The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
- Mark Twain
A room without books is like a body without a soul.
- Cicero
When I have money, I buy books. If any money is left over, I buy food and clothes.
- Erasmus
A collection of books is the best of all universities.
- Thomas Carlysle
The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.
- Abraham Lincoln
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
- Jorge Luis Borges
Wear the old coat and buy the new book.
- Austin Phelps
This thread has been transferred from the MSN website.
Sent: 06/05/2005 17:23
Lemonpies wartime thread together with the recent TV coverage of the 60th anniversary of VE Day made me remember a fantastic novel I read called Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr. The details and descriptions of the period are amazing. I thought the author must have been there and only later discovered that he wasn't even born 'til 1956.It's actually three novels March Violets, The Pale Criminal, and A German Requiem that have been released together as Berlin Noir so it's a hefty read. Perfect for a summer holiday or a comfy chair by the fire.I'm always looking for a good read and I imagine many of us are so perhaps this thread could be used to spread the word if you come across a book that you think is pretty special.
Mick Horner.
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 07/05/2005 14:47
Right up there must be Dan Brown's The Davinci Code. If you haven’t read it , beg, borrow or steal a copy. Has sold about 2.5 mill copies. Brian
Message 3 of 123 in Discussion
From: ronbidmade
Sent: 07/05/2005 15:57
Brian, the Da Vinci Code is a load of rubbish and very badly written. This is only my opinion and you might think I 'm an outraged catholic trying to defend my religion - but I m actually a lapsed methodist and died-in-the-wool atheist. Still, there's about as much evidence of Christ's connection to the French kings as to me or you, and however perverse they may seem to some of us the Opus Dei folks don t go around murdering people If you read serious reviews ( not those written by priests of course) I think you’ll agree that it's a fairly good thriller and that's all. Of course anything that takes the mickey out of that arrogant and triumphalist church is good news. And if we should be keeping religion and politics out of our site, which would not be a bad idea, I don’t mind if all this is erased.
Message 4 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 08/05/2005 02:27
Ron, I think if you read it as a work of fiction, which it definitely is, you can enjoy it until you come to realize, maybe half way through, that the book repeats the same pattern over and over again ie. clue or puzzle followed by adventurous investigation and solution of said clue or puzzle followed by another clue or puzzle followed by adventurous......blah, blah, blah,... .So my reaction to Da Vinci was a total enjoyment of the first chapters followed by the feeling of "O Dear - Here he goes again" for the final chapters.
Mick Horner.
Message 5 of 123 in Discussion
From: ronbidmade
Sent: 08/05/2005 10:29
Mik, you are absolutely right in considering Da Vinci a work of fiction. But was that the intention, the whole intention of the author, and doesn't he bear some responsibility for the effects of his work? Dickens and Zola wrote novels that clearly had an "agenda" and maybe the world is a better place as a result. Perhaps Alan Paton paved the way for Nelson Mandela and the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin for Martin Luther King. I'm all in favour of fighting the good fight, but let it be a fair fight, not one of propaganda (lies and mudslinging ) hiding under the name of fiction.
Message 6 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 08/05/2005 12:41
Crikey. I thought it was just a very good read. I've also read his other 3 novels and considered them good too.
Message 7 of 123 in Discussion
From: Don Boyall
Sent: 08/05/2005 12:44
Re Da Vinci Code I read most of it and found it slackly written and, quite frankly, tedious and repetitive. I found myself skipping huge chunks as I neared its boring conclusion. I can't understand why such a poor, diffuse, rambling piece of fiction has had such enormous popularity. I suppose the etymology of popular is the answer to that.
Don
Message 8 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 08/05/2005 22:23
Did you ever enjoy a book so much you wished it wouldn't end. As a child I felt that way about Biggles, and as a teenager the same about Hornblower and later James Bond. Fortunately those books were parts of series so there were several others to read with the same 'heroes'Just a few years ago I came across Patrick O'Brian who wrote Hornblower novels for grown-ups. There must be about 20 novels featuring the same two main characters between the late 18th Century and the Early 19th .If you are lucky enough not to have read any of them I would start with the first one and work my way through them all.Another author I enjoy is Ian Rankin whose detective, John Rebus, is a character I find easy to sympathise with. An attempt to film a number of the novels has been made but I think you are far better off sticking with the novels. Again these novels are best read in order and if you get hooked it's likely that Ian Rankin is going to be writing a few more of them before Rebus gets retired. Unfortunately Patrick O'Brian died a few years ago so what you see is what there is in his case.
Mick Horner.
Message 9 of 123 in Discussion
From:
BrianLewis2
Sent: 09/05/2005 20:42
Mik asks 'Did you ever enjoy a book so much you wished it wouldn't end.' Yes, The Davinci Code. I thought it was a great read.
Message 10 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen Gerrard
Sent: 09/05/2005 21:07
Good for you Brian, if you enjoyed it that's all that matters. I haven't read it and do not have the inclination to read it, it doesn't interest me, but many people have enjoyed and it looks as though as many haven't.To get back to Mick's question, Arthur Ransome held my interest in the forties, really enjoyed those books, didn't read a lot in later years, but since retirement I have enjoyed reading again. For the ladies one book which I think is a good read is "PS, I Love You" an emotive book by Cecelia Ahern (Bertie Ahern's daughter) and not what it seems by the title.
Eileen
Message 11 of 123 in Discussion
From: alikenwo
Sent: 09/05/2005 21:22
Hey all....... I may be one of the younger members of this forum - having left TGS in 1987 - but reading is the best - and at last I feel I can contribute to the site!! Ladies - if you have not read Rebbeca Wells 'The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood' and the follow up "little Altars Everywhere' ....then I would highly these two.... Stephen Kings HUGE 7 book series entitled 'The Gunslinger Series' (don't be fooled by the title) is a series written over 21 years and is an epic of enormous proportions - and also very interesting to see the maturing and progress of Kings writing....... I agree that the Dan Brown's the Davinci Code is a cracker....... For a bit of humour - and that is always good - try any book by David Sedaris - will have you damp eyed from laughing - highly recommended........ Keep reading all of you! - and encourage your grand-kids to do the same..... Happy reading alec
Message 12 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 09/05/2005 23:26
My current bed time reading is Williams Hague's "William Pitt the Younger". I am enjoying all those nostalgic references to things like The Triple Alliance and The Sinking Fund which had not crossed my mind since I sat at the feet of Mr MacDonald in the Vth form at TGS in 1947. I'm not sure that I have gained any great insights about Pitt, but it has certainly enhanced my opinion of William Hague.
But for light relief I strongly recommend Michael Frayn - "A Landing on the Sun", "The Trick of It", "Towards the End of the Morning", "Headlong", "Spies" etc etc. I find his books hilarious and sometimes moving.
And for a heavy emotional experience - Arundhati Roy - "The God of Little Things".
Message 13 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 11/05/2005 17:19
How about Eats shoots and leaves. Or was it Eats, shoots and leaves or Eats, shoots, and leaves. If you read it you will know.
Message 15 of 123 in Discussion
From: Christopher
Sent: 13/05/2005 09:45
Comma before 'and'?
Message 16 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 27/05/2005 16:05
It's not 'school in wartime' but for anyone nostalgic for a reminder of the immediate post war period Melvyn Bragg has aced it in his novel set in Wigton in Cumbria-The Soldiers Return. In addition to the nostalgia there is a very strong human story of the difficulties of re-establishing family relationships after long separations and also dealing with the established class structure after being exposed to new sets of values overseas..
Mick Horner.
Message 17 of 123 in Discussion
From: CrestedDave
Sent: 27/05/2005 16:22
How about trying "Paper Money" by Ken Follett ? It was one of the earlier books he wrote and is totally different from his other books. The whole story covers just 24hrs and is a very interesting read. In addition, by the same author, "The Pillars of the Earth" is one of the best books I have read. It deals with Follett's secret passion for monasteries and is beautifully written. My final suggestion is any book by Edward Rutherford but only if you like historical novels. Enjoy the reading!!
Dave Hardy
Message 18 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 30/05/2005 20:40
Dave,
I also read the Rutherfurd books and I especially enjoyed the very first one I came across- Sarum, The Novel Of England. His trick of following specific families through centuries of time is intriguing but he may be using it too often as it is also the structure for London; The Forest; and for The Princes Of Ireland. His books are hefty and very suited to long cold Canadian winter nights with your feet strategically placed in relationship to the wood stove. I think he is one of those authors who you can enjoy but then you should wait a couple of years before reading another of his.One reason I enjoyed Sarum so much was that I had just visited Stonehenge, Old Sarum and Salisbury and the cathedral so the history and geography of the novel made a lot of sense to me.
Mick Horner.
Message 19 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 10/08/2005 15:07
O.K. What have you read this summer that you couldn't put down? I read one of the previous suggestions so far-The Floating Brothel. I thought the librarian gave me a funny look as I took it out of the library.I've said it before but when I read a book and enjoy it I find a lot of pleasure in discovering that the author has written several more. A fairly recent discovery for me is the Swedish author Henning Mankell. He has written a series of 9 or 10 detective novels featuring police inspector Kurt Wallender. Divorced and not coping well with it, a difficult relationship with his father and his daughter, drinking problem, health anxiety and a degree of dissatisfaction with the job-you know your typical man!Kurt lives in Skane in Southern Sweden but his cases can take him overseas. In Mankells' second book 'The White Lioness' Wallender ended up in South Africa. The one I'd like to suggest is 'The Dogs Of Riga' a large part of which takes place in the Latvia of the 90's.It's an entertaining read and if you like it his next book was 'Sidetracked' which won a Golden Dagger award. Happy page turning,
Mick Horner.
Message 20 of 123 in Discussion
From: John R.
Sent: 22/11/2005 08:21
Just read this - and prompted to reply by reference to Rankin's Rebus. I discovered him two weeks ago and I am devouring the books at a rapid pace (in no particular order). I'm currently on my fourth with four more lined up - I think there's about 20 altogether. I also liked Da Vinci but the previous book - Angels and Demons (?) - is much better - brilliant in fact - just read it as a damn good story. And Sarum - forgot about that - read it years ago - a real epic. But pride of place on my bookshelf is still reserved for Orwell's six novels - especially "Coming Up For Air" - wonderfully nostalgic, depressing and uplifting at the same time.
Message 21 of 123 in Discussion
From: Don Boyall
Sent: 22/11/2005 09:33
If you like crime books and enjoy Rebus try reading Henning Mankell - in my opinion the best detective story writer of the last twenty years.Don
From: mik
Sent: 23/11/2005 21:42
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. A cracking good novel of love and (gore) war set in the period immediately before the 1914-1918 war and during The Battle of the Somme. Trench warfare and the 'sapping' done by coal miners, extremely good research by a novelist who probably wasn't born 'til after W.W.2. Starts a bit slow, that's the love bit, but builds to and maintains a sprint to the very end. A bit like an 880. My pick of the year-even if it was published a decade or so ago.
Mick Horner.
Message 23 of 123 in Discussion
From: brigraing
Sent: 24/11/2005 18:46
Teacher's tales by James Lawson.
Message 24 of 123 in Discussion
From: John R.
Sent: 25/11/2005 09:33
Best novel published this year? How about - The Time Traveller's Wife?
Message 25 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 02/01/2006 20:23
Saw the movie 'Memoirs Of A Geisha' on New Years Eve. Good movie-book better. Same title, came out about four or five years ago.It's hard to believe that it was written by a non Japanese white male-entirely fictional but reads like authentic memoirs.Eight out of ten.
Mick.
Message 26 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen Gerrard
Sent: 13/01/2006 21:45
Mick, I read the book a couple of years ago. The descriptons were so good, I could see the places being described. It was a deeply emotional book and I was surprised when you said a man wrote it. I thought it was written by someone who had lived the life.The film has just been released here, though we do not always get them in Doncaster. I think I will keep my own memories of the book, especially when you say the book is better than the film. Thank you.
Eileen
Message 27 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 07/02/2006 15:30
TRY ' DOES ANYTHING EAT WASPS'. THIS IS AN EXTRACT OF LETTERS AND ANSWERS PUBLISHED OVER THE YEARS IN NEW SCIENTIST. COMPLIED BY MICK O'HARE I KNOW IT DOES NOT SOUND EXCITING BUT IT IS UNPUTDOWNABLE--ALMOST. BRIAN
Message 28 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 14/03/2006 23:01
Nelson's Trafalgar. For those who were not satiated by events commemorating the 200th anniversary of this bloody victory . Much of the book is made up of contemporary accounts by those who were there.Common seamen, some of whom could write, left accounts,gunners, midshipmen, officers, captains and admirals from both the English and the Allied fleets of France and Spain give vivid,and often conflicting accounts of the engagement,the storm that followed and the aftermath.Surgeons accounts of treatment of the wounded are horrific.Instances of bravery are uplifting.The significance of the victory in preventing a French invasion at that time and later in the Napoleonic period is explained.Nelson's planning of the battle strategy and his death during the battle are considered in much detail.
Mick.
Message 29 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 05/04/2006 14:13
Where Wizards Stay up Late.Authors: Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon www.simonsays.comFactual story of the computer from giant calculator to the ultimate communications devices; following the Sputnic panic, 'batch' processing, Time-sharing, to your personal computer.If you enjoy Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlam, Frederick Forsyth, John Grisham, then you will enjoy this.
Shirl
Message 30 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 26/08/2006 17:23
My summer reading included James Lee Burkes' latest. He is a popular writer over here in North America. I've been reading his stuff for some years and I particularly like his Dave Robichaux novels. They are set in New Orleans and the bayous of the Gulf Coast and invariably involve bloody clashes between the good, that's Streak and Clete, and the really nasty and cruel 'baddies' that this part of the world seems to attract. Almost mystic at times, with a strong sense of history, and cutting contemporary at others. I would suggest trying an early Burke/Robichaux such as Heavens Prisoners(?) and if you like it you can follow the rest in sequence.I just finished Jungers' 'A Death In Belmont' which is a different slant on Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler. It's a best seller but I found it repetitive and barely made it to the end. A better book of his was 'The Perfect Storm'My current bedside book is 'Terrorist' by John Updyke. It is shaping up to be a thought provoking read.
Mick.
Message 31 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 18/09/2006 17:22
About a month ago my local residents association ran its' annual used books sale in the nearby park. It goes from 5 'til 7pm and I never miss it. Paperbacks are a dollar and hardbacks are two dollars-always lightly or even imperceptibly used.I was out walking Rags and realized it was book sale night and I was going to be late. Got there at 10 to 7 and started to pick out the books I wanted. At 5 to 7 an announcement was made."All books half price". Good marketing methinks because they still have lots of books left and what's left at 7 is sold for next to nothing on a bulk basis. I found a couple more books I wanted and as 7 o'clock arrived a final announcement was made. "All you can carry for a dollar"So I ended up with half a dozen books for a dollar. When I got home I checked the dust covers for the original prices and they added up to 180 dollars! Who doesn't love a bargain?One of my choices was a paperback by an author I'd forgotten about after reading a couple of his books some years ago. It was 'Strange Affair' by Peter Robinson. I can't remember if his name has come up in this thread before but his police procedures are excellent light reading. His policeman is Inspector Banks who is Yorkshire based. Much of 'Strange Affair' takes place in London but the latest book in the series 'Piece Of My Heart' is set in Yorkshire and contains a lot of references to bands from the sixties. Since it follows two murder investigations, one in 69 and the other current, and it flips often from one to the other I thought early on that it might be a bit too challenging to keep the two investigations separate but that turned out to be no problem.If by any chance you aren't familiar with Peter Robinson then the Banks series would be a good one to get into. There are 16 in the series starting with a younger Banks in 'Gallows View' which was followed by 'A Dedicated Man'
Mick.
