PGMCC reading in 2017 - Volume 2 - The Sequel

Read in 2017

Title Author Status Start/end date
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers Read 22/12/2016-04/01/2017 308pages
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin Read 04/01/2017-11/01/2017 204pages
Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell Read 11/01/2017-13/01/2017 144pages
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Read 12/01/2017-21/01/2017 404pages
The Lost Child of Lychford by Paul Cornell Read 19/01/2017-23/01/2017 137pages
Ready Player Oneby Ernest Cline Read 24/01/2017-04/02/2017 374pages
Bleak House by Charles Dickens Read 04/02/2017-18/03/2017 740pages
Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate Read 18/03/2017-23/03/2017 250pages
Chalk: A Novel by Paul Cornell Read 23/03/2017-28/03/2017 270pages
The Crock of Gold by James Stephens Read 28/03/2017-05/04/2017 217pages
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang Re-reading 05/04/2017-08/04/2017 62pages
By Jove by Marissa Doyle Read 08/04/2017-15/04/2017 332pages
A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics by Daniel Levitin Abandoned 15/04/2017-18/04/2017 60pages
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers Read 18/04/2017-28/04/2017 299pages
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley Read 28/04/2017-08/05/2017 240pages
The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson Read 08/05/2017-14/05/2017 324pages
What We Become by Arturo Pérez Reverte. Read 14/05/2017-02/06/2017 453pages
Nabokov's Favourite Word is Mauve by Ben Blatt Read 03/06/2017-19/06/2017 271pages
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Reading 21/06/2017-05/07/2017 184pages
The Man who was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton Read 06/07/2017-13/07/2017 208pages
The Portable Poe "The Gold-Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe Read 14/07/2017-15/07/2017 45pages
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers Read 28/07/2017-08/08/2017 269pages
Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust by Haim Shapira Reading 08/08/2017-

Currently reading:





Also reading:

Having finished a lengthy tome involving much chancery law I am now heading back into court to verify the veracity of @jillmwo's taste in books. Past experience leans me towards Verdict of Twelve being every bit as good as Jill suggests.

Hi Peter! Congrats on your new thread.

>3 karenmarie: I concur. It's a very nice thread.

>2 pgmcc: Coincidentally enough, I began Verdict of Twelve yesterday. I'm about 1/4 of the way into it and am enjoying it so far. Quite a cast of characters being introduced in the early chapters! I look forward to reading your thoughts on the story, Peter.

>2 pgmcc: So relieved that my recommendation hasn't fallen flat! I'm just stopping in for a quick cup of tea and some scones while scanning to see what everyone is reading and reviewing...

>5 jillmwo: I am glad you were able to drop in for tea and some scones. I managed to have that pint of Guinness you suggested on Friday. Rounded the day off nicely and I slept sound afterwards.

In relation to Verdict of Twelve, I have met five of the jurors so far: a murderess; a blackmailer/con-man; a publican; a recluse academic; and a possibly deranged shop's cashier with a singular devotion to his own interpretation of the Bible. They are certainly a sample from the wide variety of people in society. I anticipate the defendant will be the most normal person in the book.

Yes, I am enjoying it, so thank you for the recommendation.

Enjoy the wedding. We expect photographs...and cake.

My 11 year Thingaversary is coming up next month. I have just had a look at the new books I have entered thus far in 2017: 36. There are some I have not yet entered.

Given the way people have been spreading their Thingaversary book acquisition across the year I think I am in good shape for my 11th. Even my exponential calculations will leave me safe. :-)

Eleven years! Wow, congratulations, Peter! Well done.

Verdict of Twelve is yielding some hilarious quotes.

page 148
"...and the more he tried to push it aside, the more its oddness worried him. In the end he decided to do what any normal man does in a crisis - ask a woman."

page 151
"He took Edward Gillingham with him to see the Chief Constable in Wrackhampton, Mr. Cooper Wills, who was not a retired military man, did not have a red face and brusque manners, and was not a fool."

I know there is a term for defining a subject in the terms of what it is not but the term has slipped my mind for the moment. Anyone out there willing to pick it up and put it back into my mind?

page 163
"What were his real thoughts on any subject hardly any one knew, for he was unmarried."

Needless to say, I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Thank you, @jillmwo. Your taste if proving very compatible with my own.

>7 pgmcc: I would be caution about making statements about how you needn't purchase MORE books in celebration of your 11th Thingaversary. You may recall that weird and wonderful things happen when you multiple things by 11. Triple digits can come into play very quickly.

>8 karenmarie: Thank you! I see you shall be celebrating your tenth Thingaversary at the start of Quarter Four this year.

>10 jillmwo: I thought you were busy getting ready for a wedding to be picking up small details on peripheral reading threads. Not much gets past you.

By the way, as you will gather from my reaction to the article you linked to on Facebook, I really enjoyed it. Very interesting useful.

How go the wedding preparations? No! I am not trying to distract you from the topic of your previous post. Honest! No! I'm not! Well, not really.

Funny incident with my son and I relating to Ready Player One and an old joke.

Firstly, old joke (that my son knows of):

Girl A: “Hey, are you coming to my party?”
Girl B: “Where’s your party at?”
Girl A: “You should never finish a sentence with a preposition.”
Girl B: “Okay! Where’s your party at, bitch?”

Next, message exchange between my son and me.

Me: “Have you finished Ready Player One yet?"
Son: “Not yet. Flight home I say I will.”
Me: “Excellent. What stage are you at, bitch? (Just avoiding ending sentence with a preposition.)"
Son: “Hahaha”

Subsequently I find a FaceBook post by my son that shares a screen shot of our conversation with the heading: “Gotta love my dad” (Awwww!)

Apparently he also posted this on Twitter with the hashtag #ReadyPlayerOne. (I shall not embarrass him by mentioning the hashtag in which he misspelled “grammar”.)

At five minutes to midnight I receive a message from my son:
“The author of ready player one just retweeted my tweet”

My son is chuffed.

>13 pgmcc: What an honour!

>13 pgmcc: LOL, nothing better than having word fun with your kids, and them enjoying it. Except maybe having them share with the world that they enjoy it! :D

>13 pgmcc: Excellent!

This was a very enjoyable story about the court case for a murder. It introduces the reader to the jurors and shares their peculiarities and oddities. We hear the evidence and are given more background than the jurors would learn from the witnesses and the barristers. We are then brought into the jury room for final deliberations.

This book demonstrates the weaknesses of trial by jury and demonstrates how difficult it would be for twelve individuals to focus purely on the evidence of any case give their varied backgrounds and inherent prejudices. Postgate does this while maintaining a degree of humour and manages to keep the reader’s attention to the end.

Thank you for the recommendation, @jillmwo.

Next up is Paul Cornell's new book, Chalk: A Novel. (See comments on Touchstones below the cover.)



TOUCHSTONE
When I bracketed "Chalk" to get the Toucstone, I noticed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland appeared on the Touchstone list. I thought that was a bit odd, so I clicked the, "others", link to select the correct book. I expected "Chalk" to be second. It was sixth. The sequence of Touchstones offered for "Chalk: A Novel" by Paul Cornell were:

1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
2. A Christmas Carol
3. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
4 Peter Pan
5. Black Beauty
6 Chalk: A Novel

:-)

>18 pgmcc: Well... at least it is in good company. ;)

>19 ScoLgo: That's what I was thinking, too.

>13 pgmcc: that's an awesome story!

>18 pgmcc: It's possible that somebody needs new relevancy algorithms for their birthday.

I am about half-way through Chalk and am enjoying it. It is about bullying in school and is quite brutal, so do not approach this book expecting a book like Witches of Lychford. It has some violence and teenaged brutality. It also has some supernatural elements, or does it?

Paul Cornell regards this as an important book and so far it is about the brutality of bullying and how that can affect different individuals. I am finding it a very good book, but I am giving the warning that it has some challenging elements.

>23 pgmcc: Thanks for the warning. I don't like reading about bullying and brutality, so I will stick to the lighter end of Cornell's offerings.

>23 pgmcc: I probably won't read this one either, although I'm glad Cornell and other authors are tackling these subjects. I have just picked up The severed streets and am looking forward to reading more about Quill and the team.

>24 SylviaC: I believe Paul has written it as a support to people who are bullied. I shall know more when I have finished it. He has chosen to do this by showing the bullying from both sides and has not held back on the violence. He is obviously after the, "short, sharp, shock", lesson. I would not like any of his readers to be put off his work on the basis of a book that has a serious intent, but that is not a cozy read.

>25 Sakerfalcon: I have The Severed Streets and am looking forward to getting to it. I have also picked up the third novel in the series, Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?

Hi Peter!

Something dramatic and wonky happened to Touchstones a year or more ago. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but unless I put in a very strange title I get anything but the book I want. I have to click on 'others' most times.

I think you liked Verdict of Twelve more than I did. I have been reading adult mysteries since I was 11, so that's .... hmmm.... let me see, almost 53 years. Also, since my favorites are English mysteries written in the 1930s, this one written in 1940 falls into my area of 'expertise' and I found it not quite as exciting as @jillmwo. A nice read, though.

>28 karenmarie:

Hi, Karen,

I agree with your assessment that as a murder mystery Verdict of Twelve was not at the races with regards to tension, suspense, mystery and all those other things that make English mysteries of that time good mysteries. The elements that I liked about the book, and they may have been @jillmwo's reason for liking it too, was the exposition of the workings of the jury system and the highlighting of the issues, personal and systematic, that can hinder a trial from delivering what might be called justice.

There is a great book I have, The Golden Rules of Advocacy, which is intended for advocates in court, but is also wonderful from a presentation skills/ persuasion/ public relations (SPIN) point of view. The first rule cited is that the law has nothing to do with justice. The law is about getting twelve people to agree with the argument you are making. That is obviously cynical, but it is accurate and it is well demonstrated in "Verdict of Twelve".

