2021 Book Choices and Ratings

Below are the titles I chose to read in 2021, and as in previous years the crude rating system aims to give some indication of what I personally got from each of them. Any review is obviously as much about the reviewer as the title, so I don't guarantee you will get the same from any given book but hopefully it is of some assistance.

Choosing what to read for maximum reward is itself an absorbing activity, the result of extensive reading of trusted reviews and recommendations, coupled with past experience, personal priorities, and a hefty dose of instinct. It's an enjoyable but inexact process so while the ratings are generally quite high as a result, things can be disappointing on occasions.

📖📖📖📖📖    Truly Special, exceptional

📖📖📖📖         Very Good, and deeply rewarding

📖📖📖              Middling to Good, worthwhile but not special

📖📖                   Poor and disappointing

📖                        Dreadful

+                           Plus half a rating

R                           Denotes a re-reading

January

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte     📖📖📖📖+

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck        📖📖📖📖📖

The Waste Land - T S Eliot                             📖📖📖+

February

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters     📖📖📖📖+

Sisters - Daisy Johnson           📖📖📖📖

March

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck                            📖📖📖📖📖

Begin Again - Eddie S Glaude Jr                                📖📖📖📖+

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou   📖📖📖📖

April

Diary of a Young Naturalist - Dara McAnulty              📖📖📖📖

Spirit of Place - Susan Owens                                    📖📖📖

Ness - Robert Macfarlane & Stanley Donwood          📖📖📖📖

May

Figuring - Maria Popova                             📖📖📖📖📖

The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin         📖📖📖📖📖

The Snow Ball - Brigid Brophy                   📖📖📖+

June

Women & Power - Mary Beard                               📖📖📖+

The Secrets We Kept - Lara Prescott                     📖📖📖📖

Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy      📖📖📖📖+

July

Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak                     📖📖📖+

The Passenger: Japan - Various                       📖📖📖📖

August

What it Feels Like for a Girl - Paris Lees                   📖📖📖📖

Empireland - Sathnam Sanghera                              📖📖📖📖

Nova Swing - M John Harrison                                  📖📖📖📖+

Tokyo: Art & Photography - Ashmolean Museum      📖📖📖📖+

September

Strange Bliss - Katherine Mansfield                                  📖📖📖

Luckenbooth - Jenni Fagan                                               📖📖📖📖

Gigantic Cinema - Alice Oswald & Paul Keegan (Eds)      📖📖📖+

October & November

Virginia Woolf - Hermione Lee                                     📖📖📖📖📖

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding - Julia Strachey     📖📖📖+

A Month in the Country - J L Carr                                 📖📖📖📖

December

Sterling Karat Gold - Isabel Waidner                      📖📖📖📖+

English Magic - Uschi Gatward                              📖📖📖📖

Treacle Walker - Alan Garner                                 📖📖📖📖

The Secret Commonwealth - Philip Pullman          📖📖📖📖

Village Christmas - Laurie Lee                                📖📖📖📖

Here's to rich reading rewards of all kinds...

See also:  2020 - Reading in the Time of Covid

2020 - Reading in the Time of Covid

In this most difficult and disturbing of years my appetite for reading has unsurprisingly ebbed and flowed more than usual, and books have served many purposes, from aiding rationalisation of the world and local situations to providing much necessary insight, inspiration and motivation on a range of fronts. And considerable pleasure and perhaps a little escapism too. For what it's worth I share below the titles I chose to read, and as in previous years the crude rating system aims to give a measure of what I personally got from them. Any review is as much about the reviewer as the title, so I don't guarantee you will get the same from any given book but hopefully it is of some assistance...

📖📖📖📖📖    Truly Special, exceptional

📖📖📖📖         Very Good, and deeply rewarding

📖📖📖              Middling to Good, worthwhile but not special

📖📖                   Poor and disappointing

📖                        Dreadful

+                           Plus half a rating

R  denotes a re-reading

January

Genius and Ink - Virginia Woolf                  📖📖📖+          

The Baron in the Trees - Italo Calvino        📖📖📖📖

Ice - Anna Kavan                                        📖📖📖📖📖     

Anna Kavan's hallucinatory apocalyptic masterpiece may be over 50 years old, but is so relevant it hurts, and leaves you rightly scarred. Approach with caution...                      

