Ersatz TLS discussion

Hello, everyone

The weather here at the moment is very good for staying inside and reading!
Wishing you all lots of good books.

The weather here is one of those days that the UK can throw up, its late April, it was 18c a week ago and today the mercury has not topped 9c, with drizzle and 100% cloud. Like GPFR, i have spent it indoors, reading,.,

Graham Greene's The Comedians(1966) is a bit below his usual standards but still a very readable account of that tragic nation and the figure of Papa Doc Duvalier looms large.

Rabans Coasting is a somewhat unclassifiable mix of memoir, travel and social observation in Falklands era late spring 1982

Reimanns Diaries 1955-63 cover the unstable, promiscuous, bi-polar world of the East German novelist. She is honest and funny at times, its a lifestyle of constant adultery and attempts to find meaning in her life. She criticises the regime a few times and the nutty world of communist publishing and its pathetic luminaries is absurd to say the least, every one of them little grey men who found a paradise in somebodys elses hell

Everetts Erasure has started well, a lot of wit and some unusual content,, Everett is a much discussed modern author and i can see why, although written 23 years ago its a well constructed work

I’ve finished another Black Lizard crime novel, this one a more “respectable” effort than Swamp Sister. Violent Saturday was first published in hardcover and represents an attempt to infuse the crime novel with more mainstream literary values.

The novel serves up a portrait of the small town of Morgan, Alabama by presenting a series of vignettes featuring a cross-section of its citizens seen over two days. Winesburg, Ohio is an obvious influence, and Sherwood Anderson is explicitly mentioned by one of the characters in the novel.

Threaded through this slice-of-life material, we also follow three strangers who arrive in town by train in the first chapter. It’s made clear early on that they’re there to rob the bank the next day. The book’s title lets the reader know that their plan won’t go as smoothly as two of the three anticipate.

Heath gives each of the sections a unique voice, expressive of the thoughts and status of the character being examined, though the voice of the single Black character in the mix, known as Sugarfoot, is pretty caricatured. The reader is comparatively alienated from the three bank robbers in that their chapters are presented in an objective third person, unlike the subjective third person granted the town’s residents.

Now moving on to my third Black Lizard in a row, Shoot the Piano Player, another Fawcett Crest paperback original under its original title, Down There. I assume Truffaut’s film adaptation is not, like the novel, set in Philadelphia.

After the discussion last thread about Anthony Burgess' disdain for popular music, and, even more, critics and promoters who held it up as high art ("I despise whatever is obviously ephemeral and yet is shown as possessing some kind of ultimate value"), I was amused to see this in today's NY Times:

Fans of Taylor Swift often study up for a new album, revisiting the singer’s older works to prepare to analyze lyrics and song titles for secret messages and meanings.

“The Tortured Poets Department” is getting much the same treatment, and perhaps no group of listeners was better prepared than the students at Harvard University currently studying Ms. Swift’s works in an English class devoted entirely to the artist. The undergraduate course, “Taylor Swift and Her World,” is taught by Stephanie Burt, who has her students comparing Ms. Swift’s songs to works by poets and writers including Willa Cather, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

Thanks for the new thread G.

I have come across a new crime author, Christophe Villain. Unfortunately I have have had to start on book 3 of a series where our heroine police detective is in St Malo having moved from Paris. I haven't got the back story to this of course but she finds her nemesis in the form of the Prosecuting Judge has followed her. He has already tried once to wreck her career apparently.

The first crime, the wife of a local long standing hotel owner is driven off the road into harbour and drowns. Was she the intended victim? Was is the elder son, and due to inherit, up to in his latest nefarious deeds?

I am about two thirds of the way through and enjoying it a lot. Just wish I had been able to start at the beginning. Edited for multiple typos.

