Summer escapes
It's time to list seven of the best books I've read so far this year.
Distraction comes no better than being totally involved in a good book. As mid-summer pass-times compete for our attention, reading is surely one of the most positive.
And sometimes a novel can be so absorbing that the urge to tell everybody about it becomes overwhelming, the need to spread the joy through recommendation.
Non-fiction titles
Before revealing recent novels which have impressed, allow me to start with a few other works. My reading year began - unusually and unplanned - with some non-fiction titles.
The first of these was the hilarious "Tall tales and wee stories" written by Billy Connolly. This collection of funny stories and reworked sketches resonated with the onset of a longest lockdown, the one which coincided with the darkest days of the new year. Added poignancy arises from the realisation that the author is dealing with Parkinson's Disease. This challenge was part of his motivation to write the book. As the life-story of a much-loved comedian and actor, its humour provided comfort and plenty of belly laughs in trying times.
Next up came "Diary of a Young Naturalist" by the teenage Dara McAnulty. This book is all about nature-writing, a diary of the four seasons, as well as a portrait of his close-knit family. Its appeal, I suspect, arises not just from the author's beautiful use of language but also because everybody has become even more acutely aware of nature during the pandemic. For one so young and dealing with autism, his power with words and his knowledge of local wildlife and the outdoors are a joyful revelation. His clever references to poets underline his literary influences. A sign of his growing reputation comes with the first in a new monthly column in the Irish Times (26 June 2021), more beautiful words about nature.
Continuing with non-fiction and keeping the standard at the highest level, I was delighted to get a copy of the brilliant "Thirty-two Words for Field" by the linguist and folklorist Manchán Magan. This book is a paean to the richness and diversity of the Irish language. These include not just the many words for different kinds of field but also numerous alternative words for other features. He grabs readers' attention with learned descriptions of the ancient beliefs and folklore behind the vocabulary surrounding place-names natural features archaeological monuments and lots more. He emphasises time after time with plenty of examples how the loss of linguistic words and phrases results in a loss of understanding of the nuances of our past, our heritage. Magan is a genius, by turns fascinating, well informed and regularly amusing.
Novels
The book that I've just finished reading is "Still Life" written by Val McDermid. She is one of our most distinguished authors having won a range of prestigious awards, a leading exponent of the art of crime fiction. She has a huge volume of published work, 16 millions books sold worldwide. She has served as a judge of prestigious book prizes - all of which makes my admission that this book marks my first direct acquaintance with one of her books a bit shameful. My overdue introduction was not disappointed with a pleasing array of characters and very Scottish setting - until, near the end, the drama switches to Ireland. Her linking of locations in Donegal and Dublin almost caused me to collapse when the climax of the action switched to my home town, Omagh. The author's pinpoint accuracy with geography delighted this reader. Regardless of my parochial nostalgia, I have already bought her latest paperback.
The book I read prior to Still Life was "Whereabouts" written by another author new to me Jhumpa Lahiri. It grabbed my attention in a press review (Helen Cullen Irish Times 8 May 2021) describing it with fulsome praise as "an early contender for book of the year." This is a story narrated by an unnamed woman speaking about a year of her life in an unnamed city somewhere in Italy. It consists of a series of vignettes about the minutiae of mundane occurrences at home, outside, in shops and public places - all fairly minimalist. It's an easy to read account about a person whose life appears to involve social distancing in a pre-Covid era.
Whereas Billy Connolly's book is the funniest non-fiction I have read so far this year, my pick for the most humerous novel goes to the Swedish author Jonas Jonasson's "Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd." This is an author with whom I am familiar and like a lot. In contrast to what has become the default setting of Scandinavian novel-writing, Nordic Noir, Jonasson deals in the polar opposite of bleak. This story is the latest worthy successor from this author to his brilliant debut "The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared."
The novel which has captivated me more than any other so far this year is the best-selling "Where the Crawdads Sing" written by Delia Owens. It combines the best of nature writing with a suspenseful tale that combines heartache, romance, racial and social division, crime and a trial - along with life-affirming moments. It paints what seems like an accurate description of the climate and ecology of the North Carolina coastal marshlands and you the reader are there observing. Quite a combination of circumstances. This is a story which appeals to the senses. At its core, it is a story of isolation and survival against long odds. This resonates in various ways with the current era. It will also appeal to parents and grandparents of a seven-year-old girl.
©Michael McSorley 2021
