Your week between the covers

17/05/2010

From David Mitchell to Simon Armitage, our round-up of the big reads...

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
David Mitchell
(Sceptre)

The Slap
Christos Tsiolkas
(Atlantic)

Seeing Stars
Simon Armitage
(Faber)

Repeat Until Rich
Josh Axelrad
(Ebury)

Flipnosis
Kevin Dutton
(William Heinemann)


The big-name book this week is The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Mitchell bridged the gap between literary and mainstream success with Cloud Atlas in 2004, and this latest novel, while more straightforward in construction, is equally as compelling.

Set in 1799 on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki Harbour, the story revolves around a junior clerk with the Dutch East India Company, who is investigating a predecessor’s misdemeanours. As in his previous work, Mitchell does a brilliant job of marrying intelligent, big ideas with compulsive storytelling, both firmly in evidence from the dramatic opening childbirth scene onwards. Set against the background of an epochal clash of cultures, this is a fantastic look at power and how it corrupts, as well as being a beautiful examination of what makes us human.

Equally perceptive is The Slap by Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas. Tsiolkas is relatively unknown in the UK, but this fourth novel is already an international bestseller, as well as winning the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize last year. The premise is simple but effective – at a suburban Melbourne barbecue a man slaps a small, unruly child who isn’t his own.

With the narrative switching between eight of the adults present, the story looks at how that singular event causes reverberations through all their lives, examining with pinpoint accuracy the undercurrent of nastiness that runs through modern suburban living.

Shining a light on prejudices and preconceptions to do with parenting, race, religion, immigration and class, it’s an incredibly effective piece of work.

Less dark but just as fantastic is Simon Armitage’s Seeing Stars. The author is one of the country’s best-known poets, having for a long time sought to confound the preconception of poetry as highfalutin’, wordy nonsense. This 14th collection of poetry continues that crusade, being a visceral, readable romp through a wildly inventive mind, and a very funny one too. Armitage seeks as much to make readers laugh as to make them think.

Unlike many of today’s poets, Armitage revels in the narrative power of the form, telling stories to rival the finest short story practitioners – weird and wonderful tales of sperm whales, marital disputes and fake lives, and that’s just the first three poems.

Josh Axelrad’s Repeat Until Rich is the author’s memoir of how he went from dead-end graduate job to blackjack-card counting in casinos and winning millions. Told with candour and a certain amount of swagger, it’s fascinating. The How to Count Cards appendix is an eye-opener.

Finally, Flipnosis by psychologist Kevin Dutton, which looks at the art of split-second decision-making. From serial killers to advertisers and con men, it looks at techniques of persuasion, and is written in accessible, charismatic style, with plenty of insights along the way.