In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut

Damon Galgut’s short novel has drawn criticism on two grounds: firstly, that it is a work of non-fiction and, secondly, that it is actually three unconnected short stories (they were initially published separately) and not a novel.

The first criticism can be dealt with by pointing out that the book is actually about memory and its inability to faithfully represent something (the narrator often interjects with comments like “I don’t remember what he was wearing”). The second can be dismissed by the fact that the three stories connect more successfully (in terms of theme and how each reflects the others concerns) than most novels.

The novel deals with three distinct journeys made by Damon over a 20 year period, with each one being named after the role the narrator plays in it (The Follower, The Lover and The Guardian).

I found the novel to be an absolute pleasure: the writing was limpid, tight and entirely shorn of fat. His ability to convey a scene so vividly (the shimmering heat, a gathering storm) with such minimal means was very impressive. The fact that Galgut writes in longhand first is a testament to this old-fashioned method as there is clarity to the writing that is rare to encounter. This also seems to confirm Jonathan Franzen’s recent claim that “no-one with a broad-band connection can write good fiction”.

I can imagine that many people would be put off by this work, perhaps seeing it as ‘precious’ or pretentious, but I thought it was a wonderful attempt at portraying a person who is not at home either in the world or with themselves. This is why the author’s switching between I and He is so effective: it serves to highlight how divorced the author is from his own self.

So, although this might be my winner, I don’t think it was enjoyed by the rest of the group, so we must leave Damon alone In a Strange Room.

C by Tom McCarthy

Tom McCarthy’s C is a bildungsroman (a novel that charts the growth of an individual) with a difference: the main character is a cipher, with no attempt made to plunge into his psychology. McCarthy has spoken loudly of his distaste for the humanist novel which goes into great depth about a character’s feelings and emotions. In C he replaces the ‘emoting subject’ with Serge Carrefax, a character who is always present but neither truly there. His life becomes something around which McCarthy weaves his themes of technology (wireless radio, communication, flight), accretes symbol after symbol (silk, insects, and flight) and indulges in word play (Serge's name evokes an electrical surge and the concept of flight and air when pronounced by his French mother).

That the novel works and works extremely well is a testament to McCarthy’s skills, as this could quite easily have become a pretentious exercise. In fact, contrary to all the talk of experimentalism and difficulty, McCarthy has actually written a very readable novel (with frequent attempts at humour). Yes, there are scenes which are quite technical and yes, you have to abandon any hope of sympathising with the empty vessel that is Serge, but the narrative is entirely linear (there is no playing with chronology) and you are always clear as to what is happening. Compare that with novels by Burroughs and Joyce - where one is often struggling to work out what on earth is happening and to whom - and the novel is an absolute page-turner!

Another interesting aspect of C emerges when you consider that McCarthy has declared himself a re-mixer or DJ. Almost every scene in this novel has echoes in previous works of literature: the drug-taking reminds you of Burroughs; the scene in the European spa of Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain; some of the word-play is taken from Joyce. That the novel frequently talks of echoes resounding through time makes this all the more relevant to the McCarthy’s themes.

Is this my winner… well, we’ll just have to wait and see!

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

The Finkler Question is Howard Jacobson’s novel about Jewishness in its many forms. Its main character is Treslove, a hollow figure who is obsessed with tragic deaths (his own and his lovers’) and opera (particularly operas which feature scenes of lovers dying tragically). His relationship with two Jewish friends Sam Finkler (a childhood friend and successful TV philosopher) and Libor (an urbane 90-year-old mittel-European who was once Sam and Treslove’s teacher) form the backbone to the novel.

Treslove is fixated with his friends’ success and feels alienated from their passionate discussions on Israel and Jewish life. A bizarre mugging by a woman is interpreted by Treslove as an anti-Semitic event and leads him to attempt to convert to ‘Jewishness’ (not Judaism).

The novel then proceeds to present this as an impossible task: there is no monlithic 'Jewishness' that one can become. Each character is conflicted in their own sense of Jewishness: Finkler’s wife – the most observant Jew in the novel – is actually a convert; Juno, who Treslove sees as the embodiment of female Jewishness, becomes tired of endlessly making gefilte fish and discussing the Torah and just wants to be able to watch TV occasionally; Sam Finkler veers between hating and loving his identity.

Jacobson has much fun playing with/confirming/denying/satirising several Jewish stereotypes and there are lots of in-jokes for those with a working knowledge of Jewish culture/history. For example, The Finkler Question translates as The Jewish Question, which was an essay by Karl Marx that has often been interpreted as anti-Semitic. This becomes all the more relevant to Jacobson's theme of identity when you consider that Marx’s family converted out of Judaism to Christianity – there are many layers here! I also wonder what Alain de Botton thinks of the fact that Sam’s ludicrous pop philosophy books (‘The Existentialist in the Kitchen’ and ‘The Little Book of Household Stoicism’) are quite clearly modelled on his successful publications (‘How Proust can change your life’)?

Unfortunately, it may be that some will be put off by what seems to be ethnic-religious navel gazing of the most arcane sort. This would be a shame as they would be missing out on a powerful examination of male friendship (its jealousies, betrayals and admirations) and some great comic (and tragic) scenes in what is an extremely well-written novel.

