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The Fishy Smiths by Mike Bruton is a biography of the world-renowned ichthyologists, JLB Smith and Margaret Smith who are right up there in the South African hall of academic fame. The author is a well known scientist himself and he has produced a remarkable and very readable biography of the life and work of the Smiths – although I do wonder that they might have thought of a better title.
Another academic work follows with The Fall of the University of Cape Town: Africa’s Leading University in Decline by David Benatar, Professor of Philosophy and recent Head of the Department of Philosophy at UCT. This tome is an exhaustive analysis of the student protests that ripped through UCT (spreading to other campuses) in 2015, and the account closes in 2020. And a chillingly pessimistic account it is.
Staying in the academic world, The Butchering Art is the story of Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptics that revolutionized surgery in the late 1880s. The discovery of bacteria by Pasteur led to Lister’s understanding of why so many patients died of infection, and he set about minimizing the impact of these "germs". What is surprising was the belligerent resistance with which his advice on how to control infection was met by the surgeons. Somehow Lister kept his cool, and eventually sanity was restored. A fascinating, if rather gory read.
On a lighter note is The Last Wild Horses, a Norwegian novel about the enigmatic Przewalski’s wild horses of Europe. Three separate stories set in the past, the present and the future centre on the horses, and portray humankind’s powerful connection to these animals.
Lastly there are two thrillers – one a heist involving the stealing of Chinese art plundered by the West for “repatriation” to China by five young friends with interesting relationships and motives (Portrait of a Thief), and one an unputdownable murder mystery, It ends at Midnight.
3010 The Fall of UCT by David Benatar
3111 It ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce
3112 The Last Wild Horses by Maja Lunde
3113 Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li
3114 The Fishy Smiths by Mike Bruton
3115 The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
Lastly there are two thrillers – one a heist involving the stealing of Chinese art plundered by the West for “repatriation” to China by five young friends with interesting relationships and motives (Portrait of a Thief), and one an unputdownable murder mystery, It ends at Midnight.
3010 The Fall of UCT by David Benatar
3111 It ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce
3112 The Last Wild Horses by Maja Lunde
3113 Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li
3114 The Fishy Smiths by Mike Bruton
3115 The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris
