Saturday — Ian McEwan
Sometimes you need to read a book knowing you’ll hate it, just to be able to be more informed in your hatred. Saturday is McEwan’s tedious emulation of James Joyce’s Ulysses taking place on 15th February 2003, the day of the worldwide anti-Iraq war demos, in which he shows how much richer the inner life of his middle class protagonist si than that of the confused muddle going on the London demo…
The Iron Wall — Avi Shlaim
Avi shlaim is one of that generation of revisionist Israeli historians who looked behind their country’s founding myths to record the truth. The Iron Wall examines the development of Israeli policy towards its Arab neighbours and the Palestinians, showing both the differences and the continuity in it.
Intifada — Zachary Lockman & Joel Beinin (editors)
A compilation of essays examing the first Intifada, published in 1989. During Israel’s War on Gaza an astoningly stupid controversy erupted here in Holland when one Dutch Socialist Party MP called for Intifada and this was equated with support for terrorist attacks by local Zionist propagandists. This anthology shows the reality.
The Great War for Civilisation — Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is one of the best, if not the best journalist reporting on the Middle East. This is his magnus opus, part history, part autobiography, part journalism. Fisk is an engaging writer, but the history of the region does not make for nice reading: betrayal after betrayal, ethnic cleansing following genocide, one futile war after another.
Byzantium — Judith Herrin
On a much lighter note, Judith Herrin’s Byzantium is a sort of sampler course in Byzantine history, an attempt to explain to the curious why Byzantium is worth studying. I’ll certainly read more of her books.
Only Forward — Michael Marshall Smith
My girlfriend has been reading Michael Marshall’s thrillers, so when I saw this, his first science fiction in a secondhand bookshop I took a chance. It reminded me somewhat of Jonathan Lethem’s first novel, which had a similar if more pronounced absurdist feel to it.
The Deep Blue Good-by — John D. MacDonald
Another Travis McGee novel; the first in fact. Interesting to see the formula firmly established already this early.
Creatures of Light and Darkness — Roger Zelazny
My new Zelazny book for the year. He’s a writer I want to read sparingly, because you can only read a new Zelazny for the first time once and he’s obviously not producing anything new anymore…
Gather, Darkness! — Fritz Leiber
A reread of a novel I first read ages ago. In a future oppressed by a technocracy masquerading as a warped Christianity, the only hope for freedom lies with a rebellion based on witchraft…