My only qualms are that it does tend towards the rant in the final third (and not in the raging, compulsive, sear-the-fingers-from-the-page prose of Philip Roth – a novelist who deals with similar subject matter) , with the early potential just failing to deliver in quite the way I’d hoped.

All-in-all, this isn't my winner, but I do look forward to reading Jacobson's Kalooki Nights (which many proclaim to be his masterpiece).

The Big Booker Bash

To celebrate our involvement in this year's prize, Wickersley Library will be hosting a Man Booker event on the evening of Tuesday 12th October (8 - 10:30pm).

As well as being a chance for readers to get together and discuss the prize (and who they think should win), attendees will also be able to chat to members of our readers groups; to consign their most hated reads to Room 101 or save them as their Desert Island Book; to take part in a book quiz and, of course, to enjoy a few refreshments!

You don't need to have read any of the Booker titles to come along - just an interest in books and reading.

If you'd like further information, or would like to book a ticket (£1 per person), please contact Wickersley Library on 01709 544134 or The Reader Development Team on 01709 815123 (david.hague@rotherham.gov.uk).

Room

'Room' is the story of five year old Jack and his Ma who live in a 11'x11' hidden room. For Ma, this is a living nightmare after being locked away here ever since her abduction by 'Old Nick' 8 years before. Jack's only contact with the real world is through TV, although Ma has convinced him that the real things he sees on TV are in fact make believe.

Ma finally tells Jack the truth about their situation and convinces a disbelieving and very reluctant Jack that they need to escape. I suppose I took it for granted that Jack would be excited and happy to leave, but we have to remember that he feels happy and safe with his life. It's just him, his Ma, his 'friends' (Duvet, Table, Chair, Rug, Meltedy Spoon...) and the promise of 'Sunday Treats' (although we can guess the full implications of Ma getting these 'treats' from Old Nick.)

What follows is the elaborate plan to escape, subsequent rescue, and life in the outside world.

Donoghue presents the entire story in Jack's voice rather than Ma's (which would've created a
very different novel.) Jack's narrative can therefore only hint at the horrors of being trapped and confined in Room, and it's only by reading between the lines that we realise Ma's motives behind such activities as flashing Lamp through Skylight or the daily screaming and shouting exercise. A game for Jack, but a desperate attempt to be rescued for Ma. Jack's matter-of-fact descriptions of his daily life and routines actually make the book all the more disturbing to read - especially as Jack believes that his life is 'normal'.

It was hard to get used to Jack's language and way of describing things at first, but it was nice to see how his language skills subtly developed towards the end of the book after he had had more contact with people. As we only ever see things through Jack's eyes, it's sometimes easy to forget the full horror of the situation: we only learn how hunched and pale he is from living all his life in a confined space, for example, because of him telling us something about the media.

'Room' was the book I've been most looking forward to reading from the shortlist. I've read some great reviews and was looking forward to a 'life changing' read. I was promised one of those rare books that would stay with me long after I'd put it down. So has it? Well, it has, but not for the reasons I thought it would...

Lots of people have described it as an uplifting read - which it is - but I've actually been left feeling very sorry for Jack. I feel sorry that he begins to lose his simplistic outlook on life. I feel sorry that the strong mother/son bond shows signs of weakening through no fault of his own.

But the thing I find hardest to bear is that Jack now has to come to terms with the fact that his previous reality is actually wrong. I found it quite heart-wrenching that he couldn't bear to be parted from Rug - it becomes his security blanket in the same way other children would use a blankey or teddy as he struggles to hold onto the familiar. And it's strange because I know I should be pleased that Jack and Ma are now free (and I am - I'm not totally heartless!) but my overwhelming emotion is one of sadness. It's only when he goes back to Room after his experience of living on the outside that Jack finally realises that Room was a bad place and that it's OK to 'not remember' his life there anymore, and we get the sense that he's ready to move on.

I'm not sure if this is the winner, but it certainly deserves its place on the shortlist.

By the way, you may be interested in this drawing of Room

Shadowing the Shortlist

So, there we were in a great big room; our collective feet aching due to a tube strike and surrounded by the great and the good: booksellers, publishers, authors, agents, poets, critics, champagne and canapés. How did four Rotherham library staff members get to be at Kensington Palace for the Booker Prize shortlisting party?

The story begins with Julie Hird, Reader Development Officer. Upon hearing that six library reading groups would be selected to shadow the shortlist of the Man Booker Prize, she put in an application to Helen Thomas of Opening the Book. After a tense wait, we were delighted to discover we had been chosen and invited to attend the shortlisting party on September 7th.

Our task now is to read (in our own free time: contrary to popular opinion, we don’t get to read books all day, unfortunately!) the shortlist; promote the prize in Rotherham ; contribute to the official Man Booker debate at http://www.themanbookerprize.com/ and pick a group winner.

So, who are we?


Julie Hird – Reader Development Officer
David Hague – Reader Development Librarian
Rachel Wade – Reader Development Support Officer
Angella Parker – Principle Officer e-library services

We all have different tastes in books and are looking forward to debating the relative merits of each title in a civilised manner. Hopefully there will be no need to resort to threats or physical violence to get our point across!

Keep looking here over the next month as we plough our way through the six shortlisted titles and post our reviews and thoughts.