Alexander Trocchi

Advantages: Great short read
Disadvantages: Very little

...Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi has been referred to so many times as a close cousin of Camus it is ridiculous, but you can rest assured that no such connection will be made here. It starts with a domestic scene of a kind. Joe is a worker on a barge somewhen in the middle of the last century, continuously conveying materials between Glasgow’s and Edinburgh’s docks on the canal. He works for Leslie, the husband of the woman who owns the craft, Ella, while also present is their son. But while the domestic scene is of a boat about to receive a load of anthracite ~ Ella is putting out the washing, Leslie has his pipe to hand, etc, these things are about to change. Joe it is who sees the pallid corpse of a woman float past along the waterway, and the two men fish her out with boathooks. The ambulance soon leaves with its load... Read review

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Advantages: Honest, direct, well structured.
Disadvantages: sometimes life is fun.

...the past, regret or morality or indeed any other such abstract concepts. He falls from relationship to relationship, driven only by hormones and opportunity and totally lacking in passion. He is then the classic anti-hero, not the kind of person you’d want your kids to be but then free and true to himself in a way you may wish you were. Shocking to many, the actions or lack of that Adam undertakes are in every sense true to himself. More than this, as we discover, his actions are more honest than the petty morality and “do-good” mind set of the society in which he lives, a society that executes a man innocent of a murder that was never even committed. Trocchi leads us through this turmoil of morality vs self with a deft and focussed hand. His direct, unreflective and unembellished prose re-inforces the character of Adam... Read review

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Advantages: great story telling, great pictures
Disadvantages: probably too light for the serious student

...Michael Wood is the everyman of history in the media; casual and charismatic, TV friendly and a fantastic story teller. The book is a companion to the TV series as is the usual format for Woods work. To travel the path taken by Alexander the Great is no small undertaking. The research alone to re-kindle footsteps taken over 2000 years ago is an admirable project, to actually re-travel the route is an amazing task which can not fail to make a great story. The book works on two levels. At the same time as explaining the reasons and routes behind Alexanders advance, Wood is able to look for evidence still visable in the modern landscape. From buildiings and physical geography to stories still told and the people themselves help bring the story to life and turn the dusty pages of history into a beautiful joining of past and present. The book... Read review

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