Current Non-Genre Reading III

[Decrepit&Senile]

At 2024 yesterday evening, 13 Oct 2022, I concluded an initial read of Edward Marston's Peril on the Royal Train, book 10 in his The Railway Detective historical fiction whodunit/crime/detective series. I enjoyed this entry, as I have its predecessors. It centers on activities nefarious along the Caledonian Railway during the mid 1850s. I appreciate that here, unlike some entries, the railway is key to the entire storyline. We also get a bit more railway trivia here than is sometimes the case, another plus for me. As to how it ranks among its peers, I know not, the crime/detective genre being one I am not normally drawn to. I can say that it kept my attention from start to finish, quite a feat for someone battling a reading slump.

Anyone interested in this series should begin with book 1, later entries often reference earlier volumes.

A meaningless aside:
Partway through the book, one of the series' regulars mentions that he, in the past, had driven the one-off LNWR "Cornwall". Owning that loco for Train Simulator, at my earliest opportunity I fired up the game and took it on a 2hr45min stopping passenger run. Fun as that drive was, it was not at all realistic. I don't own any of the lines LNWR ran on back then. Too, that book character had to have driven the Cornwall in its original 4-2-2 configuration. Mine is the late-1850s 2-2-2 rebuild. Such is life.

 

[Windshadow]

Extremely deranged and portrayed to a tee by the great Pete Postlethwaite.

One of the most memorable performances of a clever madman I can remember watching a fine actor sorely missed. This is from his Wikipedia page: but let me highlight this item.

In The Art of Discworld (2004), Terry Pratchett wrote that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as "a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite."[14]

Early in his career, Postlethwaite was advised to adopt a new surname for his acting work by his first agent and by peers who quipped that his name "would never be put up in lights outside theatres because they couldn't afford the electricity". Postlethwaite rejected the advice.[9]

He was also the first male drama teacher at Loreto College in Hulme, Manchester.

He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and join in 1970.[10]

He initially trained to be a Catholic priest[11] but opted for a career in theatre and started his career at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where his colleagues included Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Antony Sher, Matthew Kelly, and Julie Walters. Postlethwaite and Walters had an intimate relationship during the latter half of the 1970s.[12]

In 2003, he was both the physical and vocal actor for the villain Deeth in Zixx: Level One, a Canadian TV series created by IDT Entertainment. Later that same year, he toured Australia and New Zealand in a 90-minute one-man play, Scaramouche Jones, in which he played a clown trying to find out why he is who he is before he dies at midnight, receiving a nomination for the TMA Award for Best Actor and winning the Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Solo Performance.[13] This was directed by Rupert Goold, who would also direct his Lear in 2008, in which Postlethwaite played every character. As well as Australia, the play toured Canada, New Zealand and the UK to great acclaim.[12]

In The Art of Discworld (2004), Terry Pratchett wrote that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as "a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite."[14]

Steven Spielberg called Postlethwaite "the best actor in the world" after working with him on The Lost World: Jurassic Park,[15] to which Postlethwaite quipped: "I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, 'The thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.'"[16]

Postlethwaite next starred in a Liverpool stage production of King Lear in 2008 at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, and at the Young Vic, London. He appeared in the climate change-themed film The Age of Stupid, which premiered in March 2009. Having recently installed a wind turbine in his garden, he was so impressed by the film he wrote in The Sun newspaper that, "The stakes [of climate change] are very, very high. They're through the roof. How could we willingly know that we're going into extinction ... and let it happen."[17][18]

Terminally ill, Postlethwaite made a conspicuous return to Hollywood in three 2010 films, first as Spyros in Clash of the Titans. He next appeared in the blockbuster hit Inception as Maurice Fischer, an industrialist who is slowly dying. Lastly, his performance in The Town as florist/crime boss Fergus "Fergie" Colm was well received by critics, making several publications lists of Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actor.[19][20][21] Postlethwaite's last appearance on screen was in Nick Hamm's film Killing Bono, based on the memoir of Neil McCormick. The role was written especially for Postlethwaite to accommodate his illness.[22] The film was released on 1 April 2011. His final role was due to be in the BBC series Exile, written by Danny Brocklehurst and Paul Abbott, but he had to pull out because of ill health. Jim Broadbent replaced him in the role.[23]

 

[Vince W]

That settles it. I’m going to watch the Sharpe series again.

 

[pogopossum]

This was my first reread in about 66 years since it was a set text in grade school. I actually fished by hand-lining for cod from a dory launched through the surf from the Sconset beach when I was about 12, and the book captured the hard graft that job entailed perfectly.

I read Old Man many years ago, perhaps ten years after Windshadow. I loved it but thought, in my callow youth, that it was so simple that it could not be any sort of real "literature". Of course I did not realize that the ability to carry the reader with little seeming effort was one characteristic of good writing. When I later went on to more turgid Hemingway I wondered if this could be the same writer. As a break from cosmic adventures I may pick it up again. Just ordered it from Cleveland Public Library.
Note: looking it up saw the following in Wikipedia. "In 1953, The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954."

 

[Agent Cormac]

I‘ve been reading the Sharpe series since the first book, Sharpe’s Rifles. You will never consider them great literature but they are just plain fun. Bodice rippers for men to be sure.

Agreed! Fun is the main pleasure of reading, and the Sharpe books are definitely fun.

One of the most memorable performances of a clever madman. I can remember watching a fine actor sorely missed.

I can't recall Pete Postlethwaite ever giving a bad performance. The one that sticks in the mind was one of the BBC Play for Today episodes, maybe The Muscle Market?

 

[Agent Cormac]

Sharpe’s Triumph

Set four years after Sharpe’s Tiger, chronologically this is the second book in the series and Sergeant Richard Sharpe has had a quiet time since the battle for the city of Seringapatam. But as the British push north they come up against the huge army of the Marathan leader, Scindia. At Assaye, Major General Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington) decides to attack the Scindia’s 100,000 strong well-trained troops with his own army of just 6000 men.

This was another enjoyable read even though it probably focused more on the campaign rather than the exploits of Sharpe. However, Sharpe’s story is not forgotten, nor is the ongoing hatred Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswell has for him. Hakeswell contrives an assault charge against Sharpe and sets out to kill him and steal the loot he took from Seringapatam. Meanwhile, when Wellesley’s orderly is killed at the start of the battle, Sharpe is roped in to take his place and succeeds in saving the general’s life after he is unhorsed during an attack on an enemy battery. As usual, the descriptions of battle are intense and vivid in detail and round off a rousing episode, one that marks a key stage in Sharpe’s rise from the ranks.

 

[Raf]

Started "Cathedral" by Ben Hopkins. Set in 12-13th century in Germany, a vignette of character stories that circle about the building of an enormous cathedral. There might be a tendency to align these tales with something like Follet's "Pillars of the Earth". And, to be honest, I guess that is something like I was expecting.

What I have is series of related character stories that circle the construction. From the various schemes to finance the project to the unending persecution of any religious belief or beliefs by the Holy Roman Church. Add into the fray, the up and coming merchant class that is beginning to challenge the church and commerce.

From a historical fiction standpoint, it sounds like something I might like. But I don't. The unrelenting sorrow and hardships of the various characters may mirror life in medieval times, but it does not really entertain.

I suppose it is educational in some respect, but I want to enjoy my reading time and when I start forcing myself to continue, it's time to call it what it is...an DNF for me.

 

[Windshadow]

I can't recall Pete Postlethwaite ever giving a bad performance

Steven Spielberg called Postlethwaite "the best actor in the world" after working with him on The Lost World: Jurassic Park,[15] to which Postlethwaite quipped: "I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, 'The thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.'"[16]

 

[suciul]

Started "Cathedral" by Ben Hopkins.
...
I suppose it is educational in some respect, but I want to enjoy my reading time and when I start forcing myself to continue, it's time to call it what it is...an DNF for me.

I quite liked this one - there is a lot happening across its decades-long action though it has a vignette-like feel more than a novel.

Back on topic, finished What Divides Us (Kilteegan Bridge Story #2) by Jean Grainger

Starting with a disturbing letter that Lena receives a few years after The Trouble With Secrets, the novel moves fairly fast between Ireland and France.

While I liked it and definitely want to read the next, I found the conflict in this one a bit contrived so there was a reason for Malachi to reappear as a sort of good guy this time, though while he respects Lena's choice, he still resents it to some extent and definitely has an interest in Emmett.

Overall, quite good and fast-moving with lots of energy, but not quite reaching the heights of the series debut

 

[Decrepit&Senile]

At 0750 today, 19 Oct 2022, I concluded an initial read of A Ticket to Oblivion, book 11 in Edward Marston's The Railway Detective historical fiction crime-solving series, set in 1850s England. I had not planned to continue the series so soon after finishing book 10. But nothing on my Paperwhite held my interest any length of time. I eventually admitted defeat, visited Amazon.com, and bought book 11. As suspected, it proved an easy read and a page turner. That said, it's a solid entry but is not among my TRD faves. Nor is there much railway trivia here. Like most entries, the plot begins on a railway. Otherwise, railways are not involved other than as a means of transportation.

 

[Decrepit&Senile]

At 0840 this morning, 21 Oct 2022, I concluded a read of George Eliot's Silas Marner, a free Project Gutenberg e-book download. As with Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, I'm conflicted as to whether it's a re-read or an initial read. In this case, more so than Twain's books, I lean towards re-read. If so, it'll be my first bona fide re-read this year! Quite a change for someone who, until mid last year, existed primarily on re-reads, with few new-to-me titles read during any given year since the early '90s.

As to the book itself, I had some trouble acclimating myself to the old-style rural dialect pretty much every character uses. (It's a very "wordy" book.) Once adapted, it became another quick-read page-turner. It at first seemed merely okay for its type. As the story progressed, and I became more and more invested in the main characters and locals, I came to like it more and more. By the end I was hooked.

 

[Raf]

At 0840 this morning, 21 Oct 2022, I concluded a read of George Eliot's Silas Marner, a free Project Gutenberg e-book download. As with Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, I'm conflicted as to whether it's a re-read or an initial read. In this case, more so than Twain's books, I lean towards re-read. If so, it'll be my first bona fide re-read this year! Quite a change for someone who, until mid last year, existed primarily on re-reads, with few new-to-me titles read during any given year since the early '90s.

As to the book itself, I had some trouble acclimating myself to the old-style rural dialect pretty much every character uses. (It's a very "wordy" book.) Once adapted, it became another quick-read page-turner. It at first seemed merely okay for its type. As the story progressed, and I became more and more invested in the main characters and locals, I came to like it more and more. By the end I was hooked.

All 3 of those were required reading in my middle school years. I remember enjoying most of the required reading with the exception of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"...which I hated then and still do now.

 

[Raf]

Starting a re-read of James Clavell's Tai-Pan tonight.

 

[Raf]

Starting a re-read of James Clavell's Tai-Pan tonight.

On 2nd thought, nope...started the new Kim M. Watt novel, "Worry of Weres" for some lighter fare. The "Gobbolino of London" series being my current favorite Urban Fantasy series.

Will get back to Tai-Pan later.

 

[Agent Cormac]

Palace of Treason

The title of this modern-day espionage thriller refers to the Kremlin, in which Putin manages things with a ruthless hand and even more ruthless men. However, one of his prized agents has turned and is now run by the CIA, spying on the SVR. It looked promising at first but sadly it’s nowhere near the class of Frederick Forsyth so I’ve put it down. The final straw was the female Russian agent and her CIA handler wandering about Vienna and dining together in plain view. Very unlikely, I think, and too easy to work out where the story’s heading.

 

[Vince W]

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell. Henry V it is not but still a compelling and entertaining read.

 

[Agent Cormac]

Azincourt is a great read. Think I've read it a few times now.
I'm halfway through Sharpe's Fortress by Cornwell, which is also good fun.

 

[Agent Cormac]

Sharpe’s Fortress

Chronologically the third of the Sharpe books, Sharpe’s Fortress is the last of the stories set in India before the setting moves to the battlegrounds of Napoleonic Europe. Sharpe, now an ensign promoted from the rank and file, is looked down on as an upstart by most of the other officers, and he starts to question his desire to be one of them. However, the impending siege of Gawilghur brings further opportunities his way.

Featuring many of the characters from the previous stories set in India, this one sees Sharpe uncovering a treasonous enterprise selling army supplies to the locals and leading the attack against the formidable fort of Gawilghur. All of which is stirring stuff and with Cornwell’s customary eye for detail, great fun to read. Running alongside the main event is Sharpe’s ongoing vendetta with Sergeant Hakeswill, providing a subplot that brings an even greater threat to Sharpe’s life than the battles themselves and adds colour to what is another entertaining and enjoyable read in this historical series.

 

[Alex Finch]

Finished David Sedaris' Happy-Go-Lucky recently, I'm quite a fan of his but had mixed feelings about the book, some of it is very funny and he's definitely aware of his quirks and faults, but parts about life during the pandemic rankled, if only because he broke the rules and had regular dinner parties which I think is quite poor behaviour. Other than that it was great, and the material about his father was very touching, but whatever he published next I'll probably wait until I see it in a charity shop* rather than rushing to buy it.


*Which to be fair is the source of about 50% of what I read!

 

[Raf]

Started Charles Frazier's "Cold Mountain". Highly panned Civil War story published in 1998. Didn't care for the 2003 movie with Jude Law & Nicole Kidman. But thought I'd give the book a chance.

Having a hard time getting into it. Only 2 characters so far and an inordinate amount of navel gazing. As these 2 characters question how the circumstances of their lives have lead them to this moment of time.

Gonna plug on...give it a chance. Slow start for sure. But it is an odd book. The author uses almost no punctuation. Conversation is denoted by a hyphen. And some of the flowing prose...uh...overlong description of the most mundane things are in dire need of a period. Or, at the very least, a comma.