Number 60 - Beasts of England - Adam Biles

 Now this one is going to stay with me, and for all the right reasons.

The latest release from Galley Beggar Press is this follow up/modern day update to George Orwell's classic Animal Farm.

To take on a task like that takes some considerable chutzpah. Animal Farm is a classic for a reason, and you have an instant benchmark people will judge you by, and it's not an easy standard to hit. These are big farm issue wellington boots you're trying to fill.

Many years have passed since the animals took over Jones' farm, now called Manor Farm and a tourist attraction in its own right, with a petting zoo and other attractions. It has moved away from traditional income streams and is more of a service economy. 

It also sells electricity generated from the windmill. It has a fractious relationship with the Wealesdon Union of Farms (WUF) of which it is a member. When a flock of starlings move into the farm uninvited and start spreading stories and fake news, trouble is not far behind and some difficult truths are soon uncovered.

The quote on the front cover is absolutely typical of the standard of writing in the book. The parallels with the real world are strikingly obvious and frequently hilarious.  This book attacks all sides in the political spectrum. If you don't feel personally attacked at some point in this book, it's likely you've misunderstood it.

This is a dictionary definition of painfully funny. It completely eviscerates contemporary politics in the way that Orwell did in the 50s. There are some real belly laughs to be had too and some groan inducing puns. My favourite is when only a select set of birds are allowed to spread news, and the title they're given is a joyously awful joke. It's playful but with as dark a heart as comedy can bear.    

As the book marches towards its conclusion it turns from commentary on what has happened into a warning about what happens next, and it's not a pretty forecast. The final chapters, where most of the puzzling little details are explained give a truly bleak outlook, but with a faint glimmer of hope. 

This book picks its targets and hits them all with pinpoint accuracy.  A warning, a commentary and a laugh out loud painfully sharp satire. This is one of the best book I've read from GBP, and indeed one of the best things I've read this year/decade. Orwell must be cheering and applauding in his grave. 

I cannot recommend it highly enough.  I finished it a week ago and it's still high in my thoughts. 

Available from Galley Beggar press online, and from all good brick and mortar book shops. You have no excuse.  Go and buy it.

Number 92 - London's Overthrow - China Mieville

 

I'm not sure what, if anything to say about this book.

China Mieville is a very good writer of a weird science fiction almost steampunk sensibility.  His first book - King Rat - was so well written, that while I was reading it, he managed to convince me there was merit in drum and bass (pone of my least favourite genres of music but damn the way he wrote about it made itr sound good) 

His New Crobuzon novels are amazingly good.Embassytown was a drag for the first half but then picked up the ball and ran with it for a brilliant second half. 

This is a different beast altogether.  It's a political polemic  -and I must say I'm very firmly on the side of his politics. He knows his stuff and expresses it a lot better than I could so I'm not sure I'm qualified to dissect this book.

He paints a grim and depressing look at London in 2011, one year into Con-dem rule.

This is a warning from history.  A lot of what he predicts in this long essay has come to pass.  It's a well argued and anger inducing read. My only real criticism of this would be the grainy quality of a lot of the photos.  I kind of get what they were aiming at, but quite a few of them just come across as bad photos rather than the intended effect.

I found it online for a price befitting the slimness of the volume.