Swiss French literature is a special pleasure of mine via the novels of CF Ramuz and Jacques Chessex, alongside the earlier works of Benjamin Constant and the non-fiction of Rousseau

I just found a 1961 novel by Phillipe Jacotttet called Obscurity and have ordered it, published by Seagull Books, who also published the Reimann diaries i am reading. I hope to read it later this year

Just saw this poem about the classical Furies:

It appeared in comments on a painting: Les Erinnyes - František Kupka

“Three”:
Fate
is revenge.
Impious triad of
blood,
tears and whips.
—
Talion’s trident, (*)
incarnated in snakes:
haughty,
horrific and
unmentionable.
—
Each murder
finds punishment
in the gathering point
in which Eternity
and Infinite
turn into Hell.
—
Death
is not solace,
nor sheltering sky.
Hence…
madness.
—
©2014 Verónica Boletta

We have had several posts on diaries in recent months. I am reading "A Writer At War : Vasily Grossman With The Red Army, 1941-1945."

A number of passages were familiar from Barbarossa, a recent study of Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941.

Gpfr wrote: "Hello, everyone

The weather here at the moment is very good for staying inside and reading!
Wishing you all lots of good books."

Thanks for the new thread, Gp... I assume by 'here' you mean France (Paris)... it's been really cold in Brittany. As I have mentioned, we have no central heating ATM while a switch from an oil (fioul) boiler to air pumps take place, so we bought a couple of electric convectors to tide us over - though they struggle in this cold (it was 5C at 09:00).

But - disaster - our run of bad luck continues. I got up around 5am for a 'nocturnal visit', noticed no lights - the electricity was off, not just here but on the few houses visible on a distant hill! Total darkness. So we froze all morning, until the EDF got things back around midday...

Bill wrote: "I’ve finished another Black Lizard crime novel, this one a more “respectable” effort than Swamp Sister. Violent Saturday was first published in hardcover and represen..."

Merril Heath is another name unknown to me... perhaps I should investigate.

Now moving on to my third Black Lizard in a row, Shoot the Piano Player, another Fawcett Crest paperback original under its original title, Down There. I assume Truffaut’s film adaptation is not, like the novel, set in Philadelphia.

Haha! No, indeed - iirc it is set in Paris. Here is a link to the IMDB entry, though I don't recommend the trailer which is very tricksy and unlike the film itself.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054389/...

Thanks for your comments on music in the last thread. The Glass étude was less than 3 min long, and brilliant. I can understand that if the piece was extended to 3h, it would become wearing if there was no development (or not enough). I'll start with the études, which seem most likely to be of interest to me - as well as some film music, perhaps. I tend to feel that 3h of anything in one go is too long these days, anyway! One advantage of reading is that it's easy to pause and start again...

As for Burgess - it sounds as if you think he was an early (?) 'controversialist', of which we have far too many nowadays - people who publish absurdly provocative opinions in order to provoke a response ('clickbait' in modern parlance). But maybe I misunderstood.

giveusaclue wrote: "I have come across a new crime author, Christophe Villain. Unfortunately I have have had to start on book 3 of a series where our heroine police detective is in St Malo having moved from Paris."

I'm not sure why you started with book 3, as all are available - at least as ebooks:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Christop...

- or is this a different series to the 'Sandrine Perrot' books?

As far as I can see, Villain isn't French - it's a pen-name, but it seems difficult to track down more info. There is a German author who has written books set in Brittany, but I'm not sure if this is the same person. Some of those books (with a male cop) have been filmed (in German) and dubbed into French. I saw one but wasn't much impressed.

In general, I'm not so keen on cop books written by 'foreign' authors, as they tend to get the details wrong - or more subtle things, like the atmosphere and background. There are exceptions, though: Michael Dibdin (Italy), Philip Kerr and David Downing (Germany) etc. Perhaps I'm more positive about those books/authors because I know the countries less well!

scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "I have come across a new crime author, Christophe Villain. Unfortunately I have have had to start on book 3 of a series where our heroine police detective is in St Malo having m..."

Will have a look thanks. I think you may mean:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/je...

Those books are in need of some serious editing.

