Reading matters

'The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit' by Sloan Wilson

Fiction - paperback; Penguin; 288  pages; 2005.

Sloan Wilson, who died in 2003 aged 83, wrote 15 novels, but his most famous was The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, first published in 1955.

I picked this book up several years ago, attracted more by the black and white photograph of Gregory Peck on the cover and the lovely silver spine that is the trademark of a Penguin Modern Classic than the name of the author. Indeed, I had never heard of Sloan Wilson, whom, it seems, had become one of those neglected writers recently championed by the modern literary elite -- in this case, Jonathan Franzen, who writes a brief but very good introduction to this edition. (Franzen did something similar for Paula Fox's Desperate Characters a few years back, which makes me wonder whether that might explain his lack of recent fiction: he's too busy writing introductions for long-forgotten authors than concentrating on his own literary career.)

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is described as the quintessential 1950s novel, mainly because that's the era in which it is set and written, but putting aside the sexism and the "traditional" family life -- man goes to work, woman stays at home and looks after the children -- depicted within its pages, it is still highly relevant and tackles themes and issues that are pertinent today.  For instance, at what point does one acknowledge that it is more important to enjoy one's work than it is to make as much money as possible from something you detest? When do you stop worrying about the future and start enjoying the present? Should you tell people the truth or tell them what they want to hear? Is rampant consumerism the path to happiness?

The book follows Tom Rath, a veteran of the Second World War, who is married to Betsy. They have three young children and live in suburban Connecticut, but are desperate to move up in the world, to "afford a bigger house and a better brand of gin".

'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde

Fiction - paperback; Penguin Popular Classics; 67 pages; 1994.

In my quest to read more work by Irish literary greats this year, I recently purchased a newly repackaged Penguin Popular Classic version of Oscar Wilde's 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest. This edition, with its vibrant green cover and tracing-paper thin paper (all 100 per cent recycled), retails for a meagre £2 -- that's a damn cheap price for a masterpiece, in my opinion.

I don't normally read plays (as the 200-plus reviews on this blog will attest), but I decided to make an exception in this case. (Well, to be honest, I'd already read The Picture of Dorian Gray back in my early 20s and because there's a distinct lack of other novels in Mr Wilde's back catalogue I wasn't left with much choice.)

I had seen a film version of this play a couple of years ago (the 2002 version starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench) and I remember laughing out loud at a lot of it. But seeing the words in black-and-white print makes them seem even funnier -- if that is possible.

For those who don't know the storyline, the brief synopsis goes something like this: Country gentleman Jack Worthing invents a younger brother, Ernest, whom he pretends to be when he visits the city. This gives him free reign to pursue the beautiful Gwendolen. Meanwhile his city-based friend, Algernon Moncrieff, invents a poorly relative, Bunbury, whom he pretends to visit in the country in order that he can leave his dull city existence behind for a bit of fun and frivolity. One day Algernon pretends to be Ernest and visits Jack's pretty charge, Cecily, in the country, which leads to all kinds of confusion about identity. Obviously, Jack is not happy, but when his own deceptive behaviour is called into question, the scene is ripe for much farce and hilarity.

'The Music Lesson' by Katharine Weber

Fiction - paperback; Phoenix; 162 pages; 1999.

The Music Lesson is the second novel by American writer Katharine Weber, who, in 1996, was named one of the 50 Best Young American Novelists by Granta. She has since gone on to write two other critically acclaimed novels, the latest of which -- Triangle -- is on the long list for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Which is a roundabout way of saying, she's got some kudos in the book world.

Typically, I had never heard of her before, and "mooched" this novel on the sole basis that it was set in Ireland and the synopsis on Amazon.co.uk seemed intriguing. It's been sitting in my pile of unread books for months, and yesterday, seemingly on a whim, I picked it up half expecting to read about 20 pages before getting on with the day's chores. Alas, I read it cover to cover, unable to pull myself away from the mesmerising story within its pages.

At just 162 pages in length The Music Lesson is an almost perfectly formed -- and quick to read -- novel, which tells the story of Patricia Dolan's unwitting involvement in an IRA splinter group known as the (completely fictional) Irish Republican Liberation Organisation (IRLO). But it's also a story about 17th century Dutch art and the murky world of Irish-American identity.

'The River' by Tricia Wastvedt

Fiction - paperback; Penguin; 346 pages; 2004.

The River was one of those spontaneous purchases made on the back of an Amazon recommendation. Previously I knew nothing about the book and had never heard of the author, but the storyline sounded intriguing.

It's set in an idyllic English village that is haunted by a terrible tragedy in which two children drowned in the local river. This was in 1958.

Fast forward almost 40 years and Anna, a young pregnant woman from London, arrives in the village, hoping to start a new life for herself. She meets Isabel and Robert, the couple whose children died all those years ago, and finds them living a strange existence: emotionally separated (but not divorced), with Isabel residing in the house and Robert acting as if he is her head gardener.

Weird as it might sound, Isabel invites Anna to live with her permanently. But when the baby is born, Isabel starts acting oddly. She becomes especially protective of the newborn and before long Anna realises that Isabel's intentions may not be without malice...

'As it is in Heaven' by Niall Williams

Fiction - paperback; Picador; 310 pages; 1999.

Niall Williams is a master at writing heart-wrenching, quietly beautiful novels about love -- and usually loss -- set in modern day rural Ireland. So I was eagerly looking forward to immersing myself in another of his timeless, lyrical tales. But, sadly, As it is in Heaven, his second novel after his oh-so wonderful Four Letters of Love, did not live up to expectation.

The story makes a promising enough start -- an emotionally starved young teacher, Steven Griffin, falls in love with a violinist, the passionate and beautiful Gabriella from Venice, who is touring the west of Ireland with an orchestra. But she is not aware of his existence and so the relationship is conducted largely in his head until, one fateful day, he works up enough courage to speak to her.

The pair then conduct a rather steamy love affair, but Gabriella, who is nursing wounds from a failed relationship, is not quite sure of her feelings for Stephen and unexpectedly returns to her homeland, leaving him in the lurch.

To say anything more would ruin the plot, but it's no spoiler to say that the course of true love experiences a few bumpy moments along the way...

'Something Fresh' by P.G. Wodehouse

Fiction - hardcover; Everyman; 260 pages; 2005.

Looking for something lighthearted and fun to read? Then look no further than P.G. Wodehouse's Something Fresh, the first in his Blandings Castle series.

First published in 1915, it captures an England from a different era, where maids and butlers and valets looked after the bumbling upper classes with aplomb and where single women who worked for a living were frowned upon. But despite this, the book doesn't feel particularly dated, perhaps because there's a lightness of touch that makes it so effortless and enjoyable to read.

The plot revolves around an incredibly rare and valuable scarab -- that's the funny bug-like thing pictured on the front cover -- which Lord Emsworth absent-mindedly pockets during an inspection of a collection put together by a retired American millionaire, Mr Peters. When Mr Peters discovers the scarab is missing he knows who has taken it but is unable to confront "the darned old sneak-thief" because his daughter is about to marry Lord Emsworth's son in a lavish wedding at Blandings Castle.

'The Solid Mandala' by Patrick White

Fiction - paperback; Penguin; 316  pages; 1977.

In Jungian psychology a mandala is a symbol that represents the effort to reunify the self.

In this book twin brothers, Arthur and Waldo Brown, cannot seem to reconcile the fact that they once shared a womb, the two of them being so different in temperament and personality. And yet, there's a strange kind of reliance on one another, especially in old age, when the two share a bed and often walk about town holding hands.

Even their lack-lustre love lives (neither of them get married) are remarkably similar, when, as teenagers, they both fall for Dulcie Feinstein and then, as adults, when they strike up a close friendship with their neighbour, Mrs Poulter.

But despite their differences and their tendency to secretly loathe one another, they cannot escape their lifelong familial bond. It is their ongoing struggle to find a balance between intimacy and independence that marks the lives of these two very different men.

'Ice Moon' by Jan Costin Wagner

Fiction - paperback; Vintage; 288  pages; 2006. Translated from the German by John Brownjohn.

A serial killer who smothers his victims while they lie sleeping is on the loose in Turku, Finland. He leaves few, if any clues.

Young CID detective Kimmo Joentaa is put in charge of the investigation even though, by rights, he should be on compassionate leave: his wife has just died of a terminal illness.

Joentaa throws himself into his work as a means of distracting himself from his own grief. But at each murder scene, the dead bodies remind him of his dead wife. Over time, he begins to develop an affinity for the murderer, because he seems to take great care in ensuring that his victims do not suffer and that is how Joentaa wanted his wife to be treated in her last, dying moments.

But the killer is far from humane. A seemingly invisible and quiet man, he has a personality disorder kept hidden from his own family and work colleagues. "What would you say if I was completely different from the way you think I am?" he asks his brother one day. "If you were different, I would be very sad," comes the almost prophetic response...

'The Devil Wears Prada' by Lauren Weisberger

Fiction - paperback; Harper Collins; 400  pages; 2003.

If you have ever worked for an unreasonable boss or taken a job where you have had to compromise your values, then this book is likely to appeal.

I don't normally "do" chick-lit but I raced through The Devil Wears Prada if only because the plight of the narrator -- Andrea Sachs, who takes a job as an editorial assistant on a fashion magazine -- resonated so strongly with me. I, too, have worked for a tyrant in the form of a successful editor, although the magazine I worked on wasn't quite as glamorous as the one portrayed here.

'Only Say The Word' by Niall Williams

Fiction - paperback; QPD edition; 264  pages; 2004.

A love of books and the joy of reading figure prominently in this beguiling novel by Irish writer Niall Williams.

It begins with a forty-something man writing a love letter to his deceased wife. He lives in County Clare with his two grieving children -- teenager Hannah and eight-year-old Jack -- and feels so disconnected from them and his own life, that the only way to make sense of what has happened is to pen his autobiography. And so, through two intertwined narratives -- one set in the past, one set in the present -- we get to discover Jim Foley's life, his loves, his secrets.