (Uriah Heep and the Murdstones), the confused (the Micawbers), the mistreated (Mr Mell), the complex (Rosa Dartle) and the bold (Betsey Trotwood and James Steerforth); and unfortunately, the dull (chiefly, the angelic and dutiful Agnes). As in every Dickens novel, we have the battle between good and evil, the peculiar and comedic elements that surround us, as well as that classic Dickensian theme: the differences between class in Victorian society.

The Worm’s three largest gripes with this novel are the following: the first, is the weakness of Copperfield as a character. The book is filled with colourful people, memorably the likes of Steerforth, his aunt Betsey Trotwood and Peggotty. However, Copperfield himself appears devoid of doing evil or harm (bar, perhaps, the incident with Dora’s father); he is left to play the straight-man to the incidents of others around him, something of a blank canvas to be impressed upon. The book’s first quarter – that of Copperfield’s youth – hints upon the boy having been an unreliable narrator; an element not followed up by Dickens. The Worm’s evidence for this is, admittedly scant, and may have been an invention of his mind in the hope of a greater pay-off as Copperfield entered manhood. But there are a few remarks, including: ‘When my thoughts go back, now, to that slow agony of my youth, I wonder how much of the histories I invented for such people hangs like a mist of fancy over well-remembered facts!’

The second gripe focuses on the supposed villainy of Heep. Undoubtedly, Heep plays the part of the “bad guy” in illicitly stealing the funds of those around him; but he has a long way to go to repeat the wickedness and complexity of other Victorian creations, principally that of Bronte’s Heathcliff. Furthermore, Copperfield’s instant dislike to this character is at odds with his transaction with every other person in this novel: after all, instant affection and warmth is one of Copperfield’s few saving graces.

But the gripe that eclipses all others is the rambling structure of the plot. This is a common complaint held against Dickens, who didn’t write succinct novels, but rather a series of chapters to be published week after week. This feature has a modern equivalent in the never-ending soap operas on television; or more exactly in the Worm’s reading material, that of an extended comic book run, with prints issued each month. It is clear that Dickens introduces characters, such as the legendary Micawber, to await a pay-off further down the road; what is not clear is the author’s actual intention in the finish line when commencing this story. It is this sense of chaos, of continuing to write until the story had worn thin, that demotes David Copperfield from the possible starry heights of a 5 nodder commendation.

But, dear reader, these gripes cannot wholly detract from what is a fantastic novel. Dickens’ love is clearly shown on these pages, and as becomes clear during Copperfield’s journey, the two – author and character – are undisputedly linked. As noted above, David Copperfield was Dickens’ ‘favourite child’; the Worm, however, will continue to plough through his back catalogue, to continue forwards to the exploits of Pip, of the deeds of Darnay and Carton from A Tale of Two Cities, as well as the adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Copperfield-Vintage-Classics-Charles-Dickens/dp/0099511460/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349517253&sr=1-1

Read it here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/766

#181 The Spanish Civil War (1965)

Author: Hughes Thomas
Title: The Spanish Civil War (1965)
Genre: History
Pages: 1,000
Origin: Bought in a second-hand bookshop in St Ives, Cornwall
Nod Rating: 4 out of 5

The Spanish Civil War is one that has long held fascination, as well as mystery, for decades of history and political readers. The befuddlement has come in the positioning of the war: a Second World War in miniature (as the author speculates), or one of unique internal friction special only to the Iberian peninsula. In truth, it is both.

Fought between 1936-1939, this confusion can be explained in the diverse political, religious, and nationalist groups taking part. These include the politicians and supporters of the republic, socialists, communists, anarchists loosely uniting to defeat reactionary, conservative forces including the bulk of the army, monarchists, Carlists, and fascists (Falangists). Each of these sides was not solidified in its support and union, with each grouping fearing the other, eager to make more gains, eager to destroy anyone against their own brand of ideology. Each side had a brutal atmosphere of infighting, whilst each smaller grouping had its own bickering and discord.

This inferno was further enraged with the introduction of the other superpowers (including fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and an ill and failing republican France). This complex situation reaches the realms of bafflement for non-Spanish readers with the understanding of the regional differences, including Basque and Catalan nationalism. The mistrust and intrigue of two hundred years of Spanish decline ignite in these years, leading to one particular winner (Franco) and the promotion of an arch-conservative and Catholic Spain that endured until the fourth-quarter of the twentieth century.

