Simon Baker
Yours & Mine
The Bad Angel Brothers
By Paul Theroux
Hamish Hamilton 342pp £20
Given that ‘late style’ often involves a paring back, a shedding of detail in a search for the essential, it should be no surprise that a summary of Paul Theroux’s twenty-ninth novel, published in the author’s ninth decade, reads like that of an ancient tale. Two brothers, one who stayed at home, the other who travelled far in search of precious stones, are quietly at war with one another. The ‘home’ brother, Frank, is physically weak but calculating; the bold traveller, Cal, is strong and instinctive.
Or so Cal Belanger, the narrator of The Bad Angel Brothers, tells us. Cal, a geologist, detests his lawyer brother with a rare, verbose, sometimes amusing and occasionally repetitive intensity that has defined his life. He left home merely to escape Frank, and in particular Frank’s malign desires: ‘He wanted to torture me, he enjoyed seeing me suffer, he aimed to ruin me. I had no idea why.’ He made a quick fortune in mining, while Frank stayed at home in the fictional town of Littleford, Massachusetts, where, as the town’s go-to personal injury lawyer, he built a slower, surer fortune of his own.
Cal eventually returned home to Littleford, along with his new wife, Vita, whom he met on his travels. But he didn’t stay long, going off again on mining expeditions around the world. This has left Vita in Littleford, where she campaigns to save children from exploitation in the mining
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm