Book Reviews

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Anthology #39

Peter 2.0, by Peter Scott-Morgan

This book should be seen as a beacon of hope, for people who develop Motor Neurone Disease, which hitherto has been regarded as a death sentence [although only from the point of view that the occurrence of demise can be predicted with some accuracy, compared to our normal ignorance, albeit mostly blissful]: its most well known victim was Professor Dr Stephen Hawking, who survived for an unfeasibly long time, despite being reduced to a “locked-in” occupant of a powered wheelchair, complete with a voice synthesiser. This was a similar progression for Peter, who contracted the ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] variant of MND. Following his diagnosis, he made a conscious decision not to give in to the symptoms and simply await death, but to actively seek out & develop technology which would enable him to become, effectively, a cyborg. He was able to do this via a combination of personal education, experience, resources, and the willingness of some [but by no means all] technology organisations to work with him; his resources weren’t limitless, however, so he needed to set up a charitable foundation to acquire funding. He was also very fortunate to have the love & support of his husband, Francis: they were the first gay couple to marry, effectively, in England, following a change in the law; they were the first to enter a civil partnership in 2005, so when they married in 2014, because the marriages were retrospective to the time and date of civil partnership, they are listed as the first gay marriage in England [reference from Wikipedia]. I started the review tentatively, because since publishing the book, Peter died from complications of the illness in 2022. There are also questions concerning how far humanity can afford to trust AI, which features heavily in Peter’s later life, and how many ‘ordinary’ people would have access to the technology which prolonged Peter’s life, if they decide that they want to fight the symptoms, rather than opting for a graceful exit [despite that not being “allowed” everywhere, yet]. It is likely that the technology Peter employed will continue to develop, so his message of hope should encourage current & future victims of this currently terminal illness. The paperback I read was published in 2022 by Penguin Books, [2021, Michael Joseph], ISBN 978-0-2414-4710-9.

Glutton, by Ed Gamble

The subtitle of this book is The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy; for those who aren’t familiar with the name, he is a British comedian who has latterly broadened his output to include hosting cooking programmes. He has done some work in the US, but he is likely to be much better known in Britain, and the subtitle refers to a sobriquet he acquired as a young child who had an almost insatiable appetite for food; needless to say, adhering to a conventional understanding of science, he was an overweight child. That said, this memoir [and it covers a relatively short period, given that he is still only in his thirties] is by no means a sad or guilt-ridden sequence of struggles with his appetite: until he left university, he happily embraced his size, and the enjoyment of the solid & liquid intake which sustained it, despite it impacting on his social life to some extent, but he reached a point when he made a conscious decision that his lifestyle had to change, and this formula was well known, but not always implemented, as it might be regarded as deceptively simple — eat less and exercise more! That it was successful should encourage those who do struggle with their weight, with the concomitant repercussions on their physical & mental health. However, his transformation wasn’t only triggered by social and/or relationship considerations: he had also been accommodating type 1 diabetes since he was a young teenager and, although treatment régimes might have become easier & more functional these days, it is a condition which will remain with him for the rest of this life. He has a nice wit and self-effacing humour, so I can recommend this book for many reasons. The paperback I read was published in 2024 by Penguin [2023, Bantam, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, London], ISBN 978-1-5291-7751-0.

The Tremor of Forgery, by Patricia Highsmith

There is an underlying threat which runs through, and builds during this narrative, that the protagonist will be held to account for an impetuous act which results in a serious injury, or possibly even death. Aside from that though, this seems to be a novel about inner dialogues, especially relating to conscience: how people respond to occurrences, most of which are normal, or even mundane, but occasionally serious and, potentially, life-changing, rather than a mere catalogue of events. The story is set in 1967 — the time of the 6-day Israeli war in Egypt, and the early days of the American War in Viet Nam — although, curiously, this is not specified, despite dates being given in letters & cables, but with the year of the century left blank. Howard Ingham is a writer from New York, who is in Tunisia to start work on a film script at the behest of a friend, who is going to make the film. Before long, he receives some shocking news, but he also responds dangerously to a situation, which action causes one of his new friends, who lives at the same hotel bungalow complex, to give Ingham the ‘benefit’ of his Christian goodwill. Francis Adams is a strange character: an American ex-patriate who broadcasts regularly to Russia, at the request of dissidents there, and the content is still relevant now, how Christianity, Capitalism, and the American Way of Life [Ingham calls Adams OWL, short for Our Way of Life] is better than devilish Communism. Ingham also has to decide how to proceed with a romantic relationship he had started back home, after losing a woman who he felt was the love of his life. While he is in Tunisia, he writes a novel, and his protagonist could easily be a reflection of himself, despite his actions being different. I’m neutral about the story: Graham Greene calls it “Highsmith’s finest novel”, but I think I’ll reserve my judgment on that. The paperback I read was published in 2015 [introduction © 2015, Denise Mina] by Virago Press, [1969, William Heinemann, London; 1993, Diogenes Verlag AG, Zürich] ISBN 978-0-3490-0627-7.

Raven Black, by Ann Cleeves

Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is introduced to us here, in the first of the Shetland series of novels by the great Ann Cleeves. Jimmy is somewhat in the doldrums, debating whether to return to his home on Fair Isle and take up a croft which has recently become vacant; he knows his mother would be pleased if he did that, but he also feels he hasn’t given his current job sufficient commitment, so he is looking for a reason to stay on Shetland. This might appear in the form of a local woman, Fran Hunter, who has a young daughter, Cassie; Fran was married to another local, Duncan Hunter, who was a fast friend of Jimmy at school, but she is now separated. Fran finds the body of the daughter of a neighbour, covered in snow, in a field, and suspicion falls on the elderly man with limited mental capabilities who lives close by, and who was implicated in the disappearance of a much younger girl some years previously, but never charged. Events like this naturally create disquiet in small communities, and although a detective of the same rank is sent from the mainland to lead the investigation, it is Jimmy’s thoughtful and persistent enquiries which reveal the reason for the later murder, and the earlier disappearance. At the end of the book, Jimmy has decided what to do about the croft, as a result of his growing affection for Fran, although that hasn’t yet developed into a romantic liaison. These are likeable characters, and the book’s title conveys nicely the dark foreboding which the events detailed create, so this was an enjoyable and not overly disturbing read. The paperback I read was published in 2015 by Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, London, [2006, Macmillan], ISBN 978-1-4472-7443-8.