Could such a history – one that gives due attention to each of these groups and situations - be satisfactorily written? The Worm himself has attempted a read of a previous book on this war, but admitted defeat once confusion set in and the words on the page appeared as strange as random numbers and exclamation points. No small book could hope to avoid such defeat; and the author of this volume – Hugh Thomas – spreads the action and analysis across one thousand pages. Much attention is devoted to the run-up to the war, including the years of the doomed second republic of the 1930s, as well as concentrating on running threads – religion, politics, society – from the past two centuries. The book is split into three sections: the rising and revolution, the fighting of the war, followed by the defeat of the republic and victory for Franco. The typical exchange of one side against the other is narrated; as well as the internal intricacies of this war: including the hopes of the revolutionaries within Spain (anarchists, communists, socialists, and falangists), and the charting of their decline and extinction.

As can be expected from such a mammoth task, there are a few bugbears throughout these pages. One is the imbalance of attention devoted to the first year of the war; in comparison, the second half of the war is visited in fly-by motion. Is this a reflection of the war itself, or rather the author’s own power to attention failing as the light of the end is sighted? More annoyingly is the attention given to the nations of the world, principally the main European powers as well as the USA. Of course, this war had numerous connections to foreign aid (that of Italy and Germany on the side of Francoist Spain, and the USSR on the side of republican Spain); however, this does not account for the willingness of Thomas to return to the apparent safety confines of Westminster and the endless commentary on the communications of ministers of Parliament. The agreements and non-agreements of the Non-Intervention Committee takes on a larger role than is needed within this history, and is evidence of a typical Anglo-bias from a British historian.

Yet for an attempt of making sense of a particularly wild piece of history, Thomas’ The Spanish Civil War succeeds in many ways where other lesser historians have failed. Since its first publication in the 1960s – at a time when the wounds of the war remained sore – it has survived in print and reprint throughout the past fifty years. The Worm thoroughly enjoyed the plots, the battles, the characters, and the fight that each participant – no matter how divergent their beliefs and ideals – believed was right. Such a significant war deserves a writer fitting to analyse and narrate; luckily, Thomas was, and continues to be, the man for this job.


Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Spanish-Civil-Hugh-Thomas/dp/0141011610 

#180 Superman & Batman Versus Aliens & Predator (2007)

Authors: Mark Schultz (writer) & Ariel Olivetti (artist)
Title: Superman & Batman Versus Aliens & Predator
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 110 pages
Origin: read on during August 2012
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

Only comics can bring about such bizarre and incongruous titles. When first flicking through a catalogue of graphic novels, the Worm was immediately caught to this particular one. A self-proclaimed Batman fan (as will be seen in a few weeks time with a forthcoming book review related to the Dark Knight), the addition of other characters only offers two possible conclusions: the most fantastic comic book ever created, or another failure based on trying to cash in on various markets. Let’s be straight: this is not the most fantastic comic ever created. But for a comic printed to make a quick buck, it is not all so bad. And allow the Worm to explain why.

Originally a two part comic series released in 2007, the story is set in the Andes and finds Clark Kent (and the ever, unfortunately, inseparable Lois Lane) on location for a report. Soon enough Kent is transformed into Superman and is buddied up with Batman, who are attempting to solve a riddle of dead bodies and “unusual activity” near a volcano. This “unusual activity” is soon found to be a group of Predators and various Aliens who have been stranded on the Earth for many years, ever since crash landing at some point during the last ice age. Our two heroes squabble over how to deal with this threat: Superman wants to save them before the nations of the world unite to nuke the area; whilst Batman believes annihilation is only way to safeguard the planet.

Such a plot outline might possess enough power to send many of you to sleep. But there is enough action within the series to keep the reader on their toes, including Batman grappling with a group of Predators who wish to cook him, and a weakened Superman (as per usual) going fisticuffs with an Alien. The very cheek and confusion of putting these characters together is enough to sustain interest. However, the element that keeps this particular book from falling into the pit of the 1 nodder damned is the art-work. Beautifully drawn, it is in bold contrast to the actual storyline. Olivetti shows a great talent, and one that would be better served beyond the confines of this cash-in idea.

