LITERARY FICTION
ALL FOR NOTHING
by Walter Kempowski
(Granta £14.99) THE Georgenhof is an old, impressive manor house that has seen better days.
But things are about to go from bad to cataclysmic for the house and its inhabitants — because it’s January 1945, the Georgenhof estate is in East Germany and the fast-advancing Red Army is now less than 100 km away.
With her husband serving in Italy, the lady of the house, Katharina, is supposedly in charge but, along with her aged aunt and her young son, she is in a state of denial. ‘What strange times these were,’ ponders Katharina, while tanks roll past and not-so-distant warfare makes the house shake.
Eventually, she starts to wonder what to pack. Her husband’s suits? Her son’s model railway? And should they wash the curtains?
Finally, the gentry of the Georgenhof and assorted servants and hangers-on do manage to join the fleeing refugees and try, desperately, appallingly and sometimes almost farcically, to avoid their almost-certain doom.
What a great book this is — daring and brilliant in its rationing of sympathy, completely gripping — and horribly fascinating to see the end of World War II through the eyes of the catastrophic losers. PUBLIC LIBRARY
by Ali Smith
(Hamish Hamilton £16.99) THIS is a series of short stories — mostly about books — interspersed with brief accounts from Smith’s friends and acquaintances about libraries. Yes, OK, that does sound as dry and dull as a Jacob’s Cream Cracker, but that’s exactly not the result.
Even the testimonies, which could so easily have been boringly worthy, build up to a passionate crescendo in defence of public libraries, at a time when they have been so badly damaged by cuts.
As for the stories — well, they are superb. Highlights include an argument between the author and her dead father, a story about a complaint the author tries to make when her bank details are stolen, which sidetracks the story she meant to write about D. H. Lawrence, and the aftermath of a marriage dominated by one partner’s devotion to books and her particular obsession with the short story writer Katherine Mansfield.
It has been Smith’s unlikely triumph throughout her increasingly acclaimed career to combine a playful and experimental approach with material that is both moving and funny — and she has done it once again with this wonderful collection. BEATLEBONE
by Kevin Barry
(Canongate £12.99) WE ARE introduced to our hero only as John — we don’t know too much about him for a long time, except that he’s an artist of some nature, he’s 37, from the North of England and has pitched up on the West Coast of Ireland during a time of emotional and spiritual turmoil and near-breakdown.
John has fled to Ireland, because he has Irish roots and because he owns one of the small islands off the coast — though which island, he’s not quite sure. And he’s being pursued by the Press.
At first, I didn’t buy any of this — partly because John often has an off-puttingly florid way of thinking, but mainly because this is 1978, when youngish, island-buying artists weren’t too thick on the ground.
Ah, but it turns out (small spoiler alert) that John’s second name is Lennon, and this is a re-creation of a real episode in the Beatle’s life.
And an increasingly interesting re-creation it is, too — lively, vivid and bold, and one that can happily include an insert about the author’s research.
Lennon would have loved it.