BOOK REVIEW | MOSTLY RECOMMENDED READING
for the pleasure of reading
Crime
CRIME by Irvine Welsh (2008) Ray Lennox is an Edinburgh cop who is deeply driven to assist the weak and vulnerable. For Lennox, this means protecting kids from adult bullies who assume the form of the molester, rapist, and child killer. What follows is an unflinching examination of a child trafficking ring and the predators that operate within it. Alongside this, it is an unvarnished account of the cop culture that prefers short term results and simple solutions. In the process, Lennox comes to understand that pure evil is not simply the opposite of goodness, but is rather, the result…
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Slow horses
SLOW HORSES by Mick Herron (2010) When you fuck things up on the job working for MI5, you don’t get the sack, you get banished to Slough House and buried under mind-numbing tedium until you crack and resign. The rundown London facility is headed up by Jackson Lamb, and both are the topic of mockery and sarcasm within Five. But there’s more to Lamb than cut roast and mint sauce. Lamb is an old school field operative who knows a thing or two. And as three homegrown fascists kidnap a local man and threaten to execute him live on the…
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Widespread panic
WIDESPREAD PANIC by James Ellroy (2021) Freddy Otash is a bug-and-tap specialist. He lives to listen to and record his marks. Freddy’s also handy with the camera. Poof! Gotcha! Freddy’s business is extortion and blackmail. There’s money to be made and favours to be foraged from those who shun exposure. To maximise his income, Freddy works both ends of the trade, exposing cheating spouses during divorce gigs, whilst seeking and accepting hush money from nervous movie stars and assorted “Hollyweird” hangers on. But Freddy O. is not a purely venal man but rather is a man driven by a burning…
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The silence of the lambs
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS by Thomas Harris (1988) A series of gruesome murders has occurred, and a serial killer remains on the loose. Nicknamed Buffalo Bill by the police, this killer skins his victims before dumping their bodies in the river. The FBI face a race against time to stop the killing and catch the killer. Clarice Starling, a green FBI trainee not yet qualified as an agent, is called upon to participate in the investigation due to her extensive knowledge in the field of behavioural science. Her assignment is to interview and extract information from the imprisoned serial…
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The talented Mr Ripley
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith (1955) Tom Ripley is a young and ambitious working class man. A little socially awkward perhaps, but what young person is not a little shy when first embarking upon life’s journey? Bored and frustrated with regular work – a promotion is years away – Tom develops his own small schemes to generate income. All the while Tom feels that he is just waiting for something new to arrive, something that would help him set a course in life. And then the opportunity comes, and Tom’s waiting has not been in vain. Employed by…
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The street lawyer
THE STREET LAWYER by John Grisham (1998) DeVon Hardy has just been evicted from a warehouse he called home. DeVon, along with numerous other long term homeless are forced onto the streets in winter. Many of the evictees scatter throughout the cold and wet streets seeking places of temporary shelter; a young family must now sleep in a car. DeVon is morally outraged and feels something must be done. At which point DeVon locates the law firm that carried out the eviction. Michael works for Drake & Sweeney and is seemingly on his way to promotion and much more money.…
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Something wicked this way comes
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury (1962) The carnival arrives in town and brings with it some very strange characters. The unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells, attract all the local kids, including two young boys, Will and Jim. But there is something a little sinister about this travelling circus and its keepers. Will and Jim figure this much out, as boys sometimes do, and now must investigate further. But when they discover a merry-go-round, whose revolutions can age you up or down, they seek help from Will’s dad. As the strangers in town launch a search for the…
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The catcher in the rye
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J. D. Salinger (1951) Holden Caulfield has failed in yet another school. After getting kicked out, Holden undertakes a quest for knowledge. As he engages with a wide variety of people, we receive Holden’s unspoken assessment of them in real time. Indeed, we perceive the world exclusively through Holden’s eyes as he navigates the adult world and his own coming of age. Throughout his journey, which is as much internal as actual, Holden cannot find a hero or a worthwhile cause. Phonies are everywhere. Fake people conforming to meaningless social standards. People pretending to…
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Less than zero
LESS THAN ZERO by Bret Easton Ellis (1985) Clay returns home and has a void to fill. A hollow space within him demands that he see it all with his own eyes and hear it all with his own ears. Not only the best of human relations and endeavour, if that even exists, but the very worst too. Clay embarks upon an odyssey that journeys through the lives of the obscenely rich, over-privileged, parentally abandoned, and comfortably numb, circles of young people living in 1980s Los Angeles. A dark turn towards the seedy and sickening provides Clay with his own…
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One fearful yellow eye
ONE FEARFUL YELLOW EYE by John D. MacDonald (1966) Fortner Geis is dead. The bulk of the inheritance money is missing. Six hundred thousand dollars remains unaccounted for. The adult children suspect Geis’ young wife of financial abuse and theft. But Gloria is hardly the type to steal her late husband’s estate. And when Travis McGee is called in to help a friend in need, he soon agrees to investigate the matter. McGee uncovers a campaign of lesser violence which in turn demonstrates the possibility of greater violence. And with this implied threat to escalate the violence, a pressure was…
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The big sleep
THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler (1939) General Sternwood is ancient and looks it. Having summoned private detective Philip Marlowe to his enormous estate, he shows to Marlowe evidence of blackmail. During the ensuing discussion, Sternwood also explains that the son-in-law he very much admired has apparently ran off. No word was given, and no note was left behind. Rusty Regan has simply evaporated, and Sternwood wants to know where he is and why he left. Is there a connection between the two? Marlowe agrees to investigate both matters and soon discovers that Sternwood’s adult daughters have issues of their…
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Banker
BANKER by Dick Francis (1982) The banker lends five million pounds for the purchase of an established racehorse. Investing in racehorses is not just about winning races but also about siring foals, that may one day become the next generation of racehorses. However, when the stallion begins to sire foals that are born with deformities, it seems the five million pounds has been all but lost. And then, a lowball offer to purchase the racehorse is proffered. The prospective purchaser wants to send the racehorse to a mysterious “horse healer.” The horse healer has form in returning horses to their…
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Without fear or favour
WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR by Bob Bottom (1984) Investigative journalist Bob Bottom describes the cultural changes that occurred within Australia during the period 1965 – 1984. During the late 1960s, organised crime within Australia underwent a significant and irreversible transformation. New competition launched a hostile business takeover and eliminated the old-time crooks, before seizing their money-making enterprises. A new sophistication then entered the illicit business markets. This included the establishment and maintenance of ongoing criminal networks that encompassed the wealthy and powerful. Read chapter five, Death a Reality to learn about the disappearance and suspected murders of Juanita Nielsen (4th…
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What is history?
WHAT IS HISTORY? by E. H. Carr (1961) History is not simply an accumulation of facts. History is, rather, an interpretation of the facts that have been selected and arranged to suit the historian’s needs. Hence, to understand history, one must assess the historian. Since history is a means to make the past relevant to the present, the social environment of the historian must also be considered as influential. History is not simply a progression of events, but rather, remains a dynamic process of contestation. History is not limited to a long list of technological developments. History is concerned with…
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What is art?
WHAT IS ART? by Leo Tolstoy (1897) Art is defined as a material vehicle that conveys the artist’s feelings to the observer with precision. Tolstoy calls this process infection. If you can be made to feel what the artist has felt, and perhaps be pulled into a series of feelings in a specific sequence, then the work of art has fulfilled its purpose. A sequence of feelings may include shock, then pity, then fear. If the artefact seemingly evokes random and quite different feelings between multiple observers, then it has failed in its attempt to become art. Purpose of art…
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The Count of Monte Cristo
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas (1844) A fast-paced action thriller centred around a decent young man who is attacked by human vultures. An envious colleague, a jealous rival, a vainglorious magistrate, an indifferent observer. These four combine to rob Edmond Dantes of position, fiancé, freedom, and natural justice. Framed as a Bonapartist traitor, Dantes is sent to the island prison somewhere off the coast of France. Here, Dantes becomes a student of the prisoner genius Faria, who shares his secret of the hidden treasure. After fourteen years of unjust incarceration, Dantes dramatically escapes prison, locates the treasure,…
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Blood and guts in high school
BLOOD AND GUTS IN HIGH SCHOOL by Kathy Acker (1984) Janey Smith decides that it’s time to act. She just goes because nothing here is working out to her satisfaction and she has needs and desires and why isn’t it happening in the way she imagined it would? Just like how people need to travel to get away from this so that they can become that: the next version of themselves which cannot reveal itself in present company and surroundings. Janey is horny and needs sex and also love. How to get both? Janey also needs money to survive –…
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The great Gatsby
THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) Jay Gatsby is young working class man who enlists in the US army and serves overseas during the Great War. Upon his return Stateside, Gatsby is determined to better himself, and to improve his financial status to a position that he believes will impress Daisy, the young wealthy woman he left behind when he was deployed to France in 1918. As she has moved on, and gotten married, and produced a child from this marriage, things are now a little tricky for Gatsby. But a man who is capable of great combined…
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Naked lunch
NAKED LUNCH by William Burroughs (1959) Bill Lee has been a junky for sixteen years. Driving across America, Bill is looking to score. He knows people in nearly every city that are likely to have the good stuff. Although sometimes, like this time, it is not always that straight forward. In some cities, the junk runs dry, and those that are usually holding have nothing to give or sell. In others, the cops want to stick Bill in jail or force him to grass up somebody. Later, when Bill reaches the Interzone, observations of his environment and reflections upon his…
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Valley of the dolls
VALLEY OF THE DOLLS by Jacqueline Susann (1966) Three young women strive to establish careers for themselves within the highly competitive American entertainment industry. Anne, Neely, and Jennifer, like all young people fresh out of home, each hope to ‘make it.’ But as the demands of ‘making it’ weigh down upon each of them in different ways, comfort comes to each of them in the same pharmaceutical bottle. Little red dolls that help you sleep. Little green dolls that perk you up and suppress appetite. And then more little red dolls to counteract the little green dolls. Anne, who views…
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Requiem for a dream
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM by Hubert Selby Jr (1979) Heroin is like the sun and Harry, Tyrone, and Marion can feel themselves being pulled around in its gravitational orbit. Best mates, Harry and Tyrone score the smack. Lovers, Harry and Marion make grand plans for a shared future. The trio shoot up together until Tyrone meets Alice and that makes four. But when the streets run dry and a small taste becomes hard to find, desperation and selfishness creep in. Ordinary relations become abstract notions, and the only unifying element is the constant and growing need to get heroin into…
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Camera politica
CAMERA POLITICA by Michael Ryan & Douglas Kellner (1990) The Hollywood film consists of representations that express the thought patterns, beliefs, and ideology of our society. These representations inform and reassure us that capitalism and patriarchy are necessary for survival. The Hollywood film imparts the values and practices of domination rather than social cooperation. Think of anything and formulate a mental picture of it. Now ask yourself, where did that mental picture originate from? Also, film in itself is benign, and therefore, films can be made that challenge and contradict the dominant film narrative of submission to capitalism. McCabe &…
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art Incorporated
ART INCORPORATED by Julian Stallabrass (2004) Throughout the first cold war (1947-1992), art had been used as a cultural weapon in the struggle between two great powers. On the one hand, Soviet realism pictorially demonstrated the link between the people, their education, and their social and economic progress. On the other, American, and European abstract art attempted to convey a life without boundaries through a rejection of traditional forms. However, once the Berlin Wall was dismantled in November 1989, the first cold war began to reach its climax. For the West, eschewing peace and unity, the role of art would…
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Inside the white cube
INSIDE THE WHITE CUBE by Brian O’Doherty (1999) An analysis of the art gallery or “art space” that can be observed to be nothing but a white cube. This dominant trend within modern art galleries is less a professional necessity and much more an ideological construct. White walls, white ceiling, windows whited out, why? To shut out the outside world, our world, and its daily realities. Is modern art so diluted and weak that it cannot corroborate, challenge, or contradict our society and its conventions, mores, and myths? Perhaps it is the white cube itself that informs and reassures us…
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White meat
WHITE MEAT by Peter Corris (1981) Private detective Cliff Hardy has a new case. Noni Tarelton has gone missing and her wealthy father wants her found. This sparks a quest throughout the suburbs of Sydney including Balmain, Newtown, Glebe, Redfern, and La Perouse, and ultimately leads back to Noni’s former life in Macleay (Kempsey). Where local police have an unsolved bank job on their books from years ago. As one thing leads to another, Hardy finds himself thrust into the world of the Australian blackfella, and it is through this particular prism that critical elements of this story are refracted.…
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The Maltese falcon
THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett (1930) Sam Spade and Miles Archer operate the type of detective agency that runs on money. When Miss Wonderley produces a story and two hundred dollar bills whilst in conference with Spade and Archer, the two gumshoes are moved to action. Once on the job, Archer is shot dead. No witnesses. Spade digs deeper and unearths a scheme to procure a statuette in the form of a black bird. But who has it and how much will it cost? As shady characters appear to lay their claim, and vicious acts are done to eliminate…
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Red sparrow
RED SPARROW by Jason Matthews (2013) Dominika Egorova is a gifted young Russian whose unique ability to observe a person’s aura enables her to assess other’s morals and intentions. Although she cannot always perceive an aura, when an aura does reveal itself to Dominika it is permeated with rich colour. Due to this, Dominika has become adept at gathering colour-coded humint. As a graduate of sparrow school, where young Russians are taught how to seduce and fornicate, and in a most mechanistic and earthly manner, and in contrast to how American youth learn and indulge such things quite naturally, Dominika…
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From Russia with love
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by Ian Fleming (1957) A tale of espionage and intrigue featuring fictitious British Secret Service agent James Bond. Agent 007 has been made the target of an execution order by the Soviet state. A mock defection and the chance to pocket a Spektor decoding device draws Bond to Istanbul. Whilst here, local asset Kerim displays his underground periscope – quite literal, nothing metaphorical – to Bond. Eye to the glass, 007 can now see into the Soviet embassy in Istanbul. Live visual feed. In actual fact, a similar operation did occur but in Berlin. However, because…
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The geographical pivot of history
THE GEOGRAPHICAL PIVOT OF HISTORY by Halford John Mackinder (1904) Russia exists within a vast geographical area that is surrounded and protected by natural wonders. Forests and tundra in the north and north-east, mountain ranges to the east and west, and desert in the south. This is the “Heartland” and “Pivot Area.” Russia is a land power that is seemingly impenetrable and is largely invulnerable to attack by sea. As western nations are colonising sea powers, this eventuality raises some consternation. Russians are constructing railways at a rapid pace, which will soon enable swift access to the coast and ocean.…
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Fight club
FIGHT CLUB by Chuck Palahniuk (1996) In a world without hope, what should the hopeless do with themselves? Should they slink off into some corner and slowly expire? Or should they meet, talk, organise, participate, and evolve into something beyond what is? Consider this: if there’s no way left to ascend, perhaps the only way to go is down. If hard work cannot yield results and ambition remains unmet, if love and affection belong solely to the glossy magazines, impossible to capture and experience, if nothing can be changed for the better or even just tweaked to your own temporary…
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