Hove Book Group Christmas Meal

Hove's hardest working book group gather for another Christmas special 

Thursday 12th December 2013 saw Hove Book Group gather for our the annual Christmas meal.  Five of a possible seven, from the hardest working book group in Hove, enjoyed a wide ranging discussion over a splendid Italian meal at Franco's Pizza & Pasta, 4 Victoria Terrace, Hove BN3 2WB.  The meal was over by 10:30 pm and, in the spirit of goodwill to all, four of us continued with the celebration in The Neptune pub before bringing a supremely pleasing night to a close at around midnight.  

As is customary on these occasions we cast a wistful glance over the previous 12 months and in particular which of our selections we most enjoyed.  All the group members were polled before the meal, and once the contents of the three gold envelopes were revealed to gasps of surprise and appreciation, the outcome was...

Favourite book of 2013

1. "Stoner" by John Williams
2. "A Month In The Country" by J.L. Carr
3. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Favourite music of 2013

1. "Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie
2. "Murmur" by R.E.M.

Favourite film/DVD of 2013 

1. Jaws
2. The Proposition
3. The Conversation 

Hove Book Group keeping it real at Xmas

Would that John Williams were still alive to bask in even more acclaim for his remarkable book "Stoner".  Congratulations Mr Williams, yours was the finest book we read in 2013.

Here's to another year of top flight cultural discourse throughout 2014.

"Stoner" (1965) by John Williams

BOOK: "Stoner" (1965) by John Williams

Nick was so keen to discuss "Stoner" that he arrived at The Poets Corner pub one week early.  On discovering that there was no one else there, Nick had to cool his heels for another seven days, and until 14th November 2013.  

Needless to say his smooth patter was well rehearsed and he launched into a persuasive and beguiling eulogy about this celebrated example of "Lazarus literature".  Nick extolled John Williams' masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man.  More than its perfect prose, tone, characterisation, and narrative momentum, what impressed Nick most about Stoner was the subtlety of its self-awareness. Ultimately, for Nick, this was a story of hope.  9/10

Tristan "Tender"

Tristan's initial irritation, in response to what he perceived as a bleak novel, soon gave way to more tender and sympathetic emotions.  The opening lines set the book's tone...

William Stoner entered the University of Missouri as a freshman in the year 1910. … Eight years later, during the height of World War I, he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree and accepted an instructorship at the same University, where he taught until his death in 1956. He did not rise above the rank of assistant professor, and few students remembered him with any sharpness after they had taken his courses. When he died his colleagues made a memorial contribution of a medieval manuscript to the University library. This manuscript may still be found in the Rare Books Collection, bearing the inscription: “Presented to the Library of the University of Missouri, in memory of William Stoner, Department of English. By his colleagues.”

An occasional student who comes upon the name may wonder idly who William Stoner was, but he seldom pursues his curiosity beyond a casual question. Stoner’s colleagues, who held him in no particular esteem when he was alive, speak of him rarely now; to the older ones, his name is a reminder of the end that awaits them all, and to the younger ones it is merely a sound which evokes no sense of the past and no identity with which they can associate themselves or their careers.

How could a book about a man held "in no particular esteem" make Tristan feel so tenderly towards him?  Perhaps Don held the answer.  7.5/10

Don was unable to attend in person, however he had sent through a review.  Don could feel the passion flow through him when he thought of William Stoner.  Don praised the way the tale was told before noting that he too had known an Edith or two.  As we paused to digest this bombshell, Don also mentioned he had known a Lomax (who he compared with his favourite politician Chris Mullins).  Don revelled in the detailed description of Stoner’s final days.  Whilst only finding the Literature angle of personal interest, Don was joyous at the "pure descriptive prose": every subtle gesture and nuance was "captured to perfection".  9/10

Keith agreed with much of what had already been discussed.  Keith queried the assertion in the introduction that William Stoner was a "hero".  Keith also lauded the romance: Stoner is well into his 40s, and mired in an unhappy marriage, when he meets Katherine, another shy professor of literature.  Keith stated that the affair was described with a beauty so fierce that it took his breath away each time he read it.  9/10

