Work for Idle Hands

Archive Entries for 2019

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Tuesday December 31, 2019

Books in December

• The Lunar Cats by Lynne Truss
  A sequel to the very funny book Cat Out of Hell - which I read as long ago as 2015. This all begins when Alec, as a retired librarian, takes up a strange research request by email - and then (foolishly) is beguiled into taking in an innocent little stray kitten...
  Maybe not quite as laugh out loud this time but still lots of fun - despite (or perhaps because of) the rather outlandish horrors that the heroes have to endure. I especially enjoyed the ship's cat diaries from the Endeavour, where the cat tries to introduce himself to Cook, expecting his due respect on board as an eminent (cat) scientist, but instead is met with the expostulation: "whose fucking cat is that?!"


• Heresy by S.J. Parris [read by Laurence Kennedy]
  Helen thought I would like this book - lending me this first in the series - and she was not wrong. It's set in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, and is recommended to "those who like CJ Sansom - and Hilary Mantel" (although the latter is rather in a different category I think). At first I was a little resistant but it took only a few pages to win me over. Stephanie Merritt is a writer/journalist (and critic) rather than a historian but her books are well researched, making for delightful and wholly convincing reading about character, time, and place. She sticks to what is known about Bruno - and in the way of all good writers, splendidly fills in the rest ("the novelist begins with the parts of the story where the historical record raises questions or leaves gaps").
  In this first installment, we meet Giordano Bruno - a real-life Italian philosopher - in the later stages of his life when he was traveling around Europe. In 1583 he was resident in England as a guest of the French ambassador, Michel de Castelnau, and this plot takes him to Oxford on a commission from Walsingham.


• The County Guides 1-4: The Norfolk Mystery, Death in Devon, Westmorland Alone,
  and, Essex Poison by Ian Sansom [read by Mike Grady]

  I never cease to be amazed when I find a set of books that are apparently new, original and interesting. Very arrogant of me maybe but you would think that most things had been tried by now wouldn't you?
  I admit these books have themes that are right up my street, being set in the 1930s, and with an amusing hero in the shape of Morley, a writer, educator, and self-styled expert on "everything" and who plans to travel the country and write about all 44 counties in the space of 2 years. [I've subsequently discovered he's based on Arthur Mee about whom I know nothing but sounds pretty amusing in his own right, and also travelled about England writing about the counties - 43 of them. I should also mention there are fewer counties than that but they defend their choices].
  For me, what sets these apart from being superficial works of satire is that they are very dark. The narrator is Sefton who is forever trying to escape the nightmare of his time fighting in the Spanish Civil War - in fact a large part of the first book is taken up with his dismal and horrifying experiences in Spain - and at the time of taking the job as Morley's assistant, he has reached the point of becoming a homeless down and out. Sefton always sees his job as temporary - or that he has not really taken the job at all. Add to this Morley's wayward daughter, the very acute Miriam, and you have the perfect band of anti-heroes. [On top of all this of course you have the murder mysteries - but again, for me, they are far from the real interest of the books].

  I can't leave this topic without talking about the narrator, Mike Grady. I listen to most of the books I "read", and I feel that one cannot give enough credit to the narrator; he can improve an average book beyond measure, or make a book that might be good on the page seem quite dull, and all without the listener really being aware of that (I exclude narrators who are positively annoying....). Mike Grady is superb in this narration - especially in his personification of Morley. At this stage of his career, Mike is probably best known for his long-running role in Last of the Summer Wine - a TV program in which I had little interest - I appreciated its gentle understated humour, but after a few series I felt it became a caricature of itself. He has had dozens of TV roles over the years, but I love him most for the ever loyal Ken in Citizen Smith in the 1970s. In various interviews he comes across as a dedicated actor who really knows and works at his craft - and I just love to hear (or read in this case) him talking about being an actor.

  

  
  
  
  
  

Posted on December 31, 2019 at 12:12 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Wednesday December 25, 2019

Christmas Day

We had a lovely family Christmas.
[No snow actually but a lovely cake made by G's sister.]

Posted on December 25, 2019 at 7:14 PM. Category: Days Out.

Saturday November 23, 2019

Buzzard

It's a very rainy day and to our amazement we found a rather wet bird posing on one of the trees at the end of our garden. Managing to look regal despite the weather, what an unexpected treat.

Posted on November 23, 2019 at 3:43 PM. Category: The Garden.

Sunday November 17, 2019

ISIHAC in Richmond

A fun family outing to Richmond Theatre.

... and the saddest footnote - fond memories of Tim Brooke Taylor

Posted on November 17, 2019 at 5:26 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Saturday November 16, 2019

Journals

Inspired by Arne and Carlos Journal making ideas, this is something I have long been meaning to try. In fact, our Guild workshop (tutor: Leslie Gibbs who had prepared everything splendidly for us) produced some lovely books that were a bit more sophisticated than I was aspiring to. Here are our efforts:

Posted on November 16, 2019 at 7:21 PM. Category: Crafts.

