Patrick C. Notchtree's Blog: Patrick C Notchtree

Spring in Siberia by Artem Mozgovoy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Spring in Siberia, Artem Muzgovoy
"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely " Lord Acton, 1887.
Book Club discussion
The book starts with a depressing sense of foreboding and misery exemplified by the dark winter walk to school. It goes on to describe an overwhelmingly dark and mostly unhappy childhood in the isolated depth of Siberia as the Soviet Union came to an end. Through his eyes we witness the collapse of a state and of order as the gangsters take over in the chaos of the Yeltsin years leading to the seizure of power by the arch gangster, Putin. The death of a embryonic democracy under economic failure. The parallels with 1930s Germany are striking.
It paints a dismal picture of life in Russia and for Alexey one of a hopeless struggle in an uncaring and corrupt state. Readers said the sense of poverty was striking and the depth of poverty in a supposedly modern state, the UUSR, was astonishing. Alexey grew up in slum conditions in a mining town in Siberia (I identified as Topki).It was said that Alexey seemed very naïve both as a young boy and as a teenager, but it was pointed out he would know no other life. Constant beatings and bullying because of his perceived homosexuality tainted his life. It seemed the bullies were aware of his gay sexuality before he was. It was said it was an incredibly sad book. When they made their brief trip to the west, why didn't they stay? Despite all this though, readers had learned a lot and were glad they had read it.



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I enjoyed this book - at first. I identified with this relationship with Tim as a teenager and also the sudden sense of loss when they parted. Also with his time as a rent boy. I could never quite see why he fell under Catherine's spell so much though.
One or two phrases caught my eye.
"rolls down the throat like Spanish semen" Is Spanish semen so different from any other? (Maybe I should take that long promised trip to Sitges!)
And I liked the quotation in the book,
‘There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.’
Also this one touched a chord with me.
"Think of all the people who never feel a millionth of what you’ve felt for Tim. They’re missing out. They’re half-wits, effectively. The sort of people who end up reading the Daily Mail. We can only pity them."


SPOILER ALERT!



The end of the book let it down for me. Why did Catherine betray him? Killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. There seemed no point. Having done that, she then had unparalleled influence in the prison system to afford him a life of luxury once locked up. After which she assured him that all his wealth would be waiting for him after eventual release. Several flaws in that. As a serial killer he would no doubt have received a whole life sentence.
I have some familiarity with the UK prison system. While not like Russia, it is quite brutal. (The German Supreme Court recently - 2023 - refused to extradite to the UK because the prisons are inhumane). There is no way JD could have received all those goodies. Even if they had reached the prison they would have 'got lost'. Also lifers get moved around a lot so he would lose everything at the first such move. The book lost any credibility for me at the end. A disappointment.

The Rainbow Player by David Kerby-Kendall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this book. I liked the style, the witty repartee among the group of friends. I did find it confusing at times. The author often wrote different speakers in the same paragraph so to me it was the same person continuing to speak. Only context and a re-reading made it clearer. A new line for a new speaker would make it easier. Examining the print version, it seems this is a Kindle problem. Maybe soft line breaks were used instead of a full return character?
Is Thomas the voice of the author? He seemed to embody knowledge and wisdom, perhaps reflecting the author's own wide experience.
One example I liked was, "Basically, there are two categories of human being. Those who define their character by the things they like and those who define their character by the things they hate."
One got drawn into the characters. Even I felt tearful when Sam got the bad news at the bookstall, or rather where the bookstall should have been.
I wonder what motivated one particular character. Self-loathing? Quite common among homophobes of course. Maybe a little bit of wishful thinking in the way another relationship resolved itself.
It would have been nice to know that the six morons were convicted under joint enterprise of attempted murder and that they all got life sentences.
I commented to the author (we follow each other) that I wished I could have met Sam. He replied he would love to have met him for real too!