Robin "Riveting"

Robin also enjoyed Williams' "remarkable 1965 novel".  Robin enjoyed the "window on early 20th century American higher education".   Robin found the book "utterly riveting".  Why?  One simple reason: because the characters were treated with simple tender and ruthless honesty.  Robin loved them all.  8/10

Nigel feels that good books are absorbing, and the best books allow the reader to completely inhabit that book's world.  "Stoner" shares this quality with JL Carr's "A Month In The Country".  A beautiful, compelling, sometimes horrific, haunting, powerful, quietly profound novel that has something to teach us all.  The simple, elegant prose takes us to the heart William Stoner's life.  A very ordinary life: a dirt-poor farm boy from Missouri, born at the end of the nineteenth century, goes to college to study agriculture, and, instead of returning home stays to teach.  How can such a simple premise result in such perfect literature?  Stoner is an everyman, quietly doing his best whilst enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: a wife at war with him, a boss who despises him, a daughter driven from him, a lover forced to move away.  Very little goes right for Stoner and yet, and yet...  Stoner's story is in turns depressing, uplifting, appalling, tragic, insightful, wise and funny.  A remarkable book.   9/10

FILM: "The Conversation" (1974) dir by Francis Ford Coppola

"He'd kill us if he got the chance"

Nick once managed to watch half of the film, before his recording stopped.  He knew he had to see the whole thing.  Nick, whilst acknowledging the film's indebtedness to Michelangelo Antonioni’s brilliant Blowup (1966), passionately argued that "The Conversation" does not merely ape that film’s existential dilemma.  No.  Coppola's film probes far more deeply into the mind of Harry Caul.  The Conversation opens with Caul and his entourage listening in to the conversation of two lovers as they stroll in downtown San Francisco’s Union Square. The opening sniper's view is augmented by the fragmented bits of conversation Caul eventually pieces together. 

Nigel first watched this film as a teenager in the 1970s.  He loved it then.  He loves it now.  If anything, he thinks it is even better now than he did when he first saw it.  From the opening shot of the initial surveillance with the shadows and the mime artist, it just gets better and better, as Harry Caul (played superbly by the always great Gene Hackman) starts to come to terms with the consequences of his surveillance work.  The palpable sense of paranoia is a wonderful reflection of the time, and the film is one of the earliest to address the post-Watergate mood, as well as the surveillance culture that is ingrained in the modern world.

The supporting cast is also amazing, the late, great John Cazale in particular.  That said, it's Gene Hackman's film, he's in every scene and he conveys so much through nuanced facial expressions.  The direction is amazing, Francis Ford Coppola being allowed to make the film, between the two Godfather films (in much the same way that Christopher Nolan got to make Inception off the back of his success with the Dark Knight films).  

The final scene is cinematic perfection - the hunter becomes the hunted as Harry Caul frantically dismantles his apartment to find the bug he knows to be there.  

Robin "Categorical"

Robin also highlighted the "Blow Up" comparison: there are some works of art that are both obviously derivative and just as obviously inferior to the originals. These simply ape the earlier work, tweak a few minor things, and try to pass off their theft as an "homage."  The Conversation (1974) categorically does not fall into category.  Eh?  Like some members of the Hove Book Group, Caul is a lonely man who plays saxophone and jazz records in his apartment. Caul’s professional expertise and paranoia about his own privacy, make him a perfect cipher for the film's themes.

Tristan - loved the pac-a-mac

Tristan was in thrall to Harry Caul's "pac-a-mac".  More pac-a-macs in movies please.  For Tristan, this is a film about seeing and listening without being detected whilst exploring deeper issues such as guilt, paranoia, responsibility, absolution and redemption, themes that were common to American cinema in the 1970's following the Watergate scandal.

MUSIC: "Murmur" (1983) by R.E.M.

