The Wall - John Lanchester

 

Over the last three years I haven't become illiterate and I haven't lost the ability to connect to the internet. I just didn't update this blog, but I'll now try to make amends. Now that most of my reading is done on my iPad, and now that my iPad stays in the office on Monday and Tuesday nights I'll hopefully be able to find some time to play catch-up with the novels that I read through multiple lockdowns and the birth of my second daughter...

Over the last three years I've discovered the joys of library ebook loans. Southwark gives me some, Westminster gives me more, and, incredible as it may sound, my small Italian hometown gives me the best service of all three.

Over the last three years I've read almost all the novels from the Southwark Library that I found somewhat interesting. The Wall was something that I wouldn't have picked by its synopsis, but I decided to read it because all the John Lanchester books I had read I had found to be somewhere between "easy and cute" and "brilliant".

Over the last three years I've read a number of dystopian novels, like this one, and remained ambivalent to most of them (though this one has the advantage of making me ask myself "would I survive in a similar situation, and if so how?).

Over the last three years, dystopian novels haven't changed that much in tone. But that's probably true of dystopian novels over the last century. And in the real world the climate threat hasn't changed that much either probably, but now it feels much more real, and this novel makes it scarily so.

Fragrant Harbour – John Lanchester

A book that I got from the book swap shelf at Stratford Station – the only one I’ve ever managed to pick up from there, but it was worth it! I originally grabbed it for my mom, as she had liked Capital more than I did, and only read it after she did and because of her very strong recommendations.

Fragrant Harbour has many of the traits of the standard best-seller: an “unusual” love story, international intrigue, a look at the blurred lines between orgranized crime and top-level impresarios and plenty of others. The thing for me was that, being set in Hong Kong, it was both interesting from an historical point of view and very different from a standard best-seller.

Predictably, the book’s bottom line is that there are colonialists with a heart (and also a sense of humour and self-criticism) and entrepreneurs who are far from being evil capitalists. This is not exactly the most unusual of messages, but it is delivered with grace. And the appearance of Tom’s nephew is something that really makes one hopeful that good people can overcome drunken British hooligans…

With Capital I had the feeling that Lanchester could have made so much more given the rough material he had at his disposal, but I think that with Fragrant Harbour he managed to get the most out of his plot and research – or maybe I’m just way less familiar with Hong Kong that I am with London!

Capital – John Lanchester

A book that my mom read in translation, than found among the remainders in a London bookshop and bought for me. I rarely read contemporary best-sellers – partly because I enjoy feeling different, partly because when they are good (as in this case) they can be captivating, entertaining, and pleasant enough to read, but very rarely great.

Capital is, much like so many recent British novels, about the lives of a number of urban individuals and families from the most diverse backgrounds and how they are brought together by an event or another. Problem is: Lanchester is not Zadie Smith and his story – for catching that it is – ultimately lacks the kind of irony and acuteness that Smith normally has.

Capital hits all the right notes in a way that is so perfect that it looks staged: of course the reader feels warmed by Freddy Kamo’s enthusiasm, Smitty’s memories of his youth with his grandmother, or Zbigniew/Bogdan’s pursuit of Matya – but it often reads as if Lanchester is only ticking boxes and going through the motions. Also, to make sure that the majority of the readers feels happy by the end, all stories either have positive finales or at least finales with a significant hint of hope (the possibility of a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe and redemption for former City alpha-male), maybe with the sole exception of Smitty’s former assistant (quite a secondary and dislikable figure anyway). However, I do hate siding with the majority on anything (and books in particular!) so I will say that I have been entertained by Capital, but was left with little more than that.

That said, maybe, my impressions would have been different had I read this book as we were house-hunting last year and trying to understand the market value of the places we were looking at…