Bottom line, I am agreeing with you that it is not the best murder mystery in the world, but it does have other elements that make it an interesting book, and a nice read.

Just a quick note to mention that 2017 has so far been a good quality reading year. I am reading my ninth book of the year and have not hit a dud yet.

Chalk: A Novel by Paul Cornell



This story is about bullying, the destructive power that thoughts of revenge can muster, and the confusion in the minds of teenagers trying to discover who they are and where they fit into society and life in general. The bullying gets quite brutal so people of a nervous disposition might want to approach this book cautiously.

Paul Cornell has woven the supernatural spirits of the chalk downs into the story and used them to portray the forces in his tale.

This is a book that will help young people realise that they are not alone in the world and that the feelings they experience are not unique to them.

>13 pgmcc: Ah, what a great story. :o)

My 11th Thingy is next month as well! I too have been buying up a storm without even realizing it was coming so soon. Now I feel I have been vindicated for all of my purchases.

>32 clamairy: I think we should keep a low profile regarding our having spread our Thingy acquisitions over the year. I have a sense that someone might question the legitimacy of our claiming those purchases as Thingaversary booty. Your people should talk to my people about strategies and tactics for defending our position. A pre-emptive strike of some sort might be the way to go.

>33 pgmcc: Indeed, others may claim the books they're cataloguing for their society library (and reading as they go) against Thingaversary obligations ;-)

>34 hfglen: Hugh, that would be scandalous. I am sure you would let the enforcers know if any of that carry-on was happening if you knew about it.

Just noting that I have some interesting books ordered for delivery when they are published later this year:

May
19th Men Without Women: Stories by Haruki Murakami

June
9th Iain M. Banks: Modern Masters of Science Fiction* by Paul Kincaid

September
16th A Legacy of Spies* by John Le Carré

October
7th The Corporation Wars: Emergence* by Ken MacLeod

28th Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

* No Touchstone found.

>18 pgmcc: As near as I can figure I've bought 18 kindle books and one hard cover since February 1st. I plan to count all books from Feb 1st - May 31st towards my Thingy. :o) I think I'll be covered.

>37 clamairy: Well, we all know e-books are not really books and do not count towards the Thingaversary number.

>38 pgmcc:

Wait! Did not the committee decide that an e-book counts as .01 of a real book? That would mean that Clam only needs 82 more e-books to make a count toward one Thingaversary number.

>38 pgmcc: and >39 suitable1: *sigh* We've gone over this before. The original position of the committee was that e-books would count as 0.5 of a book. The Advocacy Group for Print became perturbed over such a generous valuation and so the committee went down to 0.25 in the hopes that the Digital Advocacy Interest Group would be willing to compromise at something like .33. Unfortunately, it all blew up in 2015 following the whole disastrous letters to the editor thing after Lower Slobovian Village Scrivener published the article, "Can Pixels Do This? Form and Function of the Monastery Scriptorium". Given the public outcry, the committee was forced to pull support for any value associated with digital books (which is what @pgmcc keeps remembering) but when things calmed down, the Enforcers were able to nudge it up to .01 (which is what @suitable1 is thinking of).

However, in the wake of the economic issues associated with sequestration and as a conciliatory gesture of good will towards all parties, the final equivalent was upped as of January 1, 2017 to 0.02759. Would you guys puh-leeze write this down and keep it for later reference? We've passed the Solstice and I can't keep explaining this.

>37 clamairy: , I haven't the foggiest notion what that does to your Thingaversary calculations. Good luck.

>40 jillmwo:
It's so hard to keep up.

>40 jillmwo: Thank you for clearing up that matter. I shall have to update my copy of the committee quick-reference guide.

>42 pgmcc:

I think you're going to need a bigger computer.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That 0.02759 is all fine and good for the rest of you plebeians, but as a founder of this group I am exempt from that particular rule. ;o) In fact in light of all this hullabaloo I'm going to count my Kindle books as double.
*cackle*
(Bought two more today, BTW.)

ETA: Really, the rule should be that one buy as many books as one is comfortable buying, shouldn't it? LOL

Well, there you have me, clammie. But you should know I'm always comfortable when buying books.

>44 clamairy: Oh! That's right; pull the old Privilege of Rank ploy!

Bows submissively, takes off cap sticking it under his uxter, and tugs forelock in deference to the Mistress of the Group!

I was asked by a colleague to translate some “consult-speak” she came across in a presentation. The bullet point she wanted translated was:

“Be maniacal about customers, agnostic about channel (not just lip service)”

She had expected a positive, customer-centric meaning but her unaided interpretation of this point was:

“Go absolutely crazy with customers and tell them they are not God in whatever way you want. Do it!”

I managed to convince her that her expectation would be closer to the intended meaning than her initial reading of the point.

>46 pgmcc: I'm only slightly evil. I swear. >47 pgmcc: I have to admit I've never seen the word channel used this way.

>48 clamairy: "Channel" is used a lot these days in the consulting/business world to describe the different ways a company interacts with its customers, e.g. face-to-face in a shop; on-line on a website; by telephone via a call centre; by e-mail; by letter; etc... The consultants would have meant that the organisation should be very energetic and excited about its customers and that the customer experience should be the same no matter which channel he/she is using to interact with the organisation.

In this case I think the consultants got a little carried away.

The Crock of Gold by James Stephens



I have completed "The Crock of Gold" by James Stephens and enjoyed it. Published in 1915 it would have been considered part of the Irish literary revival, and Stephens wrote several works intended to share Irish culture and mythology with an English speaking audience. He was Registrar of the National Gallery of Ireland and was closely associated with many of the players in the Irish literary revival movement.

"The Crock of Gold" is a fairy tale about two philosophers, two women, two children and the Shee (Irish Fairies), Leprechauns, Gods, and the human civilisation. It is very humorous but also asks many moral questions about gender roles, justice, love, humanity, nature and the conflict between human progress and the natural world around us.

An interesting titbit about James Stephens, is that when he was working in the National Gallery, the Easter Rising took place. During the days of the Rising he wandered the streets of Dublin and interviewed the people he encountered. He documented these interviews in a book, The Insurrection in Dublin, which became, and still is, a key source document for historians and others writing about Dublin at the time of the Rising. It portrays life in Dublin for people from all walks of life and how they were affected by the Insurrection, and how public opinion shifted from bitterness towards the Rebels to sympathy for them as the British forces started executing people.

>50 pgmcc: Interestingly enough I just snagged James Stephens' The Demi-gods yesterday because it's praised so highly in The Haunted Bookshop. I've had his The Worm Ouroboros languishing on my Kindle for a few years now. So you enjoyed The Crock of Gold? His writing has weathered the last century well?

James Stephens is one of my favourite poets, but I haven't read any of his prose. Is The Crock of Gold a good one to start with?

>51 clamairy: 7 >52 SylviaC:

The Crock of Gold was very interesting and humorous. Much of it is tongue-in-cheek while some of it is questioning social thoughts and prejudices. This was published one year before the Easter Rising took place and Ireland would have been awash with discussions on social justice and freedom, especially amongst Stephens's literary friends.

His writing has weathered the last century well?
Much of the book involves dialogue and the author has used English the way it would have been used by Irish speakers of the time, and some of the constructs survive to this very day, begorrah! ("Begorrah" does not make an appearance in the book and it does not survive to this day except in some of the worst stage-Irish productions.)

Stephens wrote the book in English, but he has used some phrases that would be literal translations of Irish phrases. For example, When characters meet someone they say, "May God be with you!", and they receive the response, "May God and Mary be with you!" invoking the mother of Jesus. This is a direct translation of the greetings used in Irish. If you have more that two people meeting the third person would say, "May God and Mary and Patrick be with you!" invoking the patron saint of Ireland. A fourth person would say, "May God and Mary and Patrick and Brigid be with you!" invoking the other patron saint of Ireland.

The names used in the book are Irish in language and in structure. Stephens was sharing Irish culture with English speakers and was obviously using this approach to introduce some elements of Irish.

He also used some Irish words. He used the word "tanist" which refers to a leader's second in command. The head of a clan, chieftain, has the title, "Taoiseach", and this title is used for the Irish Prime Minister. The deputy Prime Minister is called the "Tániste", which would be related to the word, "tanist", used by Stephens.

With two philosophers in the story one does get what might appear to be little moral sermons, but do not be put off. Within a page or so you will find another person preaching the exact opposite.

One of the women is giving advice to the two children, one a boy and the other a girl. This advice is very funny, and I quote:
It is particularly important that a man should understand how to circumvent a woman,...It is however, equally urgent that a woman should be skilled to keep a man in his proper place,...

The book is short and is good fun. It even has some policemen who are appropriately made fun of.

Is The Crock of Gold a good one to start with?

This is my first James Stephens work and I enjoyed it. I was recently given a copy of, In The Land of Youth, (Fifth in the Touchstones listing, preceded by "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"; "Robinson Crusoe"; "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"; and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".) which shall be my next foray into his works.

I am certainly left wanting to read more of his stories and may even try some of his poetry, but that is another day's tale.

>36 pgmcc: Thank you for reminding me that I am delinquent in keeping up with my MacLeod :)

>54 stellarexplorer: Glad to be of service!

I just realised that yesterday was my 11th Thingaversary. Luckily I have acquired more than enough books to cover my Thingaversary obligation.

Let me see: 48 titles added to my catalogue minus 3 e-texts = 45 books acquired. I think that covers the 12 due for an 11th Thingaversary. (@jillmwo says the e-texts count as 0.0275 books therefore my count is 45.0825 books.)

Hey happy Thingaversary! I think you've done more than your part to keep up the obligation.

