Every 14 Days...(25)

It's the Christmas Special...in mid-March!

Christmas Special obviously referring to this edition covering the books I received as Christmas presents last year. And seeing as I can't read five books in one day - though that would have an amazing impact on my days per book rate - this Christmas Special arrives in Spring.

Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians (Edited by Robin Ince and Johnny Mains)

'Dead Funny' comes from the theory that good horror always comes with a generous helping of black humour. What can only be described as a charity gig of British comedians has, therefore, been assembled, each tasked to write a short horror story that will have us screaming with both laughter and terror. This of course doesn't really happen.

The sixteen stories can be categorised into one of three groups: the silly comedy, aiming more for laughs than scares (Reece Shearsmith, Richard Herring, Michael Legge, Danielle Wheeler); the psychological black humour (Stewart lee, Phill Jupitus, Rufus Hound, Robin Ince, Al Murray); and the greater attempts at horror writing (Mitch Benn, Matthew Holness, Neil Edmond). There are then those that just don't fit the horror or humour categories, largely due to my lack of respect for the comedian.

As with any short story collection, the level of quality varies throughout, ranging from the very strong to those that can just be glossed over and forgotten. Notable mentions go to Stewart Lee's 'A View from a Hill' blurring the lines between reality and fiction to mess with his audience's minds, as ever, and Mitch Benn's 'The Patient'.

There are obviously more laughs on offer here, and some maybe show that writing fiction isn't their strong point, with some stories falling off by the end. But that's not why this was bought for me - it was to make me laugh, which it did. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL (in a ghost voice).

Days to read: 14

Days per book: 15.0

Thinking About it Only Makes it Worse (David Mitchell)

No, not that one. This David Mitchell likes a good moan, and this is a book full of his moanings that he writes for the Observer. 'Tis quite the standard for comedians these days to publish books of their collected ramblings for whichever broadsheet they write.

Often, these are entertaining, short nuggets of thought from comedic minds. Though coming from a collection of years worth of writing, they can be sometimes inconsistent and ask you to think back to that time when the horse meat scandal was all the news knew existed.

I've always subscribed to the thought of Mr Mitchell, and this book is no different, providing wit, insight and moments of outrageous cynicism to entertain. This probably didn't tickle me quite as much as his holiday chum Charlie Brooker's books - though this didn't come with free tickling gloves - but still raises a smile with thoughts that make things better.

Days to read: 20

Days per book: 15.0

Captain of Hungary (Ferenc Puskas)

It's hard to believe, but 1950s Hungary was the Premier League hair salon of its day. The 'Magnificent Magyars' as they were dubbed were the international team to beat (if you're West German), with an unbeaten run that stretched forever and a day, as they proved the greatest team never to win the World Cup...after the England team featuring Danny Mills, of course.

It was common for members of the squad to release an autobiography in their mid-twenties, cashing-in on their fame, much like even the least interesting Premier League (non) star will do today. What's probably different here, however, is that this book is about football. Strange to think that, an autobiography by a football player at the height of his fame, but it is. Very little is about off field activities, with focus largely on his skill and how amazing a talent he was, and how the opposition's style of play led to their defeat. There are chapters dedicated to single games, namely their defeat of England at Wembley and the 1954 World Cup final.

This book is only part of the story, his days playing in Hungary when he was part of the best international team around. This is the days before his move to Real Madrid and the success that followed there.

A man that now has the FIFA goal of the year competition named after him, there's no doubt that he was good. And Puskas definitely alludes to this writing with an arrogance/knowledge of his own ability. Written approximately sixty years ago, it shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Days to read: 8

Days per book: 14.9

Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey (Richard Ayoade)

Hello, my name is Withheld and I've never seen a film directed by Richard Ayoade. That's not exactly many, but I do feel it still qualifies me to read a book he has written about film making. But this isn't exactly a normal film book about normal films.

'Ayoade on Ayoade' is a supposed collection of interviews between Ayoade and an alter-ego Ayoade about film. But, if his interview with Krishnan Guru-Murphy on Channel 4 News is anything to go by, he doesn't exactly do interviews.

What this becomes, therefore, is a random collection of obscure thoughts that always trail off, full of sarcasm and post-irony. It's clear that Ayoade is being subversive here, discussing bad Eighties films and obscure references to Nineties music that teach us little about his real thoughts on directing.

But within this there is a clear lampooning of the film industry and the character types that inhabit it, hiding what his thoughts on good filmmaking are behind mocking of bad.

Or have I just made all this up?!

All-in-all, I'll give this twenty-seven thumbs up on a scale from one unspecified number to another.

Days to read: 13

Days per book: 14.9

For Richer, For Poorer: Confessions of a Player (Victoria Coren)

Having read her husband's new book, I had show that I believe in equality and read Victoria Coren-Mitchell's (then just Victoria Coren) book about her life and times as a millionairess poker player.  

