schopflin's reviews
681 reviews

The Swimmer: The Wild Life of Roger Deakin by Patrick Barkham

medium-paced

4.5

I really enjoyed this. I wasn't sure the approach - Deakin's own writings interleaved with others' memories - would work but it created a fascinating picture. He was clearly hugely charismatic, with a winning personality and a wonderful communicator, but selfish, mercurial, entitled and immature, features common in men of his generation. An absolutely fascinating read and a great way to explore human complexity. 

The Glass Wall: Lives on the Baltic Frontier by Max Egremont

slow-paced

3.0

I really struggled with this book. The style is at the same time high handed and imperialistic, as Western travel writing always used to be, and meandering and hard to penetrate. In many places it's reminiscent of the obscure, referential style of the Psychogeographer Ian Sinclair. After a while I realised the real problem is that it is marketed as a history of the Baltics and is in fact a history of the Baltic German aristocracy, for whom the author seems to have a worshipful passion. Consequently, there's no mention of Lithuania, which may disappoint some people, and very little about the lives of ordinary people. However I did learn many things from it and he can certainly evoke a place. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism and Genocide

Minor: Deportation

The Year of Sitting Dangerously: My Garden Safari by Simon Barnes

slow-paced

4.0

I am not a birder of any kind but I love Simon Barnes' writing, especially when he is writing about the Norfolk Broads, where he lives. This is a lockdown experiment, as he observes the marsh from the same seat every day. Insightful, funny and moving and I know a bit more about birds than I did. 

Oh Miriam!: Stories from an Extraordinary Life by Miriam Margolyes

fast-paced

3.0

Pretty much what you would expect if you have read the first book and mostly as compelling. I only felt I was reading anecdote filler right at the end. A good book for when you aren't feeling well. 

The Close (Maeve Kerrigan, Book 10) by Jane Casey

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Another well-plotted Maeve and Josh thriller. The tension between them continues. A good pageturner. 

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death by Laura Cumming

medium-paced

5.0

What a wonderful book. I love Laura Cummings' writing and her intelligent exploration of memory and knowledge. This book had a ln extra appeal because I have a long-term love of 17th century Dutch art. Twenty-something me would have been very excited to read this, but would have struggled with the actual reading. With a more flexible fifty-something reading muscle, I found myself going back over paragraphs because the writing was so insightful and beautiful, and I didn't want to miss anything. 

Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit

slow-paced

3.0

Solnit is neither a psychogeographer nor a historian. While there is some history here, much of it fascinating, this is a ponderous book of essays on topics more or less related to walking. There were many insights but I did find she took a long time to say everything. It may be that some of the things that seem obvious, for example about women walking and suburbanisation, only seem so because of this book's influence over the last 20 years. Not an unalloyed pleasure but glad I have finally read it. 

Frankie and Stankie by Barbara Trapido

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I loved this book. It's clever, funny, informative and highly relatable despite its distance in time and location from me. The book is in the historic present throughout and in the earlier chapters has a 'child's eye' view, neither of which I like very much, but I enjoyed it here. Some may find the growing up story interweaved with politics a bit jarring but I feel it was appropriate. And Trapido never tries to pretend that she's writing from anything but a position of privilege. I much preferred it to Damon Algut's The Promise and that won the Booker... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

The Trio by Johanna Hedman

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was well written and translated, with complex well-drawn characters, but it was very hard to care about any of the characters. I loved the Stockholm setting. 

Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

An entertaining enough and well-written mystery. It passed the time on a train journey but was curiously uninvolving. 
EDIT just upped my score because as 24 hours have passed I realise the characters were very well drawn and it was funny!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Animal cruelty