Every 14 Days...(37)

Seiobo There Below (Laszlo Krasznahorkai)

It's fair to say that Krasznahorkai is a difficult author to read, with his lack of punctuation and endless, rolling sentences that go on for pages and pages. But stick with it, and the rewards are there to be seen. 'Satantango' and 'War and War' were challenging, and 'Seiobo There Below' perhaps tops them in terms of trying to get your head around the extreme depth in the writing.

Essentially, 'Seiobo There Below' is a collection of short stories; not that it's particularly framed that way. Each chapter is the story of the relationship between an individual, or individuals, to a work of art. This takes various forms: a Buddhist monk preserving a statue of a Buddha;  a Hungarian going to the Acropolis of Athens, only for it to be too sunny for him to see anything, thus spending his time drinking with some young locals; a security guard for the Venus de Milo at the Louvre in Paris; others.

Each is a painstaking look at how we appreciate art, all with a sense of pain and suffering as the cost of the reward. Each is meticulous in its detail, with the heavy influence of Japanese art reflective of Krasznahorkai's time spent in Asia. And indeed, this is not without its suffering itself. The need to immerse yourself in the minds of various individuals in Krasznahorkai's long-winded fashion takes some effort on the part of the reader, needing to juggle a lot of detailed text with knowledge of various artistic styles and cultures. The chapters are even numbered to the Fibonacci Sequence!

The title comes from a story midway through the book, 'The Life and Work of Master Inoue Kazuyuki', about a second-rate and over-worked Noh master in Kyoto, who has to summon the goddess Seiobo from his very depths for his performance. With 'Seiobo There Below', Krasznahorkai has performed similar feats.

Days to Read: 22

Days per book: 15.3

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Philip K. Dick)

Another one of those books that 'I should have read by now,' seeing as it's had a lot of influence on other works in its time, and I've seen 'Blade Runner'...in bits. With recent releases like the 'Ghost in the Shell' remake, I thought it was perhaps time that I read it.

Overall, I'd say this was a book where the idea is stronger than the actual book itself. I'm not particularly a big one for sci-fi, particularly in book form, and so the writing style was not much for me, feeling a little short on painting a picture in my mind, more telling you exactly what happened. Moments seem to come out of nowhere and are over in a flash.

The ideas, however, are good, and one can see why they have influenced many films, manga and comics, particularly considering it was a book written in the Sixties, with society moving more towards artificial forms.

It's a shame that they don't come packaged a little better, however. The characters and their relationships seem as artificial as the intelligence on display, lacking any particular depth. As such, while the concepts are interesting, they're ones you're quite happy to not be living with.

Days to read: 15

Days per book: 15.3

Too Much Information (Dave Gorman)

Having polished off his other books, I now turned to the latest instalment of bearded checked-shirt wearer Dave Gorman's paper-format writing. Each of his previous books have been about journeys; though this one less so. Though perhaps the journeys he was taking were starting to become a little convoluted.

Here we look at the concept of the digital age and the endless stream of consciousness it sends our way, to the point where we can no longer see what we take in, blinded as we are by all the other distractions around us. This is a world where we see, but don't look; hear, but don't listen; and read without any information actually being taken in.

This is an interesting concept, particularly in this day and age of multiple screen-viewing, endless multi-tasking, that actually sees us only do things by halves, not giving our full attention to what is necessary. There is an interesting social point raised here, though - naturally for a more comedy format book - taking an in-depth sociological look at the issue is perhaps missed. Along the way, this becomes more of a collection of rants and raves, similar to the various anthologies of articles comedians and writers now release for people who can't really be arsed to read the Guardian every Sunday. A lot of the content was used in his recent 'Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish' series on Dave, though its 2014 release perhaps pre-dates the televised versions.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it would perhaps have been nice for a more depth summary of the comedic observations and investigations he conducts, with a little more comment at the cost of a little of the comedy.

Days to read: 13

Days per book: 15.3

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

You should never judge a book by its cover...yeah, you should! If the promotional cover's rubbish, what is the undoubted shit inside going to be like, I jest! But all joking aside (the left-hand side), I should have paid more heed to the cover for this edition of Paulo Coelho's 'The Alchemist'...and then never read it.

The tagline reads 'A fable about following your dream.' But also states '65 million copies sold,' implying you should buy it because it's popular, not because of your personal desires. Switching to the back, we see 'Dreams are made to be followed. Life is meant to be lived. Some books are meant to be read, loved and passed on. 'The Alchemist' is one of those books.' It then features celebrity endorsements, not reviews, from the likes of Madonna and Will Smith (not the not-that-one Will Smith, but that other one). This is why you shouldn't buy books online.

Paulo Coelho is one of those names you see a lot on book shelves: a name I thought I should probably have read some of by now, assuming he was some kind of Brazilian Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  But very quickly I was aware that this wasn't for me. I'm not sure where to start with why I didn't enjoy this, but what follows are some suggestions.

Perhaps due to translation, but the writing style is far too simplistic. This is not literature, but storytelling one would expect in a primary school assembly. As such, this is a book that annoys rather than engrosses, and you simply want to stop reading it. Each page feels the need to give us a handy life tip, which are incredibly repetitive. Life is far too easy for our young hero; everyone he comes across is simply a guide on his journey, pointing him in the right directions, far too happy to help. Call me cynical, but life just isn't like that. The moral here is that if you want something to happen, you just need to really want it and life will complete the puzzle for you.

I could go on, but I'll leave it at that. Put simply: this is a bad book. The young hero learns 'the soul of the world,' while his English travelling companion only reads books and so learns nothing of life. Some books teach you nothing of the world. 'The Alchemist' is one of those books.

Days to read: 8

Days per book: 15.3

100 Anime (Philip Brophy)

Sometimes with books on a certain genre or theme, the most simply packaged are the most effective. For the BFI, Philip Brophy's '100 Anime' is simply that: a review of a hundred different anime films or series. Not the best, not the most noteworthy; just a hundred of them.

Starting by looking at some consistent themes across anime and Japanese culture, Brophy looks at each of the hundred within the context of these themes, a lot of which are sexual. To an extent, the academic look at some of the titles might be a little too much and reading too much into things. However, his analysis does shed some interesting light on some of the works.

Admittedly, I haven't watched some of the hundred. In fact, I have only seen a small percentage. For those I have seen, it adds some interesting perspectives. For those I have not, it either makes me want see them instantly or can be a slightly dull read for a couple of pages, reading about something I haven't seen and am unlikely to ever be interested in doing so.

That said, this is a thorough and comprehensive look at a snapshot of the contradiction-in-terms I've just written.

Days to read: 36

Days per book: 15.2

Every 14 Days...(32)

The Housekeeper and the Professor (Yoko Ogawa)

After some slightly long and heavy reads, I was looking for a little light relief, so I dipped into my wife's book collection (larks!). Yoko Ogawa's 'The Housekeeper and the Professor' is just the type of book I needed: it's short, not too deep and full of maths problems.

With so many women quitting the role of the Professor's housekeeper, a single mother is lumped with the position, having to look after an aging man with a memory of only eighty minutes. Each day, therefore, she needs to reintroduce herself to him and go through the same routine before any work can be done. Sticking to her task that so many before her gave up, she befriends the Professor, bringing her son to her place of work. Obviously, this raises suspicions and it's not long before the housekeeper finds herself the next in a long line of formers.

This is quite a simple little narrative, told from the perspective of the housekeeper, who gradually starts to pick up a knowledge of simplistic maths problems and prime numbers while chopping the veg. As a result, the book switches between the narrative, forgotten baseball stars and equations, in what is a somewhat strange read, but entertaining enough.

Though this book delivered on my needs: a nice simple puzzler, a bit like 1 + 1.

Days to read: 8

Days per book: 14.8

Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure (Dave Gorman)

After my recent re-reading of ‘Are You Dave Gorman?’, I decided to pursue more reads from the ginger fur face. Getting something of a reputation for being a bit of a serial adventurist in his work – much like Tony Hawks – his second book, and subsequent stand-up show – was ‘Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure’.

Unconventionally for me, I decided to read his books in chronological order, and ‘Googlewhack Adventure’ starts off pretty much in the same vein of its predecessor: drunk and with unexplained travel purchased, he sets about on a journey that will take him into various parts of the world and deeper into debt.

A Googlewhack is something that probably doesn’t really exist anymore, at least not enough to be of interest to anyone in this day and age. Written a few years ago now, the idea of finding a single webpage entry that features two words typed into Google at random already seems old fashioned, with the ever-increasing scale of the WWW. Much like ‘Are You Dave Gorman?’ now feels like a nostalgic view of the past – with the journey not even existing beyond some quick Facebook searches these days – the idea of a sole webpage featuring two words from a search seems far too uninteresting from something many people now use many times a day.

But that’s probably part of the fun. The ‘adventure’ happening at a time when we were all getting used to increasing Internet usage, it shows how much more primitive we were with the Internet only a few years ago, before constant smart phone communication, having to beg, borrow and steal connection from others.

The final goal may be a little spurious and framing it around supposedly writing another book may seem a little farfetched, but it’s a tale of randomness and where it can take us, though one that might find itself already a little outdated.

