This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123902662#Comment_123902662

A better book I read a while back about the same period (or slightly later) is Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan, an account of Edward Curtis who travelled the US at the turn of the 20th century photographing and archiving native american tribes. Would definitely recommend.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123907159#Comment_123907159

You said it very well there much better then I did. Totally agree with you. Had its moments but overall it was disjointed and I found it disappointing as a result.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123907170#Comment_123907170

Appreciate that recommendation. I will have to look that up and add it to my to read stack. I have previously read his book about Thomas Francis Meagher The Immortal Irishman and thought that was excellent so will for sure look forward to picking this one up as well.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123908124#Comment_123908124

Likewise. That Thomas Francis Meagher book looks very interesting, I'll be sticking that on the pile.

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123909779#Comment_123909779

I think you will like it. Egan is a good writer and does a good job with his topic. Meagher's story itself is incredible. Truly its the stuff of fiction but of course is true with even a little mystery about the end of his life.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123910875#Comment_123910875

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123910875#Comment_123910875

Re fiction, he was the basis for the main character in Joseph O'Connor's Redemption Falls - a decent read if you haven't come across it

eire4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123910983#Comment_123910983

Funny. We are really setting each other up here nicely. You know I have not read Redemption Falls yet but its been on my mind to get it at some point as I have previously read Joseph O'Connor's Star of the Sea and really enjoyed that one and my understanding is that Redemption Falls while not a straight up sequel does follow on from Star of the Sea.

Xofpod

Assembly, Natasha Brown. A short, sharp novel (novella? it's 100 pages) about race and class in modern Britain. It's good but a bit too slight for me. Her follow-up, Universality, which isn't too much longer, seems to work better, with multiple view points, plotlines, etc.

I like her writing style though, sharp and direct, but also happy to go to a non-linear, stream of consciousness direction on occasions.

Some things about her style and her subject matter remind me of Sally Rooney; I'd guess if you like Rooney, this may also be for you.

There's something about (well done) short books that I really like. They're a nice break from some of the huge, doorstop books that could really have used a bit more editing…

Hermy

I'm not familiar with Natasha but she sounds interesting, both for the comparison with Sally Rooney and for the shortness of the two works - as you say, a welcome change from the doorstops!

Ahcrod

Having seen the film “Meet Me in St Louis” and noting that it was based on eight short stories by Sally Benson, published in “The New Yorker” magazine between 1940 and 1941 and then published in book form with the insertion of four additional stories to complete the “year”, I thought I might like to read it.

When I went looking for it however, it seemed not to have been reprinted and it was only this year I saw that there was a “special edition” reprint available on Amazon and other online outlets for $400 upwards. No dice!

Finally I came upon the original book on archive.org:( https://archive.org/details/meetmeinstlouis0000sall/mode/2up ))- for the specific book in PDF format. It was not available to download, only to borrow. Fortunately I had an account on the site,so I was able to read it over the next few weeks.

The book differs in lots of respects from the film version and is interesting in its own right, being set in the years 1903 to 1904 and showed the activities of a (typical?) middle-class American family of the time. I cannot say I was attracted by the bratty children and the overall feeling of American privilege which the family generated. There is a strange mixture of broad-mindedness and xenophobia throughout the book and shadows of what had made America what it is today.

It was also interesting to read that the two older girls had pin-ups of musicians and football players on the walls of their bedroom! Nothing ever really changes, does it?

Ahcrod

Going back to Edgar Wallace and his novels, as I make my way through them, I have realised that they are not all of a formulae. The second-last one I read – and I’ve already forgotten it’s name, dammit! – had a supernatural situation where two bodies exchanged souls at a crucial moment.

The one I have just finished this moment, however, “Diana of Kara-Kara”, was so comedic, that if you replaced the name of Edgar Wallace on the titlepage with that of P. G. Wodehouse, no one would be any the wiser. In fact I am one hundred percent sure that Wallace read some Wodehouse before writing it.

I am not going to give away the plot of any of them, so that I won’t spoil the pleasure of anyone who tries him. However he did produce a book called “Writ in Barracks” full of the most banal verses you could imagine. You have been warned!

Quiet Achiever

I'm reading Kane and Abel and enjoying it thoroughly. A very easy read and a good story (so far anyway).

Mehaffey1

Just finished 'Body of Truth' by Marie Cassidy. Would have to give it a good 4/5. Nice little compact thriller not too much filler and a cool twist put on the author's own previous career.

Starting into 'Border Angels' by Anthony J Quinn. Second of a series but looks easily picked up.

eire4

Finished David Baldacci's Total control. It was my first time reading a Baldacci novel. This one being a stand alone crime thriller and I enjoyed it.

Xofpod

Reading Clown Town, the new Mick Herron/Slow Horses book. Slightly slower starting off than usual but when it settles, it's back to its usual greatness. Also interesting from an Irish point of view, it touches on Northern Ireland stuff for the first time, with a key element of the plot being a version of the Stakeknife/Scapaticci case…

Quiet Achiever

Started reading Sweet Caress by William Boyd. Love his books.