Nick is smitten by Murmur's strangely subdued sound that heighten the band's enigmatic tendencies.  Is this R.E.M.'s finest moment?  Murmur sound as if it's existed forever.  The unpredictable twists and turns enchant Nick every time: from the mysterious photograph of a kudzu-covered train station on the jacket to the intriguingly off-kilter music.

Nigel was given this album when it was released by a friend who was then working for the IRS record label who original released Murmur in the UK.  As a consequence he went to see one of the band's first UK gigs at the Carioca Club, Worthing on 29th April 1984.  This album soundtracked Nigel's student years and still sounds wonderful.  The album has a very distinctive, and timeless sound, unlike a lot of music produced in the mid-1980s.  This timeless sound is used to great effect on a wonderful collection of songs: Pilgrimage, Radio Free Europe, Talk About The Passion, West Of The Fields and so on.  The next album "Reckoning" continued the excellence, but that's another story for another day. R.E.M. might have stuck around for far too long but for during the eighties and early 1990s they were untouchable.

Robin felt that Murmur quietly broke with the status quo and mapped out an enigmatic but rewarding new musical agenda. There is nothing obvious or superficial about R.E.M.'s songs or the way the band chose to play them. Meanings are hidden in a thicket of nonlinear imagery, with mumbled or distant vocals from Michael Stipe. 

Keith continued with the theme, praising Murmur's "elliptical language", and celebrated the way the album inspired "a state of altered awareness" not unlike the rapid-eye-movement stage of dreaming from which the band took its name.

Tristan praised the band's "melodic, evocative territory", highlighting the measured riffs of "Pilgrimage," the melancholic thrust of "Talk About the Passion," or the winding guitars and pianos of "Perfect Circle".

An otherwise absent Hamish, managed to convey how Murmur is "one of the finest albums ever made". Probably the finest debut. If he had a top ten of albums, it would be in there. Cryptic lyrics, amazingly confident guitars and backing vocals of a kind he doesn't think any other band has ever touched.

And on that bombshell we adjourned the meeting.  A wonderful discussion with a lovely bunch of people.

"The Talented Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith

Old school

The Hove Book Group was back together on the evening of Thursday 6th June 2013 to discuss Robin's choices.  

Robin's book choice was "The Talented Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith 

Robin kicked things off by describing how he is "a convert" to Italy and all things Italian, and this informed  his choices for Hove Book Group.  

In addition to reading the book, Robin had also watched the 1999 film adaptation directed by Anthony Minghella and staring Matt Damon and Jude Law.  The recollection of Jude Law prompted Robin to describe his strong physical attraction towards Mr Law.  Don stated that "coming out during a book review is a Hove Book Group first".  Quite so. 7/10

Tristan praised Ms. Highsmith's credible evocation of men.  The character development of Tom Ripley is what makes The Talented Mr. Ripley one of the great crime novels of the 20th century. Ms. Highsmith is an acute observer, and is able to translate her sensitivity into a multidimensional portrait of a successful criminal in a way that is virtually unmatched.  Tristan concluded with a bit of customary pedantry - something about blood stains - before lavishing the book with 7/10.

Robin: Came out

Nigel explained that this was the second time he'd read the book.  The first time was back in 2000, when he too was inspired by the 1999 film adaptation . Nigel stated that it was good to reread the book without the film adaptation fresh in his mind.  Tom Ripley is a deeply flawed individual, who - whilst clever and cunning - takes foolish risks and makes occasional mistakes. These mistakes ratcheted up the tension for Nigel.  It's a compelling tale of how the opportunistic and amoral Tom Ripley takes advantage of situations. All told from Tom Ripley's perspective, and somehow, despite his reprehensible behaviour, Patricia Highsmith had Nigel rooting for him throughout. The book is full of insights into Ripley's character, including short flashbacks to his dysfunctional childhood that credibly help to explain his personality and behaviour. Ripley is a fantastic character, and this is a well written, psychological thriller. 8/10

