Ersatz TLS discussion

Hello everyone.
I hope people aren't suffering too much from the heat - a thought for those in the Pacific NW. And a special thought for Lisa, we were all sorry to hear about your brother's health problems.

I've been reading and enjoying The Stories of Jane Gardam and I came across a passage in one of the stories that made me think of Justine/interwar.

from Telegony

‘And did you know you can spend such a pleasant hour or so in the London Library simply by ignoring the Members Only notice? You just walk in looking thoughtful and go upstairs to the Reading Room. It’s a pity they’ve moved the old leather armchairs. They were so comfortable and you could sleep in them before a matinée. I always picked up one of the learned journals from the racks – something like The John Evelyn Society Quarterly – so that they’d think I was an old don.’
‘They can see you’re no don, Molly, with those diamonds.’
‘I turn them round, dear. I’m not silly. They used to give you a tray of tea in the London Library once, you know, but all those nice things have stopped since the Conservatives got in.’

Of course, Justine would not have needed to ignore the Members Only sign!

And now for some themes which have come up over the past fortnight.

Long vs short
This was prompted by Storm reading Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

I absolutely loved most of this book, unexpectedly. I had the impression it was going to be dry and dusty but was pleasantly surprised by a lot of the sly indirect humour… I was gripped by the first two thirds of the book. Mann ‘s style is heavy on (too much unnecessary?) detail and I began to drift by the end.” This led to “thoughts on Very Long Novels. Does War and Peace need to be the length it is? … Is my unease of vast tomes a reflection of the modern reader’s inability to focus for longer periods? Or a preference for spare, pared down writing?

Sometimes writers may be being self-indulgent, a case in point being JK Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith.
Berkeley says:

If I'm involved in a book, if I feel engaged by the characters, the action, the story, I'm happy to spend more time with it, with them, with the whole thing - in spite of the bibliophile's everlasting urge to move on the the next book.

Greenfairy gives an excellent example:

The Mirror & the Light is long but doesn't waste a word.

And I think scarletnoir has good concluding words on the subject:

As for whether such books are 'too long' - it depends entirely on how much we enjoy them.

Learning from our reading
Storm:

light reading historical novels may be, but they can also be powerful. For me they can be a catalyst to find out more.

Georg:

Reading fiction was, altogether, the spark that ignited my interest in history. Decades after it was quashed by a succession of uninspiring teachers.

CCCubbon:

That’s certainly true for history books but often applies to more general fiction.

She gives the example of the Thora Gudmundsdottir series by Yrsa Sigurdardottir.

I liked The Day is Dark particularly as it is set in Greenland - a place that I knew nothing about and learned much.

Another example of this is given by Greenfairy:

I am reading John Grisham,Gray Mountain. It describes the way that big coal just destroys entire mountains for strip mining, what a despicable practice... It is heartbreaking,it really is.

Unforgettable?
And lastly, Bill boldly states

I expect every novel I read to be unforgettable.

He goes on to explain:

It's not necessarily an issue of quality with me. It's more a question of wanting an author to impress me in some way that "leaves a mark"… very bad books such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are also sometimes memorable. Still, I’d rather read a memorably bad book than a book that leaves almost no trace at all on my memory shortly after reading it, as happened with The Corrections

Happy August reading to all of you!

Thanks for another great introduction Gpfr.

Can I just get in with a completely off topic post?

⚽🥇Well done you Lionesses.

On topic......I'm am having a reading blitz on J M Dalgliesh's Hidden Norfolk series. Currently on No. 4 Tell No Tales
and the characters are developing nicely. A smartly dressed Londoner with a criminal record is found dead at the bottom of the cliffs at Sheringham, DI Janssen's home town. Two of the suspects are known to him from his schooldays as bad 'uns. The wife of one of them is expecting and as she was carrying on the deceased who was black and her husband is white, things could get a bit awkward. So far so good.

For Andy - Thanks for the definitions. The puzzle idea for mysteries certainly fits the bills for me.

I'll put up a comic to start the thread off right - take a look.

No books read in last 72 hrs, been run ragged by five neices/nephews who are almost constant duracell bunnies....

was enjoying Benedetti, Scully and Berreda before the long weekend ....temperatures a little warm, though nothing like the dreadful mid-July stuff..

