Book review – The Mandibles: A Family 2029–2047 (by Lionel Shriver)

the_mandibles.JPGI think I’m on to Lionel Shriver’s secret: timing, research – and sharp story-telling doesn’t hurt either.

She taps into the single fear that is uppermost in the nation’s mind and crafts a story that drags that fear into an extreme reality. Afraid your kid is going to go postal? Shriver’s got a book for that. Worried that your financial resources will be depleted by a bout of cancer? She’s got a novel for that too.

Right now the middle classes are scared that the ongoing financial crisis will render them destitute by the time they hit retirement age, and right on cue the Shriver literary machine pops out a book about a moderately wealthy family that finds itself increasingly less wealthy as the US economy crashes and the encumbent government decides (unwisely) to default on its international debts.

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A short holiday and a long think …

My problem is that I can’t just ‘go on holiday’. There’s too much going on in my head all the time, and a holiday is the best time to clear some of it out. I went to Italy again this year: Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and a few places in between. Hiked to the top of Vesuvius (you get much better shots if you’re in a helicoper) and paid a visit to Herculaneum and Pompeii. Had a great time actually, but I don’t want to see another pizza again for as long as I live (or until next Monday). I ate too much ice cream and not enough vegetables, but what the hell: I’m on holiday.

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But I also had a think about the time I have left and what I want to do with it. There’s a big blue world out there, and I’m not seeing enough of it.