Ersatz TLS discussion

Well, Scarlet, you sold me on Makaris with your review. Down another rabbit hole……
I had just ordered several books and now I will have to go looking for more.

CCCubbon wrote: "Wishing everyone a loving peaceful Christmas Day"

And also to you.

I ordered Wintering by Katherine May. Quote:

…if happiness is a skill, then sadness is too. Perhaps… we are taught to ignore it… and pretend it isn’t there. As adults, we often have to learn to hear the clarity of its call. That is wintering. It is the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need… Wintering is a moment of intuition, our true needs felt keenly as a knife.

I often feel reflective, like retreating at this time of year. Yes, sadness is part of it, and the older I get, the more regrets intrude. There is nothing to be done about the past, except understand it, and perhaps learn to be kind to ourselves when looking back. I think the this time of year lends itself to such feelings. I look forward to the book.

Many people struggle with depression and sadness of course but I heard of a local church which on Christmas Eve was having a service called Blue Christmas. This gathering was explicitly to recognise the pain and loneliness so many are struggling with but which at this time of year can be felt so acutely. I will be interested to find out how it was.

Storm wrote: "I ordered Wintering by Katherine May. Quote:

…if happiness is a skill, then sadness is too. Perhaps… we are taught to ignore it… and pretend it isn’t there. As adults, we often have to learn to he..."

my aunt lost my uncle just before lockdown and this is the second xmas she has been with us, without him, lockdown meant she spent her first xmas without him alone, terrified of covid but she did have support from a friend around xmas, just not on xmas day in 2020. she didnt want to visit us, ie the whole family, as scared of catching covid but has been with us in 2021 and 2022.

its always difficult to watch anything about loss and she is still finding it very hard but i think she has enjoyed the company and the food in difficult times

Berkley wrote: "Bill wrote: " This caused me to reflect that, as far as I know Christianity is the only world religion whose adherents, pretty much universally (with the exception of a small minority of scholars),..."

very good question Bill, the bible has almost reached everyone but the most aincient christian civilisations of the middle east in at least three translations(hebrew,aramaic, Greek). You can then add in the Anglo_Saxon word, the latin translations, followed by the vernacular ones in the 16thc(reformation) and the KJB whihc to me makes 6(or 5 if both the Geneva and KJB bibles are taken as the vernacular translations together)

Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-themed short stories..

[book:The Shrieking Skull & Other Victoria..."

Argentine fiction is something else isnt it Andy? my book on the falklands and argentine society from 1976-84 noted that argentinina is possibly the most literate population in latin america. The school of crazy writing extends to Juan Jose Saer, of Syrian descent, worth giving him a look i think.

Roberto Arlt is anothe must read and Sabato's "The Tunnel", though these two are more sober and serious

Hello everyone. I hope you're all well. Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone.
I haven't posted for a while, but have looked in from time to time. No doubt youre all wondering what great books I've been reading over the the past couple of years so I'll prepare a short update and return next month.

Merry Christmas to everyone from me as well. Making more mince pies tomorrow with the grand-nieces. Out here in rural Vermont we’ve sourced some excellent brandy butter for the grown-ups.

Framley Parsonage

I’ve been spending time recently in the amiable company of Anthony Trollope. If the fourth of the Barsetshire Chronicles is considered a lesser work in the series, I suppose it is because no principle is at stake. A foolish vicar puts his name to a bill of exchange he can never pay, and he is made to suffer the full measure of embarrassment. Aside from that it is an agreeable and witty tale of money, marriage and status, with spirited ladies to the fore. Young lovers meet obstacles, but the tone tells us that it will end well. Older lovers tiptoe towards each other, but their affections are not laughed at. Every other character is satirized, but no one too harshly. Old friends reappear. It was an amusing and comfortable read for the fireside.
…

AB – The King’s Peace - Thanks for your comments on the presbyterians. I’m just starting the long section on the “Challenge from Scotland” and they nicely set the stage.

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: " Gothic Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle is an excellent collection of stories from OUP

I've read six of the stories and they all are brilliant, well writt..."

There was a strong Gothic streak in Doyle's work-- his "Adventure of the Copper Beeches," is a straight Gothic, with a brief futile intervention by Holmes and Watson.

Storm wrote: "Well, Scarlet, you sold me on Makaris with your review. Down another rabbit hole……
I had just ordered several books and now I will have to go looking for more."

I liked it... after the first few, you can comfortably skip the traffic jam descriptions, though!

Max (Outrage) wrote: "Hello everyone. I hope you're all well. Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone...."

Best wishes to you, too!