MK wrote: "For Andy - Thanks for the definitions. The puzzle idea for mysteries certainly fits the bills for me.

I'll put up a comic to start the thread off right - take a look."

I think it was Bill MK who suggested those definitions. They interested me also.

giveusaclue wrote: "Thanks for another great introduction Gpfr.

Can I just get in with a completely off topic post?

⚽🥇Well done you Lionesses.

On topic......I'm am having a reading blitz on J M Dalgliesh's Hidden ..."

giveusaclue wrote: "Thanks for another great introduction Gpfr.

Can I just get in with a completely off topic post?

⚽🥇Well done you Lionesses.

On topic......I'm am having a reading blitz on J M Dalg
Well done indeed Lionesses great stuff😀
I have just read the first two of Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series, set in and around Hereford. Merrily is the vicar of Ledwardine and also the Deliverance Advisor- the exorcist in other words.She is a widow with a troublesome teenage daughter.The books are part supernatural tales and part murder mysteries. The characters are all believable and Rickman seems to know his folklore.Also I would like very much to visit Hereford Cathederal now..

Greenfairy wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Thanks for another great introduction Gpfr.

Can I just get in with a completely off topic post?

⚽🥇Well done you Lionesses.

On topic......I'm am having a reading blitz on J M ..."


I have read some of those but a while ago. I visited Hereford Cathedral a few years ago and met probably the only other Burnley supporter in the city - she was a cathedral guide well into her retirement years who travelled back for every home match. I wonder if she is still there. Absolutely nothing to do with books of course!

Andy wrote: "MK wrote: "For Andy - Thanks for the definitions. The puzzle idea for mysteries certainly fits the bills for me.

I'll put up a comic to start the thread off right - take a look."

I think it was ..."
Thanks - looks like you are elected to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Greenfairy wrote: " have just read the first two of Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series, set in and around Hereford. Merrily is the vicar of Ledwardine and also the Deliverance Advisor- the exorcist ..."

I've read and enjoyed those.

@Robert
I hope you'll be on here to read this — I've just seen your post on WWR and remembered a cryptic comment on here. What's the problem with Facebook? Is it still the case? If you explain, maybe someone can suggest something.

Gpfr wrote: "@Robert
I hope you'll be on here to read this — I've just seen your post on WWR and remembered a cryptic comment on here. What's the problem with Facebook? Is it still the case? If you explain, may..."

I found a way to bypass Facebook and get back. Thanks for checking.

Robert wrote: ...

That's good!

Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?
This question is prompted after watching/reading reviews of the new version of Persuasion. Suffice to say I am not tempted to watch it. I LOVE Jane Austen and cannot bear to have the spirit of the work trashed. If you want to use it as the plot of a film, fine, just don’t call it Persuasion.
For example, I really enjoyed the Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. They kept the general outline, and the essence of the book, modernised it, but it was never meant to be a film adaptation of the book.
Of course I realise I am talking about a film I have never seen, just clips, but what upsets me most about any of these modern adaptations is pasting modern manners and sensibilities on the likes of 18th c characters. Society even fifty years ago was so much more rigidly structured. Behaviour was different because people employed RESTRAINT and RESERVE, not emotional incontinence and an insistence on self. Apparently, as an example, the phrase “self-care” is used for Anne Elliot. That in itself should tell you all you need to know about the approach taken in this film.
PS I did learn something new to me. The difference between colour blind and colour conscious casting.

giveusaclue wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Thanks for another great introduction Gpfr.

Can I just get in with a completely off topic post?

⚽🥇Well done you Lionesses.

On topic......I'm am having a re..."

Well someone has to support Burnley I suppose....

Storm wrote: "Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?..."

Here are a few films/TV adaptations I thought were as good as, or better than, the book:

Dr Zhivago (found the book in parts so boring as to be almost unreadable)

Far From The Madding Crowd (OK, I love David Lean colour, and Julie Christie)

Closely Observed Trains (atmospherics brilliant in both)

Nosferatu (the movie is way more shivery)

The Way We Live Now (book more complex but David Suchet in blazing form)

Band of Brothers (spell-binding Spielberg)

The Godfather (shlocky book, Brando for the ages)

Fellini Satyricon (decadence realized)

The 39 Steps (black & white images so memorable, book less so)

I would like to add Master and Commander for calling up the true spirit of Aubrey/Maturin but it is made up of bits out of more than one book.

