Book Review: "A Man Called Ove" - Fredrik Backman

This is one of those books which seems to have been around in the public consciousness over the past couple of years. I was curious to read it as it looked like a change from the usual Nordic Noir genre which has filled bookshelves over the past few years (to saturation point at one stage).

If you're  familiar with One Foot In The Grave and its infamous grumpy protagonist  Victor Meldrew, or indeed Coronation Street's neighbourhood watching nosey parker Norris Cole, then you will recognise a lot of the characteristics of Ove, the lead character here.

Just when you've quickly got Ove sussed as the grumpy old man in suburbia, railing at everything the modern world has to offer. To begin with, the intolerant grump is not easy to like - but Backman then takes us back to the character's younger years and his early life and the circumstances which came to form his personality and develop his moral code. This helps us to understand the reasons why Ove is the way he is. Ove did find happiness with Sonja, the great love of his life.  After her loss, Ove realises he has nothing to live for; there follows a series of darkly comedic (and thankfully unsuccessful) attempts to end his life. Over the course of the book, new neighbours and characters enter his life - uninvited of course! - and they all turn out to have a very surprising impact on the lead character.

I guess that one of the lessons from this book is that (apologies for the book metaphor) you should not always judge a book by its cover, and that first impressions are not always accurate.  There is much more to Ove than you first thought.  For me, this book was also about the values of love, friendship and respect, and seeing good in people. In an ideal world, I hear you say, and well, this is a work of fiction after all.  But in a world where hate is the standard currency and hope and compassion is in short supply, we need to be reminded that goodness still exists.

My favourite books are generally non-fiction, I'm not really a fan of fiction but can honestly say this is one of the best books I've read in a long long time.  This book moved me to tears at several times, however Backman has the talent to quickly turn the tears to smiles and laughter.  Maybe it's because I was reading this book during a summer characterised by serious illness and bereavement, when my emotions were already shredded to pieces, but it's impossible not to be moved by this book.  I notice that it has been made into a film - with Rolf Lassgård perfectly cast in the lead role - but I don't think I'll be going to the cinema to see it as I will probably blub all the way through it.  And let me tell you, I'm not one of those people who cries at films either. Best to wait for the DVD I reckon :)

Book Review: "Red Love: The Story of An East German Family" - Maxim Leo

I bought this book some time ago after coming across it by accident on Amazon, you know the idea: "customers who bought this item also bought...." however I have only recently got round to reading it.  Me and my backlogs, eh! (Or should that be book-logs?)

On the surface, "Red Love" is a memoir about life in the German Democratic Republic - or East Germany as it was better known in the West - but it's also a gripping journey through the lives of three generations of his family, and the contrasts between their own lives and the country they lived in.  The defunct system of GDR socialism would be a very easy target for a writer to bash, but Leo chooses not to do so, although he certainly acknowledges the system's failings.

The book provides a gripping account of his grandfather's escape from Germany to France, and his subsequent role in the French resistance. His other grandfather had been a fervent Nazi sympathiser. Yet both eventually became enthusiastic about the new beginnings offered by post-war communism and the creation of the GDR.

The family saga then moves on to Maxim Leo's parents, his idealistic journalist mother Anne and artist father Wolf, and how they dealt with life in the GDR.  Their beliefs and idealism were often at odds with the stifling restrictions they lived under.

In the book Leo describes his family as part of the 'left-wing bourgeoisie' and perhaps they had more opportunities and a better standard of living than your average GDR citizens.  However, they all had something in common: day to day life in the GDR was lived under the hidden cameras and all-seeing-eyes of the Stasi (secret police) and their citizen informants - who could have been your neighbour, your friend, your parents, your children.

Leo writes about his own experiences of growing up in the final decades of a country which quickly disappeared and died after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Leo's own conclusion is that he didn't really have any real feelings about the GDR: "There was neither hatred nor love, neither hope nor disappointment.  Just a kind of numb indifference".

I would recommend this book which takes a very personal look at life from a family perspective before, during, and after the GDR, a country which I have always found fascinating.

Book Review: "The Hacienda - How Not To Run A Club" - Peter Hook

In case you didn't know, Peter Hook is the former bass player of Joy Division and New Order; he previously documented the history of Joy Division in his book "Unknown Pleasures - Inside Joy Division" and in October 2016 the long-awaited follow-up "Substance: Inside New Order", is due to be published, which will be a must-read, if its predecessors are anything to go by.  So I thought it would be a good idea to rewind to 2009 when Hooky published his first book about the famous Manchester nightclub.