I've just read the last of David Downing's John Russell series, which scarletnoir and I have been enjoying, as did MK before us. Wedding Station is a prequel, beginning with the Reichstag fire in 1933, and is as good as the rest. I wish there were more!

Now, prompted by a mention in one of the festive re-read articles in The G, I'm re-reading and greatly enjoying The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter have to seek refuge in a country rectory after their car ends up in a ditch on a snowy New Year's Eve. It so happens that Lord Peter has experience of bell ringing (!) and is able to take the place of one of the ringers who is ill, in a marathon session from midnight to 9 a.m.

Robert wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: " Gothic Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle is an excellent collection of stories from OUP

I've read six of the stories and they all are brillian..."

just returned to the stories after xmas and the standard is still superb, all the stories have been written between 1877 and 1890 so far

scarletnoir wrote: "Storm wrote: "Well, Scarlet, you sold me on Makaris with your review."

"I liked it... after the first few, you can comfortably skip the traffic jam descriptions, though!..."

If those bother you, I'm afraid they go on — in the latest ones I've read, getting around Athens in the horrendous traffic remains a preoccupation 😉

His French publisher writes this:

Petros Markaris, born in 1937 in Istanbul to a Greek mother and an Armenian father, lives in Athens. A playwright, translator (of Brecht and Goethe), and screenwriter for Theo Angelopoulos, he is the voice of his country and belongs to the family of angry crime writers (la famille des auteurs de romans policiers en colère) like Mankell and Montalbán.

Before another batch of little ones descends on the 31st, i am settling back into some reading in the drizzly shires

Have been perusing a Boys Own Annual from 1913-14 that i picked up in a charity shop £7. Though nobody writing it was to know that war was imminent, there is a deep sadness felt in reading about the world of 1913-14, before the immense upheaval and the slaughter that changed Britain and its youth forever. One of Orwells essays on magazines likes Boys Own flickers through my mind as a i flicked through adventures of derring do, articles on wild corners of empire and the art of being a good half-back in association football

Gothic Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle is a wonderful mix of the uncanny,the supernatural and the tricks of the mind. His fluid, well constructed sentences deliver so much in 25-30 pages where lives take a turn, mysterious strangers appear and the world of empire brings new mystical enchantments to his ouevre.

Lastly Richard Overy in The Morbid Age(1919-1939) explores the world that followed WW1 up to WW2 in Britain. Its a gem, so much to read and explore.

Gpfr wrote: " I've just read the last of David Downing's John Russell series, which scarletnoir and I have been enjoying, as did MK before us. Wedding Station..."

Why is it that all good series have to end? When you feel the need to re-visit Berlin, you could try Dan Fesperman's which takes place around Berlin Wall fall time. There are Stasi!

I have Fesperman's first - started but now hiding somewhere locally (I must hunt it up). It takes place during the latest Balkan wars (where I see there are rumbles again). If it pans out, I'll post.

In the meantime, here's a video of the Denver Sluice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT88-...

MK wrote: "I am at a 'save me from religion' point having finished listening to Act of Oblivion. It was only Robert Harris's ability as a writer that kept me going to the end.

Save me from z..."
Thanks for this.

Greenfairy wrote: "On Christmas Eve I was in search of ghost stories, and downloaded a collection of Henry James supernatural tales, a little disappointed as they were so very wordy.Anyway, Recommendations came flood..."

Susan Hill is very good Fairy, obviously there’s The Woman in Black, but also The Man in the Picture, Hunger, The Mist in the Mirror, Printer's Devil Court and The Small Hand.
Jess Kidd’s story from The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights.
Pretty much everything Tartarus Press put out is great.

Be sure to feedback on whatever you choose..

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-themed short stories..

[book:The Shrieking Skull & O..."

It certainly is AB. Probably my favourite country to go to at present.

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-themed short stories..

[book:The Shriek..."

hard to choose where to visit as its so vast isnt it? i would love to see Patagonia, Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia

Gpfr wrote: "I'm re-reading and greatly enjoying The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers..."

I read most - maybe all - the Wimseys in my teens - my mother still enjoys them as audiobooks. Her particular favourite is 'Gaudy Night'.

Gpfr wrote: "If those bother you, I'm afraid they go on — in the latest ones I've read, getting around Athens in the horrendous traffic remains a preoccupation 😉.."

I enjoyed the book enough to buy another, so they didn't bother me that much - but I'll take my own advice on skipping when that arrives!

I was interested in your quote from the publisher that:

Petros Markaris... belongs to the family of angry crime writers (la famille des auteurs de romans policiers en colère) like Mankell and Montalbán.

Initially, I thought that the last name was a mistake and assumed it was a reference to Inspector Montalbano (Camilleri is not without showing his own political views in that series), but soon realised it wasn't. A quick check reveals that Montalbán wrote a book entitled Murder in the Central Committee, which would on the face of it make a good companion to Che Committed Suicide.

I may investigate further...

MK wrote: "I have Fesperman's first - Lie In The Dark (Vlado Petric #1) by Dan Fesperman..."

Following a recommendation (from you, probably) I downloaded a sample of this one, and liked it. Absurdly, the Kindle edition is at full paperback price so I have bought a secondhand copy!

As for the John Russell series, I still have two more to enjoy.

Xmas tv was interesting with "Knives Out" a hit with the family

related to books, the adaption of Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin novels is gripping me, its very well done, well paced and intelligent German noir, which is making me want to read the books

also i attempted another tv adaption Vienna Blood on the BBC was dissapointed. It was english made and while Vienna was the backdrop it didnt feel right and the annoying, arrogant english co-lead made me decide never to watch it again

scarletnoir wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "angry crime writers like Mankell and Montalbán."

"Initially, I thought that the last name was a mistake and assumed it was a reference to Inspector Montalbano (Camilleri is not without showing his own political views in that series)..."

I also thought of Montalbano — without immediately stopping to think that that was not the author's name!

AB76 wrote: "the adaption of Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin novels is gripping me, its very well done, well paced and intelligent German noir, which is making me want to read the books..."

I think the books are good. I've got The Fatherland Files, the 4th in the series, waiting to be read.
Interesting to have the period (starting in 1927) portrayed by a German author.

scarletnoir wrote: "A quick check reveals that Montalbán wrote a book entitled Murder in the Central Committee..."

Looking it up, I recognise the name of his detective, Pepe Carvalho. I don't know if I've read some of the books or seen the TV series — a long time ago, in either case.

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "the adaption of Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin novels is gripping me, its very well done, well paced and intelligent German noir, which is making me want to read the books..."

I thi..."

its a fascinating study of the times, in the tv series its 1929-ish, with the stirrings of the right wing and tensions with the Communists. the actors are very good and its well paced, without the tendency towards sadism and sex in a lot of modern series, i finished series one last week, will watch second series in 2023.

Vienna Blood does include some of the anti-semitic tensions of the 1904 era in Vienna but it seems clumsy, though Karl Lueger, the Mayor of Vienna is a part in the series

I've just finished this 'golden age' murder mystery. I've read and enjoyed several of John Bude's books now.

After the above mentions of the Gereon Rath series, I've started the 4th book: it's 1932 and the SA and SS are beating each other up as well as those unfortunate enough to attract their attention.

Gpfr wrote: " I've just finished this 'golden age' murder mystery. I've read and enjoyed several of John Bude's books now.

..."

how is Rath depicted in the books? i like the theme of his shellshock from WW1 and his reliance on morphine vials, in the tv series, its brings the impact of WW1 home, a city of demobbed veterans, many damaged and scarred

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-themed short stories..

[bo..."

Im lucky to be quite widely travelled there.
My younger brother dealt in wine and visited quite often for the US - while I was working in Chile I would visit him in places like Salta and Mendoza. As you say, so very different than the south.

I visited Buenos Aires quite a bit with work (rugby). I'm not a city person, but I really enjoyed my time there. Very European, with a great night-life. Good food and wine.

Patagonia is the place to go though. The north of it, which the Argentinians don't actually call Patagonia, rather The Lakes Region is wonderful - Bariloche, San Martin, El Bolson.
To travel in Patagonia means you're in and out of Chile. Some of the border crossings, summer only, are incredible.
Tierra del Fuego is quite tremendous also, if not a little challenging weather-wise.

Two from me..

Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee

This is a fierce character study of a man in crisis, a bleak story of a man fleeing his troubled past to swap it only for a more perilous future.

A picture of the unnamed protagonist gradually builds up over the course of the novel; he was from a piviliged background, highly educated, was lawyer, and yet he is guilty of unspecified wrongdoing, but as his mood changes he fluctuates between assertions of remorse and of vindication.

Without any form of indentification, at the beginning of the book he is on the road heading east. Pretty much all his has with him is an envelope with exactly $168,548 in cash.

Having arrived in a nameless city he finds a basic first floor room, with the owner, a tough and no-nonsense woman living downstairs.

Effectively in hiding, though from what we left only to guess, the narrator conducts his life off-grid.
The tension barely lets up for its 200 pages, though its apparent brevity is deceiving, its complexities are strewn with unease.

and The Uninhabited House by Charlotte Riddell

First published in 1875 this is a thoroughly entertaining haunted house story.

