Germany Calling

It seemed like a good time to learn more about European culture in the aftershock of Brexit (and that messy illiterate abbreviated concatenation tells you all you need to know about the level of reasoned argument). The UK may have waved goodbye to the German Christmas market but not to the things we share. Sausages and beer, oak forests, grown up fairy tales, technical efficiency, emotional reserve and, by and large, modesty. Some of us, after all, are Angles and Saxons and they also gave us a bunch of Royals. Yes ...whisper it...we are "immigrants". We sit in the European sandwich between the northern Viking raiders and the Roman Empire - so you can add Scandinavian and Mediterranean into the mix before you even get to Empire and the rest of the global community. Let's face it we all came out of Africa in the first place so what's all the fuss about?
Neil MacGregor's book Germany - Memories of a Nation is a fascinating read because he has the ability to tell the story of a culture through selective objects. Simon Schama has done something similar before and I heartily recommend his writing about the role of the Forest in the German psyche. MacGregor now works in Berlin (under the freedom of work movement we currently enjoy) and shares Schama's advantage of being an involved outsider. He can pick up the collective embarrassment of conquest by France, the abomination of Hitler and the hurt of a society Walled up against itself with a neutral approach. Interestingly Germany has also tried to take this analytical and dispassionate approach to its past and to learn lessons from it's history and culture. This is why Merkel opened her borders to refugees; without panic but without illusions as to the challenges that would bring.

Number 11 marks out of Number 10

Jonathan Coe was worried that the timing was not great for the release of his latest novel Number 11 because one of his heroes, Umberto Eco, was unleashing a satire on finance and politics at the same time called Numero Zero.

Coe's surname may be an anagramatic echo of Umberto's but I don't think the two clash in any way. On its own merits Number 11 is Coe's best and, of course, eleventh novel to date. It's also a sort of follow up to What a Carve Up! which is one of his most enjoyable novels. I prefer The Rotters' Club personally - for musical and nostalgic reasons but they're all pretty good.

This one also has a musical reference: Louise Le May's Sink or Swim from her recent and delicately beautiful album A Tale Untold which is appropriated to play a role for a talented singer who perhaps hasn't had the exposure and fame she deserves. Fiction imitating reality there. A tale untold told.

Coe has a sure touch with caricature but also with well rounded characters, particularly the young women in this story, who are completely engaging as we follow their lives, careers and experiences. The backdrop is a wry and amusing swipe at modern life and politics - not just British as the malaise and absurdities here translate widely, you just need to change the names. As an added bonus you also get a twist. I won't spoil it here but I'm not talking about a plot twist, I'm talking about a genre twist. Highly unexpected and enjoyable.