Homesick - Eshkol Nevo

This story about a young Israeli couple making an attempt to live together was an unusual reading experience, in that I seriously considered abandoning it half-way through, but persevered and was glad I did. With hindsight I think that reflects well on the skill of the author in managing to convey the loss and alienation felt in different ways by each of the multiple narrators so well that it almost pushed me away, before allowing most of them to experience some form of homecoming at the novel's conclusion. I felt that it was significant that most of the characters are able to achieve this because they were "homesick" for something they themselves had withdrawn from, whereas the only character who was still trapped at the end (literally, in an Israeli prison) was the Arab worker whose family had fled their home years before and were unable to return.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

This was one of those books that is utterly captivating but rather hard to describe, as it somehow manages to form a coherent whole out of strands of biography, memoir (as the author's research becomes part of the narrative), medical history, and ethical debate. The focal point for all of these aspects is the life and legacy of a young woman called Henrietta Lacks, who died of cancer in 1951, unknowingly leaving behind a sample of cells from the tumour on her cervix, which became 'HeLa' - "the world's first immortal human cells". I finally tracked it down after being given a strong recommendation for it months ago, and was very glad it did because it really got me thinking and kept popping up in conversation with everyone I spoke to for weeks afterwards. I was surprised to discover that informed consent is still not always required for cell research (e.g. in the UK "Consent is not required to use tissue obtained from living patients if the tissue is anonymous to the researcher and the project has research ethics approval"), and was in total sympathy when reading about the difficulties the Lacks family had in accepting what had happened - but intriguingly, when I mentioned the book to a friend currently doing scientific research, she appeared utterly bemused by the idea that anyone might object...

Affluenza - Oliver James

Oliver James defines "the Affluenza Virus" as "a set of values which increase our vulnerability to emotional distress", namely "placing a high value on acquiring money and possessions, looking good in the eyes of others and wanting to be famous". It's hard to argue with his basic argument that these increasingly ubiquitous values are unfulfilling and should be resisted, but I did sometimes find his writing style a little grating; is it totally ethical for a psychoanalyst to interview people for his book and then write about some of them in such a scathing way? Also, is it really necessary to come up with uncessesary and excessively capitalised jargon to turn a piece of intelligent analysis into a Big Idea? ("Virus", "Selfish Capitalism", "Having", "Being", and "Marketing Characters" were the ones I noticed, although the last few were apparently taken from the work of Erich Fromm so I suppose I can't blame James so much...)

"Virus values" are said to cause distress because they tend to lead us away from fulfilling our genuine needs, which he describes as follows:

"we need to feel secure, emotionally and materially; we need to feel part of a community, to give and receive from family, neighbours and friends; we need to feel competent, that we're not useless, are effective in chosen tasks; and we need to feel autonomous and authentic, masters of our destinies to some degree and not living behind masks."

"Selfish Capitalism", with its resultant inequalities, is seen as the underlying cause of the spread of the "Affluenza Virus" - James characterises this system as one in which: business success is judged almost exclusively on share prices; public utilities are kept in private hands; regulation of business and taxation of the rich are minimal; and excessive reliance is placed on consumption and market forces. Intriguingly, "Virus motives" are seen as more damaging than "Virus goals" - "provided the motive is intrinsic, like meeting basic material needs, supporting a family and self-efficacy, people were not made unhappy by wanting money.".

For future reference, here are the "vaccines" that James proposes that individuals should adopt against the "Affluenza Virus":

1. Have Positive Volition:
   This seems to mean taking a realistic view of yourself and your environment, taking responsibility for your choices - but not for situations outside of your control - and actively choosing to align your life with your values as far as possible.
   
2. Replace Virus Motives:
   Audit your motives and goals, and try to shift both work and play activities towards ones where the "intrinsic" motives of "interest, enjoyment and the stimulation of a challenge" are primary.
   
3. Be Beautiful:
   Try to develop a "personal, self-expressive" idea of beauty that isn't about cultural norms, appearing attractive to others, or seeking eternal youth...
   
4. Consume What You Need:
   Be grateful for what you have got ("an inside loo, a bath, a cooker, a fridge, central heating and utilities that work") and be sceptical about the advertising-induced temptation to work harder for more money for things you don't really need - particularly to pay a huge mortgage: "it is strongly advisable not to allow our self-esteem to be attached to how our home appears to others. If you allow that you happen, you are trapped on a treadmill you will be too scared to leave."
   