There’s nothing very recent in my list, I notice.

I’m not sure I can name many movie/TV versions I hated. Most are decent enough. If a movie version is terrible I tend to dump it in the Useless category and soon stop thinking about it.

Greenfairy wrote:
"Well someone has to support Burnley I suppose...."

😡

There's a story in the NY Times about Jeff Bezos's yacht ($500M) and the bridge that might have been dismantled temporarily if the local Dutch hadn't raised a ruckus. Here's a quote from the story -

“The Dutch like to say, ‘Acting normal is crazy enough,’” said Ellen Verkoelen, a City Council member and Rotterdam leader of the 50Plus Party, which works on behalf of pensioners. “And we think that rich people are not acting normal. Here in Holland, we don’t believe that everybody can be rich the way people do in America, where the sky is the limit. We think ‘Be average.’ That’s good enough.”

Average works for me. 😊

Russell wrote: "Storm wrote: "Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?..."

Here are a few films/TV adaptations I thought were as good as, or better than, ..."

as a rule i am very wary of adaptions but i agree with Closely Observed Trains, both film and novel are landmarks of Czech art

i would also mention Parades End but for another reason, i loathed the book(though my grandfather loved it) but loved the drama adaption which was high art at its best

Late last night I saw that BBC 2 were showing Apocalypse Now the final cut.whch of course is a rather brilliant ( but expensive) adaptation of Heart of Darkness..The horror, the horror.

Russell wrote: "Storm wrote: "Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?..."

Here are a few films/TV adaptations I thought were as good as, or better than, ..."

Have to admit I never read Dracula, but Murnau's Nosferatu was really impressive.

I'd add:

The Third Man

Kiss of the Spiderwoman (only read the book because of the film)

With reservations: The Name of the Rose


There must be many many more.

AB76 wrote: "i would also mention Parades End but for another reason, i loathed the book(though my grandfather loved it) but loved the drama adaption which was high art at its best.."

Can't agree with you there AB. I loved the book and was therefore disappointed with the adaptation (I'm assuming you mean the TV one?). It finished after the third book and the last one, Last Post, is I think my favourite. But apart from that I felt all the main characters were miscast - but then I'd lived with my view of them for years.

But if we're allowing TV adaptations I did think Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott were spot on as good as the books.

And I notice Russell mentions Master and Commander. I'm in the process of re-reading the whole series - my third time through - and the other night I was having a solitary meal when I noticed that M&C was on TV. I joined it in the middle of the final battle (with the Acheron I think). I always glibly read through the sea battles but this really hit home with how violent they are, deaths, limbs lost, swords, cutlasses, rifles in the maintops, bodies being unceremoniously slung overboard in the midst of battle. And this is what the sailors and marines were there for. Very few deaths by drowning as the idea was to take the other ship not destroy it. It really brought home what I think even Patrick O'Brian cannot describe in its absolute horror.

Russell wrote: "The 39 Steps (black & white images so memorable, book less so)"

What impressed me in comparing Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps to Buchan’s novel is that the book struck me as an exceptionally chaste “boy’s own adventure” type story, whereas in almost every element from the novel that made it into the film a strongly suggestive sexual element was added – from the sexy female spy that attaches herself to Richard Hannay in the opening scenes (in the novel it’s a male) to his sharing a bed handcuffed to Madeline Carol (a character not in the book).

The one element in the novel that I felt didn’t come across in the film was Hannay’s terror at being hunted from the air by airplane. I have the suspicion Hitchcock felt the same was and wanted to more than compensate for this shortcoming with the airplane scene in North by Northwest.

Storm wrote: "Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?"

I'll think a bit about this. In the meantime, I'll recommend the book Double Exposure: Fiction Into Film.

One adaptation I hated was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - I thought the film managed to eliminate everything that made the novel unique and unforgettable, which was centered in its being told from the subjective POV of Chief Bromden. My own adaptation would have been more like an adult version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, combining live action with Looney Tunes-type animation.

Unexpected turns in the Great Northwest's weather. It is overcast. We've had a steady breeze off Puget Sound. Of late, I've been sleeping-- or trying to-- with the balcony door open. Last night I PULLED COVERS ON.

Storm wrote: "Film adaptations of books can range from faithful to fanciful. Which have you loved or hated? Why?..."

This has given rise to a good discussion, but maybe it would have been nice in the Films thread?

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "i would also mention Parades End but for another reason, i loathed the book(though my grandfather loved it) but loved the drama adaption which was high art at its best.."

Can't agree ..."

it might be that cos i disliked the book i was suprised to watch it and think, should i read it again?

Robert wrote: "Unexpected turns in the Great Northwest's weather. It is overcast. We've had a steady breeze off Puget Sound. Of late, I've been sleeping-- or trying to-- with the balcony door open. Last night I P..."

Love that marine air! I may even have to get out a sweatshirt for Thursday. What an improvement.

On the down side, during my annual furnace cleaning, I was told it's time to replace - guess I'll have to look into something that both heats and cools.

My question of the day - Do we need a separate spot for cats?

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-w...

For mystery fans who like short stories -

https://mailchi.mp/b1151c823623/the-r...

or if that doesn't work - https://crippen-and-landru.myshopify....

Note - they are a small publisher.

MK wrote: "My question of the day - Do we need a separate spot for cats?

But of course we do!!!

The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee

(already positively reviewed, almost certainly by CCC)

This is the fifth in the Wyndham and Banerjee series, which is fast becoming my favourite current crime series. Beautifully written, with a pacy plot and engaging characters, this book also educates us about India in 1923, as the independence movement flexes its muscles. A murder takes place in Bombay - but unfortunately Suren (Banerjee) is suspected of the crime. He and Sam travel to Bombay to unravel the mystery and to prove Suren's innocence. (Period spellings are used.) The author expertly uses a twin narration, switching between Suren and Sam - which not only provides two insights on the action as it unfolds, but also two views of the British colonial venture as it enters its final phase. Both display degrees of disillusionment regarding the British involvement, whilst also having to make immense efforts to reduce the real possibility of inter-faith carnage.

Comparing this to earlier books in the series, unlike some it doesn't AFAIK include any real, specific, events - but no doubt similar disturbances did occur at the time. This allows a better balance, without the need for lengthy explanations of the riots described. Not only does the author have valuable comments to make about the politics of the time, though - quite a few clearly are intended to apply to the contemporary world as well:

"I should have known better. People always fit the facts to suit their own agenda."

"Having attended the most minor of minor public schools, the right accent had opened more than a few doors and given me access..."

The author is also very amusing, for example:

"The precise timing of a service or the protocol of a liturgy were usually set in stone, generally by some priests many centuries after the god or prophet in question had washed his hands of us all and headed back to the heavens."

"He was talking to a group of Englishmen, each armed with a drink and a cigar, the shield and sword of these latter-day crusaders in foreign parts."

Sam on Suren: "...getting him on to a plane was like persuading a dog into a bathtub."

So - strongly recommended. I hope to read many more volumes in the series.

Could anything be better? The only improvement I would like to see would be the inclusion of a glossary - I love languages, and enjoyed the way in which words from Bengali and - I think - other Indian languages are introduced here and there... whereas it's usually possible to guess the meaning, at times guessing only gives an approximation. I'd like to know exactly what is being said. A very minor quibble... I enjoyed this as much as anything so far in 2022.

MK wrote: "My question of the day - Do we need a separate spot for cats?

What a splendid story!

MK wrote: "Robert wrote: "Unexpected turns in the Great Northwest's weather. It is overcast. We've had a steady breeze"

"Love that marine air! I may even have to get out a sweatshirt...."

Breezes! Sweatshirts! Maximum 35° here today. At the moment, (9.30 in the morning), I've got all the windows open, but there's not a breath of air. All the windows except my kitchen where I have to shut shutters and window at this time in hot weather as it gets the full force of the sun for a few hours.

scarletnoir wrote: "The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee

This is the fifth in the Wyndham and Banerjee series, which is fast becoming my favouri..."

I've got one of these waiting to be read - which seems to be my go-to response these days!

Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "Robert wrote: "Unexpected turns in the Great Northwest's weather. It is overcast. We've had a steady breeze"

"Love that marine air! I may even have to get out a sweatshirt...."