Message 32 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 18/09/2006 22:04
Getting a peasant like me on a book page is like trying to mix oil and water, but I did read this and found it a scream of a laugh, very poignant, and for us blokes in particular very informative. The book is "Inconceivable" by Ben Elton and tells the story of a young couples' experience of I.V.F. I got put on to it by my daughter. She has a gynae prob and has had to resort to I.V.F. I explained to her that I was trying to be supportive and helpful, but that being a bloke, I had no real idea of what was going on inside her head at times like this. So she gave me this to read. And it would be a good read for anybody. Plenty of humour besides the obvious clinical content. Like where desperation has driven them to try anything once, so they end up on the top of the Tor outside Glastonbury, at midnight on Midsummer’s eve, exactly where the ley lines cross, and do it. Only for the husband to discover as he puts his trousers back on that a hedge hog has settled down in his pants for a kip!!! You enjoy.
Be happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 33 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 19/09/2006 13:28
Allan, I agree it is a very funny and informative read, a film was made from the book which had some hilarious sequences, I can't remember the name it was called then, but not the same as the book. There was also a series on TV last winter which I enjoyed, although the critics didn't rate it very highly. It was a follow up from when Ben Elton did eventually father twins and he used some of his experiences for this TV series. As for my latest read, I have just finished Lolly Winston's "Sophie's Bakery for the Broken hearted, A Novel of Love, Grief and Baking" which my sister-in-law thought I might enjoy as a holiday read!! She was upset later when she realised she had picked up the wrong book. However I did enjoy reading it, with mixed emotions. For anyone who has lost a partner/husband etc. it goes through the different emotions, but it is a very funny read. One review says "Lolly Winston reminds us that we can still be funny, sarcastic, aware and smart, even when we are brokenhearted”One definitely for the ladies, and a New York Times bestseller.
Eileen.
Message 34 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 19/09/2006 20:37
Hi Eileen - Thanks for your back up, and also getting me out of the hole thinking I must be a right prat owning up to reading about I.V.F. We seem to be on the same wavelength you and me. Singing in licensed premises and now enjoying the same books comes to mind. I might even be trying a second book soon. Has anybody else done this already? I am kick-starting a scheme for our local library where an anonymous group of people (ca 8) have formed a chain and read a book, write a short crit, and then this passes on to the next one in the chain etc.
So you get umpteen recommendations for upwards of 8 books being fed in every time you visit the Library. That sounds daft, but if you don't understand just pretend you do. I'll keep quiet now and report when it is operational.
Be happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 35 of 123 in Discussion
From: MarkAHepworth
Sent: 23/09/2006 09:44
I've sold a few "books" recently on Ebay ... Beano and Dandy annuals from the early 1960's ... the best sale price so far has been £39.50 for a 1964 Dandy book with the original price shown as 7/6d ... not a bad return on the original "investment" I also sold an old Psion computer which I found at the back of a cupboard and which had not seen daylight for 6 or more years ... no big return on this item but the £25 was better than my original thinking of throwing it away Any other Delboys out there ?
Message 36 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 23/09/2006 13:05
Did you know that you can buy a GCSE course in Latin on Ebay. You can buy it one chapter at a time for 99p per chapter. Sounds like a bargain until you realise that there are 50 chapters. You can buy a good Latin Primer from Amazon for about £10.
Message 37 of 123 in Discussion
Message 37 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 25/09/2006 16:32
Mark, 10% per annum compounded, roughly, not a bad return at all. I wonder what that would make the value of a first issue annual of the Eagle with its Dan Dare comic strip in colour and a how to make a boomerang from balsa illustrated diagram. That must have been early fifties if I remember correctly. Makes you wish you had put some of these things away. I've heard that dinky toys go for a fortune now and I ruined mine, every November, by putting bangers in the London Taxi to blow it up or rockets on Bluebird to see how fast it would go.
Mick.
Message 38 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 15/10/2006 12:40
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. His experiences as a teacher in New York, spanning 30 yrs. Very interesting. I wonder how Mr. Lawson would compare this to his experiences at TGS?
Message 39 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 15/10/2006 13:25
Brian, I haven't read Teacher Man, but I have read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and the follow up, 'Tis. When you think what his life was as a child, the fact that he became a teacher in America says a lot for his character. Angela's Ashes was made into a film and it didn't stray too far from the book. It did give a realistic view of how sad and harrowing his life was as a child. I didn't know he had another book out, so I will look forward to reading it.
Eileen.
Message 40 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 16/10/2006 15:06
When Eileen recommends you take note. I have just finished your suggestion of "Sophie's Bakery for the Broken Hearted" which altho being abt loss and grieving, also combined love, humour, and a make over of your whole life as you pick up the threads after the death of your other half. Quite coincidently my ex wife died while I was reading it. You imagine that a divorce draws a line under your feelings and you have to start over. But I was surprised by how much pain you feel, all the good memories which are brought back. Juggling with your emotions just like Sophie found. A good read Eileen.
Be Happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 41 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 24/10/2006 19:46
Just completed an entertaining historical novel and returned the book to the library this morning. Have already forgotten the authors name but the book title is 'Sovereign'. It is set in York during the reign of Henry V111 and much of it takes place during the Kings' visit (after passing through Hatfield). A year or so ago I saw a TV program that suggested the true heir to the throne of England was an Australian chap-based on the fact that Henrys' grandmother had a fling with Blaybourne, a Kentish archer and so Henry should never have been King. That episode is neatly incorporated in the novel which is partly a who dunnit that keeps you guessing to the end. There are also some very realistic touches dealing with life (and death) during the 16th century, food, clothes, imprisonment, the Tower, law and power. It seems this book is the third one to involve the same lawyer so if you enjoy it you can read the previous two as well. I just picked up 'Predator' by Patricia Cornwell and am taking it to read on the plane down to Mexico City on Thursday. I suppose it will have more of her gruesome murders. It's a good thing we are what we eat and not what we read!
Mick.
Message 42 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 21/11/2006 15:46
A Tale Etched In Blood And Hard Black Pencil by Christopher Brookmyre. This murder mystery links a bunch of children who started school in the mid 70's with a contemporary murder involving many of the same characters today. The novel is set just outside Glasgow and uses the local 'version' of English in dialogue. There is a glossary at the back if you get stuck but I only found it after reading the whole book so it isn't really needed.The world of primary education, as seen and described by the pupils, is funny and believable and you will know several of the characters from whenever you were in primary school. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and intend to read more of this writer. A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away is the intriguing title of one of his earlier works.
Mick.
Message 43 of 123 in Discussion
From: Don Boyall
Sent: 21/11/2006 18:16
Mick, Re "Sovereign" - the author's name is Christopher Sansom. I agree - it certainly is a good read. However, it is the third in a series featuring Matthew Shardlake - fictional lawyer and sleuth during the reign of Henry VIII. They are best read in sequence. The first is "Dissolution", the second "Dark Fire" and the third - your choice, "Sovereign". They're all real page-turners and capture the spirit of the age vividly.
Don
Message 44 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 21/11/2006 21:42
Thanks Don, I will see if I can find Dissolution at my local library-a quick attempt to find it on the computer failed but I did discover a new-to me-Henning Mankell titled The Man Who Smiled. With luck I will have it in a week or two. As the days shorten and the temperatures drop to freezing more frequently my appetite for a good book sharpens.I've enjoyed several of the selections suggested on our site and hope for more to come. Going back a couple of messages I found the Patricia Cornwell book 'Predator' to be very similar to the stuff she has been doing in recent years. If I hadn't been captive for several hours on the plane going down to Mexico City(without an alternative read) I wouldn't have bothered to finish it. Unless she changes her approach she has shot her bolt as far as I'm concerned.
Mick.
Message 45 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 24/11/2006 17:51
Eileen. Managed to find Angela's Ashes in my local Hospice shop. Looking forward to a good read. Mick. James Patterson and Martina Cole have also lost their way.
Brian
Message 46 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 25/11/2006 17:03
Brian you are in for a treat. Angela's Ashes is a terrific book. I agree with you on James Patterson. I enjoyed the first few he wrote but it's old hat now and a new Patterson just passes me by. Martina Cole is not a writer I am familiar with. Would you say her earlier books are good reads? Any particular one I should start with?
Mick.
Message 47 of 123 in Discussion
Message 47 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 25/11/2006 17:43
Brian, When you are looking for a book, find "Tis", a follow up of "Angela's Ashes". Then "Teacher Man", the book you mentioned previously, is the latest one Frank McCourt has written. I haven't read that, so I will look for it, or suggest it as a gift! Mick is right, "Angela's Ashes" it is a brilliant read, sad, funny, sombre and gives you something to think about.
Eileen
Message 48 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 26/11/2006 19:40
Eileen. I shall look for Tis. I like looking in the charity shops for books. Quite exciting when I find one I have in mind to read. I think I shall take Angela to Tenerife this coming Friday.Mick. I enjoy Martina Cole although the later ones are a bit long winded. She is an aquired taste! If she was a newspaper reporter she would be writing for the gutter press!! Her books are usually about the criminal element. I started with Maura's Game. Good Night Lady is also good and Lady Killer. Suck it and see!! I hope you enjoy. I enjoy Gerald Seymour but have read most of his. Found one the other day in our hospice shop new to me. It pays to keep looking.
Message 49 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 11/12/2006 20:15
Eileen et al. I read Angela's Ashes whilst toasting myself in 30C round the pool in Tenerife. A brilliant read. Thanks for recommending the book.
Message 50 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 13/12/2006 20:40
Brian, I took your advice, went to the library ,and Martina Cole's 'The Take' was on the shelf. At the same time I requested 'Dangerous Lady' which was one of,or perhaps,her first.
'The Take' was over 400 pages so it was a hefty read with some interesting London characters predominantly related and predominantly criminal.I enjoyed it and as I finished it the library called to say 'Dangerous Lady' was waiting for me to pick up.It too "was a hefty read with some.......................and predominantly criminal." Many of the characters in both novels resembled each other very closely although the families are supposed to be unrelated.Even though there was a strong sense of deja vu I still read and enjoyed all 300 plus pages.
Mick.
Message 51 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 17/12/2006 12:38
Hi Jim (in particular) plus any other casual voyeurs. Now you might well guess that seeing I very rarely a book, when I do you have to go for it. And this one is a must have for your stocking. "Amo, amas, amat. How to be a Latin Lover." It was reviewed on Radio Wales this a.m. (and they are all very posh on there I might tell you - one presenter, Roy Noble is an ex Head master). I won't reveal the plot. Just give your scooter a blast and mosey on down to Waterstones pretty quick, or they might be sold out.
Be happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 52 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 18/12/2006 17:43
Mick. I started Martina with the novel-Maura's Game. It interested me to seek out others she had written. I do agree the characters are out of the same mould but the stories do change.On another Author TIS -found in my local charity shop today. Have added it to my current pile!!
Message 53 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 21/12/2006 20:17
I like to read in bed at night but this one had me reading in bed in the morning too. Garnet Hill by Denise Mina. It was recommended by Ian Rankin in a newspaper article a few months ago. It's a gritty murder mystery with a tough Scottish lass, Maureen, as the non police approved detective and avenger.It was a first book in the late 90's for this author so I'm going to look for more of hers
Mick.
From: mik
Sent: 06/01/2007 22:57
Those who enjoy Henning Mankell might also enjoy Haken Nesser. Try 'Borkmann's Point'. Further to Denise Mina, this girl is good. I'm now well into 'Exile' and developing an affection for tough Maureen. She is hard as nails outside and a cream puff below the surface.
Mick.
Message 55 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 07/01/2007 00:01
I haven't read the book I'm going to mention, just peeked at it. My number 1 son bought number 2 son a book which kept his interest and amused him. He doesn't read a lot so it must have been interesting. Some of you may have seen it............The Dangerous Book For Boys. It has been a best seller. My 43 year old "boy" thought it was great. He said it brought back memories.........I think his brother only knows him too well!
Eileen
Message 56 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 07/01/2007 12:18
Shirley has mentioned my book on the Greetings thread.........and I replied to her, except that my message posted itself before I finished it..........again! I'll finish what I was saying here. I have looked on Amazon and instead of the price being £18.99, it is now under £9.00 (hard back). I think I need to buy it as the one I was peeking at has gone to Italy. Eileen
Message 57 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 09/01/2007 19:01
It's a sad time although today is my birthday; I'm coming to the end of Tis..............
Message 58 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 09/01/2007 19:31
A happy birthday Brian, I'm glad you are enjoying Tis, I still haven't found the one that follows it.
Eileen
Message 59 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 10/01/2007 17:16
Hi Eileen. Thank you. I was in my local library today and picked up the book Teacher Man. It was the first in the 3 book series I read and as it follows on from Tis I thought I would scan it again to put it into context. Obtaining books from the library isn't half as interesting as finding them in my local hospice shop. Good luck with your search. The teacher I work with at school is Irish Catholic and has read Angela so she will be glad to be given a copy of Tis. I must say; Frank McCourt does not use speech marks and for the life of me-I don't miss them. It's obviously someone speaking each time so why have we made language so difficult( Wait for the reaction from the purists!). Take care
Brian
Message 60 of 123 in Discussion
From: Don Boyall
Sent: 10/01/2007 17:56
Brian I'm sure that it is often possible to read direct speech without inverted commas accurately - but not always. It is possible for difficulties to creep in, slowing down the reading. In a similar vein I find the currently fashionable house styles of most quality newspapers, to print book titles without either inverted commas or italics, particularly tiresome - frequently leading to ambiguities.Punctuation generally helps the reader to read quickly and accurately. Its simplification often creates difficulties. I hope I'm not one of your doddering purists - although I have to admit to the doddering. However, it's a lovely word even though the condition is just as tiresome as some text inadequately pointed. Best wishes,Don
Message 61 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 10/01/2007 21:12
As inI read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in bed.I read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in bedI read "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in bed.I read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in bed?
Shirl
Message 62 of 123 in Discussion
From: malcolm
Sent: 11/01/2007 15:49
Hi Shirl1020 Did you really read "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in bed
Malcolm
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 11/01/2007 16:36
Hi Don, Shirl and Malcolm et al. I suppose I'm a bit of a purist myself when it comes to good English grammar. I think email has a lot to answer for when it comes to using lower case letters instead of the traditional capitals. minister for education instead of Minister for Education; etc. The point I was making was that I had read 2 books; perhaps 900 pages, of which at least half was reported speech. I didn't once miss the absence of speech marks; nor did it affect the sense of what I read. What did you think Eileen? If you haven't yet read Lynne Truss' book, Eats shoots and leaves, I urge you to do so. You will thoroughly enjoy it. Let me know.