Nick picked up the theme of rooting for Tom Ripley, suggesting his underdog status illicits our sympathy. We meet Tom Ripley almost as casually as new friends do. It's only by following him around, hearing his thoughts and observing what he does that we realize who he is. Ripley is an immensely capable man but also extremely impulsive. If there's an opportunity he'll take it.  The ultimate anti-hero?  8/10

Hamish: Confused

Hamish was confused.  Confused until Mr Murder came a-calling.  From that moment on everything made sense and Hamish was gripped.  Ripley looks for neither approval nor acclaim. Solitude is his middle name.  The book's core theme is around identity. Who are we? Can we reinvent ourselves? How do judge others? Hamish could not remember any other crime novel that explores such subtle questions so effectively. 7/10

Don described it as a "masterpiece of crime fiction". Once Ripley is sent to Europe as a paid-for emissary with an expense account he develops a taste for la dolce vita. When his new friendship is threatened, along with his new lifestyle, he takes decisive action.  What follows was, for Don, one of the most interesting and intricate plot lines that Don had ever read.  Right up there with W. Somerset Maugham's Ashenden.  High praise indeed.  8/10

Don: Masterpiece of crime fiction

Keith stated that the book begins with an edginess that doesn't relent until the final sentence.  Highsmith took Keith on a dark rollercoaster ride of deception, jealousy, deceit, murder, lies, and evasion.   There's no senseless violence, just dispassionate pragmatism.  Keith was mesmerised as Ripley managed to just about stay one step ahead of the police. The result was riveting.  To his shock and amazement, Keith realised he was sympathising with a cold and calculating killer. Keith also praised Ms. Highsmith's ability to exquisitely capture the 1950s milieu of the book, particularly  the life of a wealthy American abroad. Her writing is elegant and simple and well worthy of 7/10.


Universal acclaim for "The Talented Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith from Hove's finest, and a strong contender for the coveted HBG Book Of The Year Award.

Robin's cinematic choice Berberian Sound Studio directed by Peter Strickland and starring TobyJones, and Cosimo Fusco.  

After reading rave reviews, Robin was looking forward to this film and was expecting a treat. Sadly, he was left confused whilst watching a film which didn't make sense, and where not much happened.  One of the most awful, pretentious films Robin has ever seen and a complete waste of time. 2/10

Tristan reminded us of his high threshold for pretentiousness, before describing how much he enjoyed this film.  For Tristan this was a brilliant study of one man's unhinged descent into the dark underbelly of Italian life.  A claustrophobic sound studio devoid of natural light where an awkward sound effects recordist fragments whilst witnessing unseen horrors at The Berberian Sound Studio. 7/10

Nigel continued the love for Berberian Sound Studio.  Nigel enjoyed the 1970s styling and was blown away by the performance of Toby Jones, who gives a masterclass in acting and alienation.  The film is beautifully shot and full of black humour.  Fantasy bleeds into reality, sounds and dreams blur into each other to form a paranoid nightmare, as the film gradually eats itself.  Cinematic perfection.  9/10

Nick evoked David Lynch, and felt this film shared many of the master's qualities, whilst bandying around words like disconcerting, chilling, and gripping   Nick is partial to a bit of 1970s Italian gore-horror, and enjoys directors like Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci.  For Nick, the film's key is around the importance of sound.  Beautifully directed. 6/10.

Finally we discussed Puccini's Madama Butterfly.  Don loved it having taken the time to absorb the plot and immerse himself in the music.  Robin recommended a visit to Verona to attend open air opera.  The rest of us were less convinced.

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

A Bengal Tiger yesterday

On Tuesday 12th February 2013, the beautiful (Hamish, Jason and Keith), the wild (Nick and Tristan), and the damned (Robin and Nigel) gathered at The Poets Corner pub in Hove to discuss Hamish's selections.

Hamish's book choice was the acclaimed "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.  Hamish had recently seen the Ang Lee film version and that inspired his choice.  Richard Parker, the Bengal Tiger, was a brilliant character, and Hamish enjoyed this thought provoking book, before lavishing it with a fulsome 9.5/10.

