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Category Archives: Literature
Len Deighton on boarding schools
Her boarding school had very quickly taught her to hide every human feeling: triumph, disappointment, glee, love or shame. NB 65% of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet went to private schools Deighton, Len. Spy Sinker (p. 212) (1990) Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle … Continue reading
Posted in education, Literature
Tagged Black humour, boarding school, Spy Sinker novel
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Book Review: P G Wodehouse ~ The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)
It’s the centenary of the first Jeeves novel. Wodehouse created two of the most enduring comedic characters in literature, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. The novel is a series of linked short stories. They are coherent only in the sense that … Continue reading
Posted in History, Humour, Literature, Review
Tagged Jeeves and Wooster, P G Wodehouse, satire
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Book Review: Richard Russo ~ Nobody’s Fool (1993)
Ordinary people are fascinating. That insight led to decades of success for Coronation Street and EastEnders. Likewise, Anthony Trollope’s 19th century Palliser series and John Updike’s Rabbit quartet of stunning novels.1 Russo taps into that truth. There’s virtually no sex, … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Review
Tagged Anthony Trollope, John Updike, ordinary people, soap operas
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Book Review: Michael Dobbs ~ The Reluctant Hero (2010)
The storyline is preposterous. It depends on a suspension of credulity, which I can’t achieve – not that I tried hard. Astonishingly I finished the book. The only justification for this is that I took it away for Christmas and … Continue reading
Book Review: Lee Child ~ Bad Luck and Trouble (2007) (Reacher 11)
The problem for ‘book-a-year’ authors is keeping characters simultaneously the same and different. If the trick isn’t pulled off characters become stale and repetitive. Reacher is a very strong character and Lee Child can’t deviate from his Maverick strongman. A … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Mathematics, Review
Tagged Lee Child, Reacher novels, sadistic novels
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Book Review: Christopher Brookmyre ~ All fun and games until someone loses an eye (2005)
Around about 8 pm on a Saturday night I was bored and irritable so I bought this on Amazon.1 Why this one? Well it had a quirky title and I like quirky books. I didn’t feel I was making a … Continue reading
Book Review: Saima Mir ~ The Khan (2021)
A A Dhand has written a series of novels set in Bradford, which are consistently excellent. The Khan is set in Bradford, is a thriller, with Asian drug lords and has extreme violence. It even has tropes from Mario Puzo’s, … Continue reading
Posted in Literature
Tagged A A Dhand, Asian drug gangs, Bradford noir, institutional racism
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Black History Month, 2022: Lyrics of ‘I wish’
I wish I knew howIt would feel to be freeI wish I could breakAll the chains holding meI wish I could sayAll the things that I should saySay ’em loud say ’em clearFor the whole round world to hear I … Continue reading
Posted in History, Literature, Poetry
Tagged Black Lives Matter, Civil rights, Nina Simone
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Book Review: George MacDonald Fraser ~ Flashman at the Charge (Flashman 4) (1973)
I made the mistake of thinking about the direction of travel that Britain is on. The Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, believes Britain is a global military power. He’s a True Believer not allowing trivialities like evidence to interrupt his beliefs. … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Politics, Review, War
Tagged 19th century Britain, Ben Wallace, Liz Truss
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Georges Simenon, author and sex addict
“Simenon famously claimed to have had sex with 10,000 women, and was equally famously corrected by his estranged second wife, who claimed the real figure was 1200. She had good data. When they lived in the US, Denise and Georges would … Continue reading
Posted in Literature
Tagged Brothels, George Simenon, Maigret's author, prolific author, Sex addiction
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