Gun, with Occasional Music (1994) by Jonathan Lethem

 Tristan’s choices

Theme: Talking animals

Tristan: Unlike previous months, I considered lots of books in the time leading up to this one, but an awful lot of them felt quite heavy going, and I thought it was time for some light relief. So that’s why I settled on this book, and the theme could just as well be called “lighthearted romp” as much as “talking animals”.

READ: Gun, with Occasional Music (1994) by Jonathan Lethem

Private Investigator Metcalf is pure Marlowe. The plot could be lifted from any one of Raymond Chandler's Marlowe books albeit here with the addition of a kangaroo heavy, a sheep doubling as a clandestine mistress, and a PI whose nervous system has been switched with that of a former girlfriend.

Tristan: Although it fit my criteria, I came away feeling slightly dissatisfied: it skirted the edges of being lots of different things, but ultimately didn’t deliver

Nick: I loved the idea of the babyheads, the nerve swapping technology, animals scientifically turned into humans but for all these big themes, it felt like a book of ideas in search of a storyline

Nigel: It's remarkable how noir adapts so perfectly to this kind of speculative, dystopian fiction. Recommended.

Keith: Strong but too implausible. Feels very modern despite being 30 years old

Roland: Weak story 

Robin: Annoying. Drab. Dull. Forgettable

Hamish: A dark, gripping and engrossing tale, a fresh debut novel, but not without its flaws. Unlike too many books, I did think this one had a great ending.

Nick 5 / Tristan 6 / Nigel 8 / Keith 6 / Roland 5 / Robin - / Hamish 7.5

LISTEN: The Muppet Show Album (1977) 

Tristan: I have a huge personal connection to this in that I used to listen to it on repeat on the car stereo when I was around six years old. It’s like a message from a simpler, happier time: lots of songs, simple gags, and a whole joyous thing to listen to

Nick: brought back so many happy memories. Mr Bassman, Half Way Down the Stairs, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear - it was the first place I heard these great songs - and they still sound really good

Nigel: Obviously we all love The Muppets who were and are a lot of fun but I can’t take this seriously. Robin the Frog’s Halfway Down the Stairs was a UK top ten single in 1977. As a 15 year old it annoyed me. A waste of valuable time when it got played on Top of the Pops. It still makes me cross. We wanted The Jam and we got Robin the Frog! The Gilbert & Sullivan spoof and Mahna Mahna make me smile

Keith: I love the Muppets. Great musicianship

Roland: Hated the songs. I have no nostalgic connection to the Muppets. 

Robin: Big fan

Hamish: I never watched The Muppets, so have no nostalgic link to it. This is dreadful and I hate it.

Nick 10 / Tristan 10 / Nigel 5 / Keith - / Roland - / Robin - / Hamish 0

WATCH: The Cat Returns (2002)

Tristan: failed to live up to my expectations of a Studio Ghibli film, which often have a lot to offer adults as well as children

Nick: The imagination of the team who put this together is quite something. It is sweet but pretty light and mercifully short

Nigel: I watched a lot of Studio Ghibli films when my kids were young. The story here is thin and lacks the emotional depth that makes their best films so memorable. Haru is a bland protagonist and this lightweight fairytale has little to excite or surprise.

Keith: Ghibli-lite

Roland: No redeeming features

Robin: Did not watch

Hamish: Studio Ghibli is much loved by my eldest two daughters. Myself, I love the art, but find sitting through an hour's film gets a little tedious. This one was no exception. I hate cats

Nick 5 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 3 / Keith - / Roland 0 / Robin - / Hamish 6

HBG endorse it: 10 January 2025 - 20 February 2025

Mo (Netflix)

Frances Ha (Prime)

A Complete Unknown (Cinema)

Becoming Led Zeppelin (Cinema)

We Might Regret This (BBC iPlayer)

Saturday Night (Film about SNL)

Conundrum (1974) by Jan Morris

This meeting marked our 20th anniversary. Yep, 20 glorious years of Hove Book Group. Needless to say all current participants receive commemorative badges

Theme: I Travel

Nick said with me spending more time away from home over the next year, I thought that Travel and Journeys would be an interesting departure point for Hove’s premier book club. And as you will now be aware, it is journeys and travel in a few  different senses. It looks like I will miss most meetings this year, but hope I can continue to be involved from a distance.

READ: Conundrum (1974) by Jan Morris 

Nick: I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while - I’ve read a few articles about Jan Morris and saw this book recommended in numerous places as an important early description of trans experience. I was looking forward to it. . .

