6/27/2023 0 Comments Londres edward rutherfurd![]() ![]() The emphasis of the novel is on medieval and early modern history of the city. I suspect it would be interesting to visit the Museum of London with these sections as a guide. The period up to the Norman invasion in 1066 takes up less than 200 pages, a lot of which seems to be tied to archaeological finds in the region. ![]() After a brief section detailing the geological history of the region, the story kicks off in 54 BC with Ceasar's invasion of Britain. Where Rutherfurd covered ten-thousand years of history in his first novel, he takes a slightly less ambitions approach this time. Like all Rutherfurd's novels, London takes the Mitchener approach to historical fiction, in this case covering twenty-one centuries following the lives of a number of fictional families. Given the size of these novels, London weighs in at over 1300 pages in mass market paperback and that is a few pages less than Sarum, I decided to read London first. I've read it a number of years ago and I may reread it at some point in the future. Ruska (1991) is the odd one out in his bibliography so far, it's the only one that is not set in an English speaking part of the world. ![]() I'm skipping his second novel for the moment. I reviewed his début Sarum (1987) last year and concluded that he has gone on to write better books. ![]() London (1997) is Edward Rutherfurd's third novel. ![]()
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6/27/2023 0 Comments Playback by Raymond Chandler![]() Christie it should be noted employed a particularly ingenious solution to try to bypass this problem as the novel had in fact been written over 30 years earlier – certainly, if one compares it with the final books she completed, such as Elephants Can Remember (the actual final Poirot book) or Postern of Fate, the contrast is very stark indeed so as to make one even more grateful for her foresight. ![]() Certainly one wouldn’t want to remember Lord Peter Wimsey only through Busman’s Honeymoon or Albert Campion in The Mind Readers or John Dickson Carr for The Hungry Goblin, to name just a few. Some detectives get go out in a blaze of glory like Poirot in Agatha Christie’s near-posthumous Curtain or Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse in The Remorseful Day more often than not though the law of diminishing returns has set in long before their final farewell. They are just a fast curtain to a bad second act.” ![]() So, 2 down and at least 14 more to go with Raymond Chandler’s Playback (1958). There are several challenge levels to commit to and one can of course change as it progresses – I will attempt to read 16+ eligible books before the year is out. ![]() Over at My Reader’s Block Bev has started (and in fact already completed!) a year-long challenge for 2011 – to read a pre-determined number of classic detective stories of a pre-1960 vintage. ![]() 6/26/2023 0 Comments Netflix jane austen persuasion![]() Director Carrie Cracknell as well as writers Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow have mentioned that they hoped to make Austen’s work accessible to younger viewers and perhaps introduce a new generation of readers to Jane Austen. And Netflix seems to have made its version with that in mind. I need to restate that going Netflix’s Persuasion, I didn’t know much about the story beyond Anne and Wentworth’s names. Dakota Johnson as Anne in Netflix’s Persuasion (COURTESY: Nick Wall/Netflix) Now a decorated Navy captain, Wentworth is everything Anne’s family wants for her, though his return does not come without its complications. Initially, because Wentworth had no fortune of his own, Anne was forced to give him up. Persuasion, the last of Jane Austen’s novels published before her death, tells the story of Anne Elliot ( Dakota Johnson) and Captain Wentworth ( Cosmo Jarvis), the man Anne once hoped to marry, who comes back into her life after an eight-year absence. ![]() And I’m still uncertain about who it is for. ![]() It took me two sittings to get through the entire thing. I try my hardest not to judge something until I’ve seen the full product, so, while the trailer had me worried, I almost hoped I would be proven wrong. But when the trailer dropped and Dakota Johnson turned to address me directly, and I started to get nervous. So, upon hearing about Netflix’s Persuasion adaptation, I was curious. Persuasionis one of the only Austen novels that I have not read. You show me an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel and I’ll likely tune in. ![]() 6/26/2023 0 Comments The adventure of silver blaze![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It was first published in The Strand Magazine in December 1892. Very good in cloth covers, comes in a custom-made slipcase. 'The Adventure of Silver Blaze', one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the first from the 12 in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. : The Adventure of Silver Blaze - Annotated Version (Focus on Sherlock Holmes Book 13) eBook : Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sidney Paget, George Cavendish: Books Books Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thrillers & Suspense Kindle Price: 0. In this story, Holmes utters the infamous line referring to "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time," to which the Scotland Yard detective objects, "The dog did nothing in the night-time." And Holmes responds: "That was the curious incident." This is a special hardcover edition of the single issue, with a gold stamp marking the issue with a gold crown and the words "Royal Edition." In addition, the volume in inscribed by the author of the first article. The Silver Blaze is certainly the most famous story ever written about a race horse, and one of the greatest Sherlock Holmes stories. It is the December, 1892 issue of the Strand Magazine, which contained the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of Silver Blaze. Quite possible the only surviving copy of the rare HARDCOVER edition of this historic publication, and possibly, of any single issue of the Strand Magazine containing a Sherlock Holmes story. ![]() ![]() ![]() The characters really like to wax lyrical and over-explain things. And in every book so far, at least one character has explained their entire life story out loud to someone else. He even explained how he was going to jump to other characters’ perspectives (though that made more sense when I got to the end). For example, the book started off with Lestat breaking the fourth wall, explaining how he was going to tell us the story of what happened since the ending of the last book. ![]() – A lot of the writing choices in this series are strange. Things I Disliked/Things I Didn’t Mind but Others Might Dislike: I can’t help it! I have so many thoughts! I’m trying to at least divide these up as much as possible so that you all can choose which sections interest you and just read those if you don’t want to read the whole thing □ So, my review is once again… really long. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments For your eyes only book![]() ![]() ![]() I really enjoyed it, and it's pretty clever what Fleming does with Bond here. The least Bondian story here is "Quantum of Solace," which is mostly a story a civil servant is telling Bond about a bad marriage. "For Your Eyes" has another captivating woman for Bond to interact with, while "Hildebrand Rarity" is surprisingly interesting and complicated and violent. In the former, M sends Bond on a personal mission of vengeance, while in the latter, a vacationing Bond discovers an abusive marriage, a problem beyond the powers of Britain's top spy to do anything about. "For Your Eyes Only" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" are a little more personal than normal. ![]() ![]() On the other hand, "Risico" didn't seem to offer anything new. I enjoyed the former, imbued as it is with Fleming's usual attention to detail, and also a captivating female character that I wish we saw more of. "From a View to a Kill" and "Risico" are the more typical Bond tales here the first has Bond defeating a Soviet plot to intercept NATO intelligence despatches, while "Risico" sends Bond undercover to defeat a drug-smuggling operation. There are five in total, varying from typical Bond spycraft in short story form to more literary, domestic tales. This isn't the eighth James Bond novel, but rather the first James Bond short story collection. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments Scattershot by Richard Goodwin![]() ![]() This is the very first book I read on a device. I felt it was a disservice to this book, the author and the publisher to use the review as yet another platform for me to rant about 'e-readers' (I seriously hate that term, anytime you see the word device you can think Nook, Kindle or whatever other brand of thingey's one would use to read a book without paper). Those glorious and not so profound points though will die in my notebook, or maybe pop up somewhere else but for now they aren't important. ![]() I will say that I had some awesome points in the rough draft that had to do with the misuse of our language in the marketing of these devices to the public. I was borrowing one of these for a couple of days, and I borrowed it expressly so I could read Scattershot, which the kind people at Seedpod emailed to me so I could review it.ĭoes anyone really care to hear my semi-luddite ramblings about electronic devices you read on? I didn't think so. ![]() What I wrote in the hour I was on break was mostly about my experiences reading this book on the Nook touch, the third generation device put out by the company that gives me my paycheck each week. I started writing this review on paper, with a pen about a week ago when I was having a lot of trouble with my laptop. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments On the brink by henry m paulson jr![]() He was hailed on magazine covers as KING HENRY and PAULSON TO THE RESCUE. Along with his partners in panic, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Federal Reserve Bank of New York president Tim Geithner who will take over at Treasury in January Paulson has led a government economic intervention on a scale never before seen in the U.S., except perhaps during World War II.įor a brief period in late summer, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers brought the crisis into a new and much more dire phase, Paulson's new clout was greeted by widespread acclaim. Congress has given him close to $1 trillion to repair the financial system. A lame-duck President has given him nearly complete control over the country's economic policy in the midst of an epic financial collapse. Paulson, 62, has come to play a historic role at a historic time. "But, boy, I do not want to be this relevant." frame folded into a big chair in the corner of the office where such legends as Andrew Mellon and Henry Morgenthau once worked and where he has presided over some of the most momentous Treasury meetings ever. ![]() ![]() "I've always said I don't want to be irrelevant," Paulson said during an interview in mid-December, his 6-ft. If he was giving up the top job at Goldman Sachs, he wasn't doing it for a sinecure. (Hank) Paulson Jr.'s top priority was to make certain that his department would have independence and clout. When he arrived in Washington as Secretary of the Treasury in the summer of 2006, Henry M. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Like its protagonist, this novel is big, loud, abrasive, witty, perverse, earnest and amazingly accomplished. His untimely outbursts ultimately cost Lydia her job, and send the unlikely pair on the road in what proves to be one of the most unforgettable journeys - and most affecting love stories - in recent literature. But for all of his gifts, the chimpanzee has a rough time caging his more primal urges. ![]() Learning of Bruno’s ability to speak, Lydia takes Bruno into her home to oversee his education and nurture his passion for painting. Precocious, self-conscious and preternaturally gifted, young Bruno, born and raised in a habitat at the local zoo, falls under the care of a university primatologist named Lydia Littlemore. Bruno Littlemore is quite unlike any chimpanzee in the world. ![]() 6/24/2023 0 Comments Brene brown wilderness book![]() ![]() However, there’s another aspect to the way that I speak to this. Braving the wilderness is the process that Brown recommends for finding an integrated self-image. Having an integrated self-image is so important that it comes up over and over again in my writing, including in my reviews of Happiness, The Trauma of Everyday Life, Schools without Failure, Compelled to Control, Beyond Boundaries, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, and Brown’s previous work Rising Strong. The result that Brown encourages everyone to find by braving the wilderness is that person inside. It recognizes that no one can be defined by a label. It’s an image of oneself that recognizes all the aspects. I speak about the need to develop an integrated self-image. The language I use is different, but the concepts are the same. It’s through understanding and accepting our own wilderness that we’ll find true belonging – and the courage to stand alone when needed. ![]() The wilderness isn’t “out there.” The wilderness is “in here.” It’s learning how to be who we are meant to be. When Brené Brown speaks of the wilderness in Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, she’s not speaking of a place on a map. ![]() |