Breeze..."

sticky in the shires too, nighttime low of 19c for third night running, the daytime heat is only mid 20s, though, so bearable but would love some cooler nights

this is turning out to be the warmest summer in my lifetime and the warmest year too, no sustained brutal temps but long spells of mid 20s weather and hosepipe bans in force now....everywhere looks like the med, dead grass and dust

There is a Guardian piece in which crime writers give brief comments on their all-time and recent favourite crime novels:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Of the authors consulted, I have read 8 or so and rate only two highly (a couple more were OK). No-one has recommended my current favourite Abir Mukherjee, or another very good contemporary Ray Celestin. The Scots seem to be pretty much ignored - Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride and Philip Kerr don't get a mention (unless I missed them)... no Elmore Leonard either... did Jim Thompson get one mention?

Of those who receive approval, Patricia Highsmith and Raymond Chandler score highly (no argument from me about those two) as well as a few lesser lights. I'm interested to see that Dennis Lehane gets quite a few mentions - I haven't tried him, but now maybe I will.

scarletnoir wrote: "The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee

(already positively reviewed, almost certainly by CCC)

This is the fifth in the Wyndham and Banerjee series, which is fast becoming my favouri..."

Thanks for this.
Im behind you by two.. but looking forward to them.

The other excellent historical crime series that often gets praise here is the Celestin quartet.

Is there to be a sixth do you know?

scarletnoir wrote: "There is a Guardian piece in which crime writers give brief comments on their all-time and recent favourite crime novels:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202......"

I’m reading and replying post by post.. so saw this only after I replied to your above, re Celestin.

I agree that article could have been a lot better.

Bill wrote: "Russell wrote: "The 39 Steps (black & white images so memorable, book less so)"...The one element in the novel that I felt didn’t come across in the film was Hannay’s terror at being hunted from the air by airplane...."

Thanks for reminding me of that. With the new phenomenon of aerial combat in the War, that might have seemed even more scary in 1915 when the book came out.

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "M & C...sea battles... It really brought home what I think even Patrick O'Brian cannot describe in its absolute horror."

Spot on. The movie gives a fearful idea of the wild blood lust that took over the crews when the fighting was hand to hand.

I'm resisting a re-read of the series, for the moment. I know that, once I start, domestic duties will be ignored, conversation will fall silent, and all other reading abandoned.

Andy wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee

Is there to be a sixth do you know?"

I don't know, but I hope so - Mukherjee seems to be on a roll, and this latest was the best yet in terms of sheer pace and readability. He needs to keep going.

I know that the excellent Philip Kerr published his first three Bernie Gunther novels between 1989-91 (as the 'Berlin Noir' trilogy), then nothing featuring Gunther until 2006 - he wrote a number of stand-alone novels in the interim. I don't know this for a fact, but I wonder if Kerr did that because the early Gunther novels didn't immediately reach a wide readership... sometimes, authors don't realise when they have hit on a great idea. Or, maybe, he just fancied a change...?

I do hope that the Wyndham and Banerjee series keeps on for a while yet, and that Mukherjee gains the readership his skills deserve. The 'Guardian' authors seemed pretty conservative in their choices, and long dead authors don't need recommendations - or the sales and income.

scarletnoir wrote: "I'm interested to see that Dennis Lehane gets quite a few mentions - I haven't tried him, but now maybe I will."

A Washington Post review of Shutter Island at the time of its publication made it sound like it would appeal to me. I picked it up when it came out in paperback and was extremely disappointed.

I can't even say whether it's a good book or not - I felt I was the victim of a bait-and-switch. It was sold to me by the reviewer as one sort of novel but turned out to be something else altogether that didn't work for me. I think a large part of the problem was the reviewer's decision to avoid anything that might conceivably be considered a spoiler.

Bill wrote: "Russell wrote: "The 39 Steps (black & white images so memorable, book less so)"

What impressed me in comparing Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps to Buchan’s novel is that the book struck me as an exceptionally chaste “boy’s own adventure” type story, whereas in almost every element from the novel that made it into the film a strongly suggestive sexual element was added – from the sexy female spy that attaches herself to Richard Hannay in the opening scenes (in the novel it’s a male) to his sharing a bed handcuffed to Madeline Carroll (a character not in the book).

The one element in the novel that I felt didn’t come across in the film was Hannay’s terror at being hunted from the air by airplane. I have the suspicion Hitchcock felt the same was and wanted to more than compensate for this shortcoming with the airplane scene in North by Northwest."