:o) Enjoy your well-deserved loot & booty!

>56 pgmcc:
The enforcers will need to see timely receipts.

Happy Thingaversary!

Thank you, everyone. The Thingaversaries are just flying by at this stage.

On the reading front (yes, I also read some of the books I acquire. Perverse, but there it is.) I have finished reading Ted Chiang's short story, Stories of Your Life ("The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" popped up as the top Touchstone for this) in readiness for watching, "Arrival", the film based on that story.

I read the Ted Chiang collection, "Stories of Your Life and Others", some years ago and the detail of the title story did not stay with me. When I reread it I could see why. It was not as memorable for its ideas as several of the other stories. I watched the film and allowed for poetic licence in the translation to the screen. It was basically about the same things and it focused on the same ideas and issues, but there was so much added to it that it changed the story significantly. The film has been praised by many people as being "good Science Fiction" by which people mean it requires thinking and is not just a version of space cowboys, i.e. not just a series of special effects and gunfights. I would agree with that being the case in relation to the attributes of the film, but I found it a bit too slow. I also feel that my having read the story might have been a disadvantage as I could not judge how well the film brought the viewers thoughts along the path to the dénouement because I was aware of what the story was about right from the beginning. Those of you who have read the story, watched the film or both, may think that is a bit surreal given the subject matter of the film.

One of the most significant things the film did was to give the audience definite answers to a couple of things that the story left as a mystery. This may have been felt necessary for a cinema audience while it was probably one of the strengths for those who would read the story.



I am now reading an Early Reviewer book written by one of nearest and dearest Green Dragoneers, @Marissa_Doyle. I am only a couple of chapters into it but am enjoying it very much. The book is, By Jove. (Touchstones: "By Jove" comes up as the third item on the "others" list. The second option is, "Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life's Great Lesson". The first option was, "DRACULA".)

>61 pgmcc: *pssst* You spelled Marissa wrong. ;o)

>62 clamairy: No I didn't. Go look again. It's correct.

(Thanks!)

Hi Peter!

Just a quick hello and best wishes. I liked your review of and discussion about The Crock of Gold although having just splurged in an orgy of book buying at our Friends of the Library Sale (44 books), I'm "too full" to even add it to my wishlist!

>64 karenmarie:

Karen, I am glad you liked my comments on The Crock of Gold but saddened you feel you are not able to access it at the moment. By the way, and this is not intended to influence you in any way, the book is well out of copyright and electronic versions of it are available free on Project Gutenberg, right here!

:-)

By the way, Karen, are you going to share the titles of the fruits of your orgy?

>61 pgmcc: I don't find it surreal. I find it ironic.

>66 stellarexplorer: You are just so practical. The supernatural doesn't have a chance with you. :-)

Have you seen the film or read the book or both? What was your view of either, or, or both?

>63 pgmcc: Well it is now!
(You're welcome.)

And I just realized I have the first in Marissa's Leland Sisters series on hold through OverDrive, and I'm next in line to get it. (I have a very fuzzy memory of adding it a while back... LOL)

Saw the film, and discussed the book with people who have read it. This is an aside, but if I could be permitted a small rant (and it could be argued that I ought to rant in my own thread. And let me add that this is not directed at you at all pgmcc!) one of my pet peeves is the idea that there is a source of authority about works of fiction. Like asking the author when a question arises, as if she has the "truth" because she wrote it. Or to look to the book to explain the movie, or vice versa. I have to admit to being a throwback, something of an old-fashioned post-modern "there is no authority on a work of art" kind of guy.

Anyway, I liked it very much, for the reasons you cite, and also because it was well acted and visually effective and interesting. And for the questions it raised about language, causality, and moral choices. Thumbs up, but with no adequate basis for an opinion on the book, or its differences from the movie.

>69 stellarexplorer: No need to seek permission for a quick rant. A rant always helps clear the mind and induces relaxation through the release of tension.

I agree with your point about a source of authority about works of fiction. I think it is highlighted in a very humorous fashion in Galaxy Quest (Which if you have not watched you should. It is a no expense spared rip-off of Star Trek.) when a Galaxy Quest fan is pestering the Galaxy Quest captain at a convention about the technical details of the starship's operations. The captain, in a fit of rage, tells the fan that it is just a story, that it's not real, and you can see in the fan's eyes that the whole world has just collapsed.

In relation to the difference between books and their screen adaptations, I reached the plane of serenity some decades ago by regarding a book and its adaptation as different entities. I could then enjoy or despise both independently and not lose sleep because The Lord of the Rings films, directed by Peter Jackson, excluded Tom Bombadil from the story. My view of the entities being different was reinforced when I read Umberto Eco's book, Mouse or Rat: Translation as Negotiation, which not only dealt with translation from one language to another, but also from one medium to another, as in the case of screen adaptations.

In relation to Arrival and Stories of your Life, I found Ted Chiang's stories played with a number of interesting ideas, and several of them were language related.

My issue with watching the film with the written story fresh in my mind was my inability to judge how well the film conveyed the story, or what message one would get from watching the film without any prior knowledge of the issues concerned. I have asked my two sons to watch it and discuss it with me aftwards as they have not read the story yet.

One book that I really enjoyed because it didn't explain its key mystery was, K-PAX. The film, starring Kevin Spacey, was very enjoyable. I read the book on the basis of having enjoyed the film. However, the author of the novel, states in his introduction to the K-PAX omnibus that he only wrote the sequels because people suggested the could make more money, not because he had any more story to tell. K-PAX II was basically a re-run of K-Pax and K-PAX III had, in my view, a major flaw. It tried to explain the mystery that was the strength of the first book. If you every read K-Pax, resist the urge to read the sequels.

I heard a radio interview many years ago about Samuel Beckett's work. The writer's nephew was being asked about Beckett's reaction to all the interpretations accademics had produced about Waiting for Godot. According to the nephew, Beckett was highly amused. I would suggest many authors are amazed at what accademics and critics identify in their works.

I just read an article on the new musical of Groundhog Day, and the original screenwriter has been very amused and bemused over the years by sincere wellwishers thanking him:

"People kept writing to Rubin to tell him what his movie was about. A monk saw it as a Christian allegory; a Kabbalist analyzed the significance of its numerology. Philosophy students wrote dissertations about Groundhog Day and Nietzsche’s concept of the “eternal recurrence.” An economist published a column claiming that the film “illustrates the importance of the Mises-Hayek paradigm as an alternative to equilibrium economics by illustrating the unreal nature of equilibrium theorizing.” Addicts told Rubin that the film had helped them realize they were trapped in Punxsutawneys of their own making."

http://www.vulture.com/2017/03/danny-rubin-groundhog-day-musical.html

>71 stellarexplorer: Priceless!

On Friday I managed to spend a little time in a bookshop. With book tokens to hand I was not feeling guilty about spending money on books. The books I acquired, and the reasons for the acquisitions, are below:

At The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails



I have always been intrigued by existentialism, especially since being told by a Religion teacher that an existentialist would be the last person to identify him or herself as an existentialist due to the existentialist repugnance for labels. Given that background I had to buy this book.

Diary Of A Body



I have read most of Daniel Pennac's fiction, at least most of his fiction that has been translated into English, and have enjoyed it. When I unexpectedly found another of his books available in English it was inevitable that I would spare no expense to obtain a copy.

Looks like Diary of A Body is worth the expense for the cover alone.

I blame @Marissa_Doyle. I was on the bus home this evening reading Marissa's novel, "By Jove". I looked out the window and saw a familiar building, The Orchard Garden Centre. This is near my home. In fact it is just four stops past my stop... Oops!

>75 pgmcc: Well, that's high praise indeed! (To my mind anyway.)

*Thumbs Up* to @Marissa_Doyle!

Hi Peter!

Thank you for the link to The Crock of Gold. Okay, I'll bite. *smile*

>65 pgmcc: Thursday's book orgy message: Karen's Thursday Book Orgy

Saturday's $5/bag book orgy message: Karen's Saturday Book Orgy

Both messages have replies to visitor comments at the beginning; the books are listed about 1/3 of the way down or so.

>78 karenmarie: When you say "orgy" you mean "orgy".

>78 karenmarie:

>78 karenmarie: Very impressive hauls. I plan to read more Mitchener. I have read The Source and Space. I loved "The Source" but had some issues with "Space". In "Space" Mitchener tried to add some human interest by telling the story of one of the German scientists and his family who were brought to America after WWII to work on the Space programme. I did not find this successful and found the characters wooden. In relation to the history of the Apollo Programme, I liked that up to a point. I had grown up following the Apollo missions and knew most of the detail. The fact that he added in a fictional mission with the objective of having a tragic, fatal crash on the Moon undermined the whole credibility of his book. I found that very disappointing.

I picked up a copy of Hawaii last year at a second-hand book sale last year.



I hope you enjoy working through all those books. I can imagine how saturated you feel at the moment with the piles of books that must be adorning your home at the moment..

Hi Peter!

>79 pgmcc: I warned you. I must say, though, in my defense, that this is the least amount of money I've spent in probably 3 years or so at the sale. :)

>80 clamairy: Hi Clare!

>81 pgmcc: I read Hawaii when I was in high school - I loved it. A lot of people get put off by the beginning 100 pages or so of the formation of the islands, but I found it fascinating.

It's actually getting to be an embarrassment to say that I have over 1700 books tagged 'tbr' on my shelves. What's funny is that with all those books, I'm in the middle of the Poldark series, 12 books, and have bought the last 9 this year, with the last 3 just being ordered 2 days ago.

It's ironic that with my father being an aerospace engineer for a small sheet metal company in southern California in the 1960s and 1970s and working on Mercury and Apollo that I personally have no interest in Space. My husband is fascinated by it, and has reel-to-reel recordings of some of the missions. I'll avoid Space because it doesn't intrinsically interest me and your spoiler set the seal on it.

