Category Archives: Literature

Len Deighton on boarding schools

Posted on March 9, 2023 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: P G Wodehouse ~ The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)

Posted on March 9, 2023 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: Richard Russo ~ Nobody’s Fool (1993)

Posted on February 9, 2023 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: Michael Dobbs ~ The Reluctant Hero (2010)

Posted on January 12, 2023 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: Lee Child ~ Bad Luck and Trouble (2007) (Reacher 11)

Posted on November 14, 2022 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: Christopher Brookmyre ~ All fun and games until someone loses an eye (2005)

Posted on October 24, 2022 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: Saima Mir ~ The Khan (2021)

Posted on October 17, 2022 by odeboyz

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 →

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Black History Month, 2022: Lyrics of ‘I wish’

Posted on October 6, 2022 by odeboyz

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 →

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Book Review: George MacDonald Fraser ~ Flashman at the Charge (Flashman 4) (1973)

Posted on October 3, 2022 by odeboyz

 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 →

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Georges Simenon, author and sex addict

Posted on September 8, 2022 by odeboyz

“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 →

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