Alex Viac- 8th June 2007

Friday 8th June 2007
Guest - Alex Viac, Early years teacher at a Special needs school, Limehouse and Playright

Prizes Sponsored by Faber & Faber: 
 Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre                  (Winner: Trisha Abiola)
 Observations - Jane Harris (New release)
 Resistance - Owen Sheers (New release)  (Winner: Trisha Abiola)

Prizes,also sponsored by Ovalhouse Theatre, Kennington & Oval- 2 Tickets to watch Yellow Lines
by Steve King  WINNER of this prize- Paul Adams

Book titles covered-

Love for Lydia- H.E.Bates (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.co.uk)

Lydia Aspen, a seemingly shy girl from a wealthy but isolated background, is encouraged by
her aunts, her new carers, to discover the delights of growing up. They entrust her
education to Mr Richardson, the young apprentice for Evenford's local newspaper, who is
sent to their house to 'get a story' about the recent death of Lydia's father. Richardson's
access to the Aspens is unusual, as they are rarely seen by anyone from the town and hide
behind their stone walls and perimeter of trees; introducing Lydia to the town's inhabitants
gives Richardson a great sense of pride. Visiting the Aspen estate also allows Richardson
the chance to escape from the great engulfing vacuum of Evensford, with it's endless stretch
of factory roofs and back alleys. As Lydia and Richardson spend more time together, he
realises that his initial concept of Lydia was wrong, that she is far from being shy and is
often impetuous and demanding, and enjoys captivating the young men who become her companion
s. Richardson soon discovers that his promise to love her, no matter what she does to him,
is going to push him beyond the pain and feelings he thinks he is capable of experiencing.
One of Bates' best-loved and most enduring books, "Love for Lydia" is an extraordinary tale
of love and longing, set against the backdrop of 1920s decadence, and the fall of the
English upper classes.

Fathers and Sons- Ivan Turgenev (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.co.uk)

Turgenev's masterpiece about the conflict between generations is as fresh,
outspoken, and exciting today as it was in when it was first published in 1862.
The controversial portrait of Bazarov, the energetic, cynical, and self-assured
'nihilist' who repudiates the romanticism of his elders, shook Russian society.
Indeed the image of humanity liberated by science from age-old conformities and
prejudices is one that can threaten establishments of any political or religious
persuasion, and is especially potent in the modern era. This new translation,
specially commissioned for the World's Classics,is the first to draw on Turgenev's
working manuscript, which only came to light in 1988.

Cloud Atlas- David Mitchell (synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia)

The book consists of six nested stories that take us from the remote South Pacific in the
nineteenth century to the far future after a nuclear apocalypse.Apart from the central story
which is uninterrupted, each story breaks off abruptly half-way through, to be followed by the
first half of the next story. The interrupted story then appears within the next one, with
the protagonist reading or watching the first half of its text; for example, in "An Orison of
Sonmi~451," Sonmi~451 describes watching a film about the life of Timothy Cavendish, but she
is only able to watch 50 minutes before her story is also interrupted. Each story ends with
its protagonist finding the second half of this story, which is then printed after it.

deadkidsongs- Toby Litt (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.co.uk)

This is a compelling and shocking journey into the dark heart of boyhood, as four boys play
war games deep in the English countryside. With the death of one of the Gang (as they call
themselves), the war games escalate, directed now against the adults they hold responsible for
the loss of one of their soldiers.DEADKIDSONGS is unputdownable, highly original and deeply
thought-provoking.

Competition Questions

1) In DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, name the boy,Vernon's best friend, who kills 15 of
his classmates and then kills himself?
a) Jesus

2) Name of the show on Phoenix FM thats on between 1900-2000 hrs every Friday?
a) BOOK CLUB(YAY!!!)

NEXT WEEK'S COMPETITION -

1) Where does Vernon flee to, away from being falsely accused of causing a massacre?

Prize is sponsored by Faber and Faber - 'Observations' by Jane Harris

Article by Muthamma Prasad, 11 Jun 2007
Posted in Book Club

Current UK time is 09.50 PM
Phoenix FM website (c) 1996-2008