Now, I don't really play poker, never in fact, and so this book is of little interest to me. But being that 'Only Connect' is the best show in television, I simply had to read it.

As expected from the lady herself, it is a book full of wit and charm, charting her rise from chubby teenager joining in her brother's poker games to European Poker Champion, winning a fair amount of money along the way. Being that this is about the world of poker, a lot is lost on me or in language I don't understand, so parts drag or seem a little repetitive, when they probably are anything but. For much of this she is as much observer than player, focusing on the characters, personalities and superstars that the 'sport' has created, herself a lowly player who used her comedy and journalistic skills to become a celebrity poker player.

The book builds to her European success, as her playing career progresses, though now poker celebrity is just one of the many hats she wears, big Stetsons, of course.

Days to read: 18

Days per book: 14.9 

Every 14 Days...(14)

The Beautiful and the Grotesque (Akutagawa Ryunosuke)

Japanese literary legend Akutagawa is a writer I’ve come across more from film adaptations than actually reading his work. I have polished off a few of his shorts (boom boom) in the past, most notably ‘Rashomon’ and ‘In a Grove’, but with ‘The Beautiful and the Grotesque’ I have more than doubled the number of his works that I have consumed.

A mix of weird and wonderful, the collection is started by a rather intriguing, if not overly long and bemusing, introduction by translator, John McVittie, which sets the collection in  a strange context. Typically well written, the collection is full of interesting life lessons in short story format that chiefly inform, educate and entertain.

But while each story has its own place, reading endless back-to-back new stories can leave some flying passed with barely a word being taken in. while some show why so much has been put on his talents, others I can barely remember, and so may have to be read another day…if I can be arsed.

Days to read: 22

Days per book: 14.3

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Murakami Haruki)

From one legend of Japanese writing to a more modern day equivalent – though not so much in his motherland. And another long collection of short stories – will I ever learn?! With an introduction by the author himself, the collection is both old and new, with some of his very first short stories previously unreleased in English combined with some newer works.

Like in previous anthologies of his that I’d read, some of the shorts were turned into full novels and so some of what was read was familiar, and the inclusion of ‘Tony Takitani’, made into an excellent film, I was often aware of the end results.

The stories here all have something in common: being rather strange. As with much of his work, there has to be a sense of accepting the incredible and once that’s done, they can be enjoyed. There are hits and misses here, but overall entertaining.

This now marks my completion of all Murakami’s work translated into English and available in the UK, so someone needs to either translate his earlier stuff of he needs to write some more.

It was also while reading this book that my ‘Every 14 Days’ experiment shot to fame via Richard Herring’s ‘Warming Up’ blog. Read here and listen there. 50 books read in 716 days, falling just short of my target two years in to this failed experiment and counting…

Days to read: 16

Days per book: 14.3

I Can Make You Hate (Charlie Brooker)

The latest in the line of the father Konnie Huq’s son’s columns from ‘The Guardian’ and more of the same. With the death of his ‘Screen Burn’ column part way through the time period, some scripts from his television shows have been thrown in for fun. However, as these are items done using cutaways and video clips, they are not always as effective in print and so could have been left out at little detriment to the overall collection.

The removal of ‘Screen Burn’ means that there are less ‘Big Brother’ obsessed moments and more of a range of topics to entertain while your anus is expanded as you evacuate your bowels.

Days to read: 11

Days per book: 14.2

Back Story (David Mitchell)

Sex, drugs and rock n roll. This is neither the time nor the place.

It’s fair to say that David Mitchell hasn’t exactly lived a wild and crazy existence up until now. Despite obviously having the interesting aspect of a career in television comedy to comment on, his life outside of work could be described as quite unremarkable: He went to a minor public school, then was chairman of Footlights at Cambridge before taking the leap to work low level jobs in London while trying to fulfil the ambition of a career in the media that many fail to achieve.

While he’d certainly be the most interesting of your friends and one to definitely include on the invites to a dinner party, he has little of a love life in which to speak of and the only real scandal surrounding him is that he isn’t as similar to Mark Corrigan in real life as one might have originally thought. And that’s what makes this a more interesting autobiography than many.

Keeping in line with a lack of any shocking life events of which to speak, the memoir is based around the fact that after suffering from a bad back, he was encouraged to take walks to improve his physical state. Staring off in his home in Kilburn, Mitchell makes his way through the London streets, ending at Television Centre, Wood Green. Along the journey, various landmarks recall a chronological account of the various stages of his life. Maybe not completely original in chronological and metaphorical recounting, but nice nonetheless.

What it lacks in shock value it makes up for in pure pedantry in his trademark logical manner. It’s an honest account – particularly regarding his recent engagement – and provides insight into his opinions on how television works and why most of it is lacking. And if reading at Waterloo Station, a fat woman might say ‘good choice’ to you.

Days to read: 19

Days per book: 14.3