Days to read: 10

Days per book: 14.8

Asleep (Banana Yoshimoto)

Furthering my needs for some light relief, I had another stab at the works of Banana Yoshimoto. Now, my response to reading 'Kitchen' was certainly from the male perspective (i.e. I was a bit Mike Newell).  Has this second attempt changed that opinion?

Probably not. 'Asleep' contains three short stories ('Night and Night's Travellers', 'Love Songs' and the titular) that improve as they go, but don't start from a great place (certainly not of the magnitude of Villa's beating of Bournemouth on the opening day of the season back in August).

The lead characters are all people that it isn't easy to sympathise with: young women, probably unemployed and quite directionless who get their knickers in a twist about something. If they kept themselves a bit more occupied, these problems probably wouldn't be so dominant in their lives. There's a lot of nostalgia in these stories, but it's all a bit too twee for me, which makes me start being a bit sexist in my response (again). But I can't be sexist, I enjoyed Yoko Ogawa's work (see earlier).

Like 'Kitchen', this isn't all bad, and there are some good moments here and there, though they're a little lost in the mopiness for me. Still, photos of Banana-san in her glasses do amuse.

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 14.8

America Unchained (Dave Gorman)

I’ve obviously been in a bit of a Dave Gorman mood recently, and with my third of his books –and indeed his actual third – we move across the Pond to another of his adventures, though this time, it’s slightly less drunken.

Despite my liking of ‘Are You Dave Gorman?’ first time around, I didn’t really follow ‘Googlewhack Adventure’ or ‘America Unchained’, and so have only just picked up both now. While his first two books now clearly seem dated in this modern world, ‘America Unchained’ is an actual crying out for the past.

Fed-up after a long tour of the US of States, he finds himself yearning for an America of his childhood – which, of course, was all viewed from a TV screen. In true National Lampoon’s style, therefore, he buys himself an old wood panel station wagon and decides to head from LA to New York, with the intention of only ever purchasing goods and services from old fashioned ‘Mom&Pop’ traders. And never The Man.

Funding the journey by having a companion film it for a documentary, he is once again not alone on this adventure, which sees him have to stay on track, but also leads him off course, and as such becomes a source of frustration for him with his initial female director, and there is a lot of frustration on this journey compared to his previous, lacking in some of the more playful, random and fun moments. But, where the previous tales were ones of random betting, here there is more social comment and heartbreak at the decline of the sole trader.

Perhaps a little sentimental at times, this is a much more purposeful journey than before, bringing with it greater frustration at the difficulty of the task, as a writer that struggles to find the past in the present.

Days to read: 17

Days per book: 14.8

Dave Gorman vs. the Rest of the World (Dave Gorman)

Four was probably too many to get through in a short period, and, as such, my reading of Mr Gorman’s fourth book, ‘Dave Gorman vs. the Rest of the World’ was less enjoyable than the previous.

Again, nostalgia sparks the idea: to play real games against anyone that’s willing to challenge, as you did as a child, though this time around, there is no particular target involved. And while he ends the book on that note, that there is no real ending, I can’t help but think this book was maybe a little forced and didn’t particularly have much substance. There is none of the randomness, the silliness or frustration in this idea. It simply seems more a collection of anecdotes, with little over-arching narrative to hold them all together.

Maybe I needed a little break from him before picking up this one, but while there are some okay moments, this is simply: meet someone, play them at a game, leave, on to the next, with the pursuit of playing games feeling a little less playful.

Days to read: 22

Days per book: 14.9

Every 14 Days...(30)

Through no clever intention on my part, I have recently read three biographies by comedians. However, to call these autobiographies might be a little confusing. What follows is a selection of works by British men of the funny, but either written by or from the perspective of an alter ego. Much as Stewart lee will refer to the ‘character Stewart Lee,’ here we see a collection of comedians showing their schizophrenic sides. Comedia schizophrenia, as it were.

Me:Moir (Vic Reeves/Jim Moir)

To start, we see beloved funny man Vic Reeves writing on the childhood upbringing of James Moir, or ‘Rod’ (his middle name) as he was known to his family. That’s a confusing start.

Here, the fictional Mr. Reeves describes the first eighteen-or-so years of his life from his first days in Yorkshire, to County, to eventually moving down to London to start his journey to adulthood. Accompanied by his own doodles throughout, there are elements of Reeves' trademark eccentric humour throughout, though it's difficult to say if these were early seeds or embellishment by his adult self.

This is a steady effort, but nothing too sensational. Focusing more on his youth, this doesn't go into the origins of his 'Big Night Out' and starting in comedy, making this very much a book about James 'Rod' Moir than Vic Reeves. Though, the fact that this comes with the addendum 'Volume One' this may be to come.

Days to read: 13

Days per book: 14.7

My Perfect Cousin (Kevin Eldon)

Here, ‘The Actor’ Kevin Eldon writes a true biography…about someone who doesn’t exist. One of Eldon’s best-known works as a stand-up and performer is as his poet alter ego, Paul Hamilton. Seen as part of Cluub Zarathustra, Eldon has gone on to feature him in much of his stand-up work, and on the Radio 4 – hahaha – comedy ‘Poets’ Tree’.

Eldon writes as a version of himself, the cousin of fictional poet Hamilton, writing a biography on his ‘perfect’ family member as he was commissioned to write a book but simply had no idea what to write about. The book is a collection of extracts from interviews with Hamilton himself and various people in his life, cobbled together by Eldon’s storytelling.

Much like ‘I, Partridge’ before it, this is a book to give extra depth to a comedy character, writing a full biography on the made-up. Hamilton, as the character has always been is pompous about himself and the life he has lead. Things are made to be much grander or dark than the complete normality featured when taken from his perspective. What adds the comedy here is the perspective of others: His parents, on-off girlfriend, former work colleagues, The League Against Tedium, all paint the picture of a sad little man. A poet with only a handful of poems ever written; a man with a string meaningless odd jobs, whose life has been paid for by his parents and wealthy girlfriend.  

Being that it’s fictional, there is no sense of ‘having learnt’ a lot about the character, as maybe I’d never thought about Hamilton in such a way. What this certainly is is entertaining, and so leaves plenty of room for poetic license.

Days to read: 12

Days per book: 14.7

Becoming Johnny Vegas (Johnny Vegas/Mike Pennington)

Much like 'Me:Moir', 'Becoming Johnny Vegas' is the story of the early years that formed Mike Pennington's transformation from that of new-born baby to internationally-known stand-up of different name.

From a random collection of memories of his working-class upbringing in St. Helens, Pennington made the decision at a young age to join a seminary and train to become a priest. However, instead of taking him down the straight and narrow, his short time there led to the first 'seeds of Johnny' being sewn.

A prodigal son, he soon became a failed art student, spending days between his Argos job, art college and time in the pub. But it was these days as a trainee potter and barman that began to mould his comedy career, eventually arriving on stage while studying in London. On arriving back in St. Helens, the act was developed and Johnny Vegas was born, with Edinburgh awaiting.

This does not focus on the successes and life after fame, but specifically looks into the moments that shaped his on-stage persona. As expected from his act, this isn't always a pleasant ride, with numerous tales of revulsion.

Written from the perspective of numerous voices, one of which is Vegas; one Pennington, this is an essay on the multi-personality disorder that is stand-up comedy.

Days to read: 20

Days per Book: 14.7

Rashomon and Other Stories (Akutagawa Ryunosuke)

How did this get in there?! Well, I had no new books on me and I was approaching a five-day weekend away, so I grabbed whatever. But, this maybe something a little more appropriate than it initially seems.

Something I've read a number of times before, 'Rashomon and Other Stories' is a short collection of Akutagawa's works, featuring his most famous 'Rashomon' and 'In A Grove'.

With the differing stories of the three main protagonists of 'In A Grove', this could be interpreted as a tenuous link to the art of stand-up comedy that I am making right now. With stand-up a form where different people express their differing opinions on everyday life, 'In A Grove' shows how we all see things differently.

Anyway, enough wankery...

Days to read: 7

Days per book: 14.7

Are you Dave Gorman? (Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace)

Speaking of multiple personality disorder, here's one man's search for fifty-four versions of himself. Well, two men's search. Enjoying the BBC TV series that covered the same journey, I first read the story of Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace's quest for well over a decade ago. But, with Christmas looming, not having any new books at my disposal and not being allowed to buy myself anything, plus thinking this would be a nice addition to my schizophrenic comedians angle, I decided to read once more.

Switching between the alter-egos - and indeed alter-persons - of Gorman and Wallace, it tells the story of a drunken bet gone too far with too much time and credit card limit at their disposal, as they travel Europe, the US and the Middle East to meet Gorman's namesake: fifty-four, to be exact.

This was a silly bit of fun, but what's depressing reading this so many years later is just how this would not happen in this day and age of fast Internet access and social media. What was months of searching through telephone directories, random e-mails and a little bit of luck, would now be a simple search on any social media platform, finding as many as possible the world over. This shows that creativity and invention are no longer really required in 2016, with the end result more important than the journey. But it's the journey that provides the story.

It's now five years that I've been doing this pointless exercise. Blimey!

Days to read: 17

Days per book: 14.7