ANOTHER BULLSHIT NIGHT IN SUCK CITY by Nick Flynn

I liked this memoir by poet, writer and university professor Flynn, which tells the tale of his life and relationship with his father in short chapters which focus on specific events or periods. Flynn avoids self-pity (which would be all to easy given the circumstances) and gives an account which is at times realistic and at others impressionistic of how things went down. The writing is generally very good: two chapters did fail for me - one was a long list of words or phrases for: drinking; getting drunk; and the morning after feeling. The other had a short playlet maybe in the style of Beckett. (I think there were brief explanations in the afterword as to why these were included.) The first two pages give a false impression, as they are definitely in impressionistic style, before the reader can settle down to make sense of what is happening.

Next, a comment on the content: SKIP THIS if you think the notion of 'spoilers' applies to a real life (as opposed to fiction). You could read this information in Flynn's Wikipedia entry anyway.

The bare bones, then: Flynn's mother was very young when she married his father, who was quite a few years older. The father left when Flynn was so young he had no memory of him, and doesn't see him again (except, briefly, once) until he is 27 and working in a homeless shelter. The father - a feckless individual who doesn't appear to give a feck about anyone or anything, is a 'writer' - the kind of writer who is an alcoholic but doesn't actually write anything - or nothing that gets published, at any rate. He spends his life in scrapes, does some prison time, keeps his alcohol dependence under some sort of control until at the end he is not just homeless, but manages to get expelled from the shelter. Flynn is remarkably tolerant of this character, and tries to help him - though not to a crazy degree.

In the meantime, Flynn himself has his problems with alcohol and (mainly) soft drugs. His mother has a succession of live-in boyfriends, preferably those with some DIY skills to help fix up her accommodations. She shoots herself when Flynn is 22, and he feels guilty (for a while he had stayed 'at home' to keep an eye on his mother, but went to college digs). We don't learn a huge amount about the mother in this book... but Flynn wrote poems about her after her death, and interviewed her former boyfriends. Perhaps there is more about her in Flynn's second memoir, This Is the Night Our House Will Catch Fire: A Memoir. It does sound as if his mother, too, was 'damaged goods' from very early on; Flynn (and his brother) did remarkably well to survive.

And that is why the book is not 'depressing' (as some have said) - not for me, anyway. Towards the end of the book, Flynn's father boasts of having 'survived' - by which he means he didn't die young - but he may as well have done: his life was wasted. That isn't the case for Flynn (or, we assume, his brother). Somehow or other, they endured, they came out the other side. And that gives reason for hope.

giveusaclue wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "I have come across a new crime author, Christophe Villain. ..."

I think he's German, too, as the German editions don't seem to be translated ...
Maybe it's another pen-name for the other guy :)

A beautifully clear, sunny day — if you can get out of the biting cold wind! I feel for you, scarlet.

Stop Them Dead.
I've started this, the latest in Peter James's Roy Grace series (Brighton-based police officer). It's dealing with the increase in theft of dogs and unscrupulous puppy farming.

scarletnoir wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: " cop books written by 'foreign' authors..."

It can be problematic, but as well as the ones you mention, I like Barbara Nadel, Istanbul, Donna Leon, Venice ...

scarletnoir wrote: "As for Burgess - it sounds as if you think he was an early (?) 'controversialist', of which we have far too many nowadays - people who publish absurdly provocative opinions in order to provoke a response ('clickbait' in modern parlance). But maybe I misunderstood."

I suppose that Burgess was something of a controversialist (though I’m not familiar with the term and may not get its nuances), but for the most part an honest one, though I think his early struggles to earn a living through his typewriter left him reluctant to turn away any paying assignment, however unsuitable to his nature. Perhaps it’s one of the perils of being a polymath.

In artistic matters, he represented an “old school” point of view that emphasized the distinction between high culture and mass culture, Warshow’s “Proust vs Spillane” distinction I quoted in a previous thread. He also opposed the idea that art should convey a moral point of view, representing instead a kind of neutral good, like the taste of an apple. As both these positions were being contested at the time of his celebrity, and he was on the less popular (and I would say, at least at present, ultimately losing) side of these issues, he tended to be the go-to guest for “debates” on the issue, which led to a kind of viscous circle of guest appearances and opinions: the more he or his byline showed up, the more likely it became that he would be asked for yet another take on issues.

scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Hello, everyone

The weather here at the moment is very good for staying inside and reading!
Wishing you all lots of good books."