I think The Fires of Spring may be my favorite Michener. iirc, it's his first novel, largely autobiographical, and set not far from my own humble beginnings in Pennsylvania just beyond the Philadelphia metro area.

>81 pgmcc: >82 karenmarie: >83 stellarexplorer: I read Tales of the South Pacific, The Drifters and Hawaii when I was in HS, and then read The Source for a college course. Well, I was supposed to read it, but I skimmed it. Then I actually read the whole thing in my mid 20s and I loved it. I own a bunch of his others on the theory I'll get to them (possibly) at some point. The truth is that the older I get the less appealing they look to me, with the possible exceptions of Chesapeake and Centennial.

(Hi Karen!)

Sorry stellar, I have never heard of The Fires of Spring before.

Fans of Paul Cornell's WITCHES OF LYCHFORD series will be pleased to know the THIRD story, A LONG DAY IN LYCHFORD

is being released, appropriately enough, on OCTOBER 31ST, 2017.

>85 pgmcc: Great news! Thank you for sharing.

>85 pgmcc: W000H000!

Yay!!!

>85 pgmcc: sweet!

I have finished By Jove by Marissa Doyle. This is a romantic fantasy taking place in a modern day university Classics department interwoven with the lives and relationship of ancient gods. As I have mentioned elsewhere, my reading this book made me overshoot my bus stop by four stops on one occasion and nearly miss my stop on another occasion. What more need I say?



I have started reading A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics by Daniel Levitin. While I admire and support the intention of the book, i.e. to make people aware of the ways statistics can be represented in dishonest and/or incorrect ways to support a particular viewpoint, I feel the book could be more communicative and hard hitting. Darrell Huff's small book, How to Lie with Statistics, has much more impact and is more succinct. It is also very funny. (Yes, I strongly recommend "How to Lie with Statistics".)

It occurs to me that while Levitin presents the crimes against truth committed by politicians, advertising agents, corporations, journalists, and others, he presents them in a slow fashion and could be more dynamic. I get the feeling that the people who want to be educated in the subject matter may get bored reading the book.

I have also spotted a couple of errors; errors that do not take away from his argument or fatally destroy what he is trying to do, but errors that give people the opportunity to undermine his work and to dismiss the important message he is trying to give, i.e. that everyone is obliged, especially in these days of lies, damned lies, and statistics (Disraeli), to sense check the information fed to them by the media and social media.

Currently reading:

>90 pgmcc:

Well, I don't ride a bus, but who can resist a recommendation like that?

I have abandoned Daniel Levitin's A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics as his use of language is a sloppy in a manner that takes away from the good intentions of the book. He made a big deal about using the right words when discussing statistics as terms in statistics are very precise and then he uses language that is ambiguous, erroneous and include contradictions. I cannot recommend this book. It is well intentioned and deals with many important issues, but the sloppy use of language undermines the worthy mission the author has taken on. Very unfortunate.

On a brighter note I have taken this opportunity to jump into another Dorothy L. Sayers novel; this time it is Unnatural Death.



...and on an even brighter note I am off to France on an early flight tomorrow morning and shall not be returning home until April 30th.

Yay!

>92 pgmcc: Ah, will this Wimsey novel be your first introduction to Miss Climpson? I can't remember, but if it is, you are in for a treat!

>93 MrsLee: Miss Climpson does not sound familiar, so possibly.

Ah, the yearly sojourn in the South of France where Peter enjoys the life of espionage and escargot. So lovely to be independently wealthy. Drive sports cars, high stakes gambling in the casino. You and Lord Peter will get along famously.

>95 jillmwo:

There is also something about a black cat.

>94 pgmcc: You would remember Miss Climpson if you had encountered her before. She would be an invaluable asset to an international man of mystery. Enjoy your travels!

>93 MrsLee: >97 SylviaC: I have just met Miss Climpson.

>95 jillmwo: >96 suitable1: I can neither confirm nor deny your speculations.

Hi Peter! Too many books, too little time. Abandoning a poorly written book is not a bad thing at all.

Unnatural Death is a good'un. Miss Climpson is one of my favorite characters in the Wimsey books.

In France until April 30th! Wow. I hope it's fun/productive/restful/invigorating and etc.

>95 jillmwo: & >96 suitable1:



This is an admission of nothing!

>99 karenmarie: I just got to the point where Miss Climpson was introduced and my wife, who has not brought any reading material with her, commandeered the book. I shall have to wait to get to know Miss Climpson better.

>97 SylviaC: Mum's the word.

;-)

On our arrival our accommodation had no water or electricity. We were put up in a another unit for the night. We went back our place after maintenance had sorted out the glitch. Everything was fine until we realised there was not hot water. It was sorted this morning.

These spy training camps, I mean holiday villages, have a few process problems.

While we were discommoded we were able to enjoy sunshine and we visited the lovely town of Amboise and had a delicious lunch. If the Internt was not so restricted I would be trying to make you jealous with photographs.

>101 pgmcc: Them's fight'n words! Your wife must be completely confident in your love and care for her. :)

>104 MrsLee: Of course she is!

Have a wonderful time! And good luck getting the book back.

>100 pgmcc: Message acknowledged. The bleu rat eats Sumatran cheese at 0800

(Novice agent vaguely wonders if that secret code should have read instead as Sumatran rat and blue cheese. Does it make a difference to on-site utilities? Oh, well. Super-agent @pgmcc is a big boy. He'll work it out.)

>100 pgmcc: I have a lovely pair of socks with that cat on them. :o)
(Not to change the topic...)

>108 clamairy:
So, you too are a memember of Societé de la Chat Noir!

Do not worry. I shall tell no one.

I have finished Unnatural Death and am about to start a book much praised in GD circles: The Haunted Bookshop.

Above you will see one of our contacts in France. He is pictured with the rest of his family in the picture below in which his uncle is being the big guardian and is doing a goose-step.



These goslings appeared on Saturday and we were lucky enough to see them take their fist swim from the island on which they were hatched to our side of the lake where I caught these photographs. We were departing today and were afraid we would not see them take their first family swim.

>111 pgmcc: They're so cute! Great photos. I do hope you realize how lucky you were to witness that swim. (I'm jealous.)

Oh they're so great. Great luck to be there for the inaugural swim.

I am reading The Haunted Bookshop and see that the author has difficulty with alcohol. First, when referring to the inhabitants of Scotland he refers to them as Scotch. As any of you with an atom of Scottish blood in you will know, Scotch is the drink, not the people who are Scottish or Scots.

Secondly, when quoting a story in which an Irish priest is admonishing his flock about their drinking the author refers to, "whisky". "Whisky" is the inferior imitation drink distilled in Scotland. "Whiskey" is the Irish elixir first described by St. Patrick's own follower.

>114 pgmcc: Of course true Scots and their descendants will dispute the relative merits of the Scottish Nectar and the Irish "equivalent" ;-P

>115 hfglen: It sounds like you might have a wee dram of Scottish blood in your veins, Hugh.

Och aye. On both sides.

>114 pgmcc: You will find more than that to dispute in that book. He seems to have no trouble whatsoever with tobacco though. I feel my lungs are suffering even now after reading that book.

Being an unexposed American, I didn't even twig to those references being wrong. On second thought, I think I did notice the "Scotch" one, but thought maybe it was something left over from times gone by.

>118 MrsLee: I am putting the blatant sexism down to the age of the book, but then I am a man and am very sensitive to these things.

I agree with you about the smoking. Cough! Cough!

The part of The Haunted Bookshop where the group of booksellers are discussing bookselling, and there is banter between the booksellers who love books and the book sellers who look on bookselling as a business that needs to make money, reminded my of an assignment the company I worked for had in the mid-to-late nineties. Our UK office had the job of reviewing the entire book business supply chain in the UK. This was fascinating for me as a bibliophile, lover of bookshops, and supply chain consultant. At that time the e-book was not a serious challenge and Amazon had not taken off in any significant fashion. Digital printers were starting to appear and offering the exiting idea of bookshops with a single copy of their catalogue items for browsing purposes and if anyone wanted one the digital printer would print and bind the book in minutes for the customer.

The real focus then was the minimisation of stock in the pipeline and the rapid response to customer demand.

I think I have a copy of the summary slide of the solution for that assignment somewhere. It is amazing how much change there has been in the industry.

Book Bullets: I have been hit by two BBs over the past week. One is Nabokov's Favourite Word Is Mauve and the other is, The Wrong Box. I have ordered a copy of the NFWIM on-line and I noticed TWB was available in Kindle for €0. The €0 persuaded my penchant for physical books to be overwhelmed by my penchant for minimising my spending of good money, even on good books.

In relation to The Haunted Bookshop, I am getting a little more enthusiastic about it. I found the first couple of chapters were dragging and dragging up old discussions that I have been over many times before with book loving friends and book selling friends. I once looked seriously into setting up an independent bookshop. I did a lot of analysis and talked to numerous booksellers and a book distribution agent. The book distributor, whose business depended on the existence of independent bookshops gave me some sage advice; "Don't". The hard facts, market research and financial analysis supported his advice, do I didn't.

:-(

Hi Peter!

Thank you for sharing the photos of your contact and his goose-stepping uncle.

>110 pgmcc: What did you think of Unnatural Death?

>122 karenmarie:

I quite enjoyed Unnatural Death but I did not like it as much as the other Lord Peter books I have read. I had twigged early on to Miss Whitaker's double identity and felt its discovery was dragged out for far too long in the story. Sayers went to great length to indicate the Lord Peter and his policeman friend had never met both Miss Whitaker and Mrs Forrester, so it made it obvious that they were the same person. This has not dampened my enthusiasm to read the other books.