I think it is impossible to read this book without at least a nod to the very different world of the 1970s in which it was written - the BBC documentary I shared is very good at displaying how a lot of Britain felt about ‘others’ be it homosexuals, transvestites or the ‘coloureds’. And this is indeed a period piece, which is a flawed, egocentric, anti-feminist monologue, whilst being touching, pro-choice and empowering. It has all the qualities of great reportage whilst being as unreliable as any autobiography must surely be (thanks Nigel for sharing the article about some of the family context).

Jan as we all are, is a mess of contradictions, fantastically self obsessed and mean; her description of the “true transsexuals,” against “the poor castaways of intersex, the misguided homosexuals, the transvestites’ is outrageous -  taken against her touchingly wondering whether and how to come out with young children in the house, and “the fear that I might in some way harm them by revealing the truth too soon. Besides they had a marvellous mother already.” 

Or her extremely conventional idea of women as the weaker sense whilst living a very unconventional life herself through her non-stop travels and her admiration for successful women such as the Queen.

Whilst I found the story of her journey interesting the  book really excels through the travel writing by which she rightly became famous. Her descriptions of Everest bring it vividly to life - “within the bowl everything is brilliant white and blue. It is silent in there. The mountain walls deaden everything and cushion the hours in a disciplinary hush,” or of a Venice as mysterious as that revealed in ‘Don’t Look Now’.

So whilst I enjoyed reading the book and about Jan’s journey from James, and the novella size of it certainly helped, I much preferred the travel writing, which I will delve into more. Jan’s story is Jan’s story and it is not a wider story about the trans experience. It doesn’t claim to be that, but coupled with some alarming ideas, I did find it at time difficult to find good things through my wincing eyes. I wonder if an updated version with some fresh interpretation as an introduction, warts and all, is overdue. 

A brave and flawed book.

Keith: unsatisfying

Hamish: Lacked Elizabeth, lacked solidarity with women and minorities

Tristan: Interesting but dated, and interesting because it is dated

Roland: endearing and genuine

Nigel: interesting but unreliable

Robin: engaging and thoughtful

Nick 6.5 / Tristan 6 / Nigel 6 / Keith 5 / Roland 8 / Robin 7.5 / Hamish 2

LISTEN: Minimum Maximum by Kraftwerk 

Nick: Kraftwerk are great and I particularly like this slightly updated version of them from the early 2000s. The music somehow manages to capture the sheer monotony of being stuck on the motorway or stretched out in the peloton for an interminable amount of time with the sheer joy of escape or as the bike hurtles down the hill. Possibly the most important band of all time.

Roland: Mediocre and simplistic

Tristan: Meh

Hamish: Iconic, exceptional

Nigel: Fabulous update

Robin: love Kraftwerk

Nick 9 / Tristan 2 / Nigel 9 / Keith - / Roland 4 / Robin - / Hamish 7

WATCH: Before Sunrise (1995) dir by Richard Linklater

Nick: I’d never seen this film even though it has been lauded as a classic. I’m not generally taken with romantic films and it does feel pretty dated now, albeit with themes that never seem to go away such as a war not very far away or a media controlling our minds.

I also don’t think a film like this could be made now. Boy meets girl on a train and asks her to give up her plans to spend a day in a strange European city with her. There are some supremely naff things like the early morning harpsichord player and some of the dialogue feels quite stilted. But it does have two convincing performances and it is great to see two actors who though without doubt  are very beautiful, don’t have perfect teeth or abnormal muscles. The scene in the listening booth is handled with panache and you do get the sense of them falling in love. Vienna looks beautiful.

I wouldn’t have gone to watch that play either.

Keith: painful 

Hamish: Middling

Tristan: loved on first release, now feels long and tortuous

Nigel: loved on first release, still packs a punch but now distracted by aftermath of lack of sleep

Roland: still love it second time round

Nick 7 / Tristan 10 (1995 score) / Nigel 6 / Keith - / Roland 8 / Robin - did not watch / Hamish 6

HBG endorse it: 15 November 2024 - 9 January 2025

Lucan (BBC iPlayer)

The Quiet Girl (Channel 4)

After The Party (Channel 4)

Turning Point: The Bomb And The Cold War (Netflix)

Mad About The Boy: The Noel Coward Story (BBC iPlayer)

The Boys (Prime)

Prima Facie (National Theatre)

Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Book)

Dinosaur (BBC iPlayer)