Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

This is the first book in a series the “Chronicles of Ancient Darkness” which I got from the Library after seeing a review of a related school’s pack in British Archaeology.  The way in which we categorise fiction is often unhelpful – this book is to be found in the “11up” sections of Southampton’s Libraries – but like all the best “Children’s” books it is equally captivating and enjoyable for the adult reader. 

Set in the “Stone-Age” the fact that the resource pack and, in fact in an earlier edition Wolf Brother itself, was reviewed in British Archaeology is a nod to the strong attempt made by Paver for historical (or should I say prehistorical!) accuracy.  There is a lot of detail about the tools used, the hunting techniques, and so on, which have their basis in the archaeological record and/or anthropological studies.  This might sound a bit worrying, the risk that you would become bogged down in all this and lose sight of the story is real – however it is avoided.  These details serve to draw you deeper into the narrative and make it come alive. 

As well as the detail of tools etc there is a layer of myth and legend for which there can, of course, be no strict claim to historical accuracy.  There however a general plausibility to the belief system.  In creating a belief system there is, again, a danger of getting bogged which Paver avoids.  You have enough to engage you without Tolkienesque baggage of endless songs…

It has to be said that there is nothing particularly innovative in this story, if follows the well tried and tested quest format.  But it is, in my view, a particularly well written example. 

I found this a book I couldn’t put down and the first thing I did on finishing it was order up the next of the Chronicles from the Library, (frustrated that I will have to wait till after the New Year Bank Holiday for the Library to reopen!).

Day by Day: The Rhythm of the Bible in the Book of Common Prayer by Benjamin Sargent

I  read this booklet because I knew Ben back in student days at King’s College London, however its focus of the BCP was also of interest.

Much of what is written about the BCP these days is highly partisan, often written by zealous members of the Prayer Book Society.  For all the passion that such writings might contain, in general such is the blinkered view of reality that few actual have much capacity to persuade the reader of the Prayer Book’s merits. 

One of the great strengths therefore of this booklet is the way in which it does not deny the limitations of the Prayer Book in certain aspects – it is also not afraid to give Common Worship credit in those (very small) regards where it does provide a more pastorally flexible approach.  Within the context of this honesty and realism you are moved to take the arguments for the Prayer Book much more seriously. 

One of the buzz word phrases of the age is “Bible Believing Christian” (it crops up all over the place, including the occasionally advert in the Church Times, as a touch stone for Evangelical ministry).  Many of those who would assert to be “Bible Believing” would have little time for formal liturgy, preferring some form of spontaneous encounter with Scripture.  I think this group will be the primary audience for this booklet because its fundamental argument is; if you want your worship to be filled with, and shaped by, Scripture you really need look no further that the BCP.  Very few liturgical expressions, formal or “spontaneous”, can claim to provide a greater depth but also breadth of Scriptural material.

Back in 1984 by Richard Woolley

A warning that the following might contain spoilers…

This is a book of 2 parts; the first takes a standard format for a novel, with omnipotent narrator etc (although chapters jump around chronologically), the second the format of the journal of one of the characters.  This creates a transition between the openness of the first part and the more claustrophobic inner world of Joe in the second.

I found this a captivating read, in large part because there was a degree of personal familiarity with Joe’s neurotic character.  There was however still a sense of loss that some of the stories begun in the first part were left unfinished as those characters were not of particular interest to Joe and his journal. 

While I enjoyed the experience of reading it, there was a feeling of frustration with the narrative once I had finished it.  I feel that Woolley either needed to provide a fuller dramatic conclusion or have simply left us in full flow and not given us the final chapter, which I feel is rather weak. 

One of the things that I did like is the way that Woolley creates this sense that “life” is made up mainly of things which almost happen (for better or worse).  In a lot of fiction you get the feeling the writer has thrown the kitchen sink at their characters and everything that could happen does.  (This is especially true in many long running US TV dramas…).  I think you get to a certain age in life when your character is best defined by the way in which you handle the near misses!

Woolley’s handling of sex is another aspect of the book that I found successfully.  Between Joe and Mary the descriptions of sex are pretty graphic, but graphic in a matter of fact way, neither rose-tinted nor smutty.  Joe’s relationships with his male friends, and their potential as a context for sex, is also well informed.  In Joe’s mind at least they are a source of plenty of the “almosts”!  But that feels very authentic, once you are open to the idea the men do have sex with each other, male friendships and the intimacy they contain can become filled with complexity.

I am now looking forward to reading Woolley’s 2 other novels.

The Breathing by Mary-Ann Constantine

This is a powerful collection of short stories, tightly written, which leave you wondering about the past, the future, the wider story that has not been told.

In most of the stories there is some element of fantasy or surrealism which is handled well.  A hint perhaps of some untold mythology that is intriguing, but could so easily, in less skilful hands, have become laboured or over-bearing.

Within this context of myth and magic what is captured and brought out is a very strong sense of “ordinary” humanness, the characters within the stories are entirely believable – indeed you have the sense that these are not only people you could bump into in the street, but in fact people you already know.