The secret agent geese are looking deceptively cute in your photos!

>124 Sakerfalcon: They have been working on their cover all their lives. Experts in their field.

And are raising the next generation to be the same!

>121 pgmcc: Hmm--read both The Haunted Bookshop and Parnassus on Wheels years ago, and found them just a bit too dated for my taste--will be interested to hear your final verdict.

>127 Marissa_Doyle: Very dated and the gender stereotypes are in the extreme. The bookseller's wife did not attend the bookseller meetings but she baked a cake for them. The bookseller dismissing some of his titles as unsuitable for a girl would have him hung, drawn and quartered today (on social media, of course).

The smoking culture is unthinkable by todays standards. There are many other things to, "dispute", as @MrsLee so aptly put it.

I shall march on despite its twee-ness.

>128 pgmcc: "Twee-ness"--yes, exactly. I think that's part of why I'm enjoying A Tree Grows in Brooklyn so much--because there isn't an ounce of twee in it.

>129 Marissa_Doyle: I love the way you twee-ked a pun out of that. I am proud of you, even if it were an accident, which I am sure it was not.

A pun? Me? Perish the thought!

And speaking of Brooklyn, I've got this great bridge I can let you have cheap...

>131 Marissa_Doyle: That's a coincidence. I have just been informed that Tower Bridge in London is on the market and that I have been appointed sole sales agent. Perhaps we can organise a double deal offer.

While on the topic of bridges, May the Forth be with you! Happy Star Wars Day!

While sitting on our veranda in France and looking across the lake we can see many things of interest. We spotted one neighbour looking for something nice for dinner.



He found something; a small carp I believe.


It took a bit of swallowing.

Don't you love GBHs? They will swallow anything. Nice catch, both of you.

>134 Bookmarque: Thank you!

We are lucky that our mobile home is right beside the lake. Last year I spotted a cormorant catching a big carp and got a nice shot of him sunning himself afterwards as he digested his lunch. That was at almost the same spot where the heron was dining last week.

Lovely shots, Peter.

I don't think our herons at work would know what to do with a fish. They seem to exist on a diet of bread and crisps, given to them by tourists.

I am about 80% way through The Haunted Bookshop. I shall finish it, but I am not totally bowled over by it. I find the bookseller very preachy, the advertising agent very puerile, and the mystery plot and action very school-boyish. There are many dated attitudes in the book but I think the author, while trying to write a masterpiece that would be superior to the likes of Tarzan, a book derided often in the text, has produced something that is not superior to that volume.

I take it most people who like this book are enamoured by the name checking of authors and books. I am afraid that is not enough for me to consider this book more than mediocre.

I can see the author may have been trying to spread a peace-through-tolerance-and-understanding-brought-about-by-the-enlightenmenf-of-the-masses-by-the-promotion-of-book-reading message, but it comes across a bit too soap-boxy.

It is interesting to see him talking about ensuring people do not forget the horrors of The Great War but we know they did, and it would appear in many places that many people have forgotten the horrors of WWII also but we shall not dwell on that here.


More thoughts when I have finished the book.

I am enjoying The Wrong Box. I love Stevenson's turn of phrase and his use of sarcasm to make a point. My favourite character so far is Joseph Finsbury, that man of much knowledge who is confident in his own erudition when conveying useful information to those who have no desire to know it.

The Wrong Box is an hilarious farce. The characters and language are great fun.

An interesting point, and I mean nothing political with this, but am I the only one that noticed the word, "bigly", in The Haunted Bookshop?

:-)

Question for @fuzzi, @clamairy, @MrsLee & @jillmwo.

A friend has recommended The Devil in the White City. LT tells my you have a copy.

What are your views on the book? I have ordered it on the strength of my friend's recommendation (she is living in Chicago).

I'm not on your list, but I recommend it if you have a liking for a lot of behind the scenes stuff about getting that World Exposition up and running. Or just a tolerance for at any rate. It's interesting, but it does go on an it. Oh and I hear Holmes/Mudgett's descendents are having his remains tested to make sure it's really him.

>143 Bookmarque: You ended that post with a very intriguing comment. There is a story there.

>142 pgmcc: I read that one in the context of a book group. It was somewhat intriguing to me at least because I really knew relatively little about the World Exposition and the background on that was actually quite fascinating. I seem to recall reading Sin in the Second City which is also about Chicago in roughly that same time frame. In both instances, I was most interested in the social history element rather than the true crime element. But I enjoyed them. I'll rummage about to see if I wrote anything down and get back to you.

>145 jillmwo: Thank you! One thing about non-fiction books is that I do not mind spoilers.

Well, here's what I wrote about Sin in the Second City --> http://individualtake.blogspot.com/2007/08/sin-in-second-city-review.html. That was written on my book blog way back when. But it doesn't appear that I blogged any review about Devil in the White City. I just remember reading the two of them in close conjunction and specifically because of the social history element. I think that Larson talked a good deal about the architect who did the bulk of the planning and how that vision-into-reality actually played out. My summation I think that Larson's book was interesting but not something that I felt a need to re-read. Neither book was particularly dense reading. Hope that helps.

>142 pgmcc: Haven't read it yet. It came to me I know not how, I kept it because of people raving about how good it was, and because my grandmother told me lots of stories about her time in Chicago in the 1920s, but not being a big "true crime" fan, I haven't had the gumption to pick it up and read. One of these days...

>146 pgmcc: I'd hate to spoil reality for you, though!

>149 stellarexplorer: Reality is already beyond redemption, and so can't be spoiled!

>147 jillmwo: Thank you for the comments and the review of Sin in the Second City. Very interesting review.

>148 MrsLee: I placed the book on an Amazon order but have not put it through "checkout" yet. Half an hour after putting the item on the order I went onto FaceBook and hey, wasn't there an advert on my page for the book. Amazon and Facebook's bots are working overtime today.

>149 stellarexplorer: Thank you! I refer you to Hugh's comments in 150. ;-)

>150 hfglen: I think we are of one mind on this. (Does that constitute politics or religion? We could be in deep water.)

>150 hfglen: >151 pgmcc: I was the straight man for that set up, pleased you both didn't miss a beat!

>133 pgmcc: Love these. :o)

>141 pgmcc: Yes, I noticed it! I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

>142 pgmcc: I also read it for a book group and I did enjoy it quite a bit.

I have just finished The Wrong Box which I enjoyed immensely. It was a great, light farce with lots of blatant misunderstanding and silliness: just what a farce should have and very conducive to a bit of light relief. This was a book-bullet and, unless I am very much mistaken, it was fired by @jillmwo. I thank the culprit.

Now I am starting What We Become by Arturo Pérez Reverte, one of my reliable sources for a good read. I have found his stories to be varied, interesting and intriguing. He has a series of novels about a character called Captain Alatriste which I have avoided as I enjoy his standalone novels and do not want to get roped into his series as I like the variety of his other books.

I am heading to France for an emergency weekend case conference a weekend by the lake. What We Become will be my reading for the plane journeys. The main character is a professional ballroom dancer who is employed on an ocean liner to dance with ladies in need of a dance partner. The voyage in question is from Spain to Argentina in the 1920s. Our hero, Max Costa, is very suave and handsome. I am sure the ladies in the GD who have been waxing lyrical (to be euphemistic about it) over Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager would be swooning (again with euphemism) over Max.

What? Your weekends begin on Thursday and end on Tuesday?

>156 suitable1: Your point being?

:-)

I am also reading:



Fascinating stuff!

>158 pgmcc: I imagine it's a real barn-burner as those EU regulatory reports are wont to be.

>156 suitable1: I had exactly the same reaction to his departure announcement. Meanwhile, there are those of us in the US working our 12-14 hour days (oh, OK, ten hour days) and mocking the slacker types vacationing on the Continent.

>159 jillmwo: Jealousy is a terrible thing. :-)

I have taken a rather long time to read What We Become by Arturo Pérez Reverte. This has nothing to do with the quality of the book but rather with the effects of the painkillers I have been on since injuring my back on an exercise during my secret ninja mission to France. It was the exercise where one is charged with removing a lawnmower from the shed. Very dangerous.

Well, I finally finished "What We Become" on Friday, 2nd of June having started it on 14th May. Needless to say, my lack of enthusiasm for reading a book of fiction was infinitesimal when compared to my lack of enthusiasm for reading the book on the EU General Data Protection Regulation. I can proudly confirm that this book has not even been opened since I left for France.



Arturo Pérez Reverte is an author whose standalone novels I read as soon as them become available in English translation. I discovered his work may moons ago when I found The Dumas Club in "Books Upstairs", a quirky little independent bookshop in Dublin, one where I have found several authors whos work I have enjoyed.

The story starts on an ocean liner on its way from Spain to Buenos Aires in the 1920s. We are introduced to a famous Spanish composer who is travelling to Argentina with his beautiful wife in search of inspiration for his musical composition. They are, of course, travelling first class and it is in the first class ballroom where they meet Max, the main character of the novel, who is working as a dance partner for ladies who do not have a gentleman to dance with. He is, naturally, handsome, well groomed, and extremely charming. The GD denizens who have been enthusiastic about Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager, will delight in the descriptions and behaviour of Max.

The novel interweaves the three stories of when Max encounters the composer's wife in the 1920s, the latter half of the 1930s, and in 1963. The politics of those times (just after WWI; during the rise of fascism in Europe that led to WWII; Cold War 1960s) are pertinent to the story.

As you may imagine, the book looks at the lives and characters of the people of interest at three stages of their lives. It also gives an insight into the lives of the rich during difficult times and how wealthy refugees from the Spanish Civil War had to make do with rending a villa in the French Riviera while waiting for the world to calm down and revert to normal. The poor dears! Under these conditions espionage and survival play a significant role in the story.

