A Carnival of Snackery

A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris (2021 Little, Brown hardcover 566pp)

 

Apart from saying that I loved this book I find it hard to write a full-sized review – mainly because it simply consists of diary entries, no plot or narrative.

A few years back I became a fan of the writing of Mr Sedaris and not long after that I picked up a hardcover copy of his first volume of diary entries “Theft by Finding” which covered his life from the 1970s up to the turn of the century. That book really chronicled his rise from quite a tough life into the writer we know and love today. This second volume feels quite different. No longer struggling, Sedaris lives a life on his own terms with frequent travel around the world and homes in several countries. A lot of what’s written in these short diary entries seems familiar because he’s since expanded on them and turned them into essays in his later books.

There are some particular areas of focus – a lot of the writing concerns his love/hate relationship with his father as he grows older. His siblings feature frequently as well as they do in most of his recent writing. There are some continuing threads – the things his fans tell him at book signings. Off-colour jokes and increasingly absurd insults from around the world. Much of the text is also taken up by his impressions of the cities and countries he visits, good or bad. People watching seems to be a hobby of his and sometime he just muses about what the most shocking thing he could say or do in a given situation.

Towards the end things like Trump and COVID take the stage. His travel is curtailed and he’s left thinking about his immediate home life.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the book and being back in Sedaris’ head for a while. I guess we will be waiting some time for the next volume.

 

Being You

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth (2021 Faber & Faber Kindle edition 368pp)

Wherein research scientist and much lauded science writer Anil Seth attempts to explain the current thinking on human consciousness and in particular his own ‘Beast Machine’ theory.

To get us there he guides us through the history of scientific thinking on the mind and brain. He stops occasionally to describe the various researchers and the more important experiments that brought us to the current day where the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness continues to elude us. Various fads and fallacies are dismissed (i.e., the brain is a computer) and he takes quite a lot time explaining why some theories are wrong – sometimes this seemed a little too much blather and my eyes glazed over during a few paragraphs.

His theory (named “Beast Machine’ after the thinking of philosopher Rene Descartes on animals) basically says our consciousness is a fusion of hallucinations as we attempt to keep a number of essential variables within a certain range to stay alive. After laying out his thinking we then press on to explore the consciousness of animals – lots of fun anecdotes on Octopus experiments and meetings with monkeys. We end with a chapter on the possibility of Artificial Intelligence and whether consciousness could arise in machines (he has serious doubts).

I found Seth at his best when he was relating stories and experiences he had on the way to his conclusions. The experiments, the people, animals and so on. When he dives into dry theory, he always risked losing my attention. The book is, as you would expect from a scientist, is meticulously researched with many foot-notes and sources in each chapter. A comprehensive index also takes up a large chunk of the volume.

Its not a lengthy read, I finished it in a couple of sittings. Possibly borderline on being in the popular science genre but a good attempt to tackle a difficult topic.

 

The Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) by Richard Osman (2021 Penguin-Viking softcover 424pp)

 

When I read it almost a year ago now, the original “Thursday Murder Club” seemed like a warm hug of a cosy crime novel. A group of 70-plus year-old characters found themselves involved in a caper and along the way we had amusing looks at modern life from a different perspective. The follow-up, I’m sad to say, doesn’t quite live up to the first volume.

The same gang of characters are still around – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron again take the stage and they’re supported by Chris and Donna the local police detectives we met last time. Also back is Bogdan the eastern european odd-job man who seems strangely capable at all he does. A new pair of characters, Lance and Sue, both working for MI5 are introduced but barely fleshed-out.

The plot involves a man from Elizabeth’s past who arrives asking for help and soon involves the team in a fresh adventure involving stolen diamonds, spies, a crooked banker to criminals and even the Mafia. Meanwhile Ibrahim has been mugged by a local wayward teen and a local drug dealer has been evading police efforts to bring her to justice. Eventually all these things merge.

This is where I think things begin to go wrong – things barely hinted at and mentioned as asides in the first book are suddenly front and centre. Elizabeth and her past with the security services pretty much take over the book. I’m not sure I’m comfortable knowing she was essentially the female James Bond and still viewed with awe by the current generation of agents. The whole spy aspect is somewhat cartoony in the plot. Ex-Nurse Joyce who in the first book was the caring human face of the team is somewhat reduced to being Elizabeth’s sidekick and in the chapters that are her diary entries, seems to be portrayed as something of a ditz -well even more so than the in the first book. Ron and Ibrahim get a few crucial moments but mainly seem to disappear into the background for the duration.

Having said all that, it’s still an enjoyable read. Its drifted further from realism but maybe escapism is what we need. It was good to see these characters again and spend time in their world, even though I didn’t quite agree with the direction Osman took. A third book in the series is promised on the last page, I know I’ll probably read it too.