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Have you read "Maxym"? Let's have a bit of fun. Suppose you were going to make a film, who would you cast? Leave a review and send your suggested cast list to maxym.ivanov@mail.ru. The list judged the best will receive a signed copy of the paperback edition. Entries by 14 June 2023. Results by 30 June. http://www.maxym.net/

I enjoyed this book. The only LGBT aspect of it was that many of the characters involved were allegedly gay.
What interested me was not the fact that they were gay but the politics and the inside history of that time. It has revised my view of Neville Chamberlain; far from being the weak vacillator, he was a ruthless bastard. I found the references to Bob Boothby interesting. I remember meeting him as a child.
There were also some little delightful nuggets of information, such as a reference to the bisexual Hugh Gaitskell. Often referred to as the best prime minister we never had, who knew about this aspect of the man?
I can see that for some who are not particularly interested or informed about the history of that period it could seem somewhat dull and repetitive, indeed one member likened it to a series of research papers that were oppressively dull.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

I enjoyed reading this book. They say that opposites attract, and Luc and Oliver are certainly opposites.
I liked the author's style and one felt inside his mind. I thought it was a jolly, rollicking tale. I found it amusing and I kept wondering how much it was really true. Is this a disguised memoir?
I loved the idea that his charity was to support a very unloved and apparently unworthy bug.
It seemed obvious to me before it seemed obvious to them that fake dating was no longer fake.
There were times when I read until far too late at night, and I had to ration myself.
A friend said it reminded him of the Notting Hill / Bridget Jones genre. A good summer / holiday read.
There really is a hotel in Durham called The Honest Lawyer, although I have never visited it. So if that bit is true, how much of the rest of it is true?

Mistress of Land and Sea: a novel about the life of Lady Emma Hamilton by David Lawrence-Young

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I had read a couple of other books by this author and as an historian by training,, I was aware of the meticulous research he puts into his historical novels; this novel on the life of Emma Hamilton is no exception. Obviously he has used his imagination to recreate dialogue and some details but within the context of known information. This makes a very readable and interesting novel that brings the reader into the world that Emma inhabited, along with her seemingly inexorable rise and eventual demise. In that world we read how she identified with the ruling classes and like so many of them totally failed to see the plight and needs of the poor, despite her humble beginnings, as revolution and war engulfed Europe.
The characteristics of her succession of male protectors are well drawn, including of course Horatio Nelson, and the author's interpretation of their nature brings them to life and stands the test of comparison with known facts.
There is an impressive bibliography which supports the author's research. This is a thoroughly readable account and lovers of historical novels will find this a rewarding read.




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At the beginning of this book I wondered what was going on. So there he is on his knees in front of the blond's erection. And then he goes off on a five minute discourse into literary criticism and discussion. I wonder what the blond lad was thinking while all that was going on. He seemed to have waited patiently for fellatio to commence.
Much of the time it seems that Lin couldn’t make up his mind whether he was writing a history of the gay community as he saw it through a succession of visits to gay bars or simply the history of his own life, principally with the enigmatic "Famous". I thought "Famous" was underdeveloped in the book and I wanted to know more about him.
I'm guessing that Lin is an approximate contemporary of mine but his experience of gay life is very different. After an active period as a teenager, I was firmly closeted for decades after that while he was sampling everything that was available. Maybe that difference is why I found it interesting despite its split personality and so I enjoyed to the end.

It’s been an interesting few weeks with regard to macular degeneration. First there was a small study in the USA that indicated that regular small doses of sildenafil (ie Viagra) had a beneficial effect on dry macular degeneration. Some participants found the decline in vision stopped and some even experienced an improvement. So guess who started taking a daily 25mg of sildenafil! And of course it has a beneficial side effect! Lol
Then there was the news that Avastin would be approved for the treatment of wet AMD in the UK. It is apparently equally as effective as Eylea and Lucentis, the manufacturers of these had opposed the use of Avastin. But I was shocked at the cost of these drugs to the National Health Service (NHS).. Each injection of Eylea costs over £800 ($1070) and Lucentis costs over £500 ($670) a time. Avastin costs just £28 ($37) a time. I have now had many Eylea injections into my ‘wet’ right eye. There is no way I could have afforded these so thank you, NHS!
I went to the eye hospital yesterday for another injection yesterday into my wet right eye but of course they also do an eye test. My score for my dry left eye, the one I use as my right has corneal damage, showed a 10% improvement, lifting me well clear of the legal driving threshold here in the UK. Is that a normal random variation – or is it the sildenafil? With no obvious adverse effects of it, I will keep taking the sildenafil.
I noted that when I was being prepared for the injection, that they were still using Eylea. It seems there are still some legal loose ends to be tied up before Avastin can be used. And even then it will be clinical decision made for each patient rather than solely on the basis of cost. Don’t you just love the NHS?
So then I got my injection, quick and almost painless and there once more was my private lava lamp again. It faded quickly though and within a couple of hours vision was normal.
Back again at the end of November.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After all the hype, I was disappointed. I only kept reading because it was the choice of a book club I attend. I just couldn't empathise with any of the characters. It on;y got interesting right at the end.



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