One of the other key elements of the story is the history of the Tango; it origins in the brothels and bars of Argentina where it lived up to my impression of the dance as "sex standing up".

All in all, an enjoyable novel with love, betrayal, intrigue, glamour, robbery, and politics playing important parts.

This novel could be regarded as the complement of the coming of age novel. It is the novel at the other end of one's prime, when one starts looking for a more comfortable life but still wonders whether he/she can still do the things they were good at in those earlier decades; do they still have what it takes.

I gave the book 3.5 stars but it might have scored four stars had I not been off my reading form due to the drugs I was pumped up with.



Now I have started Nabokov's Favourite Word Is Mauve, a book bullet fired, if my memory serves me right, by @jillmwo. I picked this up late last night when I couldn't sleep and could not find anything on my shelves to interest me into reading. I picked it up in an attempt to rejuvenate my interest in books, and I must thank Jill for her direct hit with her bullet. I am finding it entertaining and interesting. It is easy to read and the discussion easy to follow. So far I have read the introduction and the first chapter, which is about analysing the use of adverbs ending in "ly" by different authors, and how this might relate to how good the quality of a book is. There is, by necessity, some discussion of how one objectively assesses the, "goodness" of work of fiction, and Blatt, while not claiming to have a definitive answer to this question, does present a logical explanation for the proxies he uses in his analyses for this purpose.

I recall some discussion in the pub on why it is recommended by some to avoid the use of "ly" ending adverbs and found the explanation (page 13) provided by Chuck Palahniuk to be satisfactory.

"Using -ly adverbs goes too far, telling the reader what they should think instead of setting up the scene so the meaning becomes clear in context."

I see this as a paraphrasing, using a specific stylistic example, of "Show; don't tell!" As those authors ascribed with supporting the -ly adverb avoidance approach also advise concise writing and the avoidance of superfluous words, I can see the practice of -ly adverb avoidance leading to more creativity and informative text that does not necessarily descend into turgid paragraphs of dross.

Lawn mowers usually attack hands and feet. Hope the overall mission was successful.

When you are able to return to your cover job, a better story may be necessary.

>161 pgmcc: Ack! And all this time we imagined you'd been frolicking through France in a wine induced haze. I hope you've recovered 100%. Back injuries are insidious as they keep you from doing just about everything. :o( I hope you taught that lawnmower a lesson!

Glad to hear you're reading again at least.

Medication ought not to be allowed to interfere with reading. Clearly you need another week off to recuperate properly. (And so glad you're enjoying the book recommendation!)

>161 pgmcc: Sorry to hear about your back! I really hate how the most common chore can put one down and out. By the way, your comments on What We Become zinged me enough to put it on my wishlist.

The new touchstone improvements are working, although it didn't give me this book as first choice, at least it gave me one with the same words in the title, even if they were preceded by "The Walking Dead."

My struggle is with the word "just." The bane of my writing. Sigh. Not that I'm writing a book or anything, but I hate when it creeps into my texts, posts, etc. I'm reading a book by Rex Stout now, so I will pay attention to -ly words. Curious as to whether or not he uses them, because as a rule he is a concise writer.

>162 suitable1: >163 clamairy: >164 jillmwo:

I certainly taught that lawnmower a lesson. I was totally immobilised so I got my wife to push it around. That taught it who was boss.

Am on painkillers for another week until I get a spinal injection. After that I have to have another MRI as the information gathered to date has not identified the root problem. Another couple of weeks off work. I have wasted two weeks off by not being able to read. So many books and so little time.

Nabokov's Favourite Word is proving a great remedy to my concentration. I like that Blatt has accurately described the statistical analysis technics, thus keeping nerds like me onboard, yet has not drowned the book in technical jargon that would put the non-statistically minded reader off. Not an easy balance to achieve.

Ugh, ow, yuck! I hope you get your back sorted out soon, and that the drugs manage the pain adequately until it is fixed.

I really want to read Nabokov's Favourite Word.

>139 pgmcc: You got me with The Wrong Box.

I hope your recovery goes rapidly and well. Back injuries, ack. One day more than 20 years ago I got into my car feeling fine, and when I got out about 10 minutes later I was broken. No idea what little twitch or pull might have done it, but I spent the next three days in a drug haze and have had trouble off and on ever since. It's no bargain when you can't even gather the wits to read.

Does it work for you to be read to? I've always found that soothing and comforting, all my life and right up to the present, even when I couldn't keep my mind on it. When I'm ancient and incapacitated, I hope somebody's around who remembers that and has the patience to read aloud to me. (It's not the same with an audiobook because you can't interrupt and discuss something or complain about a word use before you continue.)

Sorry to hear about the back injury. Not being able to read as well is just adding insult to injury. I hope the doctors will be able to find the problem and fix it. In the meantime, I hope you can catch up on the missed reading.

Awful! Sorry to hear! Too bad you can't read under general anesthesia!

>167 SylviaC:; >168 Meredy:; >169 Sakerfalcon:; >170 stellarexplorer:

Thank you for the sympathy and good wishes.

>167 SylviaC: I am glad the Nabokov virus is spreading. My reading has slowed again so I am only on Chapter 3 at this stage. It is a book I would see creating a lot of discussion around a table in the GD with pint glasses in front of everyone.

>168 Meredy: I hope you enjoy The Wrong Box. I found it a beautifully light farce and suitable for relaxing with.

In relation to your comments about how easy it is to get back trouble, I agree. It is one of those things that provides a penalty far in excess of the value of the effort invested. If only there was something that provided such a disproportionate level of benefit for effort invested.

I do not recall having anyone read to me. I have read to the family but no one has volunteered to read to me. I think it is something I could get used to.

>169 Sakerfalcon: I think your description of not being able to read as, "adding insult to injury", is spot on target.

>170 stellarexplorer: Hmmm! Reading under general anesthesia? That sounds like an ability that would be very useful.

Page 114 in Nabokov's Favourite word is Mauve presents empirical evidence that bestsellers are getting "dumber" over time. Just saying!

P.S. Yes, I have only reached page 114 after eleven days of reading. Not the fault of the book; more to do with my concentration. I am like a goldfish these days. Oh! Nice wallpaper. Oh! Nice wallpaper. Oh! Nice wallpaper...

Hi Peter!

I'm back after a month in California. Mom's mail is forwarded, her safe deposit box permanently closed, and the house on the market. Back to retirement!

Drawing a line in the sand, and just moving forward seems wisest, otherwise I'd never get caught up! I hope things have been going well for you.

>161 pgmcc: So sorry to hear about this! Been there, got the T-shirt, etc., and know how much fun it isn't. I hope they can identify the cause soon and get you back to reading coherently (working is, of course, a lower priority). Be well!

You're still shooting well, even in your drug-induced haze; I was struck by your descriptions of both What We Become and Mauve.

>172 pgmcc: So are you able to do anything at all? Or are you spending your days draped across various pieces of furniture. (Or the carpet...)

>175 clamairy:
I figure he's catching up on his training films.

So >176 suitable1: you think his reference to watching the wallpaper is just code? What a clever subterfuge.

Hi, Karen. All the best with moving forward. It is the only way.

I have started Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. All I knew of it was its being a parody of Gothic novels. I had no idea is was so funny and how it is a parody of more than just Gothic novels. It is very enjoyable.

>178 pgmcc: *Yay* That's my favorite Austen novel.

>174 Jim53: Thank you for your empathy and good wishes. You have cheered me up about the BB hits.

I have moved on from the furniture and the carpet, but am still not able to do much, including go to work. :-(

>176 suitable1: & >177 jillmwo:

The training videos is a pretty good deduction. The specific videos include:
Hopscotch (yes, again.)
Our Man in Havana
Deadly Affair (based on John Le Carré's first novel, Call for the Dead)
Thick as Thieves
Bullet to Beijing
Missions Impossible: Rogue Nation
Topaz

amongst others.

Readingwise I finished Nabokov's Favourite Word is Mauve and started Northanger Abbey. It is very funny. I have also started Making a Point.

>181 pgmcc:

Are you able to get around yet?

>184 suitable1: My knee is giving me trouble so I minimise movement. I had an MRI scan today so hopefully they can tell me what it is that is causing the problem. I will just have to get used to sitting in one place having everything brought to me. :-) There is always a silver lining.

Wait! It was supposed to be your back. Now it's your knee? Maybe you are getting too used to having everything fetched for you.

>186 suitable1: It is both but a spinal injection eased the back sufficiently to reveal my knee as a possible cause of the whole problem. With regards to my getting used to having everything fetched for me, no comment.

Hi Peter! My drawing a line in the sand is all well and good, but I'm sorry I missed the back/knee issue. I'm sorry you've got any issue at all.

I read Northanger Abbey a very long time ago. Another re-read to add to my list.....

Glad to see you got some relief. Hope the real cause becomes clear and can be corrected. Good to see you posting again!

(Now I'm keeping an eye out for some of those training films that I haven't seen.)

>182 pgmcc: I enjoyed Rogue Nation. But to be fair, I've liked ALL the MI movies, so something would have to be really bad for me not to like it.

As for your ailments. Man, they weren't kidding when they sang "your X bone is connected to your Y bone". Who knew something down in the knees could throw your back off of kilter? I pray it gets figured out and you can recover quickly...

Seriously hoping that everything (health-wise) gets resolved quickly. Being house-bound for too long can be maddening! Even having everything brought to you can make you nuts if you think it should be quicker to just get up and get it yourself.

>187 pgmcc:

Well, I hope the recovery is fast and complete. Besides, there a whole bunch of stuff piling up at the drop point.

Hope they find the right bit to work on soon, and that you get 200% well sooner. (This story is starting to resemble the saga of daughter's car's radiator, which is too tedious even for the joys and jeremiads thread.