I am reasonably sure that we studied (or read, anyway) the book during my first year at grammar school... unless it was 'Prester John'. Anyway - whichever it was, the book was decent enough but nothing special, and already seemed very old-fashioned even then (early 1960s). (Some of Buchan's attitudes have been criticised for various reasons - quite rightly I suspect, but it's a long time ago...)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bu...

The Hitchcock, on the other hand, was great fun and remains the most entertaining of all the film or TV adaptations. It's hard to imagine the story now without the Madeline Carroll character, or the handcuffs! I've seen it several times...

Bill may be right that the aerial attack in 'North by Northwest' was suggested by his reading of 'The 39 Steps' - it's a brilliantly filmed sequence, planned minutely - Hitchcock (always? - often, anyway) used storyboards:

https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/ho...

Examples of attack from the air take place in several James Bond films, for example 'From Russia with Love':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQoAw...

scarletnoir wrote: "Bill may be right that the aerial attack in 'North by Northwest' was suggested by his reading of 'The 39 Steps' "

In reading the various source material for Hitchcock’s films, it was interesting to see how an idea from one source shows up in a later film when technology or budget allows it. For instance, in The Lodger, Belloc Lowndes has a scene where a single relevant word stands out from otherwise unintelligible speech (in the novel’s case, the sound obscured by fog and distance). Two years after filming The Lodger, Hitchcock was able to use the effect in Blackmail, his first sound film.

‘Ulysses’ in Different Guises

Having spent some time discussing, and contemplating the legacy of Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ last month with some of you here, I had a dream, in response to my various ponderings. It starred the visual backdrop of Susanna Clarke’s book, ‘Piranesi’, which I read a couple of months ago, and, in retrospect, it must have had quite an affect, in terms of atmosphere, on me. And this is combined here, with my rewriting of a famous poem, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, ‘Ulysses’, to ulterior purposes…

I have concluded that ancient stories, and not so old ones, are there for anyone to rework, however they feel about the original. Some of you might be surprised, as I am, that I, in dreaming mode, have seemingly kidnapped their on-line identities and propelled them into another world… https://jediperson.files.wordpress.co...

Well, I hope no offence is taken, and perhaps they might even enjoy the unexpected adventure. Or at least that they might appreciate the medieval illuminated marginalia that I have attached to the adventure. I do like a ‘mash-up’ it seems…

MK wrote: "My question of the day - Do we need a separate spot for cats?

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-w..."

Of course we do!!!

Bill wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "I'm interested to see that Dennis Lehane gets quite a few mentions - I haven't tried him, but now maybe I will."

A Washington Post review of Shutter Island at the ..."

All I remember is that I didn't get it and not only gave up on Shutter Island but also added Dennis Lehane to my DNR (Do Not Read) list. I am unforgiving. No second reading chances in this house.

scarletnoir wrote: "I'm interested to see that Dennis Lehane gets quite a few mentions - I haven't tried him, but now maybe I will..."

Unlike Bill and MK, I liked Shutter Island quite well, but I wouldn't advise you to start there. It's not very typical of his books.
If I remember correctly, the references in the article (or comments) were to the Kenzie and Gennaro (private investigators) series. I've been thinking recently of re-reading them. The first is A Drink Before the War. One of the later books in the series was made into a film: Gone, Baby, Gone.
Mystic River is another on the theme of books to films - it's a good book & film.
The Given Day is set in Boston at the end of World War I: Spanish flu, strikes, anarchists, black vs white ... Lots of interesting themes. I would say not completely successful, but readable.

MK wrote: "All I remember is that I didn't get it and not only gave up on Shutter Island but also added Dennis Lehane to my DNR (Do Not Read) list."

I think I got the idea behind the narrative twist, but thought it was a [Philip K] Dick move on Lehane's part.

The Truce by Mario Benedetti is my second novel to be digested slowly, due to uncle duties and the steady, ennervating heat of the last five weeks

However, reading offers transportation from the swampy, climate changed shires and this gentle novel of a 50 yo finding love late into widower-hood is so well constructed.

Benedetti also maintains a subtle, careful commentary on 1950s Uruguay, about to leave a comfortable era behind, with a state groaning under the pressure of its admirable social welfare system but endemic corruption. The state was running out of ways to maintain the south american "Switzerland" and within a decade, it would be riven by violence and then the descent into military rule