Harry Patterson, who narrates, works as a clerk for in a law firm who have on their books a house called River Hall, owned by Miss Blake, an eccentric woman whose visits are always popular, and come about whenever the tenants unexpectedly leave, which has been quite frequently. The place has developed a reputation. Some even say it is haunted.

Though prolific, writing 56 novels in all, it was only later in her life that Riddell achieved fame with her ghost stories. She is known for making commerce a theme in her work, a new element in English fiction.

Though a mystery, with elements of the supernatural, this is a light-hearted novel, told with wit and affection.

The book has had a reissue recently from the British Library, paired with another of her novellas, Haunted Houses: Two Novels.

Andy wrote: "Two from me..

Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee

This is a fierce character study of a man in crisis, a bleak story of a man fleeing h..."

Here's Tom Mooney's review, better than mine I think, it was 5 stars for him..

"Nobody except you cares what you have to say."

Even writing a review of Sugar Street is a disservice to its energy.

But fuck, it was good.

A bitter, unreliable narrator who has shunned his life and attempted to disappear. To clock out. We don't know much of his backstory (and never really find out), only that he comes from some comfort and is sick of it. He arrives in a working class city where he hopes to simply vanish. But how can you vanish in a world where everything is seen? Where everyone craves to be seen?

Sugar Street is a great novel for our times, a savage dissection of white privilege, male privilege, human privilege. It's a sneering, nihilistic takedown of contemporary culture. Loved it..

Andy wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "On Christmas Eve I was in search of ghost stories, and downloaded a collection of Henry James supernatural tales, a little disappointed as they were so very wordy.Anyway, Recomme..."

@Andy - I tried to resist, but you said you wanted feedback so here is mine. I have definite opinions when it comes to books and authors.

My beef is with Susan Hill. Here's why - https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-themed short st..."

the stories of Francisco Coloane , about Chilean Patagonia are a must read if you can track them down andy

MK wrote: "Andy wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "On Christmas Eve I was in search of ghost stories, and downloaded a collection of Henry James supernatural tales, a little disappointed as they were so very wordy.An..."

Good to know MK. I hadn't realised.

AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Andy wrote: "You think I would know better after making the same error last year, turning to a highly promoted and new collection of Christmas-th..."

cheers AB.

Andy wrote: "MK wrote: "Andy wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "On Christmas Eve I was in search of ghost stories, and downloaded a collection of Henry James supernatural tales, a little disappointed as they were so ve..."

HG Wells once described Henry James as 'A hippopotamus trying to pick up a pea'.

AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "
The Fatherland Files (Gereon Rath #4) by Volker Kutscher ..."

"how is Rath depicted in the books?..."

Not addicted to morphine, not traumatised by war experience. Troubled, yes, dealing with the aftermath of events in Cologne which led to his transfer to Berlin, drinks too much, not really likeable... maverick, doesn't obey rules, ethically ambiguous — but a good detective...
Charlotte is also quite different, a law student ...

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "
The Fatherland Files (Gereon Rath #4) by Volker Kutscher ..."

"how is Rath depicted in the books?..."

Not addicted to morphine, not traumatised by war experience. Troub..."

interesting, the tv series has made clear it is loosely based on the novels, Lotte is a part-time hooker and police typist, in a dirt poor working class family. Rath is a war veteran, haunted by his brothers death, addicted to morphine vials. He is ethically ambiguous though, so they retained something!

are the novels intellectual and well written, or more formulaic crime?

If it's Thursday, it's my day to visit Book World at the Washington Post. (Yes, I'm a Post digital subscriber. It's a hangover from having lived there so long; you have to bring some baggage with you.)

First thing, Ron Charles is ecstatic about Age of Vice. Nothing like a thriller set in India. I've put the audio version on hold. It will be a long time 'til my number comes up, but anticipation is good.

I've not read Michael Dirda's take on Roald Dahl, but the headline - Roald Dahl is as troubling as he is beloved. Can’t he be both? - is sufficient for me.

In an audio review I found a 30-year-old true crime (I don't usually read true crime) by Ann Rule - . It sounds like a real thriller. Who couldn't react to a woman who wanted to be the reincarnation of Scarlett O'Hara? Of course, it's now on hold, too.

Looks like I'd better git crackin' or I won't be able to squeeze much reading time in today.

And don't forget to watch out for 🚕🚕🚕.

AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "
The Fatherland Files (Gereon Rath #4) by Volker Kutscher ..."