Nigel read this book a couple of years ago and chose not to re-read it for the Book Group.  He also saw Ang Lee's film version in January 2013 which remains pretty faithful to the story as described in the book.  Nigel wondered how much of his perceptions where now informed by the film version which he thought was magnificent.  

Although many critics emphasise the story's allegorical qualities, for Nigel the book worked best as an adventure story.  The scenes of the boat sinking, and Pi on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, are so well written that, despite being fanciful, somehow remain convincing and exciting.  Usually Nigel finds his patience tested by anything that smacks of magic realism, however he thought this book managed to incorporate those elements into the narrative and yet still be pleasing (although the carnivorous island was the least enjoyable aspect of the story).

The alternative version, as relayed to the sceptical officials investigating the ship's sinking, is a masterstroke that turns the whole tale on its head.  Which version is true?  Does it matter?  Either way it's a great yarn, brilliantly told, and improbably it made for an even better film.  8/10

Don - a mini-existential crisis?

Sadly Don could not join us for this meeting.  Why?  No one was sure.  Perhaps he was having a mini-existential crisis?  He was last seen muttering something about religion, India, a zoo and a shipwreck.  So, after we'd all gazed at the empty chair for a few moments, it was over to Tristan for some more sagely thoughts about "Life of Pi".

Like Nigel, Tristan had already read the book and chosen not to reread it.  A decision he had come to regret having read parts of it again just before the gathering.  Martel's storyline is already well-known: a fifteen-year-old boy, the son of a zookeeper in Pondicherry, India survives a shipwreck several days out of Manila. He is the lone human survivor, but his lifeboat is occupied by a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, an injured zebra, a hyena, and an Orang-utan. In relatively short order and in true Darwinian fashion, their numbers are reduced to just two: the boy Pi Patel, and the tiger, Richard Parker. Tristan felt that the first 100 pages were less satisfactory than the rest of the book, however this was but small beer to an otherwise marvellous novel that was worthy of 8/10.

Robin - detected a spiritual element

Robin, as a renowned monkey and ape lover and tireless animal aid worker, was disappointed by the Orang-utan's short lived appearance and swift demise, however this did not impinge too much on his enjoyment of the book.  Robin dwelt upon the allegorical elements of the tale, before describing the symbolic expression of a deeper meaning through a tale acted out by humans, animals, and even plant life. Martel has crafted a magnificently unlikely tale involving zoology and botany, religious experience, and ocean survival skills to explore the meaning of stories in our lives, whether they are inspired by religion to explain the purpose of life or generated by our own eggshell psyches as a cipher to understanding and interpreting our own world. 8.5/10

Keith wondered if the author's note was suggesting that "Life of Pi" was actually a true tale.  This notion was swiftly poo-pooed by the rest of the group, however Keith warmed to his theme.... Martel employs a number of 

Keith - truth is stranger than fiction

religious themes and devices to introduce religion as one of mankind's primary filters for interpreting reality. Pi's active adoption and participation in Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity establish him as a character able to relate his story through the lens of the world's three major religions. Prayer and religious references abound, and his adventures bring to mind such Old Testament scenes as the Garden of Eden, Daniel and the lion's den, the trials of Job, and even Jonah and the whale. Accepting Pi's survival story as true, without supporting evidence, is little different than accepting New Testament stories about Jesus. They are matters of faith.  From his biologist's perspective, Keith awarded the book a score of 7/10.

Nick - anti-Japanese?

Nick felt the book was a bit unfair on the Japanese.  When Pi retells the entire story to two representatives of the Japanese Ministry of Transport searching for the cause of the sinking, they express disbelief, so he offers them a second, far more mundane but believable story that parallels the first one. They can choose to believe the more fantastical first one despite its seeming irrationality and its necessary leap of faith, or they can accept the second, far more rational version, more heavily grounded in our everyday experiences.  Despite the blatant anti-Japanese bias, Nick relished the old testament elements, and the fantastical story, before describing it as a rollicking good read and well worth 7/10.