Thanks for the new thread, Gp... I assume by 'here' y..."

oh dear.....you must be due some good luck soon! Heating is still needed in April, people forget that sometimes, to be without is a real inconvenience

Robert wrote: "We have had several posts on diaries in recent months. I am reading "A Writer At War : Vasily Grossman With The Red Army, 1941-1945."

A number of passages were familiar from Barbarossa, a recent s..."

looks like its been out since 2006...amazed i havent read this...thanks for mentioning it robert. i read Grossmans travel journal on Armenia last year

Thanks for the new thread, GP. Weather over here also a bit on the cool side following a turbulent start to the month – huge snow storm and then a wind storm– but thankfully no April heatwave as sometimes happens, and currently lovely. Rhubarb and garlic pushing up.

Anyone looking for half an hour of sheer pleasure might like to listen to a recent New Yorker interview of Judi Dench, talking about her acting, and reciting some Shakespeare: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/...

I didn’t have any present idea of reading The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, but I picked up a copy, started reading, and now am gripped.

Apropos Philip Glass, a few years ago we made a trip to see Simone Dinnerstein in concert with the cellist Matt Haimovitz, playing four pieces, two sonatas by Beethoven for cello and piano, and two solo pieces by Glass. To our surprise, the best part of a wonderful evening was a Glass piece for solo piano called Mad Rush, about 15 mins long, contemplative despite the name, sonorous, melodious, and exciting to experience.

I've liked most of what I've heard by Philip Glass, but that isn't a whole lot. I've never tried Einstein on the Beach, for example, or the works based on Bowie's Low and Heroes. Probably the one that's made the biggest impression - and I imagine this will be the case with many casual listeners - is the soundtrack to the 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi (have to check that spelling every time!): it works amazingly well with the visual imagery of the film but is also effective as a piece of music on its own. In fact, now I think of it, I heard the music before seeing the film, which I didn't get to see until many years after its release.

Logger24 wrote: "Thanks for the new thread, GP. Weather over here also a bit on the cool side following a turbulent start to the month – huge snow storm and then a wind storm– but thankfully no April heatwave as so..."

interesting you get april heatwaves that far north, or is it relative heatwaves, so 17-18c, compared to the prevailing weather of the season

Despite some unpleasent hot spells every summer here since 2018, the only April in that period which was very warm was the one that fell in 2020 as the nation went into lockdown, it was 20-22c for a good fortnight

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "We have had several posts on diaries in recent months. I am reading "A Writer At War : Vasily Grossman With The Red Army, 1941-1945."

A number of passages were familiar from Barbaro..."

Barbarossa is an excellent, though grim, read. It's been called the most destructive war ever fought between two countries. The losses of men and machines were so heavy that even the rival tyrants considered peace feelers-- but, true to form, rejected the idea.

Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "We have had several posts on diaries in recent months. I am reading "A Writer At War : Vasily Grossman With The Red Army, 1941-1945."

A number of passages were familiar..."

i have read a lot about it in historical accounts but my only two non-fiction reads were german General Franz Halder's diary and The Luftwaffe Diaries.

Halder recalls a drive from what must have been Poland to somewhere in the middle of Russia and been appalled at the distance, the immensity of the country, at that stage the disaster had not occurred but one could tell a military man was concerned with logistics and distance

In the Luftwaffe Diaries the early accounts are of the daring successes we all have seen on news reels, Germans encircling whole armies from the air. But the diary makes clear that German aerial losses were not replaced as quickly as they could be and that all the Russian planes destroyed by the Luftwaffe in those first months of Barbarossa were replaced with new machines flying from bases beyond the Urals, an amazing display of the Soviet war machine.