This particular mini-series follows in a line of other titles (including Aliens versus Predator, Batman vs. Predator, Superman vs. Aliens, and pretty much any other superhero you can imagination coming up against bizarre aliens created in 1980s action movies starring the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger). It would be naïve to think that comic book publishers would stop printing such weak titles; however, with some tweaking of the storyline and the continuing employment of such artists, perhaps the worst abuses of these titles can be eradicated.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Superman-Batman-Aliens-Predator-Graphic/dp/1401213286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347721335&sr=8-1

Plymouth's Very Own Book Festival

Plymouth – the Worm’s hometown – has long been known for its naval dockyard and love of concrete cancerous buildings. But this week its cultural status has gone up a rank or two with the celebration of its very first International Book Festival.

The Festival kicked off over the weekend and will run until 23rd September. It promises to bring ‘the very best writers, poets, illustrators, musicians and spoken word performers from the UK and around the world’ to this city. A click on the link will confirm whether such a statement is fact, or perhaps fiction (depending on your own opinion and reading standards).

Whatever the verdict, such an event is a welcome arrival to Plymouth; if it is here to stay, the city can only thrive. The Worm urges all Plymothians to take advantage of this somewhat aberration on the normal “cultural” calendar.


Find out more here:
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=38529

#179: My Ancestor Was An Agricultural Labourer

Author: Ian H Waller
Title: My Ancestor Was An Agricultural Labourer
Genre: Genealogy
Pages: 130
Origin: Purchased from Amazon during August 2012
Nod Rating: 2 nods out of 5

Family tree enthusiasts proudly boast of genealogy’s popularity on the internet, second only to that much supported viewing habit: pornography. Recent years have seen a massive boost to this past-time, of which many factors – improved resources on the internet, as well as popularity of programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are? – have seen a true renaissance in genealogical studies.

The Worm himself is currently in the midst of researching his family tree, and can attest to its addictive nature. Hence the purchase of this particular book, the rather mundanely named My Ancestor Was An Agricultural Labourer. Yes, we’d all like to trace our connection to royalty or people of importance in history; but as the book’s author, Ian H Waller, points out, nearly all of us have links to the English countryside in one form or another.

It is more than a simple guide to tracing sources; Waller takes a historical approach in the hope of generating more interest and educating the reader on conditions in the past. Most focus is on the Victorian period, including events such as the Swing Riots, the formation of agricultural trade unions, and the later agricultural depression. Of more interest is the description of the day in a life of an agricultural labourer, all of which thoroughly shamed the Worm in the contrasted decadent luxury of his own life (and shame you must feel, also, fellow readers!).

As a person who has studied and lectured on this topic, it is safe to say that Waller never runs out of something to add on this particular profession. In great and un-exhausting detail, he sets out possible routes of research: from basic records and newspapers to apprenticeship records and vaccination records. Such a breadth of activity suggests more than an interest – perhaps a love – with this area of study. However, Waller himself fails to bring much of these events alive for the reader. And as such, the book remains a read best served for those die hard family tree enthusiasts; a book needed to complete a section of research, rather than to be enjoyed on its own merits.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancestor-Was-Agricultural-Labourer-was/dp/1903462983

#178: The History of England. Volume I: Foundation (2011)

Author: Peter Ackroyd
Title: The History of England Volume I: Foundation
Genre: History
Pages: 450
Origin: bought from The Works for the bargain sum of £3.99
Nod Rating: 3 out of 5

A historian may be talented and have researched many nooks and crannies of the past that have delighted readers, but without that large focus on the broad reach of a nation’s history – the quest of the magnum opus – they seem to remain a figure not cut of heavyweight cloth. Peter Ackroyd has established a name for himself as one of London’s chief story-tellers – in both fiction and non-fiction – as well as publishing a list of books long and varied. Areas have been dealt with ranging from journalism to Edgar Allen Poe, from Oscar Wilde to Venice. But what of this work, his apparent ambition of the much desired and elusive opus?