Oh, I am so sorry that your healing hasn't progressed as much as you would like. :o/

On the plus side you're reading. So there's that, at least! :o)
I too am a big fan of Northanger Abbey. Enjoy!

>187 pgmcc: Thank you for your good wishes.

I am thinking I might read some other Jane Austen stories on the strength of the wit and writing in Northanger Abbey. I have only underlined a few quotes in the book because I found so many amusing sections that I could have ended up underlining about have the book.

And here that one is my least favorite of Austen's six novels. Persuade me I'm wrong.

>189 Jim53: I really appreciate your comments as I know you have the tee-shirt. I do not believe my case is as severe as yours.

By the way, this morning we added The Quiller Memorandum to the list of training videos watched.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Are you familiar with The Prisoner from the 1960s? In one of the episodes towards the end of the series they use the song you refer to about bones. The series is about a secret agent who tried to resign from his job and found himself in "The Village". It is slightly surreal but does have an interesting viewpoint. You might enjoy it.

There was a recent remake that I have not seen. I hear from other Prisoner fans that it is not something that enthusiasts of the original would appreciate. :-)

>191 jillmwo: Thank you!

Even having everything brought to you can make you nuts if you think it should be quicker to just get up and get it yourself.

My mother adopted a saying she found on a page-a-day calendar: "When you are looking for a helping hand look no further than the end of your arm." :-)

The painkillers are suppressing any urge to get too frustrated as they sap the energy. I am still only getting a few pages read a week. I suppose it is the pent up frustration that has led me to a burst of posts this weekend; that and the desire to thank everyone for all the good wishes.

>192 suitable1: The dead-letter drops are like postboxes at Christmas: bulging with mail.

>193 hfglen: Thank you, Hugh. It is starting to feel like a bit of a saga. On Tuesday I am having a test on my thigh. It involves pins being stuck into me and electric currents being passed between them. All my counter interrogation training will be called into play.

>194 clamairy: Thank you, Claire.

I had no idea that Northanger Abbey is a source of book bullets for Gothic novels. Some of those I have read, others I have on my shelves, and others are new to me. The Mystery of Udolpho is one I have intended to read soon, so I am avoiding any detailed notes in the "Northanger Abbey" volume I have about Udolpho. I think Udolpho will be read in the near future given all the enthusiasm it receives from the characters in Northanger.

>201 pgmcc: Eeee-yooowwww! That sounds agonising! Strength to you in your ordeal.

I hope you get all your different parts fixed up soon!

Hi Peter! I hope you get some answers soon. Hang in there.

>201 pgmcc: Is this the result of some nefarious villain attempting to get back at you for thwarting some recent dastardly plan for world domination? Ask for security checks on all medical personnel. Worrying about you but hoping for the best.

>203 hfglen: Thank you, Hugh. That was my initial reaction too. Having gone through the process I can report that it is a justified reaction.

>204 SylviaC: Thank you, Sylvia. Your good wishes are much appreciated.

I hope you had a great Canada 150 celebration and a happy Canada Day.

>205 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen.

I am progressing slowly towards another Dickens. I am thinking of A Tale of Two Cities.

I have finally finished Northanger Abbey. It is a very enjoyable book. While it started out parodying gothic and romance novels of the time it ended up being a romance novel of its time.

I thought it was a great peek into the lifestyle and attitudes of the better off members of society at that time. A nice piece of social history as well as a humourous poke at gothic and romance novels.

I am now starting The Man who was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton. I have enjoyed Chesterton's short stories before but this is the first of his longer works I have read.

>209 pgmcc: & >210 pgmcc: You are just reading all my favorites now. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

>211 MrsLee: I noticed in your thread that have been reading G. K. Chesterton. I expect I shall enjoy The Man Who Was Thursday. I will let you know how I get on with The Tale of Two Cities when I get to it.

P.S. How is the clean up of the water damage coming along?

>209 pgmcc: I found The Man Who Was Thursday... interesting. Not at all like anything else of his that I had read.

>213 Jim53: I enjoyed it, but I can't say that I'm sure I understood it!

>212 pgmcc: Happily, we live in a very dry climate, so nothing permanent, we could probably manage another visit soon. ;)

Are you up and around yet, or are you still mostly horizontal?

>215 clamairy: Horizontal, unfortunately. Not reading much but am binge watching NCIS.

>216 pgmcc: Yikes! How long has it been? :o(

>217 clamairy: About seven weeks. Doc says it could another four to six.

We can race to the bathroom.

>219 Jim53: On your marks, get ready,...

>220 pgmcc: we might need to add a new third step before GO.

Hold up, guys! Before the race starts, we'll want to set up a water stop for you mid-way. And somebody on the sidelines might want to start bagging the popcorn for viewers along the track...

>222 jillmwo:

Probably a good idea for some EMTs to be available, too.

>223 suitable1: EMT is a good idea in case spectators are overcome by the excitement of the race.

>222 jillmwo: Do you think water is the best idea when they're on their way to the bathroom?

Seriously, I hope both of you wonderful gentlemen are soon back on your feet.

>225 SylviaC:

The water should be taken on the way back to the couch.

Binge-watching NCIS is not a bad thing at all.

Husband persuaded me to watch it several years ago. I said I'd only watch it in order, start to finish, so he took about 6 months to get it all recorded, then we binge-watched it, 2-3 episodes per night, forever. It was great. We've kept caught up on the current seasons.

I'm sorry you're not reading much, and I hope things get better for you soon.

>227 karenmarie: My problem is that I am watching episodes recorded from the TV. I have most of season 1, half of season two, all season 11, and season 14 is currently running. A few season 8 episodes are somewhere in the recordings library. Binge watching with stutters is a bit annoying. The consolation is that the main thing I like is the characters and that means I can live without having to follow the story arcs in full.

I finished The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. It was published in 1908, the year of my father's birth.

As an undercover story it is interesting to see the thoughts of G.K. Chesterton at the time. He was dealing with anarchists and it was amusing to see the way the authorities were tracking theirs suspects.

>228 pgmcc:

And, most of the base stories are resolved in one or two episodes.

>230 suitable1: Publishers had not thought of the story arc at that stage.

My next read is the short story, The Gold-Bug, by Edgar Allan Poe. I am reading it from a collection of Poe's poems, stories and letters, edited by Philip Van Doren Stern. I cannot help but think Mr. Stern had a sense of humour that would go down well with the Green Dragoneers. His collection is entitled, The Portable Poe. How very convenient.

I had a teacher in fifth grade who read aloud to us from The Gold Bug. He was trying to be popular with the boy students, I think. It didn't do much for me at the time. I've never felt the interest in re-visiting it. Ought I to rethink that?

>233 jillmwo: It didn't do much for me at the time. I've never felt the interest in re-visiting it. Ought I to rethink that?

I do not think so.

The Gold-Bug is a story of mystery and hidden treasure developed with the purpose of explaining how to break a simple cipher.

*thumbs up* Thanks for the recommendation. Is there anything else there in The Portable Poe that you've been enjoying?

I spent sixth grade (age 11) reading Poe and Ray Bradbury short stories, and The Gold Bug was one of my favorites because it wasn't fevered and overwrought (Usher and Ligeia, anyone?)

>236 Marissa_Doyle: Please pinpoint exactly what elements of the following extract from the House of Usher you find to be "fevered and overwrought".

I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime.

(For the record, that's from just the first paragraph of Usher. I didn't have time to go fishing for the good stuff.)

>237 jillmwo: The use of the word, "aught." ;)

:o)
My favorite Poe as a 12 year old was The Masque of the Red Death. My son went through a phase as a 7 year old when he had me reading The Conqueror Worm to him every night before bed.

Overwrought pieces can be fun!

Masque is one of my favorites too. Ever since 8th grade. I'm a big Poe fan. I love his poetry -- beyond The Raven. For me his "overwrought" emotionality works!

>237 jillmwo: That is making me think of returning to work after my sick leave.

On the Friday evening opening session of our sf/horror/fantasy convention one year we had two actors who recited two Poe stories accompanied by sound effects. The stories were, The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-tale Heart. "The Cask..." has always been my favourite tale from Poe. I found I could identify with the host. Bwahahahahahahahahah!

Nicholas. . . Nicholas. . . Nicholas. . .

>235 jillmwo: I have not read any more from my Portable Poe (I love that title.) as I haven't read anything else at all. I shall report recommendations from it as I find them. I am interested to look at some of the letters and articles.

>239 clamairy: and 240 I too found Masque of the Red Death alluring at a young age. Excessive certainly but I kept going back.

>237 jillmwo: And here I thought you'd be exhausted by his marked overuse of the dash as a form of punctuation. :>)

>242 pgmcc: and 243 There's a winery abut an hour from me where during the run-up to the Halloween holiday, they do a similar production (entitled "Evermore") which consists of dramatic readings and recitations of Poe. I enjoyed it when I went with a friend a year or two back. I think that's where I first encountered his City in the Sea. Death has reared himself a Throne.... *shivers deliciously*

I knew watching NCIS would be worthwhile: during Episode 6 in Season 11, the Secretary of the Navy tells agent Magee that her favourite bar when she was studying in Boston was none other than, "The Green Dragon Tavern"

>245 pgmcc: that is a nice touch. You're getting better training films than I recall ever having.

>245 pgmcc: We really need to make a pilgrimage to that one! LibraryThing had a gathering there once.

>247 clamairy: In NCIS?

Wow!

OK, y'all, I can't reach from here; who's gonna slap him upside the back of his head?

>249 Jim53:

He's still down on his back. You'll have to wait until he is better.

Hoping that will be soon, and not only so that we can bestow a Gibbsian smack.

Yet another NCIS-Star Trek link. Giibs's second ex-wife (he has three) is played by Jeri Ryan who played Seven-of-Nine in Star Trek Voyager..

Hi Peter!

Last night husband was re-watching an NCIS and it was one of the episodes with Jenny Shepard. At the time we watched the whole series from start to then-finish, I made quite a few comments about her hair. Darned if husband didn't remember pretty much all of them as I was walking through and once again commented on her hair!

My husband absolutely adores Seven of Nine in any series he sees her in.

She's in Bosch. Season 3 I think.

>253 karenmarie: Yes, I noticed her hair kept changing.

I have just finished Season 4 at the end of which we discover Dinozzo's girlfriend is the daughter of The Frog and that Director Shepard's father may still be alive. I am not sure if there was a 25th episode or not.

Unfortunately I do not have access to Season 5. The episodes I have from Season 6 are 16 to 19. Such are the woes of recording the show from TV.

@Jillmwo, you enquired about the contents of my Portable Poe so I thought I would let you see what is in it.

Interesting. I don't think I mentioned anywhere that I had recently read a suspense-horror short story by Wilkie Collins that was directly related in terms of plot and titillation to "The Pit and the Pendulum". Poe did a mite better than Collins, but there was such a parallel between the two stories that I did wonder whether Poe might not have been a writer whose works Collins read in his off hours. The Collins version is a short story entitled "A Terribly Strange Bed". A young man's life is put in peril on the basis of his gambling and takes refuge in a most remarkable shelter.

>257 jillmwo: I must track down that Collins story.

I have not been reading systematically through the Poe book, but have read a section here and there. In fiction there arr editor notes putting the stories in the section in the context of Poe's evolution as a writer. The notes also discuss how the stories relate to one another. Very interesting.

I have not read any of the letters yet.

I have decided to urge myself to read more and have started a Lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy L. Sayers always appears to cheer me up and put a little pep in my step. The book I started is The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. It is the next in my chronological reading of the Lord Peter stories.

> 259
Are you off your back now so your step can have some pep?

>260 suitable1: Off the back but still off work with nerve compression affecting my leg. Physiotherapy is helping with mobility and I hope to be back to work in the next few weeks, mobile but with pain that I should man-up to and tolerate. :-) All going the right way.

>259 pgmcc: Oooh, a true example of the British Golden Age detective novel! Eager to hear what you think. There are elements to it that I suspect may make it unpopular in the modern day. (Hence, it's not one of the ones the Folio Society chose to republish in one of their sets.) But as a puzzle mystery, Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is rather fun and interesting.

>259 pgmcc: As I recall, I enjoyed seeing how much Lord Peter enjoyed himself in digging into a complicated puzzle in this one. Hoping your improvement continues!

Glad to hear you are starting to be more mobile. I hope you'll be fully fit again soon.

Hi Peter! I'm glad you seem to be doing better, even if not back at work yet.

Being a serious Peter Wimsey fan, I am happy to hear that you're reading The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. I hope you like it. I'd say it's one of my favs, but they all are except for Five Red Herrings. The Fentimans are an interesting family.

Add my voice to the chorus of those happy about your progress! :o)

I've been sympathetically following your tribulations, Peter. I'm sorry not to have posted many words of encouragement and cheered for your improvements, but I've thought them.

When I was laid up really hard following surgery some years ago, it took me more than 6 weeks to regain enough strength to passively watch TV, and a lot longer before I could read. I was disappointed because I had thought my weeks of convalescence were going to be one long do-nothing-but-read day in bed. I learned something. So I find it a very good sign that you're feeling up to reading mysteries.

Take heart from being the focus of many good thoughts and wishes. I know you also have strong family support. Pain...yeah, it takes some courage. Always wishing you the best.

>263 Jim53: Thanks for the good wishes Jim. I hope your recovery is continuing. As I have said before, your ailments were much more serious than mine. Hang in there. I know it is a long time but it will come.

>264 Sakerfalcon:. Thank you, Claire. I am a lot better now and hopefully approaching normal activity levels.

>265 karenmarie:. Thank you, Karen.

I have noticed Five Red Herrings being bad-mouthed by several people in the GD. This intrigues me. It makes me feel like my sons when they want to watch a film that has the reputation of being very bad and they want to see just how bad it is in the hope that it is so bad it is good.

>262 jillmwo: I am about 3/4s way through the book and all I have found that may be regarded as unpopular in the modern day is the exposé of how badly women were treated. If someone cannot read the book without realising that Dorothy L. Sayers was showing this treatment to raise awareness of it then I worry about them. I am a strong proponent of people reading books in their original form and acknowledging that they may contain things they do not approve of, and realising that the books themselves may very well be instruments that helped move society away from undesirable traits, such as misogyny, sectarianism, racism, etc... To avoid books because they do not measure up to today's standards is a hindrance to one's education. It is the seed of banning books which, as we have seen throughout modern history, is one of the cornerstones of totalitarianism, mass discrimination, and worse. It is also an approach to revisionism with the current victors rewriting history to hide the evils that they are about to repeat upon the unsuspecting masses.

Rant over!

>266 clamairy: Thank you, Claire.

Hi Peter!

A bad Dorothy Sayers is better than most authors' best books. Go for it!

>267 Meredy: Meredy, thank you for you good wishes.

Like yourself, I started feeling my time off was a terrible waste of good reading time if I was not able to read, but I managed to pull myself into accepting that it was a necessary evil in the effort to recover.

My age has never bothered me before, and it is not bothering me now, but for the first time, now that I am in my 61st year, I am accepting that I am moving into another phase of my life. (I must get a small sail boat and head out to the ocean to catch a sailfish and demonstrate that I am still a functioning member of society.)

I greatly appreciate all the good wishes I have received from the good people of the GD. As you mentioned, I am also blessed by having strong family support.

All is good and the best is yet to come.

Keep well!

>274 pgmcc: :) Please be sure you have GPS and a good radio if you must do that.

>262 jillmwo: & >271 pgmcc: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
Unless, of course, Miss Dorland is a man. That opens up a whole can of worms. There is also a hint that she may be a lesbian.

Those angles in the story would be more accepted today so they must not be what you have alluded to.

>271 pgmcc: and >276 pgmcc: My belief that The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is less acceptable now than it would have been back in the day is due to the issue of domestic abuse. George Fentiman is an unlikeable man suffering from PTSD and mustard gas. He heaps abuse on his wife and she accepts that abuse without much of a murmur. She doesn't walk away, and I'm pretty sure that long-suffering victim mentality would make the book unpopular with a younger body of readers.. The mystery itself is a top notch puzzle and that's why I actually like the book itself.

>277 jillmwo: I agree with you that the abuse was hard to take, as was the general misogyny that Sayers highlighted in the story. I felt it difficult to justify Lord Peter's soft spot for George due to his suffering during the war, and reconcile it with his, and the General's, distaste for George's behaviour towards his wife. While Sayers was highlighting the abuse she was also highlighting men's awareness of abuse an reluctance to do anything about it. The closest anyone did was the General's consideration of leaving his money to Sheila rather than George.

I was also thinking that today's reader would regard the conclusion of the case as an assisted suicide and that would receive mixed views today depending on how one felt on the matter. While it was portrayed as the honourable thing to do to spare a lady embarrassment, I reckoned it was also the honourable thing to do to avoid a court case that would drag the reputation of the upper classes through the mud and reveal secrets of the elite to the riff-raff and commoners. Tut! Tut! That would never do. What goes on behind club doors stays behind club doors.

As always, I was jumping all over the place as the mystery progressed. It is all very clear when one gets the solution at the end.

Last Friday I was at a local supermarket with my wife and I spotted something that would not have caught my notice had I not been reading The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.



I did not go so far as to purchase the bar lest it leave an unpleasantness in my mouth.

>277 jillmwo: I can see I need to reread this, I've forgotten the details. On the abuse issue though, there are still far too many women who do not walk away. It is part of the dynamics of the issue, I believe. The abuser is able to find a victim who will enable the abuse by staying. Often abusers are quite charming, and always have an excuse for their lapse so that the victim lives in hope of reform. Still communities are reluctant to step in, and the law won't unless there is a complaint filed by the abused or the peace of the neighborhood is deserved, am I right?

Many mysteries from that era end with "assisted suicide" to save the others in the story from something or the other, or sometimes, because although the detective knows what happened, it would be difficult to prove it in court.

>275 MrsLee: Awww! @MrsLee, you care. That makes my boat trip unnecessary. Thank you!

I am trying to exercise my mind with some light non-fiction: Gladiators, Pirates and Games of Trust by Haim Shapira. This book is subtitled "How Game Theory, Strategy and Probability Rule Our Lives".



Having reached post 281 I think the next time I visit LT I shall start Part III of my reading thread.

>282 pgmcc: How do you like it? Should I step in front of that bullet? I liked The Drunkard's Walk and several others along similar lines.

>283 Meredy: I am only a few pages in so I shall not say "yay!" or "nay!" just yet.

He does have a light touch and he avoids numbers and formulae (and gets bonus points from me for using the word formulae instead of the abomination formulas) but I want to see how it works on the long run.

By the way, do not think I did not see what you did there: you presented your post as if it were a question about your likely being hit by a bullet while you were in fact using the query as a distraction while you fired a live round in my direction. I am not sure if I have been winged by that devious pot-shot. I'm watching you Meredy. Soft spoken but deadly. That's you.

:-)

>284 pgmcc: Ah, but I didn't get away with it, did I?

No use trying to take advantage of you in your weakened state. Your capacity doesn't appear to be diminished at all. Opposing agents take note.

Volume 3: The Sequel to The Sequel, has been launched and can be reached using the "This topic was continued..." link at the bottom of this thread.

I hope to see you all there. The wine and cheese is being laid out as we speak.