February

Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo        📖📖📖📖

On A Sunbeam - Tillie Walden                          📖📖📖📖                          

Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare                📖📖📖📖+

Diversity rules, ideal leap year fare!

March

Land - Antony Gormley, Clare Richardson, Jeanette Winterson        📖📖📖📖📖

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel                                                                      📖📖📖📖+    

Jeanette Winterson always writes brilliantly about art (see her Art Objects) but in the small polished gem of Land, developed around five of Antony Gormley's exquisitely located statues photographed by Clare Richardson, she excels. You could rush through it in an hour, but linger, reflect, leave and return, be open to being moved, and the rewards multiply...

April

Short Life in a Strange World - Toby Ferris                      📖📖📖+

Funny Weather, Art in an Emergency - Olivia Laing        📖📖📖📖

Strange times...

May

Lives of Houses - Kate Kennedy and Hermione Lee (editors)    📖📖📖

The Discomfort of Evening - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld                📖📖📖📖📖

Territory of Light - Yuko Tsushima                                                📖📖📖📖

The extraordinary explicit disturbing family meltdown of Rijneveld's debut is not for the faint-hearted, and cannot be unread.

June

Unquiet Landscape - Christopher Neve       📖📖📖📖

Between the Acts - Virginia Woolf                📖📖📖📖+

Bloomsbury in Sussex - Simon Watney        📖📖📖📖

July

Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel    📖📖📖📖+

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood    📖📖📖📖

August

On the Red Hill - Mike Parker                                    📖📖📖📖+

The Man Who Went into the West - Byron Rogers     📖📖📖📖+

The draw of Wales...

September

Song at the Year's Turning - R.S. Thomas    📖📖📖📖+

Summer - Ali Smith                                        📖📖📖📖

The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter           📖📖📖+

A Shropshire Lad - A.E. Housman                📖📖📖

Pew - Catherine Lacey                                  📖📖📖📖

Magnetic Field - Simon Armitage                  📖📖📖📖+

October

Fairest - Meredith Talusan                    📖📖📖+

Selected Poems - Dylan Thomas         📖📖📖📖+

On the Black Hill - Bruce Chatwin        📖📖📖📖📖 

On Connection - Kae Tempest             📖📖📖+

Chatwin's empathetic capture of Welsh hill farming life and hardship is unparalleled and quite beautiful; it was moving to read this while holidaying in the Black Mountains this autumn, walking the very hills, and past the particular farms, on which it is based.

November

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong                        📖📖📖📖+

The Owl Service - Alan Garner                                                    📖📖📖📖

The Mabinogion - Sioned Davies (translator)                              📖📖📖

No One is Too Small to Make a Difference - Greta Thunberg     📖📖📖📖
(though the message is pure five-star)

December

Behold, America - Sarah Churchwell                                        📖📖📖📖📖

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again - M. John Harrison    📖📖📖📖+

Carol - Patricia Highsmith                                                         📖📖📖📖📖

The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) - Alain Fournier            📖📖📖📖+

Sarah Churchwell's deeply disturbing forensic book nails the history of the huge dark heart of the US up to World War Two, but it's glaringly obvious this persists to the present day (who can miss it in the news?), to the point where Trump can still tap into it to get 74 million votes after four appalling years as President.

After this my mood was wonderfully rescued by Patricia Highsmith's ground breaking lesbian romance from the 1950s, which took decades to achieve respectability after originally being released under a pseudonym. It's exquisitely paced and gradually builds the tension like the thrillers for which Highsmith is best known, and is so good I almost don't want to watch the recent film in case it spoils it (though I know the film is highly regarded).

 

Here's to continued great reading in 2021, in hopefully happier circumstances

See Also: 2019 Reading Choices & Ratings

2019 Reading Choices & Ratings

Once again here for your consideration are my past year's reading choices, plus simple ratings to indicate broadly what I personally got from each book (rather than what others may have thought).

An (R) next to a title denotes a re-reading.

📖 📖 📖 📖 📖  Truly Special, exceptional.
📖 📖 📖 📖       Very Good and deeply rewarding.
📖 📖 📖             Middling to Good, competent and worthwhile but not special.
📖 📖                   Poor and disappointing.
📖                         Dreadful.
+                            Plus half a rating.

January

Everything Under - Daisy Johnson   📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Simon Armitage & Clive Hicks-Jenkins   📖 📖 📖 📖
On the Marshes - Carol Donaldson   📖 📖 📖 + 

February

The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad   📖 📖 📖 📖

Three Poems - Hannah Sullivan   📖 📖 📖 📖 
Battleship Yamato - Jan Morris   📖 📖 📖 +

March

Seven Gothic Tales - Isak Dinesen   📖 📖 📖 📖

Art Objects - Jeanette Winterson   📖 📖 📖 📖 +
A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf   📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

April

Orlando - Virginia Woolf (R)   📖 📖 📖 📖 📖

Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrlees   📖 📖 📖 +
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom - Sylvia Plath   📖 📖 📖 +

May

Grayson Perry - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl - Wendy Jones   📖 📖 📖 +

Conundrum - Jan Morris   📖 📖 📖 📖
Spring - Ali Smith   📖 📖 📖 📖
Among the Bohemians - Virginia Nicholson   📖 📖 📖 📖

June

All The Lives We Ever Lived - Katharine Smyth   📖 📖 📖 📖 +

Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector   📖 📖 📖 📖
Underland - Robert Macfarlane   📖 📖 📖 📖 📖 

July

Hidden Nature - Alys Fowler   📖 📖 📖 📖+

Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney   📖 📖 📖 +
Unsheltered - Barabara Kingsolver   📖 📖 📖 📖

August

Tokyo Ueno Station - Yu Miri   📖 📖 📖 📖

Horizon - Barry Lopez   📖 📖 📖 📖 📖  

September

To See Clearly, Why Ruskin Matters - Suzanne Fagence Cooper   📖 📖 📖 +

Light - M.John Harrison   📖 📖 📖 📖 + 
The Mother of All Questions - Rebecca Solnit   📖 📖 📖 +
Europa - Sean O'Brien  📖 📖 📖 📖 +

October

The Argonauts - Maggie Nelson   📖 📖 📖 📖 +

Tomorrow Will be Different - Sarah McBride   📖 📖 📖 📖 +
The Education of an Idealist - Samantha Power   📖 📖 📖 📖
Surfacing - Kathleen Jamie  📖 📖 📖 +

November

The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin   📖 📖 📖 📖

A Year Without A Name - Cyrus Grace Dunham  📖 📖 📖 📖 +
Where There's A Will - Emily Chappell   📖 📖 📖 📖
What Time Is It? - John Berger & Selcuk Demirel   📖 📖 📖 📖

December

Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang   📖 📖 📖 📖

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - Jeanette Winterson   📖 📖 📖 📖 +
Four Quartets - T.S. Eliot   📖 📖 📖 📖 

Happy New Year's Reading

See also: 2018 Reading Choices & Ratings

A Year of Reading - In Pictures

Intrigued by just what my current insatiable reading habit amounts to, and keen to share my literary discoveries and pleasures, I decided for a year to photograph, at the end of each month, the books I finished that month. These have been shared, along with some limited (but admittedly growing) comments, with a small number of Facebook friends each month. Here now is the compilation of those posts for 2016, for wider consideration and hopefully enjoyment…

January

Emma – Jane Austen

The Outrun – Amy Liptrot

A bracing contrast as pompous fictional Emma Woodhouse and the very real alcoholic Amy Liptrot get their respective acts together.

February

The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford
Runner – Lizzy Hawker
Black Country – Liz Berry

The exquisitely articulated slow sad adulterous self-destruction of Ford's masterpiece, nicely offset by the wonderfully motivating and life-affirming story of mountain ultrarunner Lizzy Hawker. With some brilliantly evocative and visceral brummie poetry from Liz Berry stirred into the mix. Marvellous!

March

The Buried Giant – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Shackleton's Whisky – Neville Peat
A Sleepwalk on the Severn – Alice Oswald
Virginia Woolf – Alexandra Harris

A bumper month, though a couple of titles required a stiff drink to see me through! I fear Alexandra Harris has worked her normal magic on me, and that I'm now fired up to read much more Virginia Woolf...

April

Rain – Melissa Harrison
Mrs Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
The Bonniest Companie – Kathleen Jamie

Three more gems; I'm particularly pleased to finally "get" Virginia Woolf after several abortive tries - Mrs Dalloway is an astonishing piece of writing really. And Kathleen Jamie's poetry was a fine and fitting accompaniment to our April Scottish foray - this collection was written in 2014 and beautifully captures the essence and mood of that country in independence referendum year.

May

In Pursuit of Spring – Edward Thomas
The Singing Sands – Josephine Tey
To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf

A wonderful journey by bicycle from London to the sea in Somerset with Edward Thomas a hundred years ago, through some places and country lanes I know intimately, had me reaching for the maps and memories. Followed by an elegantly sparse, understated yet addictively evocative, 1950s murder mystery in the Scottish highlands and islands courtesy of Josephine Tey. And finally another fantastic dose of Virginia Woolf; To the Lighthouse is so subtle, complex and insightful it almost beggars belief, packing so much in so cleverly that it seems entirely reasonable that she should have suffered a breakdown after the completion of several of her major books.

June

Nothing is True and Everything is Possible – Peter Pomerantsev
The Racer – David Millar
A William Condry Reader – Jim Perrin (editor)

The reason why Orwell's 1984 doggedly remains a top ten bestseller in Russia is writ large in Pomerantsev's chilling account of how Putin's dystopian nation is currently run, and in particular how the "truth" is carefully manufactured for the masses. A cautionary tale if ever there was one.

Once again David Millar proves he can rise substantially above the usual two-dimensional sports autobiography, and has produced a timeless and passionate warts-and-all account of his final racing season which still leaves him and his readers well in love with cycling and its wonderful culture.

And finally an antidote to all the worlds current frenetic madness, in a fine compilation of the beautiful writings of the under-appreciated  late Welsh naturalist William Condry. There are times when you need a book like this, found hiding in a shop in Aberystwyth.ll account of his final racing season which still leaves him and his readers well in love with cycling and its wonderful culture.
And finally an antidote to all the worlds current frenetic madness, in a fine compilation of the beautiful writings of the under appreciated late Welsh naturalist William Condry. There are times when you need a book like this, found hiding in a shop in Aberystwyth.

July

Cockfosters – Helen Simpson
At Hawthorn Time – Melissa Harrison
Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain – Barney Norris
All the Birds, Singing – Evie Wyld

Consistently compelling and powerful writing from four modern authors this month, it’s been quite a ride! None, and especially Evie Wyld, are for the faint-hearted but all are ultimately and variously rewarding

August

Summer – Melissa Harrison (editor)
Black Apples of Gower – Iain Sinclair
The Man in the High Castle – Philip Dick

While I usually avoid "pretty" anthologies which are so often full of the same lazily selected tired old material, Melissa Harrison's Summer really is the business. Full of new writing by young authors and naturalists, around a lightweight framework of smartly chosen minor masterpieces by more established names, it manages to gradually envelope you in a marvellous summerness - to perhaps cling on to into autumn (though there is also now an Autumn volume, just out).

And Iain Sinclair manages to beautifully and gently expand your mind in his unique mysterious way as he eruditely ambles through his childhood haunts on the Gower, embracing creative connections at every turn (Dylan Thomas, Vernon Watkins, Ceri Richards…).

In stark contrast is Philip Dick’s sixties sci-fi masterpiece, or should that simply be alternative history since it describes a post-war America run by the Japanese and Germans. Either way it disorientatingly focuses on a few ordinary lives and small scale events, with an emerging considerable and odd emphasis on Chinese philosophy that develops an unsettlingly power and a climax strangely reminiscent of 2001. A very sixties example of the drug-fuelled creative process, which certainly stays with you afterwards and keeps you pondering.e just out!).
And Iain Sinclair manages to beautifully and gently expand your mind in his unique mysterious way as he eruditely ambles through his childhood haunts on the Gower, embracing creative connections at every turn (Dylan Thomas, Vernon Watkins, Ceri Richards...).
In stark contrast is Philip Dick's sixties sci-fi masterpiece, or should that simply be alternative history since it describes a post-war America run by the Japanese and Germans who had won. Either way it disorientatingly focuses on a few ordinary lives and small scale events, with an emerging considerable and odd emphasis on Chinese philosophy that develops an unsettling power and a climax strangely reminiscent of 2001. A very sixties example of the drug-fuelled creative process, which certainly stays with you afterwards and keeps you pondering...

