AlexanderBaron

Finished reading #AlexanderBaron's memoir, 'A chapter of accidents'. I wouldn't particularly recommend. There are flashes of his great abilities, but is mostly a list of communists that he met in the 30s interpreted with splenetic attacks on the CPGB. The part describing life in the army is moving and worth reading.

It is a shame because some deeper reflection on life in Britain as a Jew in that period and why Stalinism seemed so attractive would have been very interesting.

His novels are brilliant and worth reading.

#books, #booksodon @bookstodon

If anybody wants an obscure book recommendation, you can do a lot worse than #AlexanderBaron's King Dido. It took me awhile to get into it but now I love it. Part Greek tragedy, part Dickensian exploration of the back alleys and slums of the old #EastEnd, it also owes a lot to Austen and her uncanny ability to draw characters who don't understand their own predicament