Commafruit

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A wealth of information about, and insight into, modern France. The book is split into three sections, this arrangement being how the authors have chosen to delineate the aspects they see as forces influencing French culture, disposition etc.

The first section, Spirit, gives a brief scan of French history, and attempts to get a handle on the French mindset with regards to topics like globalisation, their attachment to rural traditions despite the overwhelming majority of the population living in the cities, and the value of rhetorical and conversational skill.
n this section, a whole chapter each is given over to World War II (1939-1945) and the Algerian War (1954-1962), such is the influence these events still hold over the country.

Structure, the second section, is possibly the most informative, but it’s also the most disappointing in style. Page after page of dates, statistics and percentages betray the book’s origin as a report for the ICWA, but this still doesn’t disguise how much information is presented: discussions of political structure (and the reasons and history behind it); distribution of power at the national, regional and municipal levels; the education system(s); law; associations and language are all present.

Finally, Change addresses the current political situation, issues surrounding immigration and France’s changing racial make-up, and the country’s relationship with America and it’s place in the EU.

Throughout, the authors cannot help name-dropping friends and acquaintances they’ve encountered, to the point that it becomes tiresome to read another anecdote about the hiking club or some politically ambitious friend, even though one is assured of being well informed about whatever topic is being discussed. No doubt is was felt this would provide a feeling of sincerity for the reader, but with this kind of overuse it ends up feeling forced.
The other complaint I had about the style was the frequency of descriptions provided in the third person, again, presumably, done with the aim of engendering trust, but actually coming across as badly realised Gonzo journalism. Take for example this first paragraph of the final chapter:

Sitting at his desk one Wednesday afternoon writing an Institute report one Wednesday afternoon, Jean-Benoit was startled by the sound of sirens howling in the streets – not fire-engine sirens, but air-raid sirens, distant and melancholy. He recognised the sound from war movies, but it was the first time he’d heard the wail for real. His thoughts spiralled. The Kosovo war was drawing to an end, but anything could have happened. Was there a nuclear attack? His thoughts raced to Julie, who was travelling in the Middle East. He thought about going down the street to the subway for shelter.

Of seven sentences, four begin He or His, yet the authors are not sufficiently well drawn as characters to justify this attention or to create empathy. Further, both authors are referenced here in the third person – who is supposed to be the voice here? If the the answer is “both” or “neither”, this breaks the facade of connection with the reader this style was aiming for in the first place.

Major stylistic gripes aside, there can be no denying the depth and breadth of information presented in such a compact book: in just under 350 pages, Nadeau and Barlow have managed to convey an insightful analysis of France, and more importantly, it the French. Bravo!

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Gig last Sunday at Manchester Academy.

Sonic Boom Six opened promptly with an energetic set. I wasn’t familiar with their music before, but being a local band they received plenty of good feedback from the crowd. Taking elements from punk/ska, but also in places rapping like House of Pain or a far-more-aggressive Massive Attack. Definitely to be checked out.

Next, Streetlight Manifesto provided some high-quality (if slightly generic) ska/punk. I got the impression afterwards that these were expected to deliver more (they’d been hyped up to me no end), but they just struck me as a competent ska outfit.

Finally, Reel Big Fish took the stage. Opening with Sell Out, the crowd were immediately responsive, though the band came off as incredibly tame to begin with, especially compared to SB6. Later, SB6’s lead (female) vocalist Laila Khan returned to sing on She Has A Girlfriend Now, much to everyone’s delight.

I’ve been waiting a long time to see RBF live, and they didn’t disappoint. For the second time in a week, I was also reminded of what a great punk crowd there is in Manchester – the previous week’s Bomb Ibiza was also a great success.

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Futurama returns! Two years after being cancelled by Fox, new Futurama content is realised in the form of the first of four feature length, straight-to-DVD (and torrent) episodes. Fox are satirised brutally (and in no subtle way – Planet Express are described as having been shut down by the “Box Delivery Network”) in the first few minutes of the film.

