January 20, 2010
Silence of the Grave By Arnaldur Indridason
This is the fourth in the series of Detective Erlendur mysteries, the first one published in 1997 and this one in 2001, Indridason has a mature style and I imagined him to be older than his years, so I was not surprised to learn that his father was also a writer which must have influenced him.
When I started reading I was expecting a Henning Mankell Wallander experience but got something very different. After all Sweden and Iceland are very similar, aren’t they? I am a great fan of Detective Kurt Wallander and his relationship with his detective daughter Linda gives the stories an added dimension.
Erlendur’s daughter Eva Lind is of a very different order, a drug addict who has fallen through the lowest levels of society, kept going only by her loathing of her father; she makes Linda’s problems seem superficial.
Silence of the grave is a powerful story which unflinchingly explores some very dark areas of the human experience, which at times I found challenging to read, but in no way put me off seeking out more Indridason novels.
There has been some harsh criticism of Arnaldur Indridason’s style so it is not for everyone, but I thought him a master storyteller and technician. For example, and to give you a flavour of the writing, when bodies are found during construction work, this discovery is as a result of a child found sucking on a human bone; the police pathologist is not available so an archaeologist is asked to supervise the dig to free the bodies from their grave. This he does fastidiously with his students, much to Erlendur’s frustration; this tactic slows the investigation to a crawl, a device that allows time for far more speculation as to the identity of the bodies and the circumstances of their death, and for other story lines to develop, any one of which could be the correct one.
January 20, 2010
I think it is worth knowing a bit of biographical detail about any artist because it does increase your appreciation of their work. I have not in the past done any research prior to experiencing an artist’s work and after ‘experiencing’ this novel I do not intend to change that in the future.
Hitman Diaries is comedy writing, but I did not laugh out loud as I was warned I might by the jacket blurb. It was amusing, the language and the action extreme. Ian Bridges - the psychopath at the centre of things - when not talking to his dead mother or chatting up a new girlfriend, is on a killing spree of epic proportions.
Underlying the dialogue of mayhem I sensed something more sinister. Something told me that the emotions were more real than a comedy romp demanded. This I thought was a good thing as it gave some scenes that otherwise would have been pure farce an interesting edge. Ian Bridges dealt with life’s little ups and downs with a finality that only comes from the barrel of a gun; sometimes I wish I could do the same.
Danny King, I subsequently found out from his website, has had his collar felt more than once by the law and for more than just tea-leafing; there’s a hint there that he hopes some of his more serious crimes may never come to light, and after reading Hitman Diaries I am inclined to agree with him.
January 20, 2010
Fandom of the operator By Robert Rankin
I am so glad that I came across this author because I am not sure that there is anyone else out there quite like Robert Rankin. A local lad from Brentford, he has a good many novels under his belt and his genre defies description. Yes, Fandom is darkly humorous, but it is also a bit sci-fi with a dash of fantasy and I guess some social realism. It was this last aspect that I enjoyed the most as Rankin gets being a kid in the 1950s spot on.
Apart from that, even the title eluded me; a Fandom according to Wiki is ‘a subculture composed of fans’, the operator of the title is Gary Cheese who works at the Brentford telephone exchange, a well known local place of youth employment in its time. Gary has similar nasty habits to Danny King’s Ian Bridges but far more surreal. You will get the point when I tell you that Gary keeps the body of his dead girlfriend, who indecently he sleeps with and takes to parties supplied with fresh body parts supplied by the attractive young ladies he butchers, as and when needed. Yes, I know what you are thinking and you are right.
This really has nothing to do with the plot but there again I am not sure the plot has much to do with anything. If you like whacky, you should give this a go.
January 20, 2010
Elixir of Death By Bernard Knight
Crowner John (Sir John de Wolfe) is a most convincing coroner and old crusader, loyally serving his king, Richard I, during this dark and troubled period. Crowner John struggles to deliver justice, combat wicked Sheriffs and raise taxes while caught between an unruly people governed by fractious nobility under an unstable monarchy. The times are different but the problems he deals with are all too familiar; greed, infidelity, prejudice and murder. Knight seamlessly delivers just the right amount of timely historical detail to keep readers fully engaged with the plot, and what is remarkable is the breadth of that detail. Clothing, food and habitation you might expect, but you also get to understand the political situation, international trade, the workings of the exchequer and the origins of our legal system. I wish history had been like this at school.
As you might have guessed Bernard Knight is a veteran writer and not just of fiction but of textbooks as well. The ‘Professor’ (of Forensic Pathology) is ex army, a forensic scientist, a doctor, and a qualified barrister so it is no wonder he is very knowledgeable on his subject , but the magic is in the story telling, an art he has completely mastered.
There are now 13 in the Crowner John series and I have since read The Witch Hunter which was equally enjoyable.
January 20, 2010
Here Lies Arthur By Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve is a talented man, achieving considerable success as both an author and an illustrator (a graduate of Cambridge College of Art which has always enjoyed a high reputation for illustration)and I would not be surprised if he was not the inspiration for Martin Handford’s ‘Wally’ judging by his bio-pic. Handford and Reeve are of a similar mould, modest and slightly eccentric English author/ illustrators with worldwide reputations.
This tale does two extraordinary things; it puts Arthur into a recognisably modern context as an opportunistic and naive freedom fighter (or terrorist as the Saxons might see him) who uses the Saxon occupation as both his motivation and his excuse for excess. I say naive because Myrddin (Merlin), Arthur’s spin-doctor, is the one calling the shots.
The other thing Reeve achieves with great elegance is to tell Gwyna’s story of a child’s journey to womanhood, deftly using the device of Gwyna’s disguise as a boy for part of the tale to convey an uneasy period of sexual awakening which expresses a range of emotions that straddle gender.
January 20, 2010
Dune is without question a Sci-Fi classic. Published in 1965, it amazes me that I had not read it sooner, but you may well have done and formed your own opinion about what it means. In case you haven’t, it is an epic struggle (think Homer) for the control and exploitation of natural resources (think oil). There are five sequels which I shall look forward to reading and further novels carrying the narrative forward written by Herbert’s sons, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson.
Dune, it could be argued, is the spring from which much of contemporary fantasy culture has flowed. There must be many other contenders, but Dune is credited as being the inspiration for Star Wars. It became an early video game in 1992 and was the first game to be released later on a CD format.
What makes a seminal work? I wish I knew, but there are some important characteristics of Dune that are worth noting if you are hoping to produce a seminal work. There are big ideas such as dependency and exploitation, there are familiar human themes such as hierarchy, rivalry and jealousy, there is a broad cast of characters and although they are archetypical they are not stereotypical because they have distinctive and interesting personalities.
If you are a bit sniffy about science fiction without ever having read any, then this is the one sci-fi book I recommend you do read.
Sources: Wikipedia Dune Novels
January 20, 2010
Looking Good Dead By Peter James,
No, it’s not possible to like everything you read but I had intended to find something I liked about Looking Good Dead and so headed off to Mr James’ website and a very slick site it is as well, where you can browse in seven different languages if you wish. The headline reads “‘Dead Tomorrow’ reached No 1 in Tesco’’ and it gets better because you can find out all about his love of luxury cars, how he should have been an Olympian (athlete that is) and of course his many good works for charity.
Sour grapes – you bet, bucket loads, but I also have to say I have sympathy for any artist that gets caught up in the marketing mincer because there is only one outcome in the end – you end up in Tesco - in the chilled meats cabinet.
If you have read any of Peter James’ novels you will appreciate the analogy and it is competent, professional writing, good characters (not so sure about the main character, DS Grace though), good plots and plenty of suspense but I found the style cold and calculating. I felt (and this is a strange thing to say) that the author doesn’t care about his reader and I cannot explain it better than that.
I am still chuckling about the Tesco headline. I am not a snob and we shop at Tesco all the time but really, is that the best that can be said about Peter James?
June 4, 2008
The written word is an important way to communicate and for most people being able to put ideas and proposals down on paper is a useful skill. Over the years I have had plenty of opportunity to do that and I have also done some scribbling in the background.
This has not only made me appreciate what real writers do, but also added a flourish to my copy writing.
I have recently completed The Pool, a novel conceived one summer while sitting by the hotel swimming pool as a story for baby-boomers in reflective mood. If you would be interested in knowing more and reading an excerpt from The Pool then click here.
January 14, 2010
Authors Review Index
A black comedy centred around an assassin with no trace of a conscience
Silence of the Grave By Arnaldur Indridason
A powerful murder mystery from this Icelandic crime writer
Looking Good Dead By Peter James
You might be better off taking this advice
A great sci-fi adventure which was the inspiration for the Star Wars phenomenon
Here lies Arthur By Philip Reeve
Thoroughly enjoyable historical fantasy, especially for grown-ups who like a good tale
Elixir of Death By Bernard Knight
Shedding some light on the dark ages, Knight explores some less well known aspects of this often neglected period
Fandom of the Operator By Robert Rankin
A black comedic romp with a light touch and a great feel for period
The Butcher of Smithfield by Susanna Gregory
Chaloner's third exploit
Burdett writes with great authority about Bangkok
The tale of the destruction of Pompeii
The sequel to The Long Firm
Jake Arnott’s first novel
Extremely loud and incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer
An eight year old boy’s search for his father
State of fear by Michael Crichton
In State of Fear Crichton takes on the global warming movement
A Rebus novel
Praying for Sleep by Jeffery Deaver
Praying for Sleep is one of his earlier novels