September

Addlands – Tom Bullough
Skies – Alison Brackenbury
His Bloody Project – Graeme MacRae Burnet

Three powerful volumes this month; a beautiful moving epic tale of three generations of farmers in the Welsh borders around Llanbedr Hill from Tom Bullough, pure fiendish poetic magic from Alison Brackenbury in Skies, and a brutal triple murder in the 19th century Scottish Highlands that provides the vehicle for exploring so many things, including the nature of truth itself (but definitely not one for the squeamish).

October

What Goes Around – Emily Chappell
Estuary – Rachel Lichtenstein
The Mirror of the Sea – Joseph Conrad

From the heart of the city to the open sea in three volumes.

I started this month with Emily Chappell’s breathless and addictive account of life as a cycle courier in central London, which had me tearing around hazard-strewn streets trying to meet delivery deadlines with her. Her intimate evocation of the marginal culture of couriers and raw enthusiasm for everything cycling (see also thatemilychappell.com ) had me well and truly hooked.

I then wended my way out of the city on the Thames, courtesy of Rachel Lichtenstein’s atmospheric homage to the Estuary of her books title and her home. A passionate and compelling capture of another marginal place, of land and water, made particularly real through the lives of many of its fascinating current occupants, often in conversation; a genuine treat. It also contains a number of superb quotes from Joseph Conrad that neatly reminded me of the book I had to read next.I then wended my way out of the city on the Thames, courtesy of Rachel Lichtenstein’s atmospheric homage to the Estuary of her books title and her home. A passionate and compelling capture of another marginal place, of land and water, made particularly real through the lives of many of its fascinating current occupants, often in conversation; a genuine treat. It also contains a number of quotes from Joseph Conrad that neatly reminded me of the book I had to read next.

It is a special pleasure when a book you start in the hope it will be merely good, rapidly blows your mind. Magnificent is the only word for Conrad’s The Mirror of the Sea. It is rare in simply setting out to provide the reader the sense of being at sea in a sailing ship at the end of the nineteenth century, without any single underlying adventure tale or narrative. It’s the only non-fiction by Conrad and is underpinned by the experience and knowledge of twenty years at sea working his way up to captain, and the intellect and sheer writing prowess of one the greatest authors of all time. Every sentence counts for something, and the wonder, fear, psychology, atmosphere and complexity of every aspect of sailing is covered along with an astonishing level of observation and insight of human nature and the human condition. A captivating read and true classic. There is also a beautiful chapter on the Thames estuary, making for the smoothest of cross-overs from Lichtenstein’s work.

 

 then wended my way out of the city on the Thames, courtesy of Rachel Lichtenstein’s atmospheric homage to the Estuary of her books title and her home. A passionate and compelling capture of another marginal place, of land and water, made particularly real through the lives of many of its fascinating current occupants, often in conversation; a genuine treat. It also contains a number of superb quotes from Joseph Conrad that neatly reminded me of the book I had to read next.It is a special pleasure when a book you start in the hope it will be merely good, rapidly blows your mind. Magnificent is the only word for Conrad’s The Mirror of the Sea. It is rare in simply setting out to provide the reader the sense of being at sea in a sailing ship at the end of the nineteenth century, without any single underlying adventure tale or narrative. It’s the only non-fiction by Conrad and is underpinned by the experience and knowledge of twenty years at sea working his way up to captain, and the intellect and sheer writing prowess of one of the greatest authors of all time. Every sentence counts for something, and the wonder, fear, psychology, atmosphere and complexity of every aspect of sailing is covered along with an astonishing level of observation and insight of human nature and the human condition. A captivating read and true classic. There is also a beautiful chapter on the Thames estuary, making for the smoothest of transitions from Lichtenstein’s work.

November

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Days Without End – Sebastian Barry
Let Them Eat Chaos – Kate Tempest

In the month that the year's imbecilic self-destruction reaches its new low point I felt the need for some robust challenging reading.