Farewell to the rather disjointed Coasting by Jonny Raban. It felt rather like a collection of pieces rather than a thematic sail round the UK, small sections stood out, others seemed rather unusual, almost like he wrote it in fits and starts and kept returning to flesh it out

The tone is wonderful, witty and warm. His observations of the Falklands, the Miners Strike and the state of Britain under Thatcher are timeless and correct. He draws a similarity between Scargill and Thatcher in their convictions, northern heritage, methodism and character which suoprised me as i hadnt considered it before. A meeting with Phil Larkin in Hull is a wonderful little section of humour and observation, at Hull Uni, in the 1960s Raban had befriended the great poet.

next up The World of Yesterday by stefan zweig which i have taken far far too long to get round to reading

giveusaclue wrote: "Will have a look thanks. I think you may mean:
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/je..."

Ah, yes - 'Bannalec' - you're right: that is the author I referred to.

I found this page for "Villain', who doesn't look much like Bannalec - so it's quite possible they are not two pseudonyms for the same author:

https://c-villain.de/

Still - this one has a beard and the other doesn't - so maybe the picture is just a 'beard'! ;-)

Gpfr wrote: "A beautifully clear, sunny day — if you can get out of the biting cold wind! I feel for you, scarlet.

"

Thanks - well. things are looking up. The men have been hard at work laying concrete for the new units, so progress is being made. Today is a bit warmer, and I got out for a 90 min bike ride on the canal. Great for the sanity!

Gpfr wrote: " Stop Them Dead.
I've started this, the latest in Peter James's Roy Grace series (Brighton-based police officer). It's dealing with the increase i..."

I saw a series on TV with the excellent John Simm as Grace - not bad, BUT I was seriously put off by the way in which the character consults a medium. Anything like that is a big no-no for me.

(Just checked - according to Wikipedia, author Peter James's interests include: "criminology, religion, science and the paranormal". So by no means a perfect fit with mine!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J...

Bill wrote: ".I suppose that Burgess was something of a controversialist* (though I’m not familiar with the term and may not get its nuances)..."

There are many similar definitions to be found along the lines of:

"a person who likes to disagree with other people and say things that make people angry or think about a subject" (Cambridge)

"a person who takes part in controversy or likes to do so" (Collins)

"One who regularly engages in public controversies" (Wikipedia)

I think there is a whole spectrum of controversialists with regard to their seriousness and their sincerity, or otherwise. They all (I imagine) at the very least share a taste for public debate and are not afraid of it - the atheist Richard Dawkins is given as an example. Dawkins and (I assume) Burgess are/were 'sincere' controversialists, though both may have felt that being in the public eye would have beneficial effects for their careers or book sales.

In the UK, at any rate, we have a good number of newspaper columnists who I suspect of being 'insincere' controversialists - who either don't believe at all the point they are making to stir up a hornet's nest, or at the very least grossly exaggerate their points of view to get a reaction - 'clickbait'. Such opinion pieces are available online as well as in the papers themselves.

I don't mind - at all - robust debate, but have contempt for insincere 'opinions' posted by some of these journalists just to get a reaction.

*The word has existed for far longer than I expected - the 1600s - and to my surprise, its use peaked in around 1850.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph...

Bill wrote: "In artistic matters, he represented an “old school” point of view that emphasized the distinction between high culture and mass culture, Warshow’s “Proust vs Spillane” distinction I quoted in a previous thread. He also opposed the idea that art should convey a moral point of view, representing instead a kind of neutral good, like the taste of an apple. As both these positions were being contested at the time of his celebrity, and he was on the less popular (and I would say, at least at present, ultimately losing) side of these issues, he tended to be the go-to guest for “debates” on the issue, which led to a kind of viscious circle of guest appearances and opinions: the more he or his byline showed up, the more likely it became that he would be asked for yet another take on issues."

As I have said before (in this forum? not sure...) the first proposition is one for which I have great deal of sympathy, but it falls (IMO) since there is absolutely no scientific test which would allow us to "prove" that Proust is superior to Spillane. In other words: it's an 'opinion', not a 'fact'. As an 'opinion', I agree with it in that example - but others would be free to disagree in the absence of any externally objective standard.

The second proposition is simply an opinion from the get-go and does not pretend to have the status of some objective fact. As such, I agree with him on that one, too.

scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "A beautifully clear, sunny day — if you can get out of the biting cold wind! I feel for you, scarlet.

