An appalling discrepancy

Tuesday, November 19th., Chiltern Court, London.
 
Jeremiahs continually lament over the present state of literature; and their burden is that more bad books are published nowadays than ever before. I agree that more 'bad books' are published now than ever before, but only because more books in total are published than ever before. Further, nobody is compelled to read bad books. If bad books are issued that is the affair of the publishers. The trouble with literature is not at the authors end, it is at the readers end; the population abuses its liberty not to read. Not enough new books are bought. There is an appalling discrepancy between the number of potential book buyers and the number of actual book buyers.Why? I think it is the price. The price of new novels must come down. In the short term this would hit the profits of the publishers and the income of the authors, but looking ahead it is essential for all literary persons that the habit of book buying should be inculcated in the general public.

The most enjoyable new book I have read recently has been "Half in Love" by Justin Cartwright. I have read several of his novels and find him to be an interesting mixture of the deeply cynical and the sensitive, not to say sentimental. "Half in Love" is about an affair between a British cabinet minister and an actress, also British, who has been catapulted to stardom after a successful movie. The issues are to do with personal integrity, loyalty, celebrity, and the absurdity of politics. I most enjoyed the passages of dialogue between the minister and the P.M's private secretary, a sort of benign enforcer. Both come to the realisation that they have become involved, more or less without intention, in game-playing on a grand scale which was not what either intended to do. The casual analysis of the politics of power is masterly, if rather depressing.

There are some interesting minor characters including a self-exiled Russian who has set up as a sort of therapist/philosopher/spiritual seeker. Horses provide a central theme and I think the author's intention is to shine a light on the human condition by showing that the powerlessness of horses, which are at the whim of forces they don't understand and cannot control, is really no different from people. Cartwright is best at describing African scenes, paticularly colonial Africa which he seems to have a feel for. His descriptions of the New Forest are at best adequate. When his female character is in the United States, and later the Caribbean, the settings are flimsy, almost comical. 

My feeling overall is that Cartwright could have made this a longer and more satisfying book. I felt as I read that I was being rushed through and would like to have lingered. That said, it gripped me and is worth reading. Most definitely not a 'bad book'.