In the 1980s, Factory Records decided to diversify its interests and open its own nightclub: The Hacienda.  New Order co-owned the club and kept on ploughing money into a venture which on reflection was way ahead of its time,  Hooky was not only a shareholder in the club but also a regular attender through thick and thin, so he's certainly qualified to write this very detailed story - every chapter includes a full list of the DJs and their playlists, and the acts who appeared at the club, year after year - and even the club's accounts are, well, accounted for.

As with his Joy Division book, Hooky writes in an appealing down-to-earth and unpretentious style, so don't expect any deep literal journalistic analysis here: instead there's lots of plain speaking and fondly remembered anecdotes.  And there's certainly no airbrushing as he tells the story of the club's ultimate downfall, as the euphoric age of acid house gives way to the arrival of gangsters, guns and drug overdoses, and a constant undercurrent of violence.

As the book's title suggests, The Hacienda wasn't the most professional business model, and whilst reading this book you will ask yourself how the club managed to stay open for so long.  But then again Factory was no ordinary record label so it follows that The Hacienda (which like all Factory releases even had its own serial number, FAC51) was no ordinary club.  Hooky however warmly acknowledges the various unsung heroes who kept the club running from day to day despite all the pitfalls along the way.

"The Hacienda - How Not To Run A Club" certainly lives up to its title, highlighting a business model which probably shouldn't be emulated.  But there are many entertaining anecdotes along the way, and this book should be treasured as a historical snapshot of a time long gone, but also a time which meant so much to so many.

EuropeCrazy's Book Reviews!

Firstly, an explanation.  I love books.  I used to be a very avid reader but the combination of work and life and, well, just not having enough hours in the day, meant that I ended up with a very large number of unfinished books.  And every birthday and Christmas brings yet more books to read.

Being the self-proclaimed "queen of the backlog" I ended up with a huge amount of books to read in addition to my large amount of DVDs and TV recordings. However I've been making inroads and as part of my plan to widen the remit of this blog beyond the original focus on European music and travel, I would like to include a few more book reviews along the way.  My initial plan is to publish at least one book review a month although if you've followed this blog over recent years then you'll realise that's easier said than done :)

12 Months, 12 Books: "Nul Points" - Tim Moore

Now I'm not one for new year resolutions - they don't work, admit it - but at the beginning of this year I set myself a goal of reading a book every month and then reviewing it at the end of the month on this blog.  The first book of the year is actually an old favourite, which I received as one of my Christmas presents in 2006, if I remember correctly.  As we're heading into national finals season, there's no better time than to revisit "Nul Points" by Tim Moore. 

Moore is the author of several highly entertaining travel books - the most familiar of these for me was "French Revolutions", a very funny book about the Tour de France, which was published back in 2001. 

Nul Points is a grammatically incorrect but instantly recognisable phrase which describes all those Eurovision entries over the years which never received a single point.  In these days of the mega-contest it's virtually impossible for a song to receive no points, but back in the pre-semi final days of a smaller contest, it was a regular occurrence.  Regular enough for Tim Moore to get a book out of it.

The book begins with the ultimate nul-pointer, the legend himself, Jahn Teigen who secured his place in Eurovision history in 1978 and stars on the book's cover in cartoon form.  As Tim makes his way round the world to track down numerous nul-pointers, it's a fascinating contrast between the glorious failures such as the triumphant Jahn whose career was boosted by glorious defeat, and the bitterness and regret of subsequent Norwegian nul-pointer Finn Kalvik; or the dark feelings of Portugal's finger-clickingly unfortunate Celia Lawson who claimed: "so many bad things happen to me - and yes, they all began with Eurovision".  But for every Finn or Celia there's a Tor Endresen or a Kojo who enjoyed the ride and laugh off the experience.

And we couldn't go without mentioning the UK's very own nul-pointers Jemini who by the time of Tim Moore's interview existed somewhere between pride, denial, embarrassment and defiance :)

It's a fascinating read, and you don't need to be a Eurovision expert to appreciate the book.  The best thing about it is that Tim Moore skips the default-setting derision of most British journalists for something a lot more respectful; don't expect a superfan-book either, but just an enjoyable read with lots of genuine empathy and affection for all those guys and girls who've propped up the scoreboard over the years.

