Well, I grabbed this book on the way out somewhere and naturally enough I thought it would be science fiction. But it isn't. Instead, it's a piece of literary fiction that had me enthralled throughout. Whatever else Brian Aldiss may have been, he was a very fine writer.
   The story centres around Clem Winters, who is an academic living in Oxford with his wife who is a best-selling writer of fantasy novels. At the time when the story is set, Clem's brother Joseph has just died and Clem spends a lot of time sorting through Joseph's diaries and notes, many of which deal with his time in the war, and with their joint childhood. Towards the end of the novel Clem's wife leaves him but... I'll say no more.
   This is a little lost masterpiece. If you see it anywhere, grab it before it goes away. It certainly revealed a side of Aldiss to me that I hadn't known existed - especially as, judging from the cover blurb, much of the book is semi-autobiographical.