“…life is nothing but desolation…” #jackkerouac #desolationpeak
Beat author Jack Kerouac has long been one of my favourites, and he's made a number of appearances on the blog, most recently at the end of last year. I revisited his book "Big Sur" during our #1962Club, and then stumbled across an unexpected discovery in the form of "The Unknown Kerouac". This collection of previously unreleased items kept me company during my travels to Edinburgh for a wonderful autumn…
October reading – and travelling! 📚🚂
October has been an interesting month - both in terms of reading and also real life (though sometimes a bit troublesome in the case of the latter...) However, I read a wonderful selection of books, and here they are: As you'll see, some of these titles were for the #1962Club but I have been reading a variety of other books, which will eventually be reviewed here on the blog!
#1962Club – some final thoughts, plus where next???
As I often say at the end of one of our reading events, phew! what a week that was! 😀 I had high hopes for 1962 as there were so many interesting possibilites for reading, as well as a lot of titles I'd already loved and could revisit. In the end, I stuck pretty much to the books I'd initially planned, although one book I wanted to read went by the wayside and that's…
#1962Club – “…best thing to do is not be false” – returning to an early favourite! #Kerouac #bigsur
My final read for the #1962Club is by an author who's meant an awful lot to me over the years - Jack Kerouac. I've talked before about how I first discovered the Beat writers in my teens, devouring all of their books, and although I've drifted away from their work for periods I still love their writing and get much out of it when I come back to the texts.
My final read for the #1962Club is by an author who’s meant an awful lot to me over the years – Jack Kerouac. I’ve talked before about how I first discovered the Beat writers in m…
#Bookreview Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh
read on audio
Narrator: Marie McCarthy
Harpercollins
Pub. 1962, 251pp
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This is a classic crime read set in a village among a group of neighbours who’re related in various ways. I knew I was going to get on well with the #audiobook from the start as the narrator was instantly engaging, expressing the dialogue brilliantly.
The action centres around the home of snobbish Percival Pyke Period, an eccentric figure who’s writing his memoirs, alongside the cook Mrs Mitchell, his loyal servant Alfred and his new lodger Mr Cartell who has a rather troublesome dog, Pixie. The first chapters set up the world surrounding this household with the introduction of a cast of distinctive characters. I particularly liked Mr Cartell’s ex-wife, the Flamboyant Desiree Bantling, and this great description:
“with her incredible hair brushed up into a kind of bonfire, her carefree makeup, her eyebrows and her general air of raffishness she belonged, asMr Period mildly reflected, to Toulouse Lautrec rather than any contemporary background.”
She’s known for her amusing parties and there’s a long build up to her April Fool’s treasure hunt which is set to end in tragedy. In fact, as the murder doesn’t take place until about Chapter 14 I felt I knew everyone involved very well and of course there were plenty of strong motives for possible killers.
The central idea of a letter being sent in condolence to someone for the death of a loved one before the deceased was discovered was unique and played out well.
One thing that surprised me was the lack of period details to root the story to the 1960s. It seemed to me that it could’ve very easily been set in the 30s or 50s, though there were a few passing references like mentioning TV. I guess it stuck out as my other read for the #1962Club was the Miss Marple which was very much about social change.
This is my first Ngiao Marsh novel and I’ll be returning to her in future.
#Bookstodon @bookstodon
'Carry their sun with them': a review of #JohnChristopher's 'catastrophe cosy' A World in Winter which turns much in its head. #1962Club #RIPxviii
“…much closer together under this sky!” #1962Club #RedCats
Times for some poetry to feature again on the Ramblings! I've enjoyed a bit of a resurgence of my reading of verse over recent months, and I'm determined to keep this up - even if, as in today's case, it's once again a very slim collection. They certainly seem to have been a good way to get back into poetry reading, as those large complete volumes can be so intimidating...
“I shall be on guard for my future” #1962Club #KirklandRevels #VictoriaHolt
For my second #1962Club read I'm once more taking a trip back into my past reading, albeit with the slight difference that today's book is not a re-read! Back in my early teens we didn't have a lot of money to buy books, and so I tended to grab just about anything I could get my hands on. We also didn't have Young Adult books as such, so as I grew up was drawn to my father's crime books and my…
An atypical Bond – a guest post for the #1962Club! :D
As has become a regular part of our Club weeks, Mr. Kaggsy is today providing a guest post! His review does reveal elements of the novel’s events and outcome, although he says the conclusion is fairly predictable, given the relatively short story and the action taking place in a static setting, with very few characters. Quotations and content from the book appearing below are the copyright of the Ian Fleming Estate.
kaggsy59
Sarah Matthews
Christopher Lovegrove
Neglected Books