Brian
Message 64 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 11/01/2007 21:06
Those capitals always give the game away! In truth Malcolm I read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes but marry brunettes in Yorkshire.......semicolon(s) comma(s) full stop(s) capital letter(s) brackets etc. may be used here at the reader's discretion....
Shirl
Message 65 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 11/01/2007 22:52
I think it is time some of us took of our blinkers. School knocked into us the rudiments of Eng Lang. Then we went out into the big big world (apart from those who went back into school again.) There we found that language was alive and evolving - not stuck in a rut. And the first rule was the ability to communicate. With my peer group I could rabbit on abt NaCl and HCl etc and get thro straightaway. And similarly I feel we have gained valuable skills by U n me txting on R mobbies. And the buzz words and jargon enrich our speech and ability to communicate ideas speedily. If anybody thinks that my peculiar usage of conjunctions, spellings etc, inhibits general understanding well speak up now. We cannot cite the 40's as being the be all and end all of our education.
Be Happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 66 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 11/01/2007 23:13
Brian, I can't remember whether I noticed any inverted commas or not when I read those books. I've just looked at "Angela's Ashes" and it is easy to read. Every time anyone speaks, (and a lot of the story is spoken) each new speaker uses a new line e.g. They say,
Who are you?
I'm Frank
Frank! How old are you?
I'm four going on five.......... etc.
It's a long time since I read the book, and it held my interest so much, I rushed through it to find how he got through his miserable childhood (which he also managed to make humorous).
I have looked through the all messages on this thread and we have all used inverted commas when giving a title, particularly at first, and not in other messages, when perhaps we were rushing. I think all the older members were taught English rigidly and the rules stick, but how many of us begin a sentence with "and" these days?
I agree Don, doddering is a lovely word, as is tottering, but not shambling (and I shamble at times)?
Eileen
Message 67 of 123 in Discussion
Message 67 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 12/01/2007 00:40
Allan, I was busy typing my message and didn't notice yours which had appeared in the meantime. I hate the way texting is spoiling the written word. It is useful for texting I suppose, although I can't bring myself to use it, and neither of my sons appear to use it, at least not when they are texting me. Having spent years encouraging young children to try to spell correctly, it seems wrong that they then let their text spelling spill over into their written word. I suppose I am old fashioned, but it grates on me!............sorry!
Eileen
Message 68 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 12/01/2007 02:01
Allan's point about effective communication reminded me of an incident some fifty years ago when it dawned on me that I had just uttered a sentence of army jargon that contained no English, just a few words of pigeon Arabic interspersed with Army Form numbers and Artillery techno-babble. As a 1940’s aspiring thespian who had admired Donald Wolfitt as King Lear, I was appalled. But it was of course the most effective means of communication with a small group of comrades who had shared the same training, were sharing the same overseas posting, and now faced the same urgent task objectives - an extremely limited audience. Of course, Allan is right to remind us that the objective is effective communication, and I once had the temerity to suggest on this site that technology might lead us to a situation where the written word is redundant as a medium for effective communication with large general audiences. It might continue to serve the deaf in much the same way that Braille now serves the blind, or have a role to play for a few very esoteric professions. The rest of us could find that the spoken word becomes our preferred communication medium. It can be recorded more easily than the written word by using a skill most of us develop before school age. It can now be stored and transmitted almost as cheaply as the written word. It has the advantage of expression, inflection and precisely measured pause to convey more accurately and unambiguously our intended message. The above discussion makes the argument for me. But my suggestion sank like a lead balloon. Perhaps too many of our generation have invested too much of our lives in the skills of the written word to make it a comfortable thought. But programmers who have seen their preferred computer programming languages come and go will understand and appreciate the point.
Message 69 of 123 in Discussion
From: Ronthorne35
Sent: 12/01/2007 09:43
The idea of abolishing the written language scares me, especially because I can never remember anything unless I write it down. Well, after a certain age one should perhaps carpe diem and live only in the present.As far as accuracy goes, I’m rather in favour of preserving the written language. It can avoid unfortunate situations like the one that occurred in the the White House the other day:What's new, Condy?Two Brazilian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Mister President.Oh, my God ! He faints, then recovering consciousness, asksCondy, just how much is a brazillion?Anyway, I think the younger generation of texters think that we old folks have never spoken anything but written English.
Message 70 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 12/01/2007 09:48
For the avoidance of doubt, let me add that I share Eileen's distaste for "texting" language, and find it "ugly". But then, my appreciation of the written word developed under the same education system, conditioned by the same technology. I have never found a compelling reason to send a "text" message and wouldn't know how or where to start. K
Message 71 of 123 in Discussion
From: malcolm
Sent: 12/01/2007 13:36
Hello Shirl1020 Thanks for the english language, enjoyed it
Malcolm
Message 72 of 123 in Discussion
From: James A Lawson
Sent: 12/01/2007 20:28
As a very late developer who is still struggling with computer-speak I have not yet dared to enter the linguistic desert of Text. I did once try to use the mobile phone which my daughter gave me for use in emergencies, but when I required it I had completely forgotten how to operate it. In any case, at the hotel where I stay in the Lake District one has to leave the hotel and go into a field some 50 yards away in order to use the thing. Not a pleasing prospect in view of the unpredictable Lakeland weather.
But back to Text - the latest meaning of the word. I do not suppose that I shall be around to see it but your children or grandchildren may see the day when the Booker Prize will be won for a novel written in Text. A fantasy? Well, remember that Francis Bacon (he of the Essays) wrote all what he considered to be his important works in Latin and only his trivia in English; no doubt thinking the latter would not last. Yet it is the latter for which he is now remembered.
Ah well, I am probably wrong - not for the first time. It may be that Education, education, education from the cradle to the grave may stimulate a crusading spirit which will defeat the impending onslaught of the hordes of this latter day Genghis* Khan.
J.A.Lawson
* Please put the h where you think it should be.
Message 73 of 123 in Discussion
Message 73 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 12/01/2007 21:56
Keith - what if you want to hybridise and e-mail a letter to this page from your mobile? Just being awkward!! But you really do have to live with change and accept it. How about me now. Living down here it was very foreign to hear the predicate preceding the subject and the verb in my early days. But by now, going to play on my P.C. I am, just comes sort of natural.And Jim I love your version of how to resolve troublesome spellings - let Democracy rule. But don't even ask me to try and help you here.
Be Happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 74 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 12/01/2007 22:16
This is true. It came back to me with all this chat abt communication. 50 odd years ago I belonged to a Missionary Society called "A thousand tongues to go." They got their kicks out of parachuting into little known tribes hidden away in little known jungles. These tribes would have no written or known language, so the missionary spent donkeys years learning the language. Then he had to transcribe it into a written form. Then use this written language to write a Bible. Then start to spread the Word. Now that's communication.
Be happy
Allan 42 - 50
Message 75 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 13/01/2007 07:45
Interesting. But can you imagine the reaction of the tribe who had no concept of writing or reading, and who would have to be taught both the concept and the mechanics of reading before they could tackle the Bible. Nowadays technology has made that massive step unnecessary.
K
Message 76 of 123 in Discussion
From: Ray H
Sent: 13/01/2007 09:57
I salute you in defence of text, or am I confused ? There is an element of mechanics in all communications, frenetic language has been utilised for many years, only now has it been expanded into modern technology. To use text is a skill in itself from sender to recipient and shouldn`t be brought down, our mother tongue will always remain an asset, but can easily cause confusion to the non english speaking being. Progressive development by "texting" will continue, once mastered be an advantage to all. Try it.
RayH
Message 77 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 13/01/2007 14:14
I regret the passing of the telegram. It's envelope gave some hint of content. The joy of the festive, dread of the black edged, the plain yellow (... be prepared ..... Missing in action .....or..... Arriving home today). Texting requires nimble minds & nimble fingers and txtspk is probably cost effective.Telegrams paid for by the number of words required nimble minds & telegspeak.....
When two Yorkshire sisters inherited the family farm, but were in financial difficulty, one of them, with just £600, went to another farm to buy a prize bull for breeding purposes. She bought it for £599 then went to the telegraph office, saying "I want to tell my sister that I've bought a bull. I need her to hitch the trailer to our vehicle and drive out here so we can haul it home."
The telegraph operator said "It costs £1 per word.
"After paying for the bull, she had only £1 left. After thinking for a few minutes she said "Ok. Just send one word: "comfortable."
Message 78 of 123 in Discussion
Message 78 of 123 in Discussion
From: TreaclyBiggeoff
Sent: 13/01/2007 16:16
" frenetic language" ..................... delerious; frantic; frenzied; mad; distracted: [Chambers Dictionary]. I'm all in favour of it! ......... exeunt omnes, obfuscant. .................geoff.
Message 79 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 13/01/2007 17:59
Shirl, That's excellent, and should sort out tykes frum t'uthers! My only telegram story comes from an old 1930s Will Hay film. When defending an outpost of the empire from marauding tribesmen, he sent a telegram calling for reserves:"SEND TROOPS ON STOPLEAVE IMMEDIATELY STOP" and decided to bring the number of words down to the limit of five for a shilling by leaving out the redundant STOPs.
Message 80 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 13/01/2007 18:10
Couldn't resist saying that I still have the telegram telling me our first son had arrived safely. It is 43 1/2 yrs old now. The telegram was waiting for me when I arrived home in the evening from work.
Message 81 of 123 in Discussion
From: Mole9210
Sent: 13/01/2007 22:25
Will everyone please stop sending me messages about TGS. I do not want to know
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 14/01/2007 13:35
Mole!It must be very irksome to receive all the messages posted on the TGS web site when you "don't want to know". It probably fills up your In-box, and just like all that spam, confuses you and reduces the pleasure of your computing experience. And it's probably been going on for nearly eighteen months. Very tiresome.
But the reality is that it only happens because you chose to make it happen, and only you can stop it! No-one else can.
When you joined the site in August 2005 you chose an option on your screen that looked like this:
Inbox:
O Send all messages immediately to my e-mail inbox
You can stop it immediately by clicking on "Member Tools" then "Check your E-mail Settings" and choosing the option that looks like this:
On the Web:
O I'll read the messages online.
Or alternatively you can just cancel your membership of the site - probably better for your blood pressure.
From: malcolm
Sent: 14/01/2007 10:45
Dear Keith, on the contrary, it's quite good to read the letters on the TGS website. Some are good, some are pompous but they pass the day away nicely and after all I don't have a lot to do and it doesn’t bother my blood pressure. Keep them coming
Malcolm
Message 84 of 123 in Discussion
From: malcolm
Sent: 14/01/2007 11:49
Don't flatter yourself Mole9210 no one is sending you, personally, mail about TGS. It goes out to all members of TGS web site
Malcolm
Message 86 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 18/01/2007 11:05
Anything by Stephen Leather. Crime-international terrorism etc. Never fails to hold my interest.
Message 87 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 23/02/2007 22:13
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Originally published in France in 2004 and translated and published in English in 2006 this is a novel of life as experienced by a number of urban and rural French families during and after the fall of Paris in WW11. I think it's a must read, especially for those of us who have any recollections of the times. Don't forget the appendices and the dust jacket.
Mick.
Message 88 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 20/03/2007 18:08
Have just finished "the best book I have ever read". I find I say this about every couple of years, forgetting that I have made the declaration before! Anyway, Michael Dobb's book, Winston's War, falls into this category. It is an historical novel centred on real events mentioning public figures our generation will remember well. Very intriguing.
Message 89 of 123 in Discussion
From: anne_m_clark
Sent: 24/07/2007 15:47
Whilst I was in hospital and on the mend, my son lent me a highly unusual thriller ~~ DEAD SIMPLE by PETER JAMES. His first thriller, it won him literary awards. He now has a second thriller published ~~ LOOKING GOOD DEAD. The first book was gripping and each of the family has made the same comment. 'They couldn't put it down!!' AN EXCELLENT READ.
ANNE 1044/52
Message 90 of 123 in Discussion
From: anne_m_clark
Sent: 24/07/2007 15:54
JUST SEEN THE DATE ON MY LAST MAIL. CRIKEY! I'M EVEN OLDER THAN I THOUGHT.
anne
From: Don Boyall
Sent: 24/07/2007 18:46
I'm halfway through an excellent book at the moment - William Hague's "William Pitt The Younger". It's lively, beautifully written, very informative and seems to be very thoroughly researched - although I'm in no position to judge the strength of that. I understand he has another book out on Wilberforce. I must look out for it.
Don
Message 93 of 123 in Discussion
From: Keith_Williams
Sent: 24/07/2007 20:35
Don, See message 12 of this thread.
The book starts well, and changed my opinion of William Hague, but I don't think he sustains his "lively" style for the whole 592 pages. Perhaps that was too much to expect. After all, Pitt was not all that "lively" towards the end. And editing errors became irritating.
But for those looking for a new perspective on the history we were taught at TGS I strongly recommend "That Sweet Enemy" by Robert and Isabelle Tombs - a review of Anglo-French relations from the Glorious Revolution (ours) to the French referendum that vetoed the European Constitution.
It is fascinating because it is written by an Anglo-French academic couple who each try to ensure that their own national perspective is aired and justified. For me it has been amusing, educational and the most eye-opening reading experience of the last few years.
Keith
Message 94 of 123 in Discussion
Message 94 of 123 in Discussion
From: Stab163
Sent: 25/07/2007 09:03
Keith and Don As you are interested in Pitt and his period, I heartily recommend a book by an excellent narrative historian, Adam Zamoyski, called Rites of Peace-The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna. It's very readable and throws light on many of Europe's difficulties today. (I have to admit that I haven't finished it yet).
Eric
Message 95 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 29/07/2007 16:55
Anne, I am half way through Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead is waiting on the bed side table. I ordered them from the local library on my computer and noted a following entry for a C.D. by Bessie Smith. There were no details but I suspect a gritty blues number so I put in a request for that too.
Mick.
Message 96 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 04/08/2007 22:44
Just read a couple of books by Barrington. He writes of a super hero called Paul Richter who is a bit of a hybrid Erroll Flynn and James Bond. Ex fighter pilot, ex S.A.S., and now freelancing just saving the world for C.I.A., M.I.5 and anybody else who is reluctant to kill and/or maim. Returned them to the Library and the staff were keen to hear abt them so I told. They were then keen for demonstrations so I went into how to disarm somebody who has a gun in the small of your back. This involves spinning round, disarming and disabling all in one movement. The 3 of us were really into it when a customer came in. Spoilt it completely. She could not understand. Helps your ballet, no end. "Sur des pointes" (I think) and spin.
Be Happy
Allan
Message 97 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 09/09/2007 18:28
Just got into Michael Jecks and I find him fascinating. He's a bit of an historian from the West who has gone in for whodunits set around the 14th century. Not normally my cup of tea but his knowledge of that period has really opened my eyes. There was I thinking that knights were nobility sitting around in White Satin. They might get round to polishing up the breast plate with a bit of emery cloth, possibly Brasso on the helmet and finish off by putting another icon on their shield- representing a kill or something (a la W.W.2 aeroplanes). And Guinevere floated around in chiffon, dispensing tea and mebbe a bit of footsie under the table (round of course). Anything but. Guinevere was an old slapper who relished a bit of debauchery and the knights were just thugs. A travelling circus who moved on from joust to joust. Relishing the conflict. Relishing inflicting pain +/or death. And all encouraged by the king who knew it provided a nucleus of battle hardened troops for him, and those killed just made room for somebody better. Read it all for yourself. The crimes are good too.
Be Happy
Allan
Message 98 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 09/09/2007 18:39
Or get right up to date with Kathy Reichs. Another whodunit but Kathy is a modern clinical anthropologist - and you don't meet many of those. She got her Ph.D. in this subject and soon got a professorship simultaneous with a top doh job with the cops. Not satisfied with that she gets home from work and writes books on the same theme. And they are crackers. I am into anatomy and physiology every now and then, so it is meat and drink for me (just done a pun, wa-hay). Plenty of them in the Library and I spotted one in Tesco only yesterday. £9.99. Inspired "Bones" and "N.I.S.C." (not sure bout the spelling) on Telly.
Be happy
Allan
Message 99 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 09/09/2007 20:47
Allan, I've watched some of those N.I.C.S. Miami/New York programmes. I was fascinated by the pale beautiful blonde, slightly hooded eyes, beautiful cheekbones.As the weary detective with red hair inclines his head, slowly removes his sunglasses, adjusts his eyesight to the sun, he drawls,"Nouwhaat..have..we..heerr?"She replies, through barely moving lips,"Mnmna nmmar th' truunk, nmmaner nma the wit-ness." I'll read the book.
Shirl.
Message 100 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 26/09/2007 22:58
I was in the Library the other day, but they didn't have the book I wanted except for a large print version. "Go on, take that" they said. I know I have my rimless for reading, but I never thought anybody would think of me and large print in the same breath. But apparently they are not reserved for really bad eyesight people, and they are not abridged to compensate either. To keep the peace I took it and lo and behold, the print is barely any bigger. Easy enough to read, but no turning of pages every micro second. If it is your only choice, go for it. This one didn't have pictures to colour in, but if so it begs the question. How could they enlarge the pictures and yet fit them on the same size page? Sometimes I wish I had never been born a scientist.
Be happy
Allan
Message 101 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 27/09/2007 16:12
Allan, I checked my library web site for Jecks and Reich. Happy to find they are both well represented as your short descriptions peaked my interest. It's so satisfying to find an author has written several novels on a theme when you have just read and enjoyed the first one. Michael Jecks seems to have started writing in the mid 90's and the web site indicates only single copies of his earliest books in the system. By this year, with two novels out in the one year, his popularity must be soaring as there are over 20 copies of each. My most recent read is called 'The Book Of Negroes'. It will be available in England in mid November. We got it earlier here as the author is Canadian, from just down the road in Hamilton. The book follows the life of a west African girl through to old age and details the slave trade through her abduction, transport, sale, plantation life, escape, movement to Nova Scotia, back to Africa, and eventual involvement with the anti slavery movement in Parliament. It's an interesting easy read.
Mick.
Message 102 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 27/09/2007 21:42
Ta Mik. And I'll look out for your "Book of Negroes." I am being serious for once. It must be very gratifying to have a job, shuffling paper, wielding a scalpel or whatever from 9 - 5. Come home, have your tea, and then be all fired up to write books for everybody (not just the specialists) about it. Wonder which makes the most money?
Be happy
Allan
Message 103 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 30/09/2007 03:38
Brian, Winstons War may not be the' best book I've ever read ' but it's a good read all the same. You mentioned it last March and I just managed to get a copy from the library. I'm not sure exactly when it happened but it is a reflection of age when characters in historical novels bring back pesonal recollections. Anyhow thanks for the suggestion and thanks to all of those who contribute to this thread. I have had many a good read based on stuff I first read about here. With the winter weather just around the corner I'm already looking forward to more good reads smoothed along with Lagavulin toasting in front of a hardwood fire.
Mick Horner.
Message 104 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 30/09/2007 16:53
I hope I don't come over condescending, but mebbe the words "Forensic Anthropologist" didn't mean very much. Todays paper reveals it all. 32 years ago a teenage girl was found in a wood near Tonmawr, raped and strangled. Body samples revealed two D.N.A. samples other than her own. One sample was easily traced to her boyfriend. "We went out for the evening, had sex, I went home to bed." Perfectly normal behaviour, no case to answer. Thousands were interviewed to find the other, but finally the case was closed. But the guy saved her pants, just in case. Fairly recently, with all the new databases set up, he thought it might be worth having a look again. Bingo, a perfect match was found. Except the chap would have been 7 at the time. So one freezing winter afternoon in 2002, rain siling down, thunder banging, lightning flashing, twilight coming down (we love a bit of drama down here), they dug up his father in Goytre Cemetery. D.N.A. sample from bones and teeth and case solved it. Plus another two rapes and stranglings in the area. (First murder suspect ever exhumed in the U.K.) His name is Dr. Dark.
Be Happy
Allan
Message 105 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 01/10/2007 18:39
Hi Mick. Re message 103. Glad you liked the book. Clearly you are a man after my own heart with a liking for the amber nectar. You will appreciate this. A few months ago me and Wendy went along to an auction in our village hall in aid of the village hall restoration fund. We bought 2 hampers. One with Italian food and one made up of Scottish food; oat cakes, scotch broth, haggis etc. I wasn't too bothered about the hamper but we bought it just to support the cause. Paid about £35. When we got home I unpacked it. The last item at the bottom was, wait for it, a bottle of 15 yr old single malt dalwhinnie whisky? About £28 a bottle. Had no idea it was in there. Just goes to show, good deeds bring their own reward. Bells and Grouse is my normal tipple so this was a real treat.
Bottoms up.
Brian
Message 106 of 123 in Discussion
From: mik
Sent: 03/10/2007 15:49
'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini. Request this novel from your library immediately.By the same author of 'The Kite Runner' this book is set in Afghanistan during the Soviet era, warlord era, Taliban rule, and a smidgin of Hamid Karzai presidency. It's one of those books that are hard to put down."..a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives-the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness-are inextricable from the history playing out around them."
Mick.
From: patmary
Sent: 30/10/2007 06:41
Try " The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street." by Charles Nicholl.
Message 108 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 09/11/2007 22:08
Having had a go only recently at a historical novel I have finished another one by Bellamy this time. A bit earlier on this time, 800 - 900 times. But even so parallels to be drawn with modern attitudes. All to do with the conflict between the Danes and the Saxons. The Saxons had settled in Wessex, adopted Christianity, and just wanted a quiet life. The Danes were considered a right rough lot, and lived up in the North - Northumbria. (Which started at the Wash) They were pagans. They considered the Saxons a pretty toffee nosed lot and kept coming down to show them a thing or two abt being rough and ready and up for a scrap. And it was a bit disquieting for them with the Scots having a go from the North, and the Norsemen coming in from the West from Cumbria and Ireland. Plus the pagans cheated. They already had a collection of Gods like Odin, Thor etc, and had no objection to taking on board Jesus as just another one to add to the collection. Whereas the Christians were stuck. So it could move on from different races having a barney to secular warfare. And when the races swopped sides for the sake of religion, so nobody really knew who they were fighting. The Saxons could see advantages, in that if their Church leaders got cosy with the Danes there was that whole new territory, like York and Durham, just waiting for religion. Funny old times. Hagar the Horrible in real life. Apparently the Scandinavian races were just like Hagar. Give him a long boat and a few slaves to do the rowing and he was off. A bit of pillage, a bit of loot, a bit of rape, and even legit trading from France to Iceland. You read and enjoy.
Be happy
Allan
Message 109 of 123 in Discussion
From: BrianLewis2
Sent: 11/11/2007 19:12
Mick. Further to your message 103. Have just finished Michael Dobb's Winston's Triumph. The story of the 7 days in 1945 when Winston, Stalin and Roosevelt calved up Europe in anticipation of the defeat of Germany and the attack on Japan. Other characters mentioned in this novel based on transcripts of the meetings are Anthony Eden, Cadogan etc. A sub plot goes some way to describe the cruelty inflicted on Poles in Poland. Am sure you will enjoy this - I did .
Brian
Message 110 of 123 in Discussion
From: mickho1
Sent: 24/12/2007 00:34
Most of the prep for Christmas is complete and, hopefully, there is going to be some solid reading time between now and New Year. When you request books through our library system you can never be sure when they are going to arrive. The thought of having no new books to read at Christmas has me in a nervous state. This year, however, the fates have been good and in the last week the automated library message service has called me to pick up:Elmore Leonards' "Up In Honey's Room"Ian Rankins' "Exit Music"Peter Robinson's "Friend Of The Devil" andRichard Morgan's "Black Man"In addition the library was selling off some of its older books for a dollar each and I picked up "George 111 A Personal History" by Christopher Hibbert.It's definitely looking like a (black and)white Christmas-and what’s more my front door bell just rang and a very pleasant, young,(16-25) group of carollers with their sheet music asked if I would like them to sing a carol for me. They are coming back in an hour when Marly will be home and we can both enjoy the music.Best wishes and satisfying readings,
Mick.
From: mickho1
Sent: 23/01/2008 03:27
Very much enjoyed Rebus' retirement novel but who will fill that gap? Unfortunately I only got half way through Richard Morgan's 'Black Man' before my library time was up. Someone else was waiting for it so I had to order it again.It reminded me of 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep' which was the basis for one of my all time favourite movies 'Blade Runner' That's the problem with the library though. You have to return the books read-y or not.It does put a bit of pressure on you to get on with it though. I find that when I buy a book it usually sits around for some time before I read it. Sometimes a long time.Two recently enjoyed reads for me are:Young Stalin which deals with the period of Stalin’s birth, early life in Georgia, training for priesthood, becoming a bank robber, prison in Siberia, first marriage, Bolshevik, London conference of 1906 and all kinds of previously unknown and interesting facts.Very different-just a two day read was 'The Chicago Way' a first novel by Michael Harvey. It's along the lines of Chandler and Hammet centred on a hard boiled P.I. with issues (don't they all?). It's set in present day Chicago and is fast paced, entertaining, sufficiently murder-full and with an unexpected conclusion.Brian I did not get around to your Dobbs suggestion yet but have put it on my library request list.
Mick
Message 112 of 123 in Discussion
From: mickho1
Sent: 30/01/2008 16:11
No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. This is the novel upon which the possible Oscar Award winning film is based. Much of the attraction comes from the dialogue which is Texas/Mexico border oriented. Commenting on a multi murder situation-Deputy 'Looks like we got a real mess'Sheriff ' Well if it aint it'll do 'til the real mess gets here'The character of the sheriff is much more fully developed in the book compared with the movie. The film and book are violent and ,as usual, the book is better.Another author who is good with dialogue is Elmore Leonard, particularly those novels set in Detroit
Mick.
Message 113 of 123 in Discussion
From: mickho1
Sent: 19/02/2008 03:54
The last, and only book I ever read by an Icelander was Njals Saga and that was over 40 years ago. Until last week when I discovered a new detective. 'The Draining Lake' by Arnaldur Indridason brings a new landscape to the genre and although the names are a bit confusing to begin with it doesn't take long to adjust.Here's one for Allan who brought the forensic investigator Kathy Reichs to our attention. 'The Chemistry Of Death' is a first novel by Simon Beckett set in the Norfolk Broads. It's a forensic anthropologist doing the investigating and teaching us about bluebottle and greenbottle cycles and the kind of scars left on bone by smooth bladed knives and those with serrated edges.For the Rock and Rollers out there 'Fats Domino And The Lost Dawn Of Rock And Roll' by Rick Coleman. Might bring back a few 50's memories. Blueberry Hill. Walking To New Orleans. In Love Again. Singing the fat mans songs on the Felix bus on the way home from school-never on the way there!
Mick.
Message 114 of 123 in Discussion
From: Pearson237
Sent: 21/02/2008 20:30
From Peter Pearson (TGS 1957 - 64) peter.pe@rson.dk.
Tried a modern Icelandic writer? Hallgrimur Helgason. His books: Reykjavik 101, Icelandic Author and Stormland are really something. The saga tradition is still alive and kicking.
Message 115 of 123 in Discussion
From: RoyalLemonpie
Sent: 05/03/2008 22:21
Recommendation to all you bookworms out there, if you want to obtain a book that is perhaps out of print now or to find a book you would like to re read I can strongly suggest you try the following.Solway Books, 14 St.Cuthbert Street, Kirkcudbright.DG6 4HZTelephone 01557 330635 Mrs Beverley Chadband and partner are most helpful and competant people if the book or books are available they will advise you of the price and postage and packing and condition and if purchased advise date of postage
Be Happy
Joy R.L.P.
Message 116 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 02/05/2008 20:29
As you know I am on a who dun it, mystery and mayhem etc kick, based on umpteen years ago. Which is very good for my education. I know nothing of history and even less of geography, and I am really smartening up now. The U.K. seems a bit low on history so I am having to read all abt Europe etc. And I have come across a lovely little story and wonder if anyone of our many historians can fill me in on it. So come on Jim, gather yr worthies together and tell me if it really happened. King Frederick and Queen Olympus were living happily together up in Macedon (Macedonia) and had a son Alexander, who was going to grow up into Alexander the Great. When he was knocking on nine the Queen heard the story that Hercules, at the age of 3 days, had strangled two snakes which had got into his cot. She thought that was a pretty damn good way to get yr kid into the headlines. So, altho she was a bit late, it would do her Alexander a bit of good to figure in a similar story. So she got two clapped out old snakes - no teeth and no venom left. Laid a trail of honey and dead flies right up to his cot. Invited round for dinner all the power people in the neighbourhood. Then let the snakes go. In two ticks they had joined Alexander. But he was no fool, he kept a dagger under his pillow ready for something like this, and rapidly beheaded both snakes. Even more, he took the bodies into the gathering and accused his Mum of trying to murder him. And the evidence was overwhelming, and a bit much with all the celebs present. Quite embarrassing for his mother and great publicity for him. But did it really happen?And another thing. same book also claimed Diogenes lived in a 4 bedroomed pad, pool in the back garden etc, on the outskirts of Athens. The barrel was just a sales gimmick. Out of bed early, roll it down to the City Centre, stand it on end, and sit in it. Just wait for the folk to roll up. They liked their philosophers to be a bit off the wall. Truth or Fiction?
Be Happy
Allan
Message 117 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 08/07/2008 21:59
Went to a lecture this morning by a local historian abt a local character, and thought it might stimulate you a little to hear abt it. The chap was a writer who lived and wrote abt my valley thro the Industrial Revolution. I would guess many parallels too with S. Yorkshire's experiences. Alexander Cordell the name. An Englishman who retired from the Army in the early 50's and for some strange reason decided to live here. Typical Brylcreem hair, toothbrush moustache, and gung ho style. Yr archetypical enemy. And yet he was a great listener, everybody talked to him, they chatted down the pub, he walked the moors with them. Until one day an old codger remarked how his fair country had been raped by the Industrial Revolution. That was the spark. "Rape of the Fair Country" describing life in the 1820's in the township of Blaenavon - just 3 miles up the road from me - hit the press and nothing could stop him now. By using real places, real dates, real events so they have sold like hot cakes. Chartism, civil uprising, the hanging of the first T.U. martyr - Dic Penderyn. His real name was Richard Lewis, so it was not unreasonable for him to get Dic. (No soft c in Wales, so a K would be superfluous). He lived in Penderyn (where Welsh Whiskey comes from - just up from Merthyr) and there were abt a million Lewis's so Dic Penderyn is more descriptive. There followed a whole saga, which according to the experts knocks Richard Llewellyn and "How Green was my Valley" for six. Altho A.J. Cronins "Citadel" is well thought of. Read it and tell me what you think. Then read the rest. If you've read it publish yr crit. (By the way, I have read it, and the rest.)