Tuesday November 12, 2019

Groan Ups

This is a production from the "play that went wrong" crew - and as I suspected - they are very funny. I did think it was a play George would enjoy - and he did - and in consequence we will be slavishly watching their TV adaptations "The Goes Wrong Show".

Posted on November 12, 2019 at 11:06 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Thursday October 31, 2019

Books in October

• Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah [read by Julian Rhind-Tutt]
  This is the second of Sophie's Poirot novels, which I could not wait to get into - especially with Rhind-Tutt as the reader again. She is very clever in humorously bringing out all of those leetel Poirot foibles and short comings by viewing them through the thoughts of the narrator ("why the blazes didn't he tell us about that before?") - as well as those more common themes in Agatha Christie's writing. I especially enjoyed the following extract:
  "...you and I are not the only guests, mon ami, altogether including Lady Playford, there are 11 of us; if one counts the servants as well there are three more... the question is ought we to count the servants?"
  [I believe it's a well-known Christie trope that the servants are never the murderer - unless they are nice middle/upper class folk disguised as a servant. So the butler never dunnit].


• The King's Evil by Andrew Taylor [Read by Leighton Pugh]
  The next in the Ashes of London series for which I've been impatiently waiting to be released in audio format. The Firecourt (second in the series) was a recommendation by a Guardian reviewer, and since 3 books were available by the time I read the review, I downloaded them and listened to them in order. I find the historical descriptions very absorbing and I am very taken with the protagonists Cat Lovett and James Marwood - who are no "Dempsey and Makepeace" despite the abrasive nature of their interactions. It's all a bit Mills and Boon (no real insult in saying that as they are truly the doyennes of the romantic novel) but I do especially like the realism depicted in their relationship. Neither lovers nor even close friends in a way, the bond between them sustains, despite their being apart from one another for many fairly lengthy periods over which the stories unfold. There is, of course, clearly "something going on" between them but.... [Get a room?].


• Grey Souls by Philippe Claudel
  Due to the Crime Vault listing various author's Desert Island books I have ventured into some novels outside that which would normally come to my attention or attract me. This one is a recommendation by Rebecca Griffiths.
  Written in 2003 (but not read by me in the original French), about a murder in 1917, the narrator is a nameless police officer in a small town in France 20 years later, telling the story in flashback and finally "solving" the mystery.
  However this is much more than just a murder mystery, giving the reader a lot to ponder on, about love, war, and justice.


• Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear [read by Julie Teal]
  It's early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs finally returns to England from war-torn Spain. Although she does not feel up to resuming anything like her former life, she is swiftly set upon by the British secret service, who apparently need her "undercover" to impersonate a woman to whom she bears a strong resemblance, thus undertaking the eponymous "journey to Munich". The German government will release an important British subject from prison, but only if his daughter is there to meet him. Unfortunately the daughter is gravely ill and cannot travel herself. While in Munich, Maisie takes on a potential rescue mission of a more personal nature - all set against a very sinister and threatening political background not to mention imminent state of war.
  I think this is an excellent depiction of time and place. Everyone is living a relatively normal life - but it's essentially a police state with everyone under observation - how much you are affected by the restrictions very much depends on who you are.
  

Posted on October 31, 2019 at 4:47 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Saturday October 26, 2019

Lewes WSD Open Day

Kate accompanied me on a trip to the East Sussex biennial open day this year. It was a pleasant sunny day - and - worth a mention as it can make such a difference - we were lucky enough to find a space in a tiny but very handy car park.
We had a fun look round - a nice lunch - and just made it back to the car before it poured down with rain. All very satisfactory. [Though still no luck in the raffle!]

Posted on October 26, 2019 at 9:03 AM. Category: Days Out.

Saturday October 12, 2019

Knitting and Stitching at Alexandra Palace

For the very first time since first attending this show - we had rain. And not just any old rain - it threw it down! We had both opted for light jackets so we did not have to carry big coats all day (and the venue is very warm inside) - so we were totally unprotected - and no umberellas - hence grabbing all we could find in the way of headgear available in the car... No false vanity when needs must... [We then discovered that there is actually a cloakroom facility at the venue... so we'll know better next time...]
I especially love this photo as it seems almost from a different era - a couple of girls (women) on a day out "having a laugh". The need to dress for any weather and so on - all very retro.

Posted on October 12, 2019 at 1:34 PM. Category: Days Out.

Thursday October 3, 2019

Local Cinema - Souvenir

This is the film that Alison turned down - so I had to coerce George into coming with me.

I think it's fair to say that this is a girlie art film so not G's cup of tea one bit. Actually I was pretty lucky to find it being able to catch it locally at all (at the Leatherhead theatre which now shows films - local theatre venues always in a position of trying to keep the wolf from the door). In fact, I think in the end George was quite taken with it, and gratified (as was I) that the heroine - however emotionally broken - was not ultimately dragged down to the gutter by her passion for a no-good chap*

* Excellently portrayed by the lovely Tom Burke - in fact the cast was stellar including Tilda Swinton, acting with her daughter Honor Swinton Byrne who took the lead role.