Book Review: "Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division" - Peter Hook

I read this book whilst on holiday and thought I'd give it a mention here.

The story of Joy Division has been told many times by many different people.  But this one really matters - because Peter Hook was there.

Peter Hook, bassist in Joy Division and later New Order, tells the real story in "Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division".  The mystique and romanticised cult of tragedy around Ian Curtis' suicide and the intensity of the band's music and lyrics is refreshingly absent from this book.  Instead we get a little bit of a biography of Hooky's early life and the beginnings of his punk-inspired music career, with the formation of Warsaw who later became Joy Division and the rest is history.  A large chunk of the book is devoted to the band's life on the road, with all the laddish behaviour and jolly japes described in explicit detail with some glee.

Hooky's straightforward storytelling style may lack literary depth and intensity, therefore may not be to everyone's taste, but I lapped up his easy going and very funny anecdotal style - reminiscent of a guy sitting chatting to you over a couple of drinks in the local pub, about his adventures in a band once upon a time.  But Joy Division wasn't just any old band of course.

The story ends with Ian's suicide, and the guilt and conflicting emotions around this.  Again, Hooky is brutally frank and honest at the end of the Joy Division story.  The story was to continue, as the three remaining JD members, along with Gillian Gilbert, evolved into New Order, who quickly became my favourite band, thanks to their ahead-of-their-time fusion of alternative music and dance rhythms.  Hooky is now writing a follow-up to "Unknown Pleasures", to be published one year from now, which will focus on his time in New Order.  Now that is a story I can't wait to read, and I'm sure he will have lots to tell.  The camaraderie of the Joy Division days is long gone, and the acrimony continues to this day.

One thing which clearly shines through this book is Hooky's love of music and his affection for Joy Division's songs which carries on, as he continues to perform songs from the Joy Division/New Order back catalogue with his band The Light.

"Unknown Pleasures" is well worth reading, whether you are a Joy Division fan or not.   It's a lively and often funny insight into the short career of a band whose music remains as influential today as it has always been.

Book Review: "Mylène Farmer: The Single File" by Steve Cabus

In the "old days" when I had much more time to blog than I do now (although I really don't know why I don't have as much time anymore!) I wouldn't have taken my eye off the ball when it came to celebrating the 50th birthday of my most favourite French female singer of all time. But unfortunately that's what happened this year and I've only recently remembered that she reached this big birthday milestone on 12th September. So a belated happy birthday Mylène!

However, as I was searching the web for Mylène-related stuff last week I came across the first-ever book to be published in English about the notoriously reclusive superstar. Needless to say I bought it! I have only just started reading the book so can't really call this a proper review, but I wanted to tell you all about it in case you didn't know about the book's existence.

"Mylène Farmer: The Single File" by Steve Cabus avoids the traditional biography format and instead takes an intensive look at the singer's career from the beginning in 1984 right up to the present day, single by single. Steve Cabus is a native French speaker but in his introduction he tells us that he has been speaking English exclusively for the past 23 years. Therefore he is perfectly qualified to convey all the aspects of what it's like to be a Mylène fan in the English-speaking world. Don't expect a big professional presentation - there are no pictures of Mylène, for example, just front and back cover art illustrations, and the title font in good old Comic Sans MS. But the old saying goes "don't judge a book by its cover" as it's what's inside which really counts.

The author is without doubt a superfan who is very knowledgeable about his subject. He spends a lot of time in each chapter listing the various formats/remixes etc available for each single, and vividly describes the making of each video and what it's about. Of course if you're a Mylène fan you will know that her music and videos are loaded with controversy, dark themes and "after-the-watershed" content - this is an excellent reference book about each song/video and will definitely be a "go-to" book whenever I'm listening to a Mylène song or watching one of her videos.

You can buy the paperback book (priced £12.99) on Amazon in the UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myl%C3%A8ne-Farmer-Single-Steve-Cabus/dp/190810578X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317570241&sr=8-1
there is also a Kindle edition available if you're that way inclined - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Myl%C3%A8ne-Farmer-Single-File-ebook/dp/B005EQ86K6/ref=kinw_dp_ke?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM

Also if you Google the book's title and author you should be able to find other online bookstores which stock this book in your country.