The big theme has been concentrated on: a whole history of one particular nation and people. It follows in the footsteps of other popular historians, most notably that of Simon Schama and his three volumed work on Britain. But rather than deal with the whole of Britannia, in this devolved and politically fragmented times Ackroyd unashamedly deals with the largest nation of these isles: England.

The book begins in a land not so far away some 900,000 years ago, ending with the death of Henry VII in 1509. A large scan of history, even for a book of some five-hundred pages. For those readers who are accustomed to a “biography” of a nation, the start of such a book in the midst of time is no real surprise. The nation may change, but the pattern is usually the same: pre-history and the stone age, followed by the coming of the Romans, the vacating of the Romans, the feuding tribes of the Dark Stages, and then viola, we have the arrival of William the Conqueror. All of this is dealt with within 70 or so pages, leaving the bulk of this book to deal with the Norman and subsequent Plantagenet kings. Of histories on England, normal service is resumed: that is to say, a political narrative history based on the kings of England and their dealings with their back-stabbing off spring and their feuds with other kings of France.

This is undoubtedly a shame, and a routine that Ackroyd appears conscious of due to his parachuting of small chapters discussing life in a certain decade or century. These small chapters – some no more than two pages – appear to dig up some interesting local sources and stories. It is unfortunate that Ackroyd was unable to make more of these chapters, thereby side-stepping the usual political procession. Other disappointed points include the lack of proper time committed to the land of pre-1066, whilst the insistence of naming those in pre-history as “English” is annoying (especially given that there is no preface to explain the reasoning for this). Obviously such nitpicking – a forte of the Worm’s – detracts from what is a readable book, albeit one that lacks in full force of imagination.

Volume I completed, there is more to come. However, the Worm will be blunt to the point: if the usual story is written and printed, the future volumes will be avoided. There is enough already weighing down good bookshelves containing this plotline. Magnus opus, it is not. The quest, then, must go on.

Buy it here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0230706398/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0230706401&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04W7ADTWF2VA7T1DVE8H

#177 V For Vendetta (1990)

Authors: Alan Moore & David Lloyd
Title: V For Vendetta
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 300
Origin: borrowed from Plymouth University library and read during July-August 2012
Nod Rating: 4 out of 5

The Worm confesses to developing an infatuation with Alan Moore in recent months. As can be seen in recent reviews, a massive 5 nods was given to his Watchmen graphic novel, whilst a further 3 nods was laid out for his short book on the art of writing for comics. Is this a sign that the Worm is becoming far too generous in his older age? The Worm stresses that these nods are for a fantastic writer who is always on the hunt of widening our imaginations in his story telling.

As such, the Worm thought it best to return to the near beginnings of Moore’s career: V for Vendetta. It is a dystopian story set in the near future, in the world of the late 1990s in which nuclear bombs have been set off, and power in Britain has been taken over by a fascist religious political party. Hidden behind a mask, and dressed in the sartorial style of Guy Fawkes, V is on a one-man quest to bring down the government and show everyone the existence of their chains; and more importantly, the power to break those chains to reclaim their liberty.

The story principally follows V in his underworld alongside his new sidekick, the naïve and uninitiated Evey; as well as the groups who pursue him with their own motivations and reasons. V is at odds with everyone in this nightmarish vision of the future: his love of poetry and good music is a rebellion against the dark skyline, drab coasts and kitchen-sink dramas played out in the city of London. V’s seemingly riddled and flowery prose may be slightly annoying at first, but as each page is turned they are increasingly seen as the light to behold against the dark forces that have taken control of old Blighty. In typical Moore fashion, the “good guys” and the “bad guys” are never clear cut: is V a hero or simply a psychotic murderer? It is up to the readership to decide. Alongside this ambiguity lies stylish and always interesting framing of the page; seen nowhere more clearly than at the beginning of Book Two: The Vicious Cabaret in which sheet music is displayed when connecting all of the various plot strands.

However, V for Vendetta is not an entirely accessible read. Beside the nature of the subject, many of which could find off-putting (in essence, an anarchist terrorist killing fascists), there is the actual storyline itself. There is a heady mix of convoluted plot and an array of characters – many of which are hard to distinguish from one another – which means that this is not a book to merely flipped through in a day. The Worm had the pleasure to read the story over the period of several weeks, continually dipping back towards the beginning, and thumbing through pages to link the various plots. It must be advised that other readers should take the same luxury of an amble walk, rather than power read.

