Finns det liv på Mars?
Inger Edelfeldt
233 p.

Nordstedts Förlag, 2006

Back cover blurb:

Joni är en musicerande och lätt kaotisk ensamstående mor. Nyligen övergiven av den senaste tilltänkta plastpappan till femåriga dottern Mårran, och med garderoben full av en egen cd hon tagit lån för att spela in, bestämmer hon sig inför sin 45-årsdag för att »bli vuxen«. Bort alla vilda drömmar, in med ordning, reda och realistiska förväntningar. En lämplig man av ny sort möter hon i Niklas, frånskild pappa till en tonårsdotter som han skaffat sig handbok för att förstå. Men varför dyker gastar ur det förflutna upp i Jonis drömmar - inte bara den galghumoristiska Magdalena, som tog livet av sig för sjutton år sedan, utan också hennes forna musikgudar, främst ibland dem David Bowie?

Finns det liv på Mars? är en humoristisk roman på mörk botten; en kärleksförklaring till rockmusik och till människor som inte lyckas stuva in sina liv i lämpliga förvaringsmöbler.

During the Gothenburg bookfair of 2006 I spent several minutes standing behind Inger Edelfeldt, nervously trying to catch her attention to tell her how enormously I had enjoyed her Finns det liv på Mars?, which then was new. On her back she had three big pins - one of Morrissey (Kill Uncle cover), one of David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust-era) and a third that I can’t quite remember. I didn’t manage to catch her attention and in a way I think that was good. I wasn’t particularly articulate. And back then, I didn’t know David Bowie. It was a bit peculiar that despite being so smitten by the book, I didn’t even consider downloading his stuff. Now, however, I know Bowie a bit better. Despite only properly listening to two of his albums (Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spider from Mars), I managed to pick up a lot more of the references. There are references to Morrissey and the Smiths as well, but Bowie-references are really all over the place. I felt so proud when I discovered them.

I realised a few days ago that I really wanted to read this book again. It is almost two years since I last read it, and I read it in one day, which is not unheard of, but it says a bit about how I felt about it. Of course, it might have been a terribly boring Sunday. I can’t remember. I do remember being very smitten. So, New Year Day’s morning came (or, really, it was in the afternoon) and I found the book after a few minutes searching in our bookcases. (Have I ever talked about my family’s bookcases? They are really quite decent.) Then I sat down and read half of it. A few hours later I read the rest of it. It was so easy and pleasant to read that I was really sad when it ended. I couldn’t quite remember everything, but I recalled quite a bit. I felt the same way about the first boyfriend’s daughter, Alma, as I did the first time: can’t I know her?! That is in fact the only thing I don’t absolutely like about this book, that she isn’t given such a big part. The little she is in it she is really quite lovely. I wish I knew more people like her.

My mum bought this book for a pretty penny, and the price tag is still stuck to it. I am too nostalgic to take off price tags - how can you know that you won’t need them?! I had the price tag on The Queen Is Dead for a couple of years. I think it is gone now. Still, the point with this seemingly pointless information is that this book was, in its day, pretty well expensive, but I think it is completely worth it. Now, I am just sad that it isn’t mine.

Edward Trencom’s Nose : A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue and Cheese
Giles Milton
392 p.

Pan Macmillan, 2007

Back cover blurb:

Edward Trencom has bumbled through life, relying on his trusted nose to turn the family cheese shop into the most celebrated fromagerie in England. But his world is turned upside down when he stumbles across a crate of family papers. To his horror, Edward discovers that nine previous generations of this family have come to stickly ends because of their noses.

When he investigates further, Edward finds himself caught up in a Byzantine riddle to which there is no obvious answer.

This back cover blurb LIES. I always get as upset when what is said on the back of the book isn’t what is said inside the book. Edward’s cheese shop has been on top of the cheese shops since the 17th century. And his world is turned upside down well before he stumbles over the family papers. When I reread this blurb now, I feel angry for being lied to. It is a bad thing, of course; all they want to do is sell books! And all I want is truth. I have a bit of a problem categorizing this book, but since there are extracts set in the 17th, 18th and 19th century I placed it under Historical as well as Humour. Though, admittedly, it wasn’t that funny. It was mildly amusing at times, but it wasn’t a laugh-party. And seeing as the Guardian claims it was a comic novel, I felt very disappointed.

I can really not make up my mind about this book. It is well-written, that much is true, if maybe at times a bit over-the-top. The end was completely non-understandable until you read the first five pages again. Milton had done one of those put-in-the-end-at-the-start-to-heighten-excitement. However, this just led to me thinking that Edward Trencom and his wife had been on a ski-trip to the Alps. And he hadn’t! HE WAS IN GREECE. THERE ARE NO ALPS IN GREECE. Or, there might be, but Edward doesn’t go to them. The story of nine of his ancestors are told, and I got so confused as to who is who that I had to stop and think about it for a long, long time. At the end there was a Hubert appearing, and you were supposed to know who he was. It took three pages before I figured out that it was a Hubert that HAD appeared earlier, but fleetingly. The characters and their names were a bit of a mess.

