This Was A Man

End Of Saga

The story could have gone on over a few more books, but Jeffrey Archer brings the Clifton Chronicles to a close with the seventh book, This Was A Man. It would help if the reader had caught the last six novels, but it works just as well as a standalone book. Still, a binge reading session or two is recommended.

The sprawling saga of the Clifton and Barrington families has been written by the bestselling author with a mix of gravity, liberal dashes of humour, as much emotion as the stiff-upper-lip British aristocratic backdrop would allow, and spice in the form of the colourful Lady Virginia, who deserves a series by herself.

Her shenanigans in Book 6, Cometh The Hour, were hilarious; here the smart, resourceful but perennially luckless Lady Virginia gets up to no good again, but she is just the comic relief. At the core of this book is the bitter political rivalry between Giles Barrington and his sister Emma Clifton, who find themselves on opposite sides in Parliament, but are perfectly civil and affectionate outside

In the last book, Giles had spirited Karin out of East Germany, in this one he finds out the truth about her. Emma’s loving husband, Harry, a successful writer, embarks on his magnum opus. Their son Sebastian, a banker, deflects a hostile takeover bid with some deft moves of his own. Sebastian and Samantha’s daughter Jessica, a bright teenager, endangers her future over a disastrous fling.

Archer keeps the reader engrossed with frequent spikes—Karin’s dramatic rescue when her handler wants to kill her; the smooth defeat of business pirate Conrad Sorkin, and, of course, a ‘guest appearance by Margaret Thatcher.’

Archer is a master storyteller who knows exactly when to shock, when to awe and when to give readers a small breather from the frantic goings on. His style is direct, the writing brisk (perhaps a bit too much), dialogue workmanlike, but the twists and turns he comes up with are always satisfying.

Then, there’s Lady Virginia, who gives as good as she gets. You really want her financial woes to finally end, and for her to find some measure of peace from all that hectic scheming. Too bad she is left dangling when all the other ends are tied up in a neat ‘goodbye’ bow.

This Was A Man

By Jeffrey Archer

Publisher: Pan MacMillan

Pages: 422

Fantastic Beasts...

Magic, She Said

The film version of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them has recently hit the cinemas, and the screenplay written by JK Rowling, has been published in an attractive, illustrated hard cover volume. Reports say that it has shot to the top of the bestseller charts. Right now, anything the Harry Potter author touches turns to gold.

The story was based on the textbook written by Rowling’s fictional “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, which is used by students at Hogwarts. In 2001, Rowling published a version of this textbook –with scribbled margin notes by harry Potter – with a large chunk of the proceeds from the book’s sales going to UK charity Comic Relief. Now a five-part movie franchise has been planned to grow out of this slim volume, the first, starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt was out a couple of weeks ago.

The film, following the screenplay, is set in 1926 New York, where Scamander arrives with his magical briefcase, in his quest to find and protect magical creatures. His encounter with a No-Maj (or Muggle) named Jacob ends up in the escape of a few of his fantastic beasts from the briefcase, into a city already terrorised by viciously destructive attacks.

There has been trouble brewing between the community of magic folk and the No-Majs. The villain here is Grindelwald, who is just as evil, if not more, as Voldemort from the Potter books.This story with its clear allusions to social problems of today—like suspicion or hatred of the outsider or ‘other’ which is far worse now than the race related problems of that era—is meant more for older people than for kids. 

When it comes to creating and naming her fantastic beasts, Rowling lets her imagination run wild--like the kleptomaniac Niffler, or the wondrous Swooping Evil, who would delight kids. The CGI team that worked on the film, must have enjoyed the challenge of bringing them on to the screen.

Those who have seen the film might be a little disappointed with the drawings in the book. Those who have not seen the film, will have fun imagining what the critters would look like. In any case, it is worth picking up.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

By: JK Rowling

Publisher: Little Brown/Hachette

Pages:  288