Jason announced that we are all storytellers, who cast our experiences and even our own lives in story form. Martel's message is that all humans use stories to process the reality around them, from the stories that comprise history to those that explain the actions and behaviours of our families and friends. We could never process the chaotic stream of events from everyday life without stories to help us categorise and compartmentalise them. Jason felt we all choose our own stories to accomplish meaning and comprehension - for some this is based on faith and religion, for others this is based on empiricism and science.  The approach we choose dictates our interpretation of the world around us.  A brilliantly written book that is somehow believable.  The island though?  WTF?! 8/10

A very respectable average score of 8 for Mr Martel and his allegorical tale of a tiger and a boy.

Japan "Tin Drum"

Hamish's musical choice was inspired by Nigel's birthday celebration at top Brighton 1980s disco-nightclub "Spellbound". He asked the group to enjoy "Tin Drum" by Japan...

Hamish heralded the ambient production and oriental flavas. His wife was a big fan of the group and, despite not being in on the whole thing from the beginning, he enjoyed the odd, ambiguous, fascinating eighties style that felt mystical and exotic. 7/10

Nigel thought 'Tin Drum' stood up remarkably well.  It was not an album he ever owned or had listened to.  He recalled when Japan were around but never really warmed to them at the time.  Listening now, his feelings haven't changed much.  Although the album still sounds remarkably fresh, Nigel regards it as an album to admire rather than to love - unlike, say, the contemporaneous "New Gold Dream" by Simple Minds which works on both an emotional and a cerebral level.  The big exception to this is the single "Ghosts" which is a classic.  The pared down arrangement, David Sylvain's fragile, uncertain vocals, and a haunting melody elevate this tale of lost love to a timeless avant garde pop masterpiece - right up there with Good Vibrations, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Summer Breeze, Death Disco, and Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes.  6/10

Jason felt Tin Drum was the album where Japan hit their stride.  The two strongest forces in the band had found their own voices: David Sylvian's compositions combined influences like Roxy Music, Erik Satie, and Eastern Asian traditional music, all augmented by Mick Karn's unique, rubbery fretless bass playing. Even at this early point in his career, no one sounded like Karn. 8/10

Tristan was less enthused describing the music as unremitting twaddle and the songs as self indulgent.  Ouch.  0/10.

Keith.  Not then.  Not now.  Double ouch. 6/10


Nick Despite the lack of anti-Japanese bias here, and Nick's love of similar stuff, this is just shit.  -8/10 (yes minus eight). Treble ouch. 

Robin exclaimed that the album was a clear progression from Japan's earlier work, containing unique song constructions and arrangements. Years on from Robin's favourite decade, Japan remain one of those unique groups that still remain unclassifiable.  Better than many 80's new romantic hairstyle bands - and Robin should know. Robin also reminded us that Tin Drum was a richly deserved commercial success and although somedays he might argue that Gentlemen Take Polaroids had stronger songs he dug the exotic tunes that embrace soul, techno, electronica and Asian influences.  6/10

And so ended another memorable evening that embraced culture, Bengal tigers, life boats, eyeliner, synthpop, and convivial discourse.  See ya next month.

"Ashenden" by W Somerset Maugham

Nigel: wanted to read W Somerset Maugham

Nigel explained how he had wanted to read something by W. Somerset Maugham for sometime despite knowing very little about him.  
He was very impressed by this book.  In addition to being beautifully written it has the ring of authenticity - Nigel felt that a lot of what Maugham relates is rooted in truth, and the vast majority in his own experience.

Nigel is intrigued by spying and World War 1.  A while back Robin chose the film adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", and like this book that film seemed to depict real spies (as opposed to the James Bond depiction) who lead unusual, solitary and interesting lives.  Never sure who they can trust and relying on their wits and intelligence to survive.