In this handsome edition (containing the full comic strips, prefaces from both writer and artist, as well as extended essay on the genesis of V for Vendetta), Moore discusses just how badly his own predications shown to be: no, Thatcher was not removed from office in the 1983 election, and no, a socialist type government did not take control. Of course, the Falklands factor put paid to Thatcher’s ousting in ’83; but the story is not one based on concrete fact, but rather of ideas. These ideas – of freedom and liberty – remain imbedded within us; as are the threats that these ideas and beliefs face from forces all around us. In the character of V, Moore and Lloyd have created an eternal character that is used to rally the forces of liberty against her would-be destroyers: within the comic’s conclusion, as well as in real life. Such real life similarities can be seen in the choice of the group Anonymous and their V masks as a potent symbol.

Avoid the dull, tame movie from 2006 and instead go full flying into the original comic. It may not be to your political taste, but it will surely inflame and excite the bones in your body.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/V-Vendetta-Edition-Alan-Moore/dp/1845762274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346093967&sr=8-1

Read the review for Watchmen right here:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.com/2011/11/watchmen-alan-moore-dave-gibbons.html 

#176 The Sign of the Four (1890) - Arthur Conan Doyle

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Title: The Sign of the Four (1890)
Genre: Novel
Pages: 160
Origin: Read on Kindle during July 2012
Nod Rating: 3 out of 5

'Which is it to-day?... morphine or cocaine?’

And so begins this story about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the book’s narrator, Watson. Dulled by a lack of events, Holmes has taken to a bit of recreational drug-use of the kind that would scare those in authority in today. Only the sniff of a good case and putting his deductive reasoning skills to the test will allow him to "just say no" to 'a second dose of cocaine’.

This is the Worm’s second foray into the world of Sherlock Holmes; more than one year ago the first instalment in the series – A Study in Scarlet – was reviewed and given scant applause (see below). The novel itself, as written by Watson, is alluded to in the beginning of The Sign of the Four by a critical Holmes: ‘Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid.’

Watson retorts: ‘But the romance was there.’ Of course, this clearly shows the divide between Holmes and Watson; a conflict that has endured and delighted readers for more than a century. Much more than the recent movies or other incarnations of the pair, the original books offer so much more character development; as can be seen by Watson’s constant observation and analysis of Holmes: ‘More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion’s quiet and didactic manner.’ More strongly, is Watson’s later cry out: ‘You really are an automaton… There is something positively inhuman in you at times.’

The Sign of the Four - also popularly known as The Sign of Four - is the second novel to feature this dynamic duo. It charts the unfolding of a missing fortune, of double-crossing and revenge between an original foursome from the subcontinent of India. Holmes continues to spout his own philsopophy and way of working: ‘Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.’ Whilst Watson continues to inject the romance into the story, continually questioning his own role, Holmes’ methods, the love-interest (Mrs Morstan), and how the whole story hangs together. In wonderful fashion, all of the threads come crashing together with a final confession and extended flashback from the chief culprit (thankfully, the flashback does not consume more than a third of the book, as was the case with A Study in Scarlet).

Without wishing to spoil any of the main plot threads, the adventure ends as it begins, with Holmes reaching for the ‘cocaine-bottle.’ The novel is a more coherent whole than the earlier A Study in Scarlet; whilst a greater emphasis is added on the stereotypical Sherlock settings. Late Victorian London is detailed in fine Gothic style: ‘The whole place, with its scattered dirt-heaps and ill-grown shrubs, had a blighted, ill-omened look which harmonized with the black tragedy which hung over it.’ Two novels in, and already the legend is being formed; a legend that exists more than one hundred and twenty years later.

The Worm will return to the adventures of Holmes and Watson, and is intent on devouring all the books and short stories in Conon Doyle’s inventive and wonderful series.

Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sign-Four-Arthur-Conan-Doyle/dp/0241952964/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345745407&sr=8-1

A Study in Scarlet review:
http://4eyedbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/study-in-scarlet-sir-arthur-conan-doyle.html