Off Topic Art & Literature

Im trying a few Damian Boyd books after a recommendation from a family member. As the crow flies interesting story line based in Avon and Somerset region.

 

No such thing as Avon any more Beddy, other than the river. Cheddar Gorge was where I learnt to climb many years ago and also where I wrote my first car off and it's always been in Somerset

 

Dave

"The Terror" is impossible to put down. I think the reason why it works is because the whole story, other than the flashbacks, is located in the frozen wasteland where the two ships were stranded so that the whole disturbing and unfamiliar landscape described makes the supernatural element more plausible. In under a week, I have read 400 pages and I reckon I will have the whole thing polished off before Christmas. It has been made in to a TV series by Sir Ridley Scott but the reviews on Amazon are suggestive that it is not available in a European format. What other books by Dan Simmons would you recommend?

I would also have to confess that I an simultaneously working my way through the Asterix comic books. I had previously bought some of the volumes for both my niece and nephew in the hope that they would become interested in history and they were both pretty ambivalent to them. Having read a number of these books, I think that they are only superficially for children. Like all good "kid's books", there needs to be another level which appeals to adults and I think that , beyond the cartoon violence, there are some great gags about nationalities and life in France. The best stories in the series are those that lampoon national stereotypes or offer a contrast with Brittany where the books are set and more sophisticated places like Paris. There are also cultural references to the likes of the Beatles and James Bond as well a Barbie. However, I had not realised how historically accurate these generally books are. There was an archaeologist working on the site of the Roman dockside on the north bank of the Thames who was interviewed in the Sunday Telegraph a few years back who said that it was these stories inspired his choice of career. He also made a comment about the accuracy of the history in the stories and I believe he referred to something like a key that had been found on the site which resembled one shown in a volume of Asterix. . What he did not mention was the the Roman characters are often given speech bubbles with Latin in which ultimately transpire to originate from Roman writers such a Julius Caesar and Horace. The earlier books are the better ones. I think the translations by Anthea Bell are spot on, especially the amusing choice of names.

I enjoy French BD as I find this an easier way to understand the language. However, with Asterix I chickened out and went for the English translation which some people believe if actually smarter than the original French.

 

Ian - I’ve enjoyed a few by Dan Simmons. I think “Carrion Comfort” was the first of his I read. “Darwin’s Blade” was quite good, though a bit far fetched. “Summer of Night” is good - a bit like Stephen King’s “It” and Robert McCammon’s “A Boys Life”.
Saying that, I think “The Terror” is probably his best. You could try “A Winter Haunting” - that wasn’t bad.

I love the asterix comics! I was working in Paris when one of my team suggested I read them and I found them fascinating and way too good for children! Very clever observations - almost an English way of humour (I told them that and said it was a compliment ....)

 

I loved reading the Asterix books. I read the English ones but did have a couple of the French versions too, but I was only 13/14 and early learning French.

Great humour for older kids and adults alike.

 

Dave

I have just finished "The Terror." I don't think I have read anything quite so compelling for ages, a real page turner. It was intriguing as to how Simmons would end the book given that the reality was that there were no survivors. Ultimately, the conclusion was really satisfying and made you appreciate what was really happening from the Inuit perspective. The first 600 pages were really good but the last 300 have effectively wrecked the last few days as I needed to know what happened to everyone once they left the boat and started to haul their boats to safety across the ice. This is a fantastic book that I would thoroughly recommend.

Not seen the TV series by Ridley Scott but put off by the fact that the DVDs all seem to be for the wrong region with loads of people complaining about this on Amazon.

 

I don’t know if anyone else here has read JB Priestley novels, but I managed to obtain a hard copy of “Lost Empires” from a second hand bookshop here in Palma de Mallorca. It is set in the period 1913-14 and is a story as told through the voice of one of the main characters in the book, Richard Herncastle. In the novel he recalls his experiences when his uncle recruited him to his touring company. What I liked about the book was Priestley ability to take you into the heart of the story. You are there with Herncastle on his train journeys, on his trips to the pub after a performance. You are there with him as he takes a trip out of town to the moors to paint, as he is an aspiring artist. He takes you with him to Leeds at the beginning of December on a very grey, cold and wet day where the cloud hung low over the city like a low ceiling. You are backstage.