Be happy
Allan
Message 118 of 123 in Discussion
From: mickho1
Sent: 24/07/2008 20:09
The Dark Summit by Nick Heil. An engrossing account of Everest climbers with a focus on the 2006 season.Eric Clapton.The Autobiography. An easy read with mention of many of our contemporary musicians and drugs you never knew existed.Simon Becketts' Written In Bone. An old fashioned thriller on a remote Scottish Island cut off by a storm. Perfect for the deck chair.Three pretty decent reads of reasonable length. I'm going off these 7 to 9 hundred page epics. Life is too short for long books.
Mick.
Message 119 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 19/09/2008 22:36
Joyce, Shirl, Tom, Ron, Keith, Allan, Aido and any other member who remembers the war years. At the moment I am reading a book called "Voices: Memories of Doncaster, 1939 - 1945". It is the first time I've seen this book which was produced to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2. It is a collection of memories of the lives and experiences of people in the Doncaster area from 1939 - 1945.
It has been compiled from the recollections of over 200 people who responded to an appeal for information about life in Doncaster during the war. "It is a record of the valuable contribution the town made to the war effort. It is a fascinating insight into the stoicism and indomitable spirit shown by Doncaster people to overcome hardship, deprivation and tragedy. The book should be read by present and future generations." It was funded by the Imperial War Museum, the Big Lottery Fund and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council as part of the "Their Past, Your Future Project"
Right, now I'll get down to the nitty gritty. It's a big book, with 192 pages, full of pictures and snippets of conversation from different people from all over the area. A lady who's home was bombed in Bentley is one instance.
I was interested to find that Les Ranns, (ex TGS) has a few memories in the book. I will quote a couple which are relevant, one which will interest Joy and Tom. "The tragedies of war had a profound effect on the young Les Ranns: "In the village we had a young man who could not wait to enlist as aircrew. Eventually the day arrived and he left to serve his country. Proudly he returned as a sergeant air gunner after training, before being posted to an operational unit. That was the last time we saw Peter Harris, for when he did return he had been a fatality and he was laid to rest in the churchyard of St Oswald's, Kirk Sandall. The sight of the Union Jack-draped coffin and the shock of hearing of the sudden death of someone you knew turned the romance of war that we youngsters had into grim reality." He also mentions being part time at TGS because we shared with Hull evacuees.
Another interesting snippet is from the Doncaster Chronicle which reported that by the first week, 4,000 children had arrived by train to local stations such as Barnby Dun, Thorne, Askern, Conisborough and Thorne, before being bussed to temporary homes. 1,000 of them arrived at Thorne, prior to being taken to Thorne Boys' Modern School to be bussed to their temporary homes. They were followed by two further trains carrying about 2,000 children, who were taken to Thorne Grammar School. By September 8th the Yorkshire Post reported ".....the evacuation to Thorne by railway is complete!"
It's a well produced book, full of memories and covering all aspects of the war. I keep dipping into it and looking at the different pictures and mementoes. It is a book I have borrowed, but I will buy it if it is still in print.
Eileen
Message 120 of 123 in Discussion
Message 120 of 123 in Discussion
From: RoyalLemonpie
Sent: 20/09/2008 17:41
Thank you Eileen it sounds interesting reading,
Regards
Joy
Message 121 of 123 in Discussion
Message 121 of 123 in Discussion
From: Shir1020
Sent: 25/09/2008 10:59
Eileen, this is worth looking into. If possible I will buy it too.
Shirl.
Message 122 of 123 in Discussion
Message 122 of 123 in Discussion
From: Eileen_Gerrard
Sent: 25/09/2008 12:39
Shirl, nice to see you back on here. The book is good value. I am going to buy it if I can. I hear it's been on sale in the libraries, as it's local history. Stainforth is mentioned a few times, Bowling being one of the names. It's a very good history of peoples' memories, and can be dipped into, anywhere in the book. The photos and memorabilia are worth looking at. If I write all the details, then you might be able to order it. VoicesISBN: 0-906976-51-0Price £14.95Published by theWaterdale Press It is well worth the money, A4 size, glossy paper, with 194 pages. You will not be able to put it down.
Eileen
Message 123 of 123 in Discussion
Message 123 of 123 in Discussion
From: Swallow
Sent: 27/09/2008 22:52
This book is already 10 yrs old so you might have read it. Anyhow it's by Raymond Briggs (yes you knowalls - he what wrote Father Christmas, Fungus the Bogeyman, The Snowman, When the Wind Blows, The Man) and is called "Ethel and Ernest" and is the true story of the life of his father and mother. If you are not aware he writes in a curious way - using a strip cartoon presentation. But don't let this discourage you. It is a lot better than the Dandy. As you all well know, I am very aware that I have lived thro fantastic social & technological changes. Well this couple got married around 1928 and had Richard in 1931. So we are looking at a parallel of our upbringings. Now the strip cartoon doesn't go on and on and on. Just little cameos. Like he comes home from work and is having a good swill in the kitchen sink. "Why don't you do that in the bathroom?" "Cos I am too dirty. And when I'm dirty I always wash in the kitchen." "But there's food and allsorts in here." "Humph." We've all seen that so many times. And lovely reminders of massive changes in our life. "The country is going to the dogs. Do you know they are putting on another hour of television? Starting it at 6.00 p.m. now." Plot your own way now thro the 30's, scholarship, WW2, Grammar School, a job (in an OFFICE), marriage and so on. An excellent read (and he is pretty good at drawing too). How abt - he brigs home his first car. "Come on dear get in." "Oo-er...I don't like to......I've still got my pinny on...I haven't done my hair."
Be Happy
Allan
Thanks for importing the book thread.The long evenings of winter are perfect for settling into that comfortable spot and getting ahead of the return date at the library.Also we have lots of sales on, starting way before Boxing Day this year, including Indigo which is our mega book store. It's very convenient for browsing the new books and best sellers and then walking over to the Yorkville library and requesting the ones I fancy...Mick.
ReplyDeleteSo what books did you get as Xmas presents? Anything you can recommend - or haven't you read them all yet?
ReplyDeleteKeith
Would anyone living local have a copy of "manuscript in a red box"?
ReplyDeleteApparently a local tale written long ago with a mystery author about life and times around the Isle of Axholme.
thanks.
sbjabeal@aol.com 01302 844958
I read it years ago when I got it from the library. It was a very interesting read, and a very old old red book. Have you tried the library? I did get your message, and I was going to ask at Moorends library tomorrow when I attend a meeting there.
ReplyDeleteEileen
I asked about the book this morning and it is available. The librarian said you can join any of the local libraries and if it isn't available they will let you know when it has been returned. More than likely, it will be available.
ReplyDeleteThe manuscript was found in a red box in about 1903, and was found to have been written in the 1600s. It relates more to Hatfield moors, but as the area was all moorland, and much of it under water, I don't suppose there was much of a definition. I will have to read it again, because I can only remember snippets.
Eileen
Eileen,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks.
Managed to obtain the copy from Hatfield this morning. A bit tatty and the font is far too small for me. Almost fell asleep reading the intro, but hopefully the wife will enjoy it.
It appears to have the usual ingredients, love, lust, and greed.
SB
All you book lovers must try this site......www.bookcrossing.com
ReplyDeleteIt is a brilliant idea . I am trying to get my local pub/restaurant to join.
sbeal
ReplyDeleteThere is one of these books available on amazon if you wished to purchase one.
It is priced £28.00 + £2.75 postage.
It is for sale by Kenworthy--Books.
It is a Paperback in good condition, so it says.
There is a Reprint being undertaken by the Isle of Axholme Family History Society at the moment.
Hope this helps a little.
keep taking the pills and smile, that's it.
strogger
Keith, Read a couple of books over Christmas but nothing special until "The Spies Of Warsaw" by Alan Furst. Set mainly in Poland but also ,briefly,Berlin and Paris,it's a good yarn set in an authentically created late 1930's era. Published in 2008 I was happy to see that Furst has written a number of other spy novels prior to this one. This was a new addition to our library and as such could only be borrowed for a seven day period.So enjoyed it 3 days was sufficient.
ReplyDeleteNext up for me are two very different books."The Siege" by Ismail Kadare and "Golgo 13" byTakeo Saito. This is a Japanese manga (comic) paperback that you read in the Japanese fashion-starting at the back and reading from right to left on each page-should be interesting.
Mick.
THE MANUSCRIPT IN A RED BOX. A seller in Scunthorpe on EBay has 7 copies of the new edition for sale at £9 +£1.50 postage. I can't get it from the Oxfordshire library service . Can anyone tell me if it is worth buying at this price? Thanks Brian
ReplyDeleteMick,
ReplyDelete"Spies of Warsaw" sounds good. I enjoy those books that successfully recreate the times we lived through. But "Golgo13" sounds too much like a mental exercise.
The most significant addition to my library was a book by Gavin Menzies called "1434" and subtitled "The year a magnificent Chinese fleet sailed to Italy and ignited the Renaissance". This man is rewriting history and the professional historians don't like it. His thesis is that on succeeding to the throne, the Chinese Emperor Zhu Zhanji sent fleets to all known parts of the globe to announce his arrival, with evidence of Chinese superior learning and technology. Arriving in Venice (the great European entrepôt for trade with the orient) in 1434, they supplied not only maps which Columbus and Magellan used decades later to sail to America and to circumnavigate the earth, but also an understanding of the cosmos, mathematics and mechanical applications that were the basis of Renaissance thinking taken up by people like Da Vinci, Kepler, Galileo and a host of other names new to me but probably familiar to professional historians like James, Philip and Pat..
For someone like me, brought up on the myth of the "Dark Ages", who is only just getting his head round the idea that perhaps Islam provided some of the spark that ignited the late middle ages in Europe, this is mind blowing. But Gavin Menzies provides very strong evidence. To follow his arguments on navigation it helps if you are a professional sailor, as he was, but the narrative is compelling. It follows on from an earlier book "1421" but I suspect that this one repeats many of the points made in the earlier book.
Waiting for me to finish Menzies are two of Ian McEwan's earlier novels "Saturday" and "Amsterdam" - Xmas presents from the family in response to my enthusiasm last year for "Chesil Beach". I also received a small book by my near contemporary at LSE, George Soros: "The New Paradigm for Financial Markets" (subtitled: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means"). We'll probably be well into the next one before I finish that book. J.K.Galbraith was the only economist I ever enjoyed - chatty economics.
Keith,
ReplyDeleteI was vaguely aware of the Chinese fleets but did not know they may have reached Venice. The only route would have been around the Cape Of Good Hope from the Indian Ocean, an amazing journey for the time. I must see if my library has a copy. Magellan had no knowledge of Cape Horn. His maps included only the northern portion of South America although now you've got me thinking about how he was so sure there was a way to the east by going west, or south first in his case. Incidentally Magellan, like our homeboy Captain Cook, was killed in the South Pacific getting involved with local disputes so he personally never completed the circumnavigation. Magellan set off with a fleet of ships and over 200 men. One ship with less than 20 men arrived back.
Dredging the depths I now recall there was a boy in my class in Armthorpe Infants whose name was Cook, his mother was a teacher at the school, and they were descendants of the famous explorer.
Mick.
Mick,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. Of course I should have said that it was part of Magellan's fleet rather than Magellan that circumnavigated the globe. Menzies makes that clear.
But one of his points is that when Magellan was faced with a mutiny as he tried to find the passage into the Pacific, he persuaded his subordinate captains to continue by claiming to have seen the route on a map. And maps had been published, in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller and in 1515 by Johannes Schöner, twelve years and four years before Magellan set sail. The first shows the Americas and the Pacific, and the second shows the strait that Magellan is said to have discovered. But Waldseemüller and Schöner were not sailors. They never even saw the sea. Gavin Menzies argues that the Schöner map was made from projections from a globe that the Chinese brought with them in 1434. He also shows how similar maps came into the possession of the Portugese when the Crown Prince of Portugal visited Venice in 1428, maps based on material supplied to the Venetians by Marco Polo.
Menzies claims that it was not necessary for the Chinese to round the Cape of Good Hope. They reached Venice by the same route used by Arab traders at the time. We think of the De Lesseps canal as the first ship route to by-pass the Cape of Good Hope. But this is not true. There are records going back into ancient times of canals - 50ft to 200ft wide - which started at the Red Sea (Suez) and which made use of the Great and Little Bitter Lakes, and Lake Timsah, before branching west to the Nile Delta, giving access to the Mediterranean via Alexandria. Nearly 60 years ago I stood guard close to the remnants of the Lake Timsah to Nile Delta link, never realising its historical significance. We called it the "Sweet Water Canal" because De Lesseps was said to have used it to bring salt free Nile water to the people digging his canal, but in fact it is a very ancient water way.
Just more evidence of our very Eurocentric/Christian biased education! You can see more on these points at:
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1257.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal
http://www.gavinmenzies.net/maps.asp
Whether you believe Gavin Menzies or not, it is a good, mind stretching read. It is also a very effective marketing exercise.
Keith
It's a very good thing that we are at last getting away from what Keith calls the Eurocentric/Christian bias in looking at the world.The knowledge we gained at school was swamped by prejudice and patriotism.At the elementary school we learnt reading writing and reckoning, and that was very useful. The rest was just entertainment and could stimulated the imagination so it had some value. At Thorne,nothing much( I'm speaking for myself) though decimals and percentages were good to know -But four years of boredom to come away with that? Fortunately you could switch off and immerse yourself in your own precious thoughts just as you can switch off the warped news on the TV. Also I do feel a bit guilty about all the good taxpayer money spent on me.
ReplyDeleteBeing a European is a bit of good luck, but as Kipling said you know nothing about your own country unless you know about others.
And Christianity is alright, so long as you don't make a religion of it.
Ron
Keith,
ReplyDeleteWith reference to your comments on the Suez canal route pre De Lesseps I once attended a lecture by Jacques Cousteau. What a wonderful entertainer. I was spellbound. Among the many interesting things he touched on was the flight of the Israelites from Egypt and the opening and closing of the Red Sea. His explanation was that the low lying depression that extended from The Med through to the Red Sea was occupied by various small lakes and marshland and was referred to as the Reed Sea. The huge explosion associated with the collapse of the volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean caused a massive tidal wave that, amongst other damages, washed through the Reed Sea shortly after the Israelites had passed and unfortunately for the pursuing Egyptians at exactly the same time as they were making their way through. Apparently it's possible to date the wave and the flight from Egypt and the two events are contemporary.
Other associated events were the biblical plagues that struck Egypt, the 'sudden' ending of Minoan society, flood legends, and the subsequent flourishing of Greek civilization. Perhaps it's all 'pop' history but Cousteau presented a compelling case and archeological work on Thera (Santorini) in the last decade would seem to support some of the story.
Mick.
