Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse by David Mitchell

Few people do outrage better than David Mitchell.  Think about his many appearances on the Q.I. television show - it only takes a non-sequitur or a bit of ambiguity to set off his sense of outrage, often with hilarious results.

In Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse, Mitchell's outrage is front and centre.  This time it is modern life, especially life in a post-Global Financial Crisis world, that gets him going. 

Mitchell ranges across wide variety of topics, including offence-taking and forced apologies, corporate monopolies, sport, politics and chocolate-flavoured toothpaste.  His observations are acute, his analysis is deep, and his pronouncements are often as withering as they are humorous. And all this is wrapped up in an eloquent, coherent and forceful prose.

The text itself is a compilation of articles Mitchell wrote for Britain's Observer newspaper over a number of years.  This sometimes works to the detriment of the book as some of the writing is highly topical, and the nuances of certain topics may be lost on contemporary readers.  Also, as Mitchell was writing for a U.K. audience, some of the matters he raises may not be that identifiable for readers from other parts of the world. This is a quibble, and the quality of Mitchell's prose and thoughts more than make up for it.

Overall, Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse is an entertaining, revealing and thought-provoking book with many laugh-out-loud moments.  Of course, this has outraged me, and I await author's unreserved apology.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is, for the most part, set in England in the period between 1806 and 1816,  at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.  But it is not quite the England we know: in this England magic, real magic, had flourished for centuries.  At the opening of the tale, there are dozens of people devoted to the study of magic.  There's just one problem: no one can actually do anything magical.  So they find consolation through naming themselves "theoretical magicians".  Finally, someone asks "Where has English magic gone?"  Right on cue, they get the answer to the question with the arrival of England's only living "practical magician", one who can actually do magic.  And then things get interesting. 

The action takes place in the time of Jane Austen, and Susanna Clarke emulates the story-telling style of the times.  She uses obsolete spelling, such as 'chuse' instead of 'choose', archaisms and diction; however, the speed of the narration is modern in its briskness.  Although it takes a long time for any kind of plot to emerge, Clarke manages to keep the reader's interest through her use of language, the timing of climaxes and resolutions, and entertaining digressions in the form of explanatory and didactic footnotes.  Also of interest is the interactions between the nervous, selfish and conservative Mr Norrell and the more expansive and ambitious Jonathan Strange.  A strong cast of minor characters added to the mix help to keep the action moving, sometimes in very unexpected directions.

The book is divided into three parts.  Lamentably, the last of these lacks the narrative coherence of the previous two.  The tale wanders, seemingly aimlessly, from incident to incident and character to character.  It is only in the final few chapters that things get back on track for the final denouement.  One may be forgiven for thinking that the story is 200 pages too long.

Overall, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is an engaging story that has the reader eagerly turning the pages.  Despite my reservations about the length of book, it was a worthwhile read.

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

The once mighty god Om mistakenly incarnates into the body of an innocuous animal and his divine powers are diminshed accordingly.  The only person he can find who believes in him is a simple-minded and illiterate novice priest called Brutha.  Meanwhile, the Omnian religion is run by an inquisitorial priesthood, its followers are terrified, and a new but secret religion based on the writings of an unemployed philosopher is gaining support.  War, both civil and international, is almost certain.  Can Om and Brutha reform the church and prevent bloodshed?

Small Gods is an investigation into the relationship between individual belief and religious orthodoxy, the relationship between the church and state, and how religious zealotry can blind the believer to the actuality of his/her god.  

Of course, Pratchett mixes his satire with liberal dollops of good humour.  The pace of this novel is a bit laboured compared to his previous novels, but he does have to cover a lot of complex ground.  Small Gods is a one-off novel that sits outside the usual witches/wizards/death/city watch canons of the Discworld books, and is  set much earlier chronologically.  Later and more "contemporary" Discworld novels will feature followers of the Omnian religion.

Not amongst Pratchett's best, but still a worthy and thought-provoking tale.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

A talking cat in league with a bunch of talking rats and a young human with a pipe.  What could go wrong?  Nothing, until this travelling band reaches the remote town of Bad Blintz.  Then they find something nasty is waiting for them just below the surface.

This is Terry Pratchett's first Young Adult novel.  It is set on the Discworld.  The plot is clever, full of twists and rattles along at a jolly pace.  The jokes are fresh and the narrative style is crisp and refreshing.

Pratchett explores many themes in this book: power, utopian dreams, kindness and cruelty. He draws parallels between rats and humans, and the humans don't come out so well.  It seems he is preparing the younger readers for some of the realities of adult life.  The balloon of utopian thinking is well and truly popped in this one.  As is usual with Pratchett, the darker truths of life are leavened with humour and are, therefore, that much more palatable.  No doubt about it, Pratchett is a master of satire.

This book can be enjoyed by adults and adolescents alike.  I liked it, and so did my inner child.