The novel was written in the 1960s, so perhaps the title has a double meaning, not only with regard to the loss of Empire Theatres up and down the country, but also could refer to the loss of Empires as experienced by the UK and France.

It is the first book that I have read by Priestley, and is one that I very much enjoyed as I liked his style of writing in portraying the characters and scenes.

 

Has anyone else on here read any of the Mitch Rapp books, authored by Vince Flynn?
My son put me on to him years ago but I never had the time owing to reading my own favourites and working full time.
Since the lockdowns my spare time has rocketed and I have been reading through the series at quite a pace.
Mitch Rapp is a member of the CIA counterterrorism group who is the go to guy for dealing with the bad guys.
Never thought I would say it but he makes Jack Reacher look like a pussy.

 

Bo, but sounds good

 

They are enjoyable stories that could easily translate to the big screen or a tv series.
I think one or two may have been turned into a movie, but need to look into that.

Edit

Read in chronological order.

 

I am about 1/ the way through the penultimate Bernie Gunther book that I have to read. "A man without breath" is about the investigation in to the Katyn forest massacre and , like all of these thrillers, it is based on some thorough research by author Phillip Kerr. As a rule, I am not that interested in WWII and Nazis. Kerr's books really work for me because the the SD, SS and Gestapo are not portrayed as cliches but almost like rival, criminal enterprises with an agenda to undermine the other. It is a shame that he died so early and the series stops after 13 books, the twelfth volume frustratingly suggest a change in tack which was never fulfilled. There seems to be a strong following on this board for detective novels and , whilst I had originally been sceptical about this oeuvre , writers like Reginald Hill and Phillip Kerr prove just how imaginative they can be. I was interested about the comment about books becoming TV series because HBO have bought the rights to the Bernie Gunther series yet nothing seems to ever materialise. Having enjoyed Hill's "Dalziel and Pascoe " as a TV programme, I have to say that they do not do the books real justice. I would be worried that the same would happen to Bernie.

 

I am almost through a series of Joy Ellis books (Nicki Galena series) very good story lines with numerous twist and turns. All around the Fens. Worth a read if your into detective series books. Suggest starting at book one.

 

“The Terror” - the series is on BBBC2 this week - starts on Wednesday at 9 and 10 (two episodes)
Especially for @Ian Thumwood !!

 

Dave

I cannot wait to see this. Thanks for the "heads up."

 

Long time since I last read anything by William Boyd and I had forgotten just how good he is. Just finished "Love is blind" last night which is about a piano tuner who is employed by a virtuoso concert pianist in the late 1890s and then embarks upon an affair with his employer's mistress. The premise of the story is original to say the least but the book culminates in an act of sabotage followed by a deadly encounter which then results in the principle character and the woman who has now become his mistress fleeing across Europe to avoid revenge being enacted. Boyd is usually right on the money but this novel was especially satisfying although extremely sad in the end.

 

I just watched “A United Kingdom” on Netflix and I thoroughly recommend it. It’s the story of Seretse Khama, the heir to the throne of Bechuanaland in Southern Africa, a British Protectorate. Just after the end of World War 2, Khama is preparing to return to his country after attending university in London, when he meets, falls in love with, and marries a white working class English girl. This horrifies just about everybody, from the Attlee government to his own uncle, who has been acting as regent in Seretse’s absence. The upshot is that Khama is exiled to Britain, leaving his now pregnant wife in Bechuanaland.

The incredible duplicity of both the Labour government and that of Churchill, who succeeded Attlee in 1951, is historic fact but little known nowadays, but the story of how Seretse and Ruth overcame all the hurdles and eventually achieved independence for the modern day Republic of Botswana is beautifully told. An excellent cast, led by David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, and it’s thoroughly uplifting. Do have a look.

 

On My List

 

I’m looking forward to the Jack Charlton doc on iPlayer from 29th March

 

I can highly recommend Murray Walkers autobiography!

 

I'm just re reading Michael Moorcocks eternal champion series . I know it's a bit light weight, but I love it !