Mick, I think it is now established that the Red Sea had nothing to do with the Flight from Egypt. It may be full of red herrings: it has no reeds whereas bodies of water much further down - practically in the gulf of Suez used to be known as Yam suph which means sea of reeds.Before the Canal was built, not only a volcano-induced tsunami, but occasional violent wins could momentarily strip the land of water.In any case the flight is a religious legend,upheld by massive belief,but lacking conclusive evidence.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe all the tales my father told me (only 70years ago) and I'm not sure my grandkids always believe my strange tales about TGS. The Flight fromm Egypt happened about 1440BC.
Mick/Ron,
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard the "Reed Sea" explanation before, but it certainly makes more sense than the "Red Sea". I've often thought that if you were fleeing from the Egyptians in the Nile Valley it wouldn't make sense to head across the mountain range between the Nile and the sea coast, to be faced by a Red Sea crossing of about 120 miles, and end up facing another mountain range on the western edge of the Arabian Desert. Much more sense to head for the delta area, turn right across the flat bit around Tel el Kebir (remember that name James?). Then head towards the lakes, across the swampy/reedy bit which became part of the Canal Zone in our time, and into the Sinai desert, which did support some nomadic tribes even in the 1950s. You would then be within striking distance of all that milk and honey! And it's my understanding that the area north of Suez was at times a tidal swamp. So you don't even need a convenient tsunami to explain the phenomenon. It could have been simply a failure to consult the tide tables that did for the pursuing Egyptians.
I never got down into the Red Sea proper, but I did sail down the western fork known as the Gulf of Aqaba on a LST (Landing Ship Tank) to be deposited on the left bank as part of a training exercise preparatory to taking Abadan from Mosaddeq (remember him - the Ahmadinejad of his day). That was spring/summer 1951, and the planned Abadan attack never happened. The Americans had a better plan and the CIA organised a coup to remove Mosaddeq (less democratic, but less bloodshed!).
I also found myself in Tel el Kebir waiting for General Neguib and Colonel Nasser to reclaim the Canal Zone following riots in Cairo and the departure of King Farouk (summer 1952). They never came. I consoled myself by thinking of James's account of the battle of Tel el Kebir, and the success of General Wolseley.
All that waiting for things that never happened - and they gave me a medal for it 52 years later.
Keith, I just accessed your gavin menzies and wikipedia web references from a few messages back. The world maps from the 15th/16th centuries were fascinating and certainly showed pre Columbian and pre Magellan knowledge of the Americas and Australia. The 'moving' map of the Chinese 1421 fleet dropped my jaw although some of the journeys seemed a bit far fetched, particularly the northern one from Scandinavia across the Arctic Ocean and back to China. Wasn't the 'little ice age' a 15th century phenomenon? Also the canals constructed by Pharaohs and by Darius pre dating de Lesseps by thousands of years were another item about which I didn't have a clue. Although I wouldn't go as far as Ron about our TGS education, which was a reflection of the times, the older I get I realize the bigger the gaps. 1421 and 1434 from the library will help fill one.
ReplyDeleteMick.
Mick,
ReplyDeleteThat first link leads to a conveniently brief summary of the history of 'Nile to Red Sea' canals, but it contains one glaring error that Jim has probably already spotted. It mentions Napoleon's surveyors doing their work in 1800 but coming up with the same negative conclusion as those of Darius 2300 years earlier about differences in sea levels. If that was the level of competence of French military surveying at the start of the 19th century, it's no wonder that Napoleon floundered around in the Russian steppes, or misjudged the topography at Waterloo. But they were better than that.
The truth is that Nelson had marmalised Napoleon's Mediterranean fleet at the Battle of the Nile (aka Aboukir Bay) in 1798, and Napoleon had to make an ignominious return to Paris, abandoning his troops. Thereafter the British navy had command of the eastern Mediterranean for the duration, and a short cut to the east via Suez would have been of no use to the French. Their ships would not have passed Naples unmolested. That is the reason the canal plan was dropped by Napoleon.
I suppose the lesson was not lost on the Brits, who repeated the strategy at Mers el Kebir in 1940, to ensure that the French Mediterranean fleet did not come under German control. As a result Rommel's supply lines were vastly overstretched at El Alamein, and Germany suffered it's first significant defeat in WWII.
Back in 1952 Ian Fleming wrote Casino Royale introducing us to James 'stirred not shaken' Bond. The next 12 years saw a new novel most years.I could hardly wait for the library to get the current publication. Thousands of readers and then millions of viewers enjoyed Flemings tongue in cheek adventurer and a series of beautiful women co-stars with the most unlikely screen names. Fleming died in 1964 but the films have continued. Now we have a new 007 book 'Devil May Care' written by Sebastien Faulkes. Anyone looking for a novel with the passion and realism of Bird Song, Faulkes gripping novel of the First World War, won't be happy but if you are prepared to suspend the reality checks this new Bond will be up your street. Its' got the exotic locations and exotic women and nasty villains and even nastier masterminds.
ReplyDeleteSome things have a reputation of going well together. Strawberries and cream, pork pie and pickled onions, coffee and chocolate. What about a pair of books? Read the new Bond and follow with 'The Foreign Correspondent' by Alan Furst.The latter is such a realistic description of emigree society,Reuters, prewar politics, and spying in Paris, Spain, and Poland. You can smell the Gitanes in the Gare du Nord, feel the damp under the Seine bridges, and sense the fear at border crossings.The two books are opposite ends of the spectrum. Now I'm waiting for Faulkes to write a spy novel without the restrictions imposed by the Fleming formula. That will be special.
Mick..
I've just read a book called "In Parallel: A Yorkshire Childhood" by Janet Barker.
ReplyDeleteIt's an autobiography of a girl living in Bentley in the war years. She first lives in Hull, and they move to Doncaster to get away from the bombs.
From then on, a lot of her memories are the same as mine, She was born in 1934, so she's a couple of years younger than me, but she mentioned so many places and names which meant a lot to me. She talks about the County Minor scholarship, but the grammar school was Percy Jackson's. I don't want to give too much away, or it will spoil it. I really got immersed in it: there are 300 pages, and it's small print, but I recommend it to anyone from that era.
I bought mine from Amazon, price £12.95 I think. Oh, and it was recommended to me by Ron Bidmade. (He's related to Janet's husband, but don't tell him I told you!)
Eileen
Seeing the words of Lord Dismiss Us, reminded me of another memory Janet evoked. She mentions that they sang the hymn at the end of each term, which made me think that along with other things she writes about, TGS wasn't much different to the other schools in the area.
ReplyDeleteWhen Red Is Black is a detective novel set in Shanghai. The author is Qiu Xiaolong. It is turn of the century and the new entrepreneurial China and the China of the Cultural Revolution and Red Guard exist uneasily together. A murder, poetry, lots of food references, crowded 'homes', teeming lanes, plagiarism and two detectives combine for an entertaining read. Also by this author, his first novel,Death Of A Red Heroine which I am waiting for the library to get for me.
ReplyDeleteJust finished two more Ian McEwan books. Having started with his latest,"On Chesil Beach" and then "Atonement" I've just read "Saturday" and "Amsterdam", both published some years ago. Very compelling, good character studies, and an impressive amount of research (especially "Saturday") to give authenticity to his characters, but the plots are rather more contrived and the structure of the books show less finnesse. But I suppose that's all evidence that even great writers have to learn their trade. Is anyone else into Ian McEwan, and do you share my view?
ReplyDeleteAm about to get stuck into a 700 page, small print biography of one of my lifetime heroes - JK Galbraith. So "I may be some little time".
My favourite quotation from Galbraith,on the trickle down theory:(or words to this effect) Give a horse all the hay he wants to eat and he will say that's fine, but ask the sparrows that follow the horse and they will say "we're not so sure about that"
ReplyDeleteMy observation, for what it's worth, is that wealth doesn't trickle down,it surges up.
MacEwan is perhaps the Andre Maurois of English novellists. He believed that a novel requires its author to have generosity and impartiality.With these qualities, he can reach the intensity of Stendhal.
ReplyDeleteI recently finished Saturday, my first McEwan, and halfway through had a good idea of how it would end. Still had to read to the end though to see if I was correct. Keith, I will take your advice and read some of his more recent work.
ReplyDeleteToday I finished reading Sea of Poppies. Caste system, opium production, society, romance, sailing and tons of Anglo-Indian slang. Set along the lower Ganges from Patna to Calcutta and the Sundarbans and out on the Bay of Bengal. An enjoyable summer read if a bit too long.
Stieg Larsson died in 2oo4. His novel 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' and two other manuscripts were delivered to his publisher shortly before his death meaning that he never saw the success of his work,especially once it was translated from Swedish into English.
ReplyDeleteAt 465 pages I found it a bit long but never tedious. It is several stories woven into one with an interesting cast of characters. Mikael Blomkvist is the investigative journalist who becomes involved with industrial intrigue, a disturbed and disturbing Vanger family, and a tattooed computer hacking girlfriend with a highly original morally off-kilter character.
Not a book to nibble on for 10-20 minute sections before going to sleep which I tried to start off with. Best devoured in big chunks.
One of the books mentioned on this thread has recently come in for serious criticism. BBC's John Humphreys "The literary equivalent of painting by numbers, by an artist who can't even stay within the lines" and A.O.Scott ( New York Times ) ".....best selling primer on how not to write an English sentence"
ReplyDeleteHere is a quote from the book. "Only those with a keen eye would notice his 14-karat gold bishop's ring with purple amethyst, large diamonds, and hand-tooled mitre-crozier applique."
Name the book and author. Sorry no prizes for first to respond with correct answer.
Some four years in advance of current critics and well ahead of the curve in their comments were -
ReplyDelete"..a load of rubbish and very badly written" Ron Bidwell and
"..a poor, diffuse, rambling piece of fiction" Don Boyall.
The object of their comments was Dan Browns 'Da Vinci Code' which went on to some 80 million sales.No doubt his fans will make his new book another blockbuster and he can laugh his way to the bank with massive royalty cheques every quarter, even if he doesn't meet TGS standards.
What do you think?
ReplyDelete'Would you want your wife or your servant to read this book?'
'Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately? / I've got a hobby rereading Lady Chatterley.'
Brush up your French with subtitles. From Film 4 I recorded the French film 'Lady Chatterley' based on the 2nd version of the D. H. Lawrence classic and watched it in instalments over the last three nights. Its three hours long. With the characters embodied by fine actors there is no cacophony of sound no climactic scenes of surf pounding on the shore or train hurtling through the tunnel. It is not suggestive or salacious, it is explicit. The camera lingers on the soaring hawk because it is there, the passing of time is revealed by the changing flora. In silence, the walks through the woods the polishing of the silver the workman at his craft the clothes the furnishings, exquisite detail is keenly observed and absorbed. The burgeoning love between The Lady and the Gamekeeper is splendidly portrayed; it's consummation is honestly celebrated. Its a mature compellingly beautiful film. The cinematography must be among the finest on television. Read this film savour the subtleties.
Has Strictly Come Dancing lost its charm?
ReplyDeleteShostakovitch's 10th Symphony beginning to pall?
Finished the Times Cryptic Crossword?
Looking for something to read?
Well what about one of the electronic books available to read on your KINDLE - one of the new page readers that is really a small computer and costs you about $250 before you start paying for the books!
But now, as the proud owner of a PC with a broadband connection you don't have to buy the Kindle, because Amazon are offering you the software to simulate the device on your PC. You can download the software from:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kpc_gwad?docId=1000426311
and then read the books on your PC. It is simple to download and to use, and gives you access to about 350,000 electronic books at remarkably low prices. The software is FREE and some of the books are FREE.
Some people are put off by the idea of reading from a screen, but there are some advantages. You can adjust the page width and font size to something that is comfortable for you. The downloaded software makes that very easy. As a result I find the electronic books easier to read than reading from a paper page which has fixed width and font size. And they are available to you at the touch of a button. You don't even have to wait for the postman!
Most of the books can be downloaded for a small cost, about the cost of a paperback edition or less. Here are some of the works available by authors already mentioned on this blog:
The Works of D.H. Lawrence (Twelve Books) by D.H. Lawrence (Kindle Edition - May 2, 2009) - Kindle Book: $3.45
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Kindle Edition - Oct 1, 2009) - Kindle Book: $5.73
Headlong by Michael Frayn (Kindle Edition - Jan 8, 2009) - Kindle Book: $8.08
Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong (Kindle Edition - Jul 24, 2008) - Kindle Book: $9.94
1434 by Gavin Menzies (Kindle Edition - Feb 2, 2009) - Kindle Book: $13.79
The Siege by Ismail Kadare (Kindle Edition - Mar 19, 2009) - Kindle Book: Buy: $10.07
Listening to Grasshoppers by Arundhati Roy (Kindle Edition - Feb 7, 2009) - Kindle Book: $16.66
If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr (Kindle Edition - Nov 11, 2009) - Kindle Book: $18.11
I forgot to mention, for Eric's benefit:
ReplyDeleteHistory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, all six volumes, with active table of contents (Kindle Edition - Mar 7, 2008) - Kindle Book: $3.44
R.I.P. Rebus. Welcome Malcolm Fox.
ReplyDeleteThe Complaints is the latest by Ian Rankin and he introduces us to the members of 'The Complaints', the little liked branch of the police force, who deal with corruption among their colleagues. Set in Rebus' Edinborough many of the locations are familiar to us already. "Foxy" is his own man although he does have some Rebus like characteristics. This, first in a series no doubt, is a good yarn and a seamless transition to Edinborough policing at the end of the first decade.
About 18 months ago my nephew Nick visited us here in Toronto. His 'travelling' book was Brick Lane by Monica Ali and he was going to leave it with me after he had finished it. Too busy with New York, rock festivals, Montreal, baseball games, Dark Knight, and girls the book went back to England with him and my read came a few weeks later from the library.
ReplyDeleteMonica Ali now has another novel out and I just finished it last night. 'In The Kitchen' centres on Gabe, chef at a large London Hotel. Gabe is doing quite well in his career but he starts to feel the pressures from his job, from his girl friends , from his family and from his conscience. His decline is harrowing and deliciously horrible. Couldn't put it down but was glad when it was over.
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman.
ReplyDeleteMade up of Volume 1,completed in 1973 and Volume 2,finished in 1986 I am at a loss to know how this book and I took such a long time for our paths to cross. Although it sometimes seems that there have been as many books about the Holocaust as there are survivors The Complete Maus is very different and totally engrossing. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner from years ago. If I happen to be the only one who missed reading it back in the 1980's then sorry for mentioning it here but if it is new to you then you have a big surprise coming your way.
At TGS I rarely reached Room 11 (Biology Lab). It was at the far end of that long science corridor from the boys point of view, and it held nothing of interest for me. The smells emanating from there were not as discouraging as the rotten eggs smell from that lab assistants cell off Room 12 (Chemistry), but the smell of formaldehyde was almost as bad, and I found the sight of the odd partially dissected frogs that lurked there disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind Room 14 (Physics). That was where TGS life started for me, for Eileen and about 29 others, but I had no occasion to go past the boys prefects' room after School Cert. That corridor was for strange denizens like Swales A, Nunns G, Charlie Gibbons, Charlie Levinson and exalted creatures called Johnny Wooton, George Hunt and Pete Sidney.