5. Meet Your Children's Needs:
   Try to meet your child's basic needs and give them "supportive (but not permissive, boundaryless) nurture", modelling your values but allowing the child to choose whether to adopt them. First you'll need to audit your own values and disentangle what really matters to you...
   
6. Educate Your Children:
   After a rather frightening account of "exam fever", anxiety and depression among high-achieving teenage girls, the advice is to encourage them (and rememeber ourselves) to engage with their authentic interests with curiousity and playfulness, and pursue education for its own sake rather than as a step onto the corporate ladder: "education has been hijacked by business. The goal is to create good little producers and consumers, whereas it should be an enquiring mind, capable of both scholarship and of a playful, self-determined and emotionally productive life."
   
7. Enjoy Motherhood:
   This repeated many of the themes of How Not to F*** Them Up, emphasizing the need to get off the property treadmill and value and enjoy motherhood rather than "regard[ing] only paid work as a source of self-esteem."
   
8. Be Authentic, Vivacious and Playful:
   "imagine that you have a fatal illness and are reviewing your life from that standpoint": opt out of celebrity-watching, sleep & relax more, build honest, emotionally intimate relationships, and play with small children! (I was initially confused by the distinction James makes between being "sincere" and "authentic" - but then I heard a radio news report about the "sincere" apology made by Rupert Murdoch to the family of a murdered schoolgirl whose phone had been hacked by an investigator working for his newspaper...)

There are some unsettling observations about the drawbacks of a meritocratic system in the section on education, particularly the growth of frustration and low self-esteem in a society where a competitive educational system is used to determine people's life chances. I'd be interested to read the satire he quotes from, "The Rise of the Meritocracy" by Michael Young (1958).

The Right Hand of the Sun - Anita Mason

Having fond memories of studying the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire at university, I was very interested to find this book and I was not at all disappointed. This is a brilliantly researched account which tells the story from multiple perspectives, emphasising the voices of Cortés's two translators, a Spanish man and an Aztec woman, who had both spent years as Mayan slaves and so both sat uncomfortably between the clashing cultures. This is made particularly clear through the use of names in the book, particularly that of the Aztec emperor - Cortés arrogantly refers to him as "Muckety", the Spanish translator Gerónimo is careful to learn his correct name of Muctezuma, and the Mayan woman Marina (whose name has in turn been "given" to her by Cortés) has grown up hearing tales of his power, and calls him by his title of "Lord-Who-Is-Severe".

Although I am not usually a fan of macho war stories, the battle scenes in this book were so well written that I found them totally gripping, really imagining what it would have been like to be there. Similarly, the engineering feat of constructing several ships in pieces to be carried for miles and assembled in place is described with human passion through the eyes of their designer, bringing the achievement to life. Cortés's coexisting motives of greed, ambition, and sincere religious fervour are also very well portrayed.

My only criticism of this book probably just reveals me as a lazy reader - in the middle section where the narration is given in turn to several of the Spanish gentlemen in Cortés's company, it was hard for me to keep their details and allegiances clear in my head. Other than that, I found the book compelling, rewarding, and convincing. I particularly enjoyed the tantalising glimpses at the end into the possible motivations of the strangely passive Muctezuma: Marina felt that he "knew everything that would happen" in the moment when "a low-class woman from the coast, a slave, raised her eyes and looked him in the face", and Gerónimo remembers a conversation where the emperor mused that "the Lord of the Near lacks a sacrifice" since the youth who had lived for a year as his incarnation on Earth had been killed by a Spaniard before his ritual sacrifice could take place - and as Gerónimo later realises, the other incarnation of the "Lord of the Near" was Muctezuma himself.

The Gospel According to Luke - Emily Maguire

This is a gripping but ultimately rather unsatisfying book based on the intriguing premise of an encounter between a "youth pastor" for the "Christian Revolution" and the manager of a nearby sexual health clinic, with the most endearing character being the pregnant teenager who gets caught between their colliding worlds. Although it's unfair to blame an author for how their book is marketed, I did feel that the cover image - of a young girl whose accentuated pout manages to be provocative despite the stylised tears running down her face - was a fair reflection of the book's contents. Although it touched on some serious issues and the characters were likeable and interesting, this verged on Mills & Boon at times as a passionate attraction overcame all rational objections, and the emphasis on the transformative power of a sexual awakening seemed a little teenage...