Despite winning the Pulitzer prize in 1989 for Breathing Lessons, Minneapolis-born author Anne Tyler has always been ostracized from the pantheon of great American writers; this might have a lot to do with the fact her endearing tales of domestic unease are so resolutely unpretentious. But as her 18th novel, Noahs Compass, ably testifies shes a writer of tremendous warmth and delicate penmanship who has a keen eye for the minutiae of everyday life. Liam Pennywell is a sixty-something philosopher whose career trajectory from one-time intellectual heavyweight to recently laid-off kindergarten assistant has left him feeling something of a failure. Whether you like it or not, the publishing sensation of the year is the latest Dan Brown novel a third outing for his Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. This time were offered a tourist trail around Washington DC, where all manner of symbols are, were assured, woven into its famous architecture. And, rather than Catholics, its Masons who are under the spotlight during this chase across town to stop a tattooed madman learning the key to the Ancient Mysteries and taking over the world (or something). Otherwise, its The Da Vinci Code all over again. Short, sharp chapters, invariably ending with cliffhangers, send us You wouldnt know it from his most celebrated works of fiction but George Orwell was, in many ways, a deeply ordinary man. Perhaps the greatest revelation in these 11 diaries is that, for much of his short life, the author led a humble existence, noting little more than the days weather and the number of eggs his chickens laid. This meticulous secret All the way to 11: Daragh Anderson and his band have embraced post-rock atmospherics opening for a touring international outfit can have unexpected consequences. We were playing with an American band called Airborne Toxic Event. They said they really liked us and wanted us to open for them in the UK because they didnt like their British support. You hear this a lot and normally you get an e-mail months later saying, Sorry, it wont be happening. We said yes and they said great the next gig is tomorrow. So we packed our stuff and 24 hours later we were playing Koko in London. It was amazing. Trees Dream In Algebra is out now; Codes play Sat at The Academy, 57 Middle Abbey Street D1, 7pm, 13. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.codes.ie My favourite fictional character is Mr Stevens (played by Anthony Hopkins, pictured, in the 1993 film version) once butler to Lord Darlington, later to a rich American in Kazuo Ishiguros The Remains Of The Day. It is narrated by Mr Stevens, a compelling character, a paradoxical, repressed, striving-to-please man who because of the artificially imposed class standards of his day must sublimate his wishes to the service of those who are literally his lords and masters. The young Stevens is a butler striving to reach the acme of his trade: Dignity in keeping with his profession. He cannot grasp that in doing so he is losing that very dignity. His aping the stiff-upper-lip mores of his social betters has given him his own brand of class snobbery and has stifled his ability to express publicly any deep emotions, his love for his father, grief at the old mans death, and the respect that ultimately becomes unrequited love for the housekeeper, Miss Kenton. He is a man who by the books end is beginning to recognise that he is losing the battle against forces he only dimly understands, yet he refuses to give in. His lifetime of uncompromising struggle has made him one of the outstanding heroes of English literature. An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor (Brandon, 20) is out now CHARACTER STUDY Patrick Taylors favourite fictional characterStaying In Book Reviews As a bestselling author and growing brand, Kate Mosse would be wise to stick to the formula that previously granted her huge commercial success with Labyrinth and Sepulchre certainly, her publishers might see it that way. It makes sense, then, that The Winter Ghosts is just as you would expect. Set (again) in the southwest of France, this novella is a simple knit of identifiable genre conventions, predictable plot turns and the sort of prose that ensures your brain need not fear a challenge. Hero Freddie is at the helm: eaten up by grief for the brother who died ten years earlier in World War I, he roams France aimlessly until a car crash leads him to the mysterious and beautiful Fabrissa. From here, Mosse indulges in her trademark time-shifting as Freddie walks a ghostly line between his present day and the 14th century. As this is a novella and less than half the length of its predecessors, The Winter Ghosts isnt as complex: the Dan Brown- esque historical legend is too straightforward, the characters one- dimensional. The fact that this is the work of the co-founder of the Orange Prize just makes it all that bit more disappointing. Zena Alkayat The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse Orion, 17 Fiction Focus The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown Bantam, 22 When hes attacked in his new apartment by an intruder, he becomes ever more dependant on his three daughters and ex-wife, while the resulting memory loss leaves him anxious and unnerved. Tyler has no truck with elaborate set-pieces but instead lets her low- key exploration of loneliness and testy family relationships play out through remarkably limpid dialogue and unforced, sometimes sorrowful observations. Liams obsession might be with recouping his lost memories but this book is really concerned with other, more pressing losses, be they relationships, social status or simply a sense of place in the world. Daragh Reddin Noahs Compass by Anne Tyler Chatto & Windus, 21 Orwell Diaries ed. by Peter Davison Harvill Secker, 25 Wednesday, September 23, 2009 metrolife 13 approach does prove insightful, not least the oppressive hospital routines he endured whilst writing 1984, yet elsewhere too much is left unsaid. There is nothing from his time spent as a down-and- out in Paris and London, and no entries in the years leading up to the publication of Animal Farm in 1945. Unavoidable perhaps, yet the analysis that precedes each new diary borders on the ridiculous too, with Davison calculating that 46.5 per cent of quotes in one 1939 diary came from the Daily Telegraph. Thanks for that, Pete. The comprehensive nature of the book will delight Orwellian scholars but a judicious edit is needed to entice the casual fan. Steve Pill juddering through this momentous night; Langdon and his cohorts do a lot of gasping, double takes and shocked eye-widening as they try to solve this latest set of puzzles. Its about as mentally taxing as an episode of Scooby-Doo except here the identity of our Bad Guy is so obvious even Shaggy could have cracked it. This time round, maybe in an attempt to give added value, Browns damaged his trademark hell-for- leather pacing by having characters go over tracts of mystical lore/dodgy science as if reading off prompt cards. Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory but, here, too many book references spoil the tosh. And Brown sours the fun further by taking every opportunity to pour scorn on those who might doubt this hokum, berating their closed-mindedness. In truth, slate.coms Dan Brown Sequel Generator is more entertaining. 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