Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

This one stays with you. A study of the family relationships of two very different men, who, however, are friends. Great characters, and the interesting spectacle of someone who states that he does not believe in anything and then stresses out when he does. A very sad ending, but detailed character studies for which the classic Russian novelists are famous. Recommended.

Rating 10 out of 10.

The Pit and the Pendulum - Edgar Allan Poe

This one was a genuinely scary short story about a fellow trapped in a torture chamber during the Inquisition and in peril of a terrible death from a dreadful bladed piece of apparatus. It ends too quickly, though, with the situation being resolved in a couple of sentences. It must have been strikingly original when it was first published.

8 out of 10

The Nose by Nikolai Gogol

This is really a long short story, of course, and it is a very amusing one. A rather stuffy Russian official inexplicably loses his nose, which somehow gets the ability to move around independently and cause all sorts of problems until, in an equally inexplicable development, it returns to its proper place. Very strange, Kafkaesque. Wonder what Gogol was on.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

What can anyone possibly say about this one that has not been said dozens of times before? Austen's account of the trials and tribulations of a family of daughters whose relationships with three very different men form the core of the novel, is just one facet of it. She writes with a rapier like pen on the follies of all concerned, and arch social commentaries abound. Jane Austen knew her human beings. The characters are exquisitely drawn, but for some reason I was particularly drawn to the dunderheaded Mr Collins and his tactless fatuosity, and the infuriatingly stupid Mrs Bennet - how Mr Bennet has, presumably, kept his hands from her throat for over twenty years is beyond my ken.

But of course, the central love interest is Lizzie and Mr Darcy, whose given name is the unlikely Fitzwilliam, not that it is used much in the novel. It would be an interesting exercise to compare and contrast his funny old aunt with Miss Betsy Trotwood from David Copperfield - nice little article in there for someone. It is a theme that has been used so many times before - girl meets man who is nasty, hates him, finds out he is not that bad and then lets him win her back. Interesting to read the original of this well used plot - but I suspect it was not that original in Jane Austen's time either.

The narrative dragged a little for me, not because of the pacing, but because of the long sentences, sometimes in indirect speech. We're just not used to this, in the age of Twitter, and sometimes I lost the plot, or rather, the point of the sentence. Don't let that bother you, this was a fun and sometimes a laugh out loud (Mr Collins again) funny read. I reckon you'll like it.

9 out of 10.

The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

What could I possibly say about this that no one has said before? Although it has dated a bit, with Nixon dead and the Cold War over, it is still a chilling look at an alternate future, wonderfully paced and elegantly drawn and an obvious inspiration for the raison d'etre for Marvel's Civil War. The characters are great - even the nastiest one has some good points, and the one who is apparently the nicest one is not. The interpersals of the stories -the one about the bird, and especially the one about the pirates are relevant and deftly done. I have the suspicion that I missed a great deal in my first read of this book, and it seems to be a common experience. One to be read again. And again.

9 out of 10.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

This short story - I doubt that it is even a novella or novelette - took me a fifteen minute bus ride to read. I had never heard of it before but it is apparently a very early offering in feminist fiction.

A young woman is confined in a home by her husband, a doctor, who assures her that it is for her own best interests. Gradually, she slips into - or seems to slip into - a kind of insanity manifested by her curious relationship with the yellow wallpaper in her room, which she at first loathes but later becomes, shall we say, very comfortable with.

The work is based on the treatment which Gillman herself received from the renowned early psychologist, S Weir Mitchell, and is critical of Mitchell's methods. It's a powerful piece of work, you are never quite sure whether the narrator is sane or not, and the writing constantly propels the reader forward as the volatile patient's attitude towards her husband, the world outside and the yellow wallpaper changes. Well worth reading.

9 out of 10.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

I love alternative histories, and the premise behind this one was interesting enough - the isolationist and anti-Semitic Charles Lindbergh takes over as American President in 1940, defeating FDR. The narrator, also named Philip Roth, describes his life in Newark, NJ, during Lindbergh's time in the White House and beyond. Roth's characters are pretty stock ones - the embittered returned soldier, his cousin Alvin, the dreaming Lothario artist, Sandy and the wimpy kid next door, Seldon. It is a reasonable yarn, good but not great, some convincing pictures of a section of a country under siege, from threats both imagined and actual. It turns out that the real plot against America, as outlined by Philip's aunt, who may or may not be deranged and/or deluded, comes through, but does not originate with Lindbergh, who would have surely hated this book.

The whole thing is unlikely, and assumes that the hypothetical election of Lindbergh would have resulted in the overnight denial of civil rights to one section of the American populace. Roth even quotes a Lindbergh speech - one that was given in our world - that condemns the Nazi treatment of the Jews, and Lindbergh's loyalty, once again in our world, was never questioned once war was declared. The hideous role in the alternative world given to the all but forgotten real life figure, Burton K Wheeler, makes me hope that none of his descendants read this novel.

Rating - 6 out of 10.

Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man And The Sea

A short tale and a simple one, told eloquently but elegantly, hardly any adjectives. This could be looked at on so many levels. Is Santiago, the old fisherman, a representation of Jesus, with his wounded hands the dead giveaway? And although the fish and Santiago are deadly adversaries, Santiago thinks of the fish as a friend, a fellow battler in life. Is the work a study in futility? After all, at the end of the story, he only has to get up the next day and fish, just like so many of us have to get up the next day to work. Do the contemporary (ie early 1950s) baseball references have any meaning? This work has its critics, but the story was interesting and simple, though so much so that I was glad that it was relatively short.

7 out of 10.

Treasure Island by Robert L Stevenson

How could I go wrong with this one? I have read it many times, but did so this time with the hope of finding something new. Well, Long John Silver is nothing like Robert Newton, but he is a powerful and dangerous man. Captain Smollett was very much a cipher when I read the book before, but he emerges as an uncelebrated hero. Even the terrible old blowhard buccanneer, Billy Bones, has an extra dimension on the umpteenth re-reading, singing a wistful song about a lost love on one occasion, a sort of an interlude between his innumerable terrible sea shanties.

The book has everything, excellent pacing, strong characters, a great story line (even if it is the zillionth version of the well-worn quest theme) and an idyllic setting. Who would not be Jim Hawkins? I can't find anything bad to say about it.

10 out of 10

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

This one took me ages to finish, but the effort was, for the most part, well rewarded.

Two families, three generations, destinies interlocked for over fifty years. The characters stay with you - the fanatical Hortense, the urbane Magid, his twin, the delinquent and then fanatical Millat, the ridiculous Joyce Chalfen, her husband the impractical but brilliant biogeneticist Marcus, the mutilated and ancestor-worshipping, backward looking Samad Iqbal - and there are sections where there is a laugh on every page. The very young author has been compared to Dickens, and the comparison is a fair one, with her gift for characterisation and ear for idiosyncratic dialogue. The characters, among other things, symbolise a clash of cultures, a conflict between fundamentalism and science and ways old and new.

The climax of the novel - well, actually, the confluence of events at the end, was a bit confusing and I think I must have missed something, which is why the book doesn't get a higher score. But if you want something with unforgettable characters, and laugh out loud, omnisicient comments on every page, this one is for you.

Rating: 7 out of 10.