In the story, Planet Express (and later, Earth) are taken over by Internet-scammers, who in the process discover a method of travelling back in time. This produces a convoluted series of events involving multiple versions of several characters (most notably Fry, who essentially has two plotlines), but everything ties together beautifully by the end. None of the familiar style of humour is lost, although there is possibly less real-world satire.

I was also impressed with the number of references to previous episodes and the number of previous (often rather minor) characters featured. A selection: Scruffy, LaBarbara, Dwight, Nibbler & the Nibblonians, the space god, Barbados slim, Hedonism bot, Bubblegum Tate and the Globetrotters, Elzar, Michelle, Al Gore, Seymour, Mr. Panucci, Horrible Gelatinous Blob, Morbo & Linda, Tinny Tim, Robot Santa, “welcome to the world of tomorrow” guy, the Robot Devil, Leela’s parents, Hypnotoad, Richard Nixon & Agnew, Kwanza bot, Zapp & Kif, Cubert, Sal^w and the Robot Mafia.

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It may be that I’m just a good fit for it, or maybe it just came at the right time, because despite a somewhat lukewarm critical reception¹, I loved Iain Banks’ latest effort.

The Steep Approach to Garbadale tells the story of Alban, a renegade member of the successful Wopuld family, who is asked to return to his family in order to persuade them not to sell out the business to a huge American firm. But it’s not the only thing Alban has to think about: returning to his family means he must confront his feelings for his cousin Sophie, a lust he’s harboured for years, and one which has impaired more obvious relationship opportunities. There is also the looming issue of his mother’s suicide, little discussed since his childhood.

All this is nicely interspersed with contributions from Alban’s new friends (who are far more vulgar than him, and even more so than his family), flashbacks from the gap year he spent travelling, and other international trips he’s been on. Laugh-out-loud funny in places and touching in others, the novel is certainly a page-turner, even if the “twist” at the end is a long way from a revelation.

My only complaint is that Banks can’t help throw in his own² attacks against Bush, the Iraq war and feeding them through his characters like they were marionettes. Even though I agree with his politics, I’d prefer that he kept such sensitive subjects out of a book that really, doesn’t need them. The fact that having an American firm try to take over a smaller, British concern is a major plot point does not mean it needs to be politicised, even if it looks like it’s begging to be.

¹ I mean proper critics. See the Guardian review for reference.
² highly unsubtle, especially noticeable when coming from one with such a powerful command of the language

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Not sure why, but this book has been on my pile of books to read for a long time. Possibly this was a mistake, because this is a truly superb novel.

Michael Owen is tasked with researching and documenting the influential Winshaw family, who have, for the last half-century or so, been furthering themselves at the expense of all others in the most unethical and selfish of ways. The work Owen is charged with researching is interwoven with events from his own more mundane life, and we begin to realise just how wide reaching the Winshaw’s influence is.

Unflinchingly socialist and politically charged on one page, flippant and funny the next, Coe relies somewhat on the reader being on his side before they begin. A people-centric view of the problems Thatcher caused us.

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Lightweight, too heavy on name-dropping and almost unreadable in places due to the words being obscured by the man’s ego, this is remains an extremely entertaining auto-biography. Enough amusing anecdotes are included to keep the reader from becoming bored, and the bits of inside info about the radio industry (largely included under the pretext that they’re required for clarity) are genuinely interesting.

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This is, to my knowledge, Banks’ first science fiction novel which takes him away from his “Culture” universe. This was alarming at first, since we associate his SF with the Culture, but here there is enough background material packed into one book to create an equally vibrate world (or, rather, galaxy).

Here we find the hero (“Fassin Taak”) is summoned to a distant world to find a long lost piece of information which is thought will help his people in an imminant war. Most of the story deals with this; but perhaps feeling that he needs to match the depth he provides in the culture novels, Banks provides a wealth of context for his characters. Taak’s experiences in childhood are used to introduce relevant characters, and every new race is described with such detail (down to the political and social levels) that the reader feels comfortable in understanding them.

As usual, it’s hard not to be drawn in to the authors imagination – this is an epic story, stretching from the tiniest nuaces of people interaction to galaxy-wide war – and it just makes you wonder what was left out. If this much detail has been crammed into a single volume, there must be so much more Banks could have included, and you’re left wanting even more.

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