It was not the title "The Greatest Show on Earth". It was the name R. Dawkins that caught my attention two weeks ago as I passed through W H Smiths at Gatwick Airport, looking for something to read en route to Tenerife. 450 pages excluding bibliography and index looked as if it might more than fill a 4 hour flight. In fact it occupied two flights and some time in between, but it was fascinating! It is Dawkin's most recent publication (Sept 2009) and lays out the evidence for Evolution and Natural (not to forget Artificial and Sexual) Selection.
Terms like Cambrian, Cretaceous and Wegener's theory of Continental Drift came back to me from days spent at the feet of the great Bernard Hazleton. I had heard of Carbon 14 dating but never understood why 14. I didn't know what an isotope was, I didn't know that Evolution Theory was based not only on fossil evidence and anatomical comparisons but becomes even more convincing when you include molecular genetics, that the elephant is closely related to the manatee, while the whale is closely related to the hippopotamus. I now understand why there is such close similarity between the head of a baby chimpanzee and the head of a small child, but (fortunately) less similarity between the adult versions (heterochronic growth). and I sympathise with the Kakapo which has not only forgotten how to fly, but has also forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly, with disastrous consequences (acknowledgements to Douglas Adams).
And if you enjoy Dawkin's wicked sense of humour (and I do) the book is also a laugh a minute - well, perhaps a chuckle every third page and the occasional guffaw.
But the great thing about the book is that a scientific ignoramus like me was able to understand every point that Dawkins made as I read it. That is not to say that I will remember every point he made. In fact I doubt whether my rapidly disappearing memory will retain as much as 2% of what I read. But I was convinced, surprised, intrigued and amused for two weeks. I constantly regaled my holiday companions with anecdotes and facts that they didn't particularly wish to know, and would recommend the book to any intelligent being being over the age of sixteen, whether a faithhead of any persuasion, dyed in the wool atheist or just simple "don't know" agnostic. Having one's mind stretched from time to time is a very salutary, enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Having heard that Pepys Diary was a bit heavy for people like me, but wanting to go there I have just finished "Samuel Pepys".by Claire Tomalin. A fantastic read by a quality authoress, who has seemed to remove the stuffiness, but takes you right into the character. And I had no idea what sort of person, or that that particular period of history was so incredible. He lived thro a Monarchy. Went down to see the King's head chopped off. Lived thro, a Republic. Cromwell died. The people were sick of being Puritans so got a king. Unless you were nippy and changed sides quick, Puritans ended up headless stuck on a spike. Cromwell didn't miss the fun. They dug him up for beheading and so back to a monarchy. He was born of grotty parents in a grotty house in a grotty street and yet got his degree at Cambridge (family member pulled strings to gain entry). He entered the Civil Service and ended up reorganising the Navy. He loved a pint and rugby songs, with smutty jokes down the pub. He loved the ladies and after a night at the theatre would visit one or two on his way home to Mrs Pepys. Not any old slapper but Nell Gwyn etc. He rose to be an M.P., top dog in Trinity House, .President of the Royal Societry. Attending Society gatherings he would be in the company of Isaac Newton, Mr. Boyle, Chris Wren etc If he wanted help with a bity of poetry Arthur Milton lived a short walk away. And for a bit of adventure he lived thro the Fire of London, the Plague and the Dutch Navy coming up the Medway and shelling us. He tells a lovely story. There was a massive gale, roofs blowing off etc, but up in Lincs a young teenager was in the back field. He was sprinting into the gale and recording the length of his long jump. Repeating the exercise, but with a back wind. Then going home to calculate the wind velocity. And there was no F=ma, or v squared = u squared + 2as to help. That was young Isaac and he hadn't yet invented those relationships. Must stop now - but there is tons more. So interesting I wish I had lived thro it all.
ReplyDeleteBe happy Allan If anybody reads it let us know what you think.
But some things never change. When a family member wangled him into govt. and the Civil Service, he was told it was a poor wage but the backhanders more than compensated. And if he needed a clerk or secretary to ensure it was a family member - they would be grateful for the money and less likely to cleck on him. Sounds familiar
ReplyDeleteBe happy Allan
I say, The Famous Five books are being published with 'sensitive revising'; changes to the language for a new generation of children. Words like wizard jolly and guffaw are being dropped altogether. Golly, whole phrases are being revamped;
ReplyDelete'She must be jolly lonely all by herself' becomes 'She must get lonely all by herself.' The first suggests concern the latter an idle observation and Dame Slap who smacked naughty children becomes Dame Snap who just tells them off. Where's the impact in that!
Most peculiar because only last week as we tramped through the heavy rain my 47 year old daughter amused us greatly by muttering..'and the we went home and had lashings and lashings of ginger beer.' Wizard!
This week I've been reading Rosamond Lehmann's 'Weather in the Streets' (1936)..... 'We had a cut off the joint in the parlour, I could scarcely taste, all my senses were numb.'
and Vita Sackville West's ' All Passions Spent' (1930)...... 'When she had once asked Henry whether the same phenomenon was observable in the realm of politics..he had accorded her the gravest courtesy of his attention.'
Oh what language. I willingly wallow in it. One really must safeguard it against disturbance.
Allan, one of our daily newspapers reprints an extract from Pepys diary each morning. I get the impression that there is often a lot more to what he writes than what he actually writes-if you know what I mean. In the hope of further enlightenment I have asked the library to get me a copy of the Claire Tomalin book which seems to be the latest on Pepys....and....speaking of latest.....there is a new, this year anyway, Henning Mankell thriller. It doesn't feature old favourite Kurt Wallendar but even so I think it might be the best Mankell has written. I couldn't put it down. Just finished it this morning. Another I recently finished was 'Book of the Human Skin' set in Napoleonic Venice and Arequipa, Peru. This is unusual, creepy, and fascinating, like a cobra with a mouse, but you have to keep turning the pages, feeling guilty for your own morbid interest, and at the same time being hectored by the loathsome Minguillo .
ReplyDeleteOoops. Forgot to give the title of the Mankell book. Think it was 'The Man From Beijing'
ReplyDeleteXmas coming up - subtle proddings about what I'm reading these days, from children and grandchildren. Not much I reply. Antonia Fraser recently kept me quiet with Mary Queen of Scots, forty years after everyone else read it, and I'm wondering whether her book on Marie Antoinette might be equally rewarding. But has anyone got any better suggestions for the long winter nights ahead?
ReplyDeleteArkady Renko, the Moscow investigator who first appeared in 'Gorky Park' by Martin Cruz Smith in the early 90's, is back in 'Three Stations' an entertaining short read centred on a gritty part of Moscow. After 'Polar Star' and 'Red Square' Cruz Smith dropped off my radar but a recent newspaper review of Three Stations reminded me to look him up. In the intervening years he has written three other Arkady Renko novels so they will be some of my Christmas reading. My library system shows that they are all available within a few days of being requested. I am also number two on the request list for Tomalins' 'Samuel Pepys' so that will be a December read as well.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Marie Antoinette I would say go for it Keith. Antonia Fraser put some good research into her novels and you can be happy that you didn't read them when they were first published as the pleasure is still to come.
To be honest Mick, my first reaction was that I'm not much into "thrillers" or anything with too much violence, but then, I thought, it can't get much more violent than the story of Marie Antoinette. And Martin Cruz Smith has a more than creditable bibliography and a number of distinguished prizes. I'll give it a go and report in due course. And the "Samuel Pepys" suggestion is also appreciated.
ReplyDeleteAt last I can tell Allan that I got hold of the Claire Tomalin book on Pepys and took it with me to Tobago for my annual winter visit. What a fascinating read. I knew there was more to Sam. than my newspaper was publishing in its brief daily extracts from his diary. The images of the 17th.Century, the huge differences from today, and the similarities, are remarkable. Sam. himself is a complex man able to swim with the political tides, hobnob with Kings, consort eagerly with ladies of easy virtue, and discuss navigation, astronomy, medicine, politics, travel and architecture with the foremost members of society. At the same time he assiduously cultivates the friendship and assistance of those who can advance his career and uses his own influence to help friends and relatives take a step up in theirs.
ReplyDeleteStrogger, Happy New Year. A couple of years ago you mentioned that a reprint was going to be published by Isle of Axholme Historical Society. Did anything come of that?
ReplyDeleteMy son was standing outside a New York bar when he was approached by a smartly dressed Middle Aged Woman.
ReplyDeleteIn the crook of her arm was a copy of Catcher in The Rye.
She said "Are you Richard?"
He said "No I'm Jonty."
She said "Oh. It looks like my Blind Date has failed to turn up"
He said " Well. Don't let it spoil your evening come and have a drink. My wife and my mother are inside."
She was pleasant company. The book, she said was for identification by the BD. In addition she had two tickets for the theatre and chocolates in her bag and after a few drinks and lively conversation she left, insisting that we keep the chocolates.
What would J.D. Salinger make of that? I read Catcher in The Rye this weekend.
For me The Catcher in The Rye, to give it its proper title, is the most thought provoking book I've read in ages.
ReplyDeleteA year ago I was raving in this blog about "On Chesil Beach" and that led me to other works by Ian McEwan ("Atonement", "Amsterdam" & "Saturday"). My family have just taken that interest on board so three more Ian McEwan's arrived as Xmas presents. So far two down ("The Daydreamer" and "The Innocents") and one to go ("Solar", his latest). The two I've just read were interesting but not riveting. "The Daydreamer" was written as an experiment in short stories that would appeal to grown ups and kids. I found the themes too repetitive. "The Innocents" was a nostalgia trip back to the days of the Berlin blockade and the espionage technology of those days, and I enjoyed that. But you have to have a strong stomach to take the multi-page description of the dissection of the victim, which is the climax of the story. I baulked at that.
ReplyDeleteThere were six other books in my Xmas swag, including the Martin Cruz Smith "Three Stations" recommended by Mick. I also found the Pepys book he recommended on our bookshelves, my wife having read it some years ago. But as a break from Ian McEwan I chose “The Finkler Question” by Howard Jacobson, this year’s Booker Prize winner. It explores every aspect of being a Jew in western society, including wishing you were a Jew. It is both very funny (dry Jewish humour), nauseatingly introspective (think of Woody Allen), thought provoking, moving (towards the end) and beautifully expressed in parts. But to my surprise I found the continual obsession with sexual issues "unnecessary". Perhaps that's a sign of ageing. I'd like to hear what others thought of the book.
So far it’s three down and six to go before I return to the pre Xmas backlog of reading. I'm also conscious of the fact that my reading speed, never outstanding, is getting slower and slower. I thought I probably needed new spectacles, but despite expenditure of large sums of money to meet that need it still seems likely that next Xmas will overtake us before I've dealt with this years haul and the backlog.
Keith, Your rave got me interested in McEwan and I read Saturday,Chesil Beach and more recently Solar.I like the way the author details his characters for good or for bad. In Solar the central character is an unattractive academic/entrepreneur and McEwan just heaps on the disdain as the book progresses. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteMy most recent read was Overboard by Michael J Tougias. I started reading it on Tuesday evening and finished it the next afternoon. I only put it down to sleep. If you like books that deal with danger at sea this one is a well told story of a sailboat trip from Connecticut to Bermuda.
Mick,
ReplyDeleteI'm now into Solar, and the first hundred pages are promising. That account of the of the ride on the snowmobile and the lip salve was the funniest thing I've read for a long time, and a predicament that any male would instantly identify with - all our worst fears. The emotions are so beautifully described, and the language so polished it shares a high place in my esteem with Chesil Beach.
But even more impressive is his ability to sound so convincing on such things as the philosophical implications of Quantum Theory, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Nambu Lie 3 algebra etc. And in Saturday he seemed equally expert in neuro surgery and all the associated medical procedures. Jacobson's reference to the world of work in the Finkler Question were almost all derived from his experience at the BBC, but McEwan's equally convincing detail cannot possibly be drawn from real life experience. I'm lost in admiration for the amount of background research that shines through in all his work, and it seems to get better all the time.
Mick,
ReplyDeleteBut a further 100 pages on, which included one of the neatest expositions on global warming and solar energy technology I have ever read, I have to agree with you that McEwan's supreme skill is his ability to depict character in ways that we can all appreciate, even identify with, while loathing the actions and attitudes depicted. "Chesil Beach" was a superb example of that skill, and Solar is even better and perhaps a greater challenge for the author. It seems that McEwan has absorbed and learned how to capitalise on that observation of Montaigne repeated on this mornings Andrew Marr programme: "Chaque homme porte la forme entière de l’humaine condition".
Keith, subprime mortgage bonds, mezzanine tranches, negative-amortizing adjustable rate subprime mortgages, silent seconds and credit default swaps. These are some of the terms used in my latest read 'The Big Short' by Michael Lewis.Even though I don't totally understand the terms and other 'quants' in the book, just like many aspects of McEwan, the story and the characters are so strong that the need to sweat the details is eliminated. 'The Big Short' explains the incredible greed that was at the heart of the recession of 2008. The creation of asset backed bonds(credit card debt, car loans, student loans) became associated primarily with mortgages and those mortgages were created willy nilly by banks and mortgage institutions interested only in packaging them up and selling them on.Almost anyone could qualify for a mortgage loan and the fact that property values were seen to be going up annually and were thought to continue so doing ad infinitum was seen as security for even a risky mortgage. When the teaser rates on the mortgages expired, and property values began to fall, and the triple B mortgages(many of which had been reclassified triple A by Moody's and by Standard and Poor) began to default then the trickle became a flood.
ReplyDeleteEven more interesting is the story of the very few investors who saw it coming. In retrospect it should have been obvious but it wasn't except to a few fund managers and odd ball financial analysts who sold the mortgage bonds short and turned millions of dollars into profits of billions of dollars. The primary losers, of course, the taxpayers, as Governments, worldwide, had to bail out the institutions that through their own greed and stupidity had created the meltdown. What I find worrying is that many of those same financial experts who were in charge or close to the top then, are still in the same positions.
Mick,
ReplyDeleteFirst Solar. I found it very satisfying, partly for reasons discussed above, but also because it is so beautifully constructed, the logical climax occurring neatly on the last page. In some of his earlier books, particularly Innocents and Saturday and to some extent Chesil Beach, I felt that there were several pages of addenda and tying up of loose ends. Solar avoids that.
Secondly, you have just reminded me that I still have to finish George Soros' book on the credit crisis of 2008. You will remember that George Soros was the man who forced Sterling out of the ERM on Black Wednesday 1992. He identifies one of the key factors in the 2008 debacle as the liberalization of the financial industry that reached a climax in the Regan/Thatcher years. That facilitated the creation of "funny" financial instruments and the vast expansion of credit, but also removed the very strict distinction between retail banking and speculative merchant banking that had characterised the industry for decades if not centuries. It was the era when the mutual building societies in this country were finally permitted to turn into limited companies, and got snapped up by the bigger banks for which retail banking had become a minor arm in a conglomerate that saw bigger returns in dicey investment banking. It's noticeable that one of the first remedies mooted for our damaged banking system is to restore that strict distinction.
