#24 Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins)

You’re way behind schedule on some bizarre book-reading challenge, you’re busy at work, and you’ve just really struggled to complete a collection of short stories, so what does your friend do as you contemplate your next novel? He gives you a 735-page epic. About wrestling.

The foreword to Mankind, by Mick Foley, makes interesting reading. He says you don’t have to be a fan of wrestling, or sports entertainment as he regularly calls it, to enjoy the book, and he’s right. But it certainly helps.

I’m happy to declare at the outset that my knowledge of wrestling encompasses Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Stone Cold Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock and little more, all of which came to wider public attention and transcended their sport to some degree. In other words, I’m no aficionado, and Foley’s autobiography, titled Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, rewards readers with a greater interest in the ‘business’.

For an outsider, it’s more than a little bewildering, with a dizzying number of acronyms representing different wrestling organisations and the wrestlers themselves constantly changing their names and their stories to generate good box office. I’m no heel - or babyface for that matter (I thought I’d throw in a bit of jargon) – but without any prior knowledge of the scene, it’s incredibly hard to keep track of who’s doing what, to whom and why, in and out of the ring.

It’s not without humour – although there are some god-awful jokes, too – or merit, though, particularly when Foley describes the litany of terrible injuries he has suffered, the technical aspect of wrestling and how to land with the greatest effect and least injury, and talks about his unswerving dedication and drive during his years learning the game.

But the length of the book really becomes an issue when, no matter how Foley paints a picture of the brotherhood and respect wrestlers, promoters and bookers have for one another, there are long drawn out recollections of this memorable bout in whenever and that great tag-team encounter wherever.

There are only so many times the hero can become tangled in barbed wire, fall on a thousands pins or have his ear ripped off, after all. And yes, all those are true…

So, rating time:

#24 Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins) - 5/10

Next up: In the Kitchen, by Monica Ali (Transworld Publishing)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#23 The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

My intentions were good. I had a busy period at work coming up, and I gave some serious thought as to how I could best continue to read despite spending every waking minute at work.

Short stories were the answer, I thought. What better than to be able to dip in and out of some short stories for the 15 minutes or so spare time I had per day? And who better to read than Paul Auster, the author of two books I’ve already enjoyed this year? And finally, where better to start than his first critically acclaimed work, The New York Trilogy, which was recently republished as part of Faber and Faber’s 80th birthday celebrations.

The idea was good. It all made sense. Unfortunately, I really didn’t enjoy the first of the three novellas, City of Glass. Although just 133 pages long, and full of the questioning of reality and identity that is evident in his other works that I have read, I struggled to get into it and couldn’t manage beyond three pages at a time. Hence the paucity of recent blogs.

All three stories, City of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room, are fundamentally detective stories, but are about as far from traditional detective stories as you can get. It’s been described as ‘mysteries about mysteries’, and that’s about as mysterious as you can get.

To illustrate the many confusing layers with which the mind has to cope in this series, City of Glass features two characters called Paul Auster (the author’s name), neither of which is the narrator, while the very first paragraph of Ghosts introduces the reader to confusing characters Blue, White, Black and Brown.

I was pleased I persevered, however, because the final story, The Locked Room, is the best and is really very interesting. It tells the tale of a writer who publishes the work of a childhood friend who has disappeared, and who goes on to take that man’s place in the world, in his family and his life. Given its length - it’s only 114 pages - it has more to say than most novels three or four times its size.

Which leaves me in a quandary regarding my rating. City of Glass would be 3/10, while The Locked Room deserves 9/10, so where does that leave The New York Trilogy as a whole?

So, rating time:

#23 The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited) - 6/10

Next up: Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#22 Fatherland, by Robert Harris (Arrow Books)

Well, I’m back. After the trials and tribulations of life - chiefly work - interrupted this here challenge, it’s finally time to chalk another book off the list, and remove the last ‘Mathematics’ post from the top of my blog, where it has been quietly mocking me for the past month.

“Oh, so you’re not doing that badly, are you?” it chides. “Oh, so you’re only slightly behind schedule? Well, you’re miles behind now!” Yeah, cheers for that…

To Fatherland, my second Robert Harris book for the year and somewhat topical, given a film of the first, Ghost, has just been released in the cinemas.

I had heard many good things about Fatherland, the story of an SS officer conducting an investigation in mid-1960s Berlin, after Germany had won the Second World War. It didn’t ultimately live up to my expectations, but it was still a good read.

Where the novel scores is in its historic setting, interweaving the fictional scenario with real places, real people and real events and creating an entire society which is all too readily, and terribly, believable. I didn’t find the central story gripping enough, however, even though it deals with the issue of arguably the greatest crime of all – ‘the millions of Jews who vanished in the war’ to quote an oft-repeated phrase.

Like most detective novels, there are twists and turns along the way, most of which come as no surprise, and it’s a shame Harris was unable to devise a plot, despite some interesting characters, which is able to live up to the setting and the meticulous research he must have conducted.

So, rating time:

#22 Fatherland, by Robert Harris (Arrow Books) - 7/10

Next up: The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating