The Ingenious Edgar Jones - Elizabeth Gardner

It might seem like a good idea to try and force your children to become mirror images of yourself.  Or even to push them to be who you would have wanted to be.  Well this book would argue that this could well end in disaster.  This story is set in a wonderfully bought to life 1850's Oxford.  It tells of the conflicts between Edgar and his father, as Edgar attempts to fulfil his talents and dreams whilst his father tries to push him to what he thinks is right.  Once again this is a book that reels you in and then the end is disappointing.  I did learn an awful lot about iron.

6/10

The Rain Before It Falls - Jonathan Coe

When I was in college I was a member of one of those book clubs where you order 5 books for £1 and commit to buying one a month for the next year at full price.  One of the books I got on the introductory offer was Jonathan Coe's the house of sleep.  I can't really remember about the book but in my memory at least it was wonderful and had a dream like presence which even now I can't quite pin down.  It is against this half remembered book that I compare all other JC books that I read.  The Rotters club and so on are all good enough stories but firmly set in the real everyday world and all too suitible for turning into TV dramas.  This falls somewhere in between it follows the family history format of the later novels but exists with a few toes in the dream world of the house of sleep.  Basically this starts off well but gets sillier and sillier as it goes on piling tragedy on disaster.  Overall a bit disappointing when compared to something which may not have ever existed.

6/10