Bret Easton Ellis, The Shards

 

- This is an utterly compelling and captivating story, one of Ellis's best since American Psycho. 

- The standard Author Photo inside the back cover was obviously taken in the early 80’s, though that's not mentioned. He’s now 57. I guess it's appropriate because Bret the narrator of this novel is 17 years old, in his final year of High School. It’s him talking to us, and how he looks is relevant. This is not, strictly speaking, a memoir or bio, yet it certainly smells like one, though, according to Ellis, 'it's entirely a work of fiction'.

- In 1981 Bret and his friends are in their final year at the prestigious private school Buckley College in Los Angeles. He's also working on his first novel Less Than Zero, though he's struggling with it.

- Pretty soon the novel becomes totally immersive. He brings his characters intensely alive. It's all sex, drugs and rock n roll. They are American teens from wealthy families and with fancy cars - BMWs, Mercedes, Cobras and Porsches. And Bret knows he’s gay but he's keeping it a secret. He also has a girlfriend. He's the actor going along with the pantomime...I was, in so many ways, an imposter. The sex scenes are frequent and intense, highly erotic, and described in every possible detail. He also indulges in sex with other gay students, and that is described in every possible detail. The music of the times is everywhere too. And cassettes and answering machines ('pick up Bret, pick up!')

- Bret fleshes out in minute detail the personal interactions of these beautiful and handsome 17 year old school friends. A decadence prevails, an aura of meaninglessness, an emptiness to their lives. It's 'a gilded bubble’. Bret himself is intensely self-referential. Occasionally he gets stuck in side alleys for far too long. He also suffers from frequent anxiety attacks. It seems he's hooked on Valium, and all his friends are constantly sniffing cocaine and downing Quaaludes they easily obtain from dealers. Their favourite pastime is having parties, getting stoned, and downing margaritas. 

- In many ways this novel is a love letter to Los Angeles - so many famous streets, boulevards and precincts are mentioned - Mulholland, Melrose, Santa Monica, San Fernando Valley, Century City, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Rancho Park, Culver City, Woodcliff, Valley Vista, Haskell Ave, and more.

- But then a darkness emerges in the form of a serial killer, named by the press as the Trawler. He mainly targets young women. But he also indulges in weird rituals including sexual assault and disfigurement. Bret has premonitions and he thinks he knows who the perpetrator is. No one believes him. Some of his school friends become victims. 

- There is a lot of excess verbiage in this novel that could have been edited out. It's often overpacked with details. Repetition after repetition is frequent, as if the reader lacks memory or is thick. The essence of the novel though is the conversations between the characters. They are very, very realistic and thrilling.  

- A rather complicated denouement brings all the threads of the novel together, but there are still unanswered questions that may frustrate many readers. 

- Nevertheless, the novel is quite extraordinary so many ways, and a total pleasure to read. It's 600 pages long but very hard to put down. Thoroughly recommended. 

Andrea Wulf, Magnificent Rebels

- Andrea Wulf takes us to The University of Jena in Germany in the 1790's. Jena was a small town then, but under the influence of a circle of brilliant young men and women its university became the seedbed of an intellectual revolution that quickly spread throughout the Western world.  

- Wulf has given us in great detail the extraordinary story of these philosophers, poets, scientists and art historians, who became lifelong friends and lovers, and influenced thinkers and writers throughout Europe, Britain, and the US over generations. They invented Romanticism. 

- I was thoroughly engrossed by this marvellous story told in very clear and readable prose, and can do no better than post the dust cover copy which describes the book so well:

 

Robbie Arnott, Limberlost

- Robbie Arnott's third novel is his best so far. It is a stunningly good achievement. His first novel, Flames, was a semi YA polyglot which in my view didn't work. His second, The Rain Heron, was coherent and very enjoyable, but Limberlost is just excellent in every way. It's a mature, realistic family saga, principally focussing on the youngest son Ned. 

- It's set in Northern Tasmania, on an apple orchid called Limberlost, not far from Launceston. We traverse the 20th century, starting with World War I. Ned is a young teenage boy and his two older brothers, Bill and Toby, are fighting in the war in Europe. He has an older sister, Maggie, as well. Their mother died a few years earlier. Their father is rather brusque but very supportive. 

- There are incidents and sub-plots dotted throughout that enrich the story immeasurably. Ned lacks self-confidence (When would the natural competence of other men come to him?) but he's a very mature, sensitive and kind man. 

- He marries Callie, the sister of an old friend, and they have three children. They develop their own farm, growing apples and vegetables and making a good living. Callie is a strong, independent woman whom Ned loves dearly, but for some reason Arnott refers to her as 'Ned's wife' or 'his wife' continually. It's not at all clear why. It was the common parlance of the time of course, but....

- Arnott's writing is strikingly beautiful, and he brings the rich natural environment of Tasmania vividly to life. He also addresses wider issues such as the history and rights of the original Indigenous inhabitants of the land. 

- The ending is very emotional indeed. It brings the life and times of this family to a very satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.