"

Thanks - well. things are looking up. The men have been hard at work laying c..."

impressed with a 90 min bike ride...good going scarlet!

Logger24 wrote: "Apropos Philip Glass...
To our surprise, the best part of a wonderful evening was a Glass piece for solo piano called Mad Rush, about 15 mins long, contemplative despite the name, sonorous, melodious, and exciting to experience..."

I mentioned Glass as the (very) short piano étude was given as an encore in a concert of Ravel's music - and I liked it rather better. The title 'Mad Rush' was one I noticed when looking up Glass online - it appealed, and all the more so after your recommendation!

Logger24 wrote: "Apropos Philip Glass, a few years ago we made a trip to see Simone Dinnerstein in concert with the cellist Matt Haimovitz, playing four pieces, two sonatas by Beethoven for cello and piano, and two solo pieces by Glass."

I've heard Haimovitz, but Simone Dinnerstein was a new name to me. Looking at the biography on her website, it seems we travel in different circles:

Simone is committed to giving concerts in non-traditional venues and to audiences who don’t often hear classical music.

I see she's recorded 3 Glass etudes on an album with Schubert's last sonata (D960), and I may give that a try.

I've become kind of obsessed with that Schubert piece over the past few days. I listened back-to-back to recordings by Brendel and Uchida; Uchida plays the first movement repeat, which reveals some really unusual first-time bars that Brendel omits by not taking the repeat, as I believe is the practice with most pianists (I intend to go back through my recordings and check on this). Evidently there is a limit to the perceived tolerance for Schubert's "heavenly length".

Those additional bars changed my impression of the movement in a significant way. They seem to relate to the left-hand "shudder" that occurs a few times in the piece (notably after the initial playing of the opening theme at at the very end) but, as far as I can hear, is not integrated with the other musical material that makes up the movement. The way the additional bars emphasized that shudder made the piece seem about "something almost being said" to use the title of another Dinnerstein album.

AB76 wrote: "Logger24 wrote: "Thanks for the new thread, GP. Weather over here also a bit on the cool side following a turbulent start to the month – huge snow storm and then a wind storm– but thankfully no Apr..."

It's *****y freezing here. Just as you'd like it. But at least the ridge tile is back where it belongs, and several others remortared.

Continuing with my occasional reading of Anatomy of a Nation, a History of British Identity in 50 documents by Dominic Sellwood, I've got to the reign of boy King Edvard VI, the son of Henry VIII. He promulgates a new law...

"Edward’s reign, more than any other, saw the obliteration of the country’s religious past, most visible in his edict to remove all traces of the cult of saints. In 1547 he ordered all priests to ‘take awai, utterly extincte, and deſtroye all ſhrines, coveryng of ſhrines, all tables, candleſtickes, tryndilles or rolles of waxe, pictures, paintynges, and all other monumentes of fained miracles, pilgrimages, Idolatry, and ſuperſticion; ſo that there remain, no memory of the ſame, in walles, glaſſes, windows, or elsewhere, within their churches or houſes’. The words ‘no memory of’ were chosen carefully and carried out efficiently. The result was the destruction of centuries of English art, sculpture and glasswork, hammered into dust and shards, with parallels in the fervour with which Da’esh effaced imagery they deemed idolatrous in Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017." He was nine years old when he signed that law. The medieval stained glass in York and Canterbury Cathedrals survived because it was so high up it was not easily accessible, as the guide in York Cathderal told us on our visit back to the UK last December.

AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "We have had several posts on diaries in recent months. I am reading "A Writer At War : Vasily Grossman With The Red Army, 1941-1945."

A number of passage..."

About a month after Barbarossa began, Hitler and his advisers held a conference. Goering was questioned about this meeting by the Russian prosecutor at Nuremburg. Bormann had kept the minutes, which included schemes for seizure of new territories.

When Goering was questioned about the proposed seizure of territories, he pointed out his opposition to these schemes-- the transcripts mentioned the problem of food and communications.

"But in principle you did not object."

"Not in principle. As an old hunter, I did not believe in dividing the skin before the bear was shot."

"Fortunately, the bear was not shot."

