Last week, Freight Books read...

A Happy Death. All the Birds, Singing has yet to arrive for me to read, so instead I have decided to mark this centenary of Albert Camus' birth by reviewing one - possibly my favourite - of his novels. This was the first book he wrote, yet it was not published until after his death, so I feel it lends a certain roundness to the centenary.

Much of the storyline would be familiar to those of you who have read L'Étranger, as it is very much a blueprint for this most famous of novels. However, I would have to say I prefer it - there is a youthfulness, perhaps even a naivety to this version, which I really enjoy.

In brief, the protagonist Mersault (for it is he, yet isn't he) is given the oppourtunity of a lifetime, the chance to have enough money that he need never work again, on the condition he concentrates on living. The only downside is that he has to kill a man (the man offering him the money, nonetheless). He does this, travels round Europe, gets horribly sick, returns to North Africa, visits the House Above the World (possibly the most perfect place that now exists in my imagination) then leaves there and dies. And it is a beautiful death.

At only 106 pages this is a very short, but oh so sweet, examination as to whether a happy death is possible. If only it could have been so for the man himself. If you've never read any Camus, I urge you to read this first. If you've read lots of his work but not this, you know how good his books are,  so just buy it.

The cover shown is the new Penguin edition. I can't decide if I like it and I think this is a bad thing, though it does make me think of swimming off the Algerian coast, which I have never done, so it must be good, right?

Last week, Freight Books read...

Death and the Penguin is wonderfully surreal. Victor, the protagonist, is a an aspiring writer living on his own in a flat in Kiev. Well, nearly on his own. There is also the Penguin, Misha, who Victor bought from the zoo when they were strapped for cash after the break-up of the Soviet Union. They live together quite happily, Victor feeding Misha frozen fish and Misha shuffling about sounding rather depressed. 

Then Victor gets a job writing obituaries for a newspaper and things change. Suddenly he has steady money, and even makes a friend or two, but the the people he is asked to prepare obits for start to die. Misha gets a job too, as a silent companion at funerals. 

If that hasn't got you intrigued then I don't know what is wrong with you. It is great. I've yet to read any more by Andrey Kurkov, but he has jumped to the upper reaches of my shopping list. 

Last week, Freight Books read...

War with the Newts is weird yet wonderful. Sold as a humorous allegory of early 20th Century Czech politics, I was expecting to have my knowledge of Slavonic history stretched to breaking point, but couldn't resist the title nor the cover artwork. If there were any specific references to Czech politics they passed me by. The novel contains allusions to the League of Nations, the slave trade, and imperialism, but you could get away with not knowing about any of those things.

A sea captain looking for pearls comes across a colony of giant newts. He teaches them how to protect themselves from sharks, and in return they collect pearls for him. This relationship soon becomes one of exploitation, as the newts are the perfect form of cheap labour, but as a new age of prosperity begins for mankind nobody notices how fast the newts are breeding...

On the whole a good read, which I banged through quickly. If it was to be your first foray into Czech literature, however, I would counsel you to read Closely Observed Trains, I Served the King of England, The Good Soldier Svejk or The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Last week, Freight Books read...

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is, so far, one of the best books I have read this year. A tale of an extraordinary man looking for one last adventure, there is a back story running through the book that channels the Good Soldier Svejk whilst at the same time critiquing Sweden's stance of neutrality over the last century. And above all this politicking there is a varnish of beautiful prose that makes the book flow almost too fast, despite it's length. A fantastic translation, a great book, well worth a purchase.