HALF BLOOD BLUES BY ESI EDUGYAN

Book group last night. Just great. Love it. But we’re all getting old now. The glasses aren’t even covertly put on when looking at the books – they’re on all night. We have conversations about our failing eyesight and how cleverly designed human beings are – that as our wrinkles and facial hairs increase our sight wains, rendering us oblivious to the alarming detail. I thought everybody at the table looked gorgeous last night – fresh faced and really really young, sort of blurry in a good way….until I put my glasses on.

Anyway, we were there to discuss “Half Blood Blues” a story that flits between Paris and Berlin during the onset of the Second World War to modern day and back. Essentially a story about jazz under the nazis and the relationships between the band members – who were mostly black.

We all enjoyed it. I thought it was a spectacular piece of writing – the plot itself has a few weaknesses but it didn’t seem to matter. I found the narrator “Sid” fascinating and yet disappointing ultimately but he kept the story alive and gave such interesting observations. She has chosen a brave subject to embark on and successfully “weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don’t tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they might tell it wrong”.

The author’s talent for descriptive writing, for the easy banter between the men, for the amazing period slang you forget you are reading is exceptional. For me she successfully managed to conjure up so strong an image in my mind on every page that I might as well have been watching the film (which will definitely be out at some point in the future).

Her descriptions of the music became so that you could almost hear it – the excitement the band members feel when playing with the great Louis Armstrong – she has the reader right there in the room – she plays with the words describing the music like an artist paints a picture. Stunning.

I’m very excited about the next book we are going to read because it’s just got the best title ever – particularly in view of the fact that we were all talking about the downside of ageing last night. My friend, who, needless to say, wasn’t of the opinion that our lives were nearly over is off to India for 5 weeks next week to study in Mysore with THE guru of Ashtanga Yoga and she brought it to make us all feel better. It’s called “The Warmth Of The Heart Prevents Your Body From Rusting” and it’s all about ageing without growing old.

The blurb on the back says:-

“There is nothing older than not wanting to grow old. We are afraid of dying badly, alone, unloved, perhaps dependent or suffering from dementia….The worst is not inevitable. Something within us does not grow old. I shall call it the heart, the capacity to love and to desire, that inexplicable, incomprehensible force which keeps the human being alive…”