All the stories are good, and four of them really pack a punch (The Hairless Mexican, The Traitor, His Excellency, and Mr Harrington's Washing).  People die, people get hurt.  The story that has stayed with Nigel the longest is The Traitor - in particular the anguish of the Grantley Caypor's widow.

In His Excellency, Maugham uses a literary sleight of hand, Maugham - who was gay but in the closet during the events he is describing - is almost certainly speaking of himself.  Society in those days had clear expectations of sexual conduct - and that would have been an end to the matter.  Whilst I enjoyed this tale, it also dragged just a bit and is perhaps too conventional when compared with the other stories but the sentimentality also feels undeniably real.  

Keith: felt cheated

A minor masterpiece.  9/10.

Our Royal correspondent, Keith felt cheated by this book.  The preface promised a spy novel and yet the book is a collection of interrelated short stories rooted in Maugham’s own experiences as an agent, that reflect the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as its absurdity.  What a swizz.  

Keith wanted more, stating, "this is not a spy novel but a novel about spying".  4/10

Hamish was also "thrown by the preface" before going on to describe how the book was well written with well developed characters and great endings to each story.  

Ashenden is recruited by a Colonel known to him only as R., and sent on a variety of missions that include playing escort to an eccentric Mexican assassin, arranging for a traveling dancer to betray her revolutionary Indian lover, ascertaining whether an Englishman spying for Germany might be recruited as a double agent, attempting to prevent the Bolshevik revolution, and more. Sometimes he succeeds, frequently with bittersweet results, and sometimes he fails. Occasionally his objective or the outcome is not known to the reader, since Maugham is more interested in describing the people Ashenden meets than in the specifics of his efforts.  

Ultimately Hamish thought the book felt slight.  6/10

Nick: loves WW1 war poets

Nick explained how World War 1 is the era he likes best in fiction and evoked the splendour of the war poets with a faraway look in his eye.  He also took time out to recommend "The Secret Agent" by Joseph Conrad.  

Nick "loved it".  Travel, romance, grubbiness - this book has it all.  Maugham’s writing is wonderful and the stories in Ashenden are excellent. Nick thought it was impossible to pick a favourite story, as each has indelible moments: “The Traitor” and “Giulia Lazzari” being unforgettable.

Maugham has a knack for creating vivid portraits of his characters while wasting not a single word.  Here’s an example from “A Chance Acquaintance”: 

Mr. Harrington was devoted to his wife and he told Ashenden at unbelievable length how cultivated and what a perfect mother she was. She had delicate health and had undergone a great number of operations, all of which he described in detail. He had had two operations himself, one of his tonsils and one to remove his appendix, and he took Ashenden day by day through his experiences. All his friends had had operations and his knowledge of surgery was encyclopedic. He had two sons, both at school, and he was seriously considering whether he would not be well-advised to have them operated on.

Nick concluded by picking up on Nigel's point about how Ashenden is the antithesis of James Bond by stating that the latest James Bond film "Skyfall" has quite a bit in common with Ashenden, and he wondered if Sam Mendes, the film's director, had read "Ashenden".  8/10

Tristan: witty, urbane and delightfully detached

Tristan enjoyed it.  It felt modern and evoked the era beautifully.  Tristan enjoyed the ferries, steam trains, numerous baths, and the wonderful characters. It seems, on the whole, espionage work a century ago was both, bureaucratic and boring, and then thrilling, macabre and absurd, with the emphasis being on the former, although the book emphasises the latter: Ashenden encounters a hairless Mexican, a dying English nanny to two Egyptian Princesses, any number of French farmer's wives carrying secret messages in their bosoms and an endlessly chattering American on the train to Petrograd with an interest in his own laundry bordering on the hysterical. 

Ashenden is witty, urbane and delightfully detached as he encounters unique, strange people with a wry, disinterested eye.  Tristan thought it amusing and dark, for example the grim tableau of an owner's dog howling as his widow realises why her husband hasn't been writing recently, whilst Ashenden strolls off impassively despite having got to know both of them and having contributed to his death. 

Was this the first spy novel?  It's certainly one of the best. 7/10.

Don: an impressive understanding of humanity

This was Don's first foray into the world of Maugham and it was a fine journey.  Don does not enjoy Spy novels and yet was won over by the beautifully crafted Ashenden character. Don immersed himself in the story and visualised the characters and the environment. One minute he was on a ferry journey, the next collecting flowers in the Alps., and then eating scrambled eggs with a Russian woman called Anastacia Alexandrovna. Marvellous, lucid, elegant, and it displayed an impressive understanding of humanity. Don was also fascinated to get an idea of what Maugham's experiences as an intelligence offer entailed.

Mr Harrington was remarkable. An amalgam of several real life characters, and a man who met his his demise in an entirley believable way. 

8/10 (and not to be consigned to the compost heap).

If Robin was a spy he'd be Ashenden. Forget James Bond with his car chases, dolly birds, gadgets, Martinis, and explosions, and instead embrace the romance of Edwardian travel, exotic encounters with Russian ‘foxes’ and a stiff upper lip measured with enviable tolerance and old school values. 

The book conjures up sufficient intrigue to keep it compelling and evocative.  Robin especially enjoyed the train journey from Vladivostock to Petrograd and the threats from revolutionaries.  Would the British Government ever think they could halt the Russian revolution with one man and a sack for of cash?  The book was romantic without being sentimental.
One of the best sections was the ambassador recounting his flight of fancy with the woman from the circus.

An excellent choice and I will read more Maugham. 8/10

Hove Book Group awards this book an average score of 7/10.  

"Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie

With supreme serendipity we also discussed the merits of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" album.  

The discussion took place on 8th January 2012, not only was this Mr Bowie's 66th birthday, he also chose to surprise the world with the release of a new single and the announcement of a new album.

Thanks David Bowie - and Happy Birthday.

Nigel explained how this was one of the first albums he ever owned.  An old friend and an old friend that even today never fails to remind him of the excitement he felt when he first heard it as a 14 year old who had very little else to compare it with.  The opening howl of 'Future Legend' before the monologue is probably the greatest opening of any album he can think of...

And in the death, as the last few corpses lay rotting on the slimy thoroughfare, the shutters lifted in inches in Temperance Building high on Poacher's Hill, and red, mutant eyes gaze down on Hunger City. No more big wheels....fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats, and ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes, coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers, like packs of dogs assaulting the glass fronts of Love-Me Avenue, ripping and rewrapping mink and shiny silver fox, now legwarmers, family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald, any day now...the Year of the Diamond Dogs...."This ain't Rock'n'Roll....This is Genocide!" .....before that glorious riff.  

Just as the listener is settling in for the superior glam musical presaged by the title track, then comes Sweet Thing/Candidate which ups the ante even higher.  Nigel was entranced by this this song as a teenager. An ambitious, epic pop tune - music and lyrics coming together to create something magnificent.  Nigel could wax lyrical about every lyric, perhaps "I'm glad that you're older than me, Makes me feel important and free" or maybe "there's a shop on the corner that's selling papier mache, Making bullet-proof faces; Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay", it's all wonderful - one of his best songs, and the album's key track.

Just one year after Diamond Dogs was released came the "plastic soul" of 'Young Americans. Both "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" and the Shaft-inspired wah-wah guitar style of "1984" signpost this new direction.  This further extends the musical variety and adds to the album's splendour.  And of course Diamond Dogs also anticipates punk rock - Bowie himself describing the Diamond Dogs of the title song as "little Johnny Rottens and Sid Viciouses".

Nick also "loved it".  Hamish found it hard to go back and evaluate whole albums having been that bit too young to have embraced it first time round.  Tristan felt it was not quite up there with the other stuff.  Keith put the whole thing into context by detailing the top albums of 1974.  Fascinating stuff.

Basically it's got the lot.  Keep cool Diamond Dogs rule.  

And so ended another wonderful gathering of the Hove Book Group - we'll be back next month for cultural discourse, beer and crisps.  Happy New Year.