Category Archives: Literature

An ingenious smuggler or an exploited woman?

Posted on August 16, 2016 by odeboyz

December 21, 2011, Fiumicino airport (Rome):- … a Spanish model coming from Sao Paulo in Brazil is detained. A search reveals 2.5 kilos of pure cocaine crystals inserted in her artificial breasts and buttocks. Roberto Saviano ZeroZeroZero p366 Chris

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Balzac’s Mother

Posted on June 7, 2016 by odeboyz

“We believed that she was mad and consulted a physician who had been on friendly terms with her for thirty-three years. But he said: ‘No! She is not mad. She is merely malicious….” Stefan Zweig Balzac pp10-11 (Chris)

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Cowardice: Was Shostakovich a coward?

Posted on May 24, 2016 by odeboyz

But it was not easy being a coward…. to be a coward was to embark on a career that lasted a lifetime. You couldn’t ever relax. You had to anticipate the next occasion when you would have to make excuses … Continue reading →

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Attlee* reviews Field Marshall Lord Montgomery’s** Autobiography

Posted on March 29, 2016 by odeboyz

“Some of the difficulties he gave his colleagues and superiors were due not so much to a profound intellectual disagreement with their views as, I think, to the fact that occasionally he could, and did, behave almost as a child…even … Continue reading →

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Gender reversal in Thriller Writing: an experiment*

Posted on March 19, 2016 by odeboyz

The objectification of women is commonplace in British society. Thriller novels do more than that. Many, very many, storylines revolve round predatory men, sadism and vulnerable women. Indeed sadism is so commonplace that it’s startling when passages are re-written with … Continue reading →

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A Dental Practice Conversation

Posted on January 12, 2016 by odeboyz

Nurse We do not spend enough time…instructing patients on preventive measures, which in the long term would make them healthier. Dentist Preventive measures don’t pay the bills…We’re running a practice here, not a master class. Joshua Ferris To Rise Again … Continue reading →

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The Magnificent John Updike

Posted on September 1, 2015 by odeboyz

True Love “Her tongue sneaks forward in thought, and rests on her lower lip. He loves her when she tries to think.” John Updike Rabbit is Rich  An American Heart  “What’s wrong with his heart, exactly?” Janice asked. “The usual … Continue reading →

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Pull Along Cases: a macho-Norwegian speaks

Posted on August 11, 2015 by odeboyz

“…the case was heavy (but) I carried it by the handles…I detested the tiny wheels, first of all because they are feminine, thus not worthy of a man, a man should carry not roll…” Karl Ove Knausgaard A Death In … Continue reading →

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Five Great, Short, Free (or nearly free) Novels

Posted on August 4, 2015 by odeboyz

1) Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper 1892, 80p Feminist story FREE 2) George and Weedon Grossmith Diary of a Nobody 1892, 176p Marvelous comic novel. FREE 3)   P G Wodehouse Psmith, Journalist 1914 154p          Brilliant satire on USA, … Continue reading →

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Stuart Gulliver, HSBC and Don Corleone

Posted on June 26, 2015 by odeboyz

“Well, I say yes. There is more money potential in narcotics than anything else we’re looking at now. If we don’t get into it, somebody else will, maybe one of the Five Families, maybe all of them. And with the … Continue reading →

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