"are the novels intellectual and well written, or more formulaic crime?..."

I wouldn't say intellectual, but well written, yes.

Not a lot of reading done this week, too much live footie on the box. Also having to cope with the "trauma" yesterday of dropping my mobile phone in the bath. Rescued and several hours in the airing cupboard got it sorted.

Currently reading The Medica Murders by David Hewson set in Venice, where the teller of the tale Arnold Clover is asked to trawl the city archives in search of information about the murder of Lorenzino de Medici by a former and obnoxious contemporary of his from Cambridge. Needless to say said contemporary ends up dead. So far so unusual.

Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "
The Fatherland Files (Gereon Rath #4) by Volker Kutscher ..."

"are the novels intellectual and well written, or more formulaic crime?..."

I wo..."

Adaptations so often have glamorous leads contrary to the books they are based on.

I would ask if the books have Bryan Ferry-esqe singers in them and dance marathons, but if the decadence is stressed on screen, it is excused.
They are some of the best scenes I hasten to add.

Andy wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "
The Fatherland Files (Gereon Rath #4) by Volker Kutscher ..."

"are the novels intellectual and well written, or more formulaic cri..."

a-ha, are you a fan iof the tv series too Andy?

I've shifted from the 1930s for a few days. Rain and flood warnings made "Ghost of the Hardy Boys," by Leslie McFarlane, in the library's new books section, a good choice.

McFarlane was a newspaper reporter, with ambitions to be a playwright, when he saw an ad in the paper: "Experienced Fiction Writer Wanted to Work from Publisher's Outlines." A post office box number was appended. The young reporter answered it, though he didn't take it too seriously. He had other irons in the fire. A play in progress, with a story and an interested actor. Other stories he had in mind. However, as Tolstoy said, "It's hard to write plays." However enthusiastic the actor was, McFarlane had serious first act problems. Money would be welcome. And then a response arrived from one Edward Stratemeyer, a completely unfamiliar name, with the outline of an adventure novel and a couple of sample books, neither naming Stratemeyer as the author.
Of course, there was a trial. McFarlane needed to draft a couple of chapters of his own, and send them to Stratemeyer. Off they went, but the reporter didn't know who he was corresponding with...
I read this many years ago, and found it a charming and humorous book. It's still charming and humorous, and I recommend it. (For readers on the other side of the pond, the Hardy Boys were a pair of juvenile detectives dreamed up by Stratemeyer, who boasted that he always had a drawer full of plots. He also dreamed up Nancy Drew, because his daughter suggested a girl detective. Stratemeyer, who had written shelves full of juvenile literature, created a Stratemeyer Syndicate, along with many more characters.)

Gpfr wrote: " I've just read the last of David Downing's John Russell series, which scarletnoir and I have been enjoying, as did MK before us. Wedding Station..."

Good story. Sayers's comments about Sheridan LeFanu (gothic mystery/ supernatural writer) led me to another writer I've enjoyed. The story was later turned into a good TV miniseries with Ian Carmichael as Wimsey.

I’m reading y
but find myself disliking the abrasive woman protagonist.
Thebook does speak of the time of Partition and I had not realised how many millions died then. Last night I was reading about the ‘scorched earth’ policy of Winston Churchill that resulted in so many deaths . I recalled Lorent writing about this some time ago and wondered again why pupils are not taught about the more shameful aspects of British history.

When the Japanese attacked Burma, half a million Indian refugees poured into neighbouring Bengal. The allied troops, pushed into retreat by the rampant Japanese, soon followed, quickly hoovering up the region’s limited resources. Anticipating a Japanese invasion via Bengal’s eastern border, the British military launched a pre-emptive, scorched-earth policy designed to deny the invaders access to food supplies. Simultaneously, they confiscated tens of thousands of local fishing boats in order to prevent them being used for transportation by the enemy. Together, these policies decimated food production and distribution in the region. Churchill’s army took no steps to relieve the situation. Indeed, the Prime Minister’s war cabinet actively denied requests for extra rations to feed the starving, requests made by his own commanders on the ground. The Bengali peasants suffered horribly. Persis still remembered the pictures of naked infants dead in the streets and fields, their bellies swollen with hunger. While the world praised Churchill, in India many continued to think of him as a mass murderer.

I don’t know enough about this time to make any comment about why such a policy was pursued. Why wasn’t aid given?
Reminded me of the Irish Potato Famine.

MK wrote: "Nothing like a thriller set in India."

If that's what you like, have you tried the Wyndham and Banerjee series set in 1920s Calcutta? I like this series a lot, and think that CCC does as well. The first one is A Rising Man.