"Fortunately for you."

by Ross Macdonald

Another very good outing for PI Lew Archer. Here, on the first page he spots a badly injured man as he is driving near Bakersfield. Archer takes him to the nearest inhabited spot - a motel - but the man dies soon afterwards. From then on, the pace hardly drops. Archer discovers that the hotel manager - a young woman - has been missing for about a week. He sets out to find her, as he suspects a link with the murder.

This tale has more thriller elements than most Archers, with our hero taking a good number of blows and dodging a few bullets. The plot holds up very well - OK, improbable, but perfectly logical. A number of crooks are involved, and the double cross is never far away...

As always, the standard of writing is very good for the most part. Macdonald follows his usual habit of naming several real locations, with the centre being the fictional 'Los Cruces'. The precision of the always imaginatively described locations makes it seem as if these details are taken from life, even if transplanted into a fictional city.

A quick and enjoyable read. Not many Archers left, now. :-(

(I chose to link to the cover of the 'second-hand' copy I have - printed more than 50 years ago in 1973 by Fontana. I daresay the book itself has a story to tell, if it could do so!)

Gpfr wrote: "Hello, everyone

The weather here at the moment is very good for staying inside and reading!
Wishing you all lots of good books."

I'm doing some re-reading. Thanks for the new site!

FrustratedArtist wrote: "Continuing with my occasional reading of Anatomy of a Nation, a History of British Identity in 50 documents by Dominic Sellwood, I've got to the reign of boy King Edvard VI, the son of Henry VIII. He promulgates a new law...

"Edward’s reign, more than any other, saw the obliteration of the country’s religious past, most visible in his edict to remove all traces of the cult of saints. In 1547 he ordered all priests to ‘take awai, utterly extincte, and deſtroye all ſhrines, coveryng of ſhrines, all tables, candleſtickes, tryndilles or rolles of waxe, pictures, paintynges, and all other monumentes of fained miracles, pilgrimages, Idolatry, and ſuperſticion; ſo that there remain, no memory of the ſame, in walles, glaſſes, windows, or elsewhere, within their churches or houſes’. The words ‘no memory of’ were chosen carefully and carried out efficiently. The result was the destruction of centuries of English art, sculpture and glasswork, hammered into dust and shards, with parallels in the fervour with which Da’esh effaced imagery they deemed idolatrous in Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017."

He was nine years old when he signed that law. The medieval stained glass in York and Canterbury Cathedrals survived because it was so high up it was not easily accessible, as the guide in York Cathderal told us on our visit back to the UK last December."

And was there a second wave of this sort of destructive activity under Cromwell? Such was my impression, but I can't recall from where I might have received it. I'm always reminded of the so-called Cultural Revolution in China in addition to the other, even more recent parallels you mentioned.

Payment deferred by C.S. Forester in the new Penguin edition. First published in 1926.

A crime novel, but not a whodunnit: the murder takes place near the beginning of the book, we know who did it and how and why. The question is what happens next as events spiral further and further out of control. A bank clerk, badly in debt, finds a way out of his money problems ...

I've just read a review describing the tone as "peppy and jaunty" — for me this is very far from the case!

Berkley wrote: "FrustratedArtist wrote: " I've got to the reign of boy King Edvard VI... "Edward’s reign, more than any other, saw the obliteration of the country’s religious past,"

And was there a second wave of this sort of destructive activity under Cromwell? Such was my impression..."

After reading Antonia Fraser's biography of Cromwell, it seemed to me, no, though I don't remember exactly — Cromwell himself seemed relatively tolerant.
I've found this which backs up my impression, you might find it interesting:
https://marshallcolman.wordpress.com/...
He suggests that people may be confusing their Cromwells, Thomas and Oliver.

AB76 wrote: "impressed with a 90 min bike ride...good going scarlet! ."

Well, don't be - that is equivalent to a roughly 20 km distance or 12.5 miles. I don't go very far, and take a couple of breaks!

Gpfr wrote: "Berkley wrote: "FrustratedArtist wrote: " I've got to the reign of boy King Edvard VI... "Edward’s reign, more than any other, saw the obliteration of the country’s religious past,"

"And was therea second wave of this sort of destructive activity under Cromwell? ..."