Margaret Atwood's dystopian classic on the appropriation of women’s bodies seemed scarily real, let's hope Trump who famously "doesn't read" doesn't get hold of a copy - he'd probably treat it as a user guide. One of those books perhaps largely regarded as by women, for women, but which would have greatest impact if more (intelligent) men read it.

Sebastian Barry’s new novel tracing 20 years of the Indian Wars and the US Civil War rattles along at a breathtaking pace with a gay love affair, cross-dressing aplenty, savagery of the direst kind imaginable, and a twisting cliff-hanger plot. Somehow through all of this, wrapped within exquisite descriptions of landscape and season, runs a golden thread of simple love, truth and integrity that is hugely life-affirming.

And so to Kate Tempest's necessary, vital, angry blast. A 72 page accessible poem on the state of society, the nation and the planet that I got through in a single sitting. It tells us what we all need to know at this dire post-truth, post-humane moment, where we seem to have collectively totally lost the plot. Read it. Deal with it.t impact if more (intelligent) men read it.
 Barry's new novel tracing 20 years of the Indian wars and the US civil war, rattles along at a breathtaking pace with a gay love affair, cross-dressing aplenty, savagery of the direst kind imaginable, and a twisting cliff-hanger plot. Somehow through all this, wrapped within exquisite descriptions of landscape and season, runs a golden thread of simple love, truth and integrity that is hugely life-affirming.

December

The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Some Corner of a Foreign Field – James Bentley (editor)
Black Dog, The Dreams of Paul Nash – Dave McKean

Popularity and merit should never be confused, but justly coincide in Sarah Perry’s superbly brooding Dickensian (with a touch of Bram Stoker and Sarah Waters) tale on the murky Essex marshes around the Blackwater. It’s about belief versus fact; fear and need and desire, and ultimately about the overlooked power of that most modest sounding of things, friendship. A great tale to curl up with of a winters evening; frequently discomforting, and building its strength seductively slowly.

Kurt Vonnegut survived the 1945 bombing and subsequent firestorm of Dresden as a POW by virtue of being imprisoned in an underground slaughterhouse in the city. It took him another 24 years to adequately distil what he wanted to say about it into his classic Slaughterhouse Five. The slim volume contains aliens, and a novel take on time (and what a lifetime is) whereby he slides up and down his own timeline, frequently from one paragraph to the next. Other reviewers have noted its potential influence on the recent superb film Arrival, if not directly then possibly indirectly on the writer Ted Chiang whose short story the film is directly based upon. For all its strangeness and often apparent randomness, Vonnegut ultimately weaves a hard-hitting work that is one of the best anti-war books of all time.

And finally, as we reach the mid-point of the centenary of the supposed “war to end all wars”, two superb devastating volumes to aid the contemplation of man's (continuing) inanity:

Some Corner of a Foreign Field is, frankly, perfect. There are many much more weighty collections of Great War poetry, and the beauty and diminutive size of this volume may fool you into thinking it is relatively trivial, but the combination of expertly chosen poems (all necessarily short to fit on a single page) and opposing striking colour artwork from the time, achieve something even greater than the sum of its considerable parts - exceptionally moving.

Graphic novels have not been my natural territory, conjuring as they do, images of adolescent boys clutching dodgy magazines with improbably busty heroines on their covers. Yet the form is getting interesting, and so-called literary graphic novels for adults have in particular started to emerge. Taking the blending of artwork and words to create powerful messages (the previously mentioned book does this after all) to a new level is intriguing and exciting. The perfect example of what can be achieved is Dave McKean’s recent stunning Black Dog – The Dreams of Paul Nash. Nash was a war artist in both World Wars, creating iconic images from each, and his life experiences before, during and immediately after the Great War are used here as a framework for a dramatic exploration of what war does to men, and what personal traits and skeletons come to the fore during and after extreme situations (black dog is of course an allusion to depression). McKean pulls no punches in page after page of dark powerful artwork and comparatively light use of text (including a subtle passing quote from Vonnegut), constantly varying in innovative style, and delivers a formidable coherent whole that simply knocks you for six.

Here's to Good Reading...

 

See also:  Favourite Listening of 2016