I didn’t really like Edward Trencom. And I didn’t think he was that believable, either. There was something about him - certainly not his nose, which really sounded quite pretty - that just didn’t resonate with me. There were also a number of sex scenes that were just really weird. I don’t care about how a middle-aged 1960s couple gets it on! I just don’t! I can do without. This makes me sound like I dislike sex scenes overall; that’s not the case. The case is that I want some sort of logic in it. Somehow, at least, it should be relevant to the story in hand. And how Edward Trencom has sex with his wife against a wall doesn’t feel as though it brings the story forward. And now that I think about it, I don’t think I really liked any characters. I liked the lawyer’s receptionist, but she was only in it for three pages. Which was a pity, I think.

It wasn’t a really easy book to read, given all the weird cheeses, characters and (I assume) witticism. Sometimes they were witty, sometimes they were… not. I don’t know what Milton’s goal was, really. Did he want to write about cheese, the Byzantine or something completely different? Everything was too fleeting to get a proper grasp on. The best part of this novel was when Byron was in it for a chapter. Lord Byron is the quite the hero and can save a lot of things. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really save this book.

ps. Happy New Year, the one person reading this thing!

Gods Behaving Badly
Marie Phillips
277 p.

Jonathan Cape,
Random House, 2007

Back cover blurb:

Being immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Life’s hard for a Greek god in the 21st century: nobody believes in you anymore, even your own family doesn’t respect you, and you’re stuck in a dilapidated hovel in North London with too many siblings and not enough hot water. But for Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator) and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic) there’s no way out… Until a meek cleaner and her would-be boyfriend come into their lives, and turn the world literally upside down.

I think that in order to really like a book, the cover has to be nice. If a book has an ugly cover, it is likely that I would be put off. If it is really abysmal, I might not even give it a try. Here, Gods Behaving Badly won my heart. I love the cover. It is so creative and happy and it has so few colours and is still really effective. It is, in short, really nice. This is one of my sister’s books, and I sometimes stay clear of them, seeing as they belong to her. I would’ve left this book alone if it hadn’t been so extremely pretty. And the story reflects the cover.

It isn’t a too complicated story. It’s enjoyable but not the best thing I have ever read. The language was easy and flowed nicely. It was funny. Doctor Who was mentioned, which is an automatic plus. I am not very good at Greek mythology, and sometimes I got mixed up as to who was who. Thankfully, knowing exactly who was who wasn’t the most important thing. As long as I kept track on that Apollo had to do with the sun, it was fine. In a way it reminded me of Jasper Fforde’s later books - new takes on old characters. It wasn’t really done with the same vigour or elegance. Still, it was a good read.

Douglas Adams’s Starship Titanic
Terry Jones
241 p.

Pan Books, 2003
(first published 1997)

Back cover blurb:

At the centre of the galazy, a vast, unknown civilization is preparing for an event of epic proportions, the launch of the greatest, most gorgeous, most technologically advanced spaceship ever built - the Starship Titanic.

An Earthling would see the ship as something really, really big, but rather less provincial onlookers would recognize it as the design of Leovinus, the galaxy’s most renowned architect. Before the launch Leovinus is having one last little look round and begins to find that things just aren’t right; poor workmanship, cybersystems out of control, robots walking into doors. How could this have happened? The Starship Titanic is THE SHIP THAT CANNOT POSSIBLY GO WRONG…

While the galaxy’s media looks on the following morning, hugely, magnificently, the fabulous ship eases away from the construction dock, picks up speed, sways a little, wobbles a bit, veers wildly and just before it can do untold damage to everything around it, appears to undergo SMEF (Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure). In just ten seconds, the whole, stupendous enterprise is over. And our story has just begun…

I like Douglas Adams. Douglas Adams is funny; he’s good. I like Terry Jones. Terry Jones is funny; he’s good; he’s part of Monty Python. Somehow, due to this immense liking of both of the “creators” of this novel (the original idea comes from Douglas Adams, who at the same time was doing a computer game with a similar plot - Terry Jones was pulled in after voicing one of the characters), one might expect that I wouldn’t like this book. However, I do. Of course, there are moments when I feel that Jones is trying too hard, and not all the jokes are funny. The main part of the jokes are funny, and that is the point. It doesn’t have the strongest plot ever, but again, it is not the plot that’s the point. Admittedly, I can’t say what is the point.

The characters are all very funny and actually interesting. In many books with lots of humour you might expect extremely flat characters. The characters in Starship Titanic are definitely not flat. They are amusing and they change throughout the course of the book. The ensemble is rather small, with only six important characters. Of course, four or these might be considered as main characters. Still, they are different enough to not be mixed together.

When I read this book, I had a lot of fun. It was an easy book to read, and it went quick. My smile seldom faded.