If any one harbours any doubts about the stature of Ian McEwan, or even if you have no doubts, please follow the following link to which Ron (Malta) has just alerted me.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/20/ian-mcewan-great-injustice-israel?INTCMP=SRCH
But it also says something admirable about the Jews. We should not give up all hope on the Palestinian question.
Captive Queen by Alison Weir. Eleanor of Aquitaine, a remarkable woman and her tumescent relationship with Henry 11 of England. Mummy and Daddy to Richard the Lionheart and King John( and several other sons and daughters). Although a work of fiction this novel works around known hard facts of the times. At first I thought historical chick lit and almost returned it to the library but gradually got involved and hooked.
ReplyDeleteOld Filth. An entertaining easy read of less than 200 pages. Story of a judge who is a Raj orphan as a boy. Swings from 1930's 1940's childhood to present day retirement touching lightly in between.
ReplyDeleteMatterhorn. Easily the best novel I've read about the war in Vietnam, providing that gung-ho Marines are among your favourite warriors.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy crime novels by Scandinavian and Icelandic authors with the odd exception. New to me are the team of authors from Sweden, Roslund and Hellstrom. They have written four or five crime novels and my read was 'Three Seconds' for which they received the 2009 award for Swedish Crime Novel Of The Year. Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson are previous winners.At almost 500 pages it's a hefty read but well worth it for the introduction of Ewert Grens, Detective Superintendent, Stockholm City Police. He is partly Wallendar, partly Rebus, and partly Blomqvist but uniquely Grens carrying a constant and terrible sense of guilt.
ReplyDeleteAnd from Norway....Nemesis by Jo Nesbo. Another hard drinking love conflicted angst ridden detective. Bank robberies, murder, double cross and gypsies all set in Oslo.
ReplyDeleteRead Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise (free download iPad)
ReplyDeletewith it's eloquent 20th century English language and Roaring Twenties speak.
When you get to chapters - Isabelle -and - Babes In The Woods
see what the emancipated Ladette of the 21st century has renounced.
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.....it's the alluring ritual of a courtship with distinct gender roles .
ReplyDeleteIs the second part of Geo. Archer's latest novel out yet in England? I find no reference to it over here yet.
ReplyDeleteI have also heard that the BBC have done a good job with 'Birdsong' for television. This is one of my all time 'war' novel favourites.
ReplyDeleteBook two, The Sins of the Father has been completed, and will be published on March 15th Mick. Book 3 is being written at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen, and I meant Jeffrey not Geo.
ReplyDeleteI knew what you meant Mick. I went on Google and it took me to JA's website.....and he is giving some info about Book 3. I haven't read any of his books and I didn't know he was still writing.
ReplyDeleteYes he has been writing for a long time. I enjoyed Cain and Abel and As the arrow flies? light years ago. Then when he went to prison I lost track of him (or lost interest) but recently rediscovered him. His work is very commercial, sells well, reads easy, and makes no demands. Sometimes something light and entertaining is just what you need. My current read is The Leopard by Jo Nesbo. I started it once before, a few months ago but couldn't get past the first three or four pages. Thought it might lead to bad dreams.This time I'm well into it but there are a number of references to events in the previous book which I believe was The Snowman. I should have read that one first.
ReplyDeleteWhen my older son still lived at home, his work moved him to an office in Wakefield. He didn't drive, so used public transport, which made it a tedious long journey. He began reading Jeffrey Archer's books to while away the time, and really enjoyed them. He had quite a collection, and I was always going to read one, but by the time I was ready, he went into prison, (JA, not my son!) and I lost interest in him. Perhaps I will have a look at his earlier books....or should I begin with your trilogy?
ReplyDeleteI think I would go with an early one such as Cain and Abel first and then go for the trilogy. In the first part of the trilogy I really enjoyed the descriptions of trying for a scholarship to public school and then going for admission to Oxford.(or was it Cambridge) There is also a short factual book based on his first couple of months incarcerated that is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe Three Day Road. Can't remember the author but this book was suggested to me by a friend who had also enjoyed Birdsong. It's the story of two native Indians from Northern Ontario who volunteer to serve in WW1. This has been my most enjoyed read in a long time.
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ReplyDeleteHello Mick. Thanks for demonstrating that there is life on this planet.
Inspired by her account of Mary Queen of Scots, I finally got round to reading Antonia Fraser's Marie Antoinette. Like the earlier book I found it difficult to put down. Some critics think it is too soft on MA but I found the account believable and ultimately harrowing - I don't recall JAL going into all the gruesome detail of the Reign of Terror. Tripoli in 2011 must have been a picnic by comparison. The book also pulled together a lot of loose threads from Maria Theresa through to the Orleans, and put the Polignac phratry in context.
It seems years ago now, but probably only a few months, I got round to the Samuel Pepys biography that Mick recommended, and learned a great deal that I didn't know about the later Stuarts, and Pepys' deplorable habits. But I had never realised that he was anything other than a diarist. Because of the naval reforms that he instituted, and the resulting superiority of the English navy in the 18th century, he was probably more influential in the creation of the British Empire than any other individual - is that an exaggeration James?
And finally, as a follow up to Richard Dawkins' "Greatest Show on Earth" I've downloaded onto my Kindle "The Social Conquest of Earth" by Edward O. Wilson which sets out to explore in greater depth than Dawkins the question of why advanced social life exists on earth. Wilson is a great expert on ants (did you know that ants have been around for 120 million years, while hominins in organised societies appeared at best a mere 3 million years ago, that there are about a million ants on this planet for every human, that if you stacked all the seven billion members of the human race log style they would fit into a cube two kilometers on each edge etc etc). Another very readable book if you are into such questions.
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By various methods ants have been blocked from invading my kitchen.
ReplyDeleteHowever , while my back was turned they came through the front door
This problem now solved with a line of talcum powder over which they will not cross.
Prompted by this site revitalised by Mick and Keith, I switched to Edward O Wilson's lecture on insect society.
Now inclined to download 'The Earth Dweller' by Erich Holt
With a cast of milions a tale of daily toils and drama it promises an insight into the world of eusociality for those who think that ants are all about contaminating the sugar bowl.
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ReplyDeleteShirl,
I sense that despite your attempts to prevent their invasion of your space, you share with me a fascination for these long surviving species of hymenoptera. I hope I'm right.
My interest stems from early childhood (age about 4 or 5) when, because of obstinate parental refusal to invest in a proper pet, I sought a substitute and adopted an ant colony in the garden of 409 Broadway. When later the same day my parents returned from a shopping expedition to Doncaster with, amongst other things, a small packet which they described as ant eggs, I was convinced that this was a gesture of reconciliation. The packet was clearly intended as food for my ant colony. (I was young enough to think that the only significant use for eggs was as a form of breakfast food. Enlightenment on the details of the reproductive processes came some years later, mostly from TGS acquaintances). I took the packet and headed towards my newly adopted friends.
My sense of parental neglect and blatant discrimination exploded when the packet was snatched from my hands and the contents fed to a goldfish recently acquired by my older siblings as a fairground prize. Since those days I've always harboured feelings of solidarity, comradeship and a sense of shared injustice with the industrious but much misunderstood ant. The evidence that they discovered eusociality, and honed it to levels way beyond our comprehension, is not lost on this incurable leftie. But I must admit that as a UMCP, I have difficulty in coming to terms with their haplodiploid characteristics.
The domestic incident described above has left me with one large insoluble question mark. However did goldfish acquire a taste for the eggs of a land based based insect. Any suggestions welcomed.
And I sincerely hope Roland does not see this - he'll have a ball!
K.
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That's interesting about the talc Shirl. I am here in Italy, three storeys high, and last week ants were found in my Grandson's bedroom. Evidently the occupants of the ground floors have been overtaken by ants, and they have managed to sort of get rid, and then the second floor had the same problem, an then the two apartments up here. My daughter in law, although not impressed with the invasion thinks the few we've had have escaped the destruction below and soldiered upwards and onwards, sadly to be exterminated at the top. No one wants them inside, not even you Keith.
ReplyDeleteBut I share your fascination with them outside. They carry such loads of whatever they can lift, huge bits of wood and leaves for ages. I used to sit just watching a colony scuttling one way with their load and another line passing in the opposite direction, presumably going for reinforcements. I think I might read your book Keith.
Eileen
ReplyDeleteIf, as I believe, you are near Lake Garda you could be about 50 miles from this morning's earthquake. Did you feel the tremors?
When I view the effects that burrowing ants have on my crazy paving, laid on a bed of sand, and I consider the number of ants on this planet, I think we should be prepared to consider the possibility that ants are responsible for earthquakes. It's a line of enquiry and academic research for which any decent university would surely be only too pleased to accept a large research grant!
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ReplyDeleteEileen
If, as I believe, you are near Lake Garda you could be about 50 miles from this morning's earthquake. Did you feel the tremors?
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Yes Keith, I was awoken when my bed was shuddering quite violently for a few minutes. This was followed by two less violent shakes. As I write this hours later, my bed has shuddered again, not for so long, and the live news shows there is more damage to beautiful old buildings. All the people have been evacuated for now, because their homes are demolished or unsafe. It's quite scary when it happens, so it must be terrifying for those poor people.
ReplyDeleteSome animals have an instinct that warns them of an imminent earthquake. Maybe those ants were getting as far away from the ground as possible in advance of the quake. Cats and geese have both been recorded displaying unusual behaviour prior to earthquakes and have become part of the list of precursor activities associated with predicting earthquakes, fault slippage, and eruptions.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I read an article in a sailing magazine about baking bread without having to knead the dough. A month ago a letter to the editor took the first writer to task for copying the technique from a book titled My Bread by Jim Lahey. Wanting to see what the fuss was about I ordered the book from the library and baked my first loaf yesterday. Now I don't like to brag but.....
ReplyDeleteThe basic ingredients are bread flour, salt, yeast and water and all you do is mix them together with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds or so. That's not really all you do as there is a lengthy rising period and the baking technique is unusual as well. The product is a dark crusty loaf with an air holed light crumb interior that is irresistible with butter, excellent for hearty sandwiches and makes a tasty toast with butter and marmite.
The book is about $35 so it's not cheap if you have to buy it but it's well worth a loan from the library, especially if you enjoy that fresh baked bread aroma drifting through the house.
Eileen. Can we start a new thread on a topic that we all have in common? Getting Older. I think that we might have a few items to share on the topic since we are all going through the process. Yes I know it could be morbid but so what. A little bit of morbidity makes the world go round-or is that sugar. To my way of thinking the topic lends itself to some hilarity and that is an item we all can use more of.
ReplyDeleteNo sooner said than done Mick. A good idea.
ReplyDeleteI am a lot older than my computer but in much better shape. I wanted to read Keith's contribution on the book he read but the thread, after taking me back to 2008 suddenly became a new one about growing older.
ReplyDeleteI therefore decided to get a new computer amd hope to get back on the site soon, though what I really need is a new brain,not to speak of all the rest.
Thanks for the tip Keith. I finished Marie Antoinette this morning. Since it has been so hot and humid today my walk to the library has been the full extent of my physical activity. I was surprised and at times horrified at the treatment Marie Antoinette received, particularly in the last years of being plain Mrs. Capet but also throughout her time in France from the age of 14, first as Dauphine and then as Queen. I enjoyed history at TGS, even with Dora Gosling spending most of the time dictating notes, but I wish she had given us a bit more of the 'inside info' in our sixth form European History lessons.
ReplyDeleteJust put down a spell-binder. You must read A.D.Miller's "Snow Drops" - short-listed for the Man Booker prize last year and published by Atlantic Books at £7.99, but also available from Amazon in hardback, paperback, Kindle and audio book (CD) format. It's a morality tale. "A mesmerizing tale of a man seduced by a culture he fancies himself above." It is both a nuanced character study and a fascinating look at the complexities of Russian society in the post Gorbachev, post Yeltsin era. Any one who has lived outside his native culture for a few years will understand the fascination depicted, even if his own experiences were not so "exotic". And anyone who reads it thinking that he can predict the outcome has missed the point - we can all do that. It is the subtle depiction of the slow decline and obstinate blindness of the besotted hero that is the point of the novel. There are additional kicks for those who have been to Russia or had prolonged contact with "the Russian soul".
ReplyDeleteThis is a first novel by this author, and to my mind better than Ian McEwan's earliest books in structure, language and character depiction, although perhaps less subtle than say "Chesil Beach" and "Solar". An additional interest for me was its depiction of the disciplines and perils of project finance in the merchant banking sector. I wish it had been available 20 years ago so that I could have given it to my son to read before he launched into his chosen career.
I have put a copy on hold at the library. There are 65 holds ahead of mine but the library has 31 copies so it should be ready for pick up before the end of July. I love my library.
ReplyDeleteSnow Drops (or Snowdrops - the cover design is confusing) was an easy read - 270 pages easily devoured in a day. That is partly due to the author and partly to the publisher (Atlantic Books) who have used wide line spacing which I find very helpful. So 270 pages perhaps overstates the size of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe next one, just finished, was only 150 pages but harder going; nevertheless very worthwhile. This was last years Man Booker winner - "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. A central character of mediocre ability who simply lets life occur around him (i.e. someone most of us can readily identify with). Another psychological study with lots of soliloquising, which I found I had to read and reread to get the full significance.
It starts with a bunch of 1960s Grammar School boys who I must say had more intellectual interests than I had at that age, continues through the student social life of one of them, and picks up again in his retirement. It's only in retirement that he discovers that one ill considered reaction in his youth has catastrophic life changing influences on others in his circle at that time. Not a lot of action (except in bed, and sometimes on the floor).
I seem to be damning the book with faint praise - that is not my intention. Its well written, well structured, with excellent characterisation, frequent thought provoking observations and some subtle ironic humour. The book requires more intellectual effort than Snowdrops. I didn't learn anything new about the world from this book. The world depicted is too much like my own for that. But I learned more about people. More food for thought !
I haven't read Fifty Shades of Grey yet I hear sales are rampant the readership voracious and the authoress has spawned a graphic sequel
ReplyDeleteThe library took just 2 weeks to get me a copy of Snowdrops. It's an easy enjoyable predictable morality play read with strong reminders of McEwan and all the better for that.
ReplyDelete'The Broken Shore' followed by 'Truth' are two books by Peter Temple , an Australian author good enough to put the Olympics on hold. Set in Melbourne, and nearby, the city is very different to the one I knew in the mid sixties. Temple reminds me of some of the Scandinavian detective novel writers so if you have read all the Wallenders this could fill the void. The conversations are peppered with Oz'isms but The Broken Shore which takes place a year or so before Truth has a dictionary in the back if you need a phrase 'translated'
ReplyDeleteI downloaded the 83 paged Sample of 50 S of G. by page 12 in a state of tedium I touched the delete button. so.
ReplyDeleteI turned to 'The Fear Index' where with graphic detail
'He disappeared from the room and the door sighed shut .......'
'With flashing light display, a piercing siren and an air of great self-importance, the car roared up the boulevard and over the bridge.......'
in a web of intrigue, Investment technology and intricate mathematical formulae, author Richard Harris is bound to enthral.
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Into The Silence, subtitled The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. A thoroughly researched account of the Everest expeditions of 1921,1922, and 1924 with background from the First World War and England in the pre war period. Totally absorbing.
ReplyDeleteAnybody read the new McEwen yet?
ReplyDelete