After reading Antonia Fraser's biography of Cromwell..."

I've just started reading The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown about the period after the civil war.

I have started by Percival Everett, and so far am enjoying it very much. There is a story - our protagonist Thelonius 'Monk' Ellson is a writer and university professor, who is interested in re-writing Greek myths and suchlike. He has no interest whatsoever in writing about the 'African-American experience'.

There are also sections (I assume from 'Monk''s writings, with dialogue between Paul Klee and 'Kollwitz' - maybe Käthe Kollwitz?) and also speculations about linguistic and literary theory. (These passages fall outside my area of competence, and even after researching the terms used I wasn't at all sure I had understood them).

The point is - it's easy, and possible to enjoy the story without fully digesting those (short) sections on theory. The tale concerns (at the start) Monk's flagging literary career, and some family incidents... he hears from his agent that his latest novel has been rejected, thus:

"The line is, you're not black enough", my agent said.

"What's that mean, Yul? How do they even know I'm black? Why does it matter?"

"We've been over this before. They know because of the photo on your first book. They know because they've seen you. They know because you're black, for crying out loud."

"What, do I have to have my characters comb their afros and be called niggers for these people?"

"It wouldn't hurt."

I was stunned into silence.

Well, it made me laugh out loud - as it was intended to. It's great fun, and an intelligent piece of writing.

(Accidentally first posted in the 'Film' thread.)

Berkley wrote: "And was there a second wave of this sort of destructive activity under Cromwell? Such was my impression, but I can't recall from where I might have received it..."

I had very much the same idea - that the only church art that survived the Puritans was the wall art that was whitewashed over and discovered centuries later.

I just googled "Iconoclasm under Cromwell" (admittedly, a leading search term) and found, after a few results suggesting that Cromwell himself was not particularly involved in destroying Catholic relics and art etc, this rather horrifying but grimly fascinating article that conformed all my suspicions about Puritans and their humourless* destruction of heritage in just one region of the country:

https://earlofmanchesters.co.uk/smash...


"On the cold morning of 21st December 1643, a group of men marched into the ornate chapel of Peterhouse, the oldest university college in Cambridge.

In the presence of the college’s president, fellows and other dignitaries, they began to smash, pull down, and deface religious imagery on the walls and pews. Statues of two large winged angels and four saints were brought down, stained glass was smashed, an image of St Peter on the chapel door was removed along with those of about a hundred cherubim and angels, while bible passages illuminated in gold letters were erased.

But this was not sudden mob violence or a secular attack on the church. It was an official and systematic purging of ‘idolatry’ in one of the key centres of Christian study in England.

And watching over all of it was a man called William Dowsing.

From late 1643 to 1644, armed with a commission from the Parliamentarian general and Peer, the Earl of Manchester, this previously-unknown yeoman farmer visited some 250 university colleges and parish churches in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, stripping them of religious pictures, crosses, crucifixes, stained glass, monumental brasses, and altar rails – anything that could be construed as encouraging Roman Catholicism, ’religious idolatry’, or the worship of physical objects."

It seems that the destruction, even if not ordered by Cromwell, was ordered by senior parliamentarians.

*check out the alleged portrait of William Dowsing

Gpfr wrote: "Berkley wrote: "FrustratedArtist wrote: " I've got to the reign of boy King Edvard VI... "Edward’s reign, more than any other, saw the obliteration of the country’s religious past,"

And was there ..."

I got the impression that Cromwell was more about the money than the beliefs.

Gpfr wrote: " Payment deferred by C.S. Forester in the new Penguin edition. First published in 1926.

A crime novel, but not a whodunnit: the murder takes pl..."

i read this last year and loved it...Forester did a few novels like this and i found it was impeccably written, plotted and a great read

scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "impressed with a 90 min bike ride...good going scarlet! ."

Well, don't be - that is equivalent to a roughly 20 km distance or 12.5 miles. I don't go very far, and take a couple of bre..."

oh i see...lol