Book reviews, Cogitas

"Call The Midwife" by Jennifer Worth

Review by Natalie Masse, 20th July 2009 . Tags: autobiography, death, London, non-fiction, poverty, relationships, religion, violence

I thoroughly enjoyed Jennifer's account of her life as a midwife in the London East End in the 1950s but I felt let down by the last page.

This is a true story of a young midwife working in London’s East End in the 1950s. Back then, midwifery was still a relatively new discipline and of course, it was still unusual for women to work, even though the second world war had helped the cause a lot.

The book is an account of her experience, interlacing general observations about the living conditions in the East End with details of specific families and births. Jennifer Worth is very good at giving a sense of the times, mixing up descriptions with dialogue, narration with action.

However, she goes all religious on the last few pages, implying that the midwives only did such great work because of their religious fervour, as if unreligious people have no ethics and sense of working for the community. While I can't obviously blame her for expressing her opinion on the matter, there is an inherent bigotry in the last few pages which wasn't apparent in the rest of the book and which undermines the whole historical stance of the book.

But with this in mind, this is still a good book and if like me, you're fed up with religious people denying the fact you can be both atheist and a good person, I suggest you read it but skip the last few pages.

Link to this post: http://www.cogitas.net/bookworm/search.php?p=8

"The Fortress Of Solitude" by Jonathan Lethem

Review by Natalie Masse, 6th July 2009 . Tags: fiction, music, New York City, racism, relationships, religion, solitude, violence

I have mixed feelings about this book. In a nutshell, the story kept me reading but the writing style discouraged me.

I normally enjoy literary fiction with flourishes and an extensive vocabulary, such as Paul Auster, but I feel that Jonathan Lethem's style is closer to a kid showing off the new words he's learnt at school.

But he redeems himself with a powerful tale of awkward teenagers, racial tensions, inner-city violence, gentrification and creative outcasts in Brooklyn.

While the story touches on many taboo subjects, such as male homosexuality within the black community, racism against white people, violence against your owns and absent mothers, it simple brings another side to the table without judging. The narrative style - the story is narrated in the 1990s but most of it takes place in the 1970s - provides an historical emotional attachment and you almost forget that this is fiction, so poignant and believable the stories are.

Link to this post: http://www.cogitas.net/bookworm/search.php?p=7

"Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene

Review by Natalie Masse, 1st July 2009 . Tags: Brighton, death, detective novel, fiction, religion, violence

Set in Brighton, this 1930s gangster story highlights the timelessness of the human condition.

While the constant change of POVs in the same scene is a bit frustrating as it makes it difficult to really empaphise with a given character, the story and the characters are all three dimensional and reveal themselves in unexpected ways.

Graham Greene mixes religion with gang violence and it is particularly interesting that the most religious gangster is the most violent. This is a stern reminder that being religious doesn't mean being ethical and fair.