Posted on October 3, 2019 at 5:50 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Wednesday October 2, 2019

Local Cinema - Downton

There are two films I want to see but Alison only agreed to see this one with me (Phillistine). However, it was a perfect choice for both of us - never mind the moaning about accuracy, plot, general cheesiness etc - I'm sure everyone who went to see it got exactly what they expected and wanted (except the critics I guess).

Also I was able to hand over the completed kitbag that I had constructed for Alison as a kit for last Christmas (with a commitment to finish off the leather work once she had done the crochet). The latter took her about 5 minutes - the leather work took me a bit longer.

I also handed over her Orkney, which I had completed on the knitting machine (it really is a big piece of work by hand); in this case she is doing the finishing - sewing up and sewing in ends. We looked for trims and buttons in John Lewis before dashing off to see the film. Alison had taken the train down to Kingston after working in London all day, so timing was all a bit tight.

Posted on October 2, 2019 at 1:36 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Saturday September 28, 2019

Glamour Puss

For some time Felicity has been engaged in a project to produce a Dada-esque book. I have been following progress, viewing the artwork, as she has been photographing her friends in (conical) costumes of her own creation, along with the most amazing varieties of bread (yes, bread - the sort you eat).
She always had it in mind that I would be photographed with my Mini car - not realising that I had long moved on to other models - however, this turned out to be a fortuitous setback, as she managed to find some wonderful (and willing) people with an original Mini with which we had a 1960's styled "shoot". I can tell you the "mini" dress was much longer than of that era but I am no longer a teenager so modesty prevailed. I did have a lot of difficulty not collapsing into giggles as Felicity's husband kept up a continual commentary of photographer's clichés throughout - "work it baby - that's hot!" - which was particularly amusing when spoken by a rather shy academic.

Posted on September 28, 2019 at 4:46 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Saturday September 21, 2019

Sonning - Towards Zero

Another delightfully light-hearted retro experience at The Mill - not to mention good acting, good food, and good company. The book is from 1944 but Christie adapted it into a play in 1956; the plot is nicely worked and luckily the most challenging scenes on the windswept headland take place firmly off-stage. (In truth as with many of her plots, almost impossible to imagine anyone carrying it out in real life). One of the reviews said the play "almost had a feel of a television production in front of a live studio audience" which is the case as the theatre is small and intimate so that the actors do not (if they are wise) project voice and actions in the way they would for a normal stage production.

We went with a group of friends and colleagues who by popular consent chose a matinee performance. Traffic is so unpredictable that we planned it so we arrived mid-morning and enjoyed a leisurely amble by the Thames.

Along the way there was a very noticeable pretty plant that we did not recognise - it had rather large flowers for a "wild" flower. Rob later identified it as Indian Balsam, Impatiens Glandulifera - also known as Himalayan Balsam or Policeman's Helmet "an aggressive coloniser of river and stream banks".

Finally, on returning to the Mill, we watched a duck involved in spat with a decoy... (you musn't laugh).

Posted on September 21, 2019 at 6:06 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Wednesday September 11, 2019

Proms: more new and old

Prom 71 was Bach Night and following on from last year's wonderful experience, we went for another dose of Bach with some new works as well.

John Butt and his ensemble the Dunedin Consort performed Bach's Orchestral Suites interspersed with four new works from Stuart MacRae, Nico Muhly, Ailie Robertson and Stevie Wishart.

• Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major
• Nico Muhly: Tambourin
• Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major
• Stevie Wishart: The Last Dance?
• Ailie Robertson: Chaconne
• Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor
• Stuart MacRae: Courante
• Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major

Posted on September 11, 2019 at 6:04 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Saturday August 31, 2019

Books in August

• Lethal White by Robert Galbraith [read by Robert Glenister]
  Like much of the female population I was very taken with Robin and Cormoran and their interesting (and developing) friendship. It seemed to me that the author had written a trilogy, which was nicely rounded off in the way that perhaps a real life situation would be. However, we knew the series was going to continue, and Rowling pitches it perfectly, showing those fractions in time which have no significance, and yet at the same time could not be more significant - and Matthew's tiny betrayals which are both something and nothing - until they become really something...
  The plot was certainly very good - if a bit convoluted - and I found the workings of the politician's back-office life and his support staff (including the apparent nepotism) pretty engaging.
  [The very excellent actor Robert Glenister is set to appear in the cast of the TV adaptation Lethal White].


• The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor [read by Leighton Pugh ]
  I read a Guardian review recommending The Firecourt by Andrew Taylor, and then found it was in fact the second in the series, so decided to start at the beginning. I'm always suspicious when the marketing blurbs say things like "if you like Shardlake you'ill love this" ** and so on - but I'm afraid in this instance I absolutely did fall into the right demographic. Also, I did spend a year at school studying the Stuarts, which made the historical context seem very familiar.
  Here, we are introduced to James Marwood and Cat Lovett - and they to each other - against the backdrop of London in 1666, in the process of being consumed by fire. The action revolves around the destruction (and subsequent rebuilding) of St Paul's cathedral. A charred body is discovered among the ruins, but pretty obviously not a victim of the fire. Later, another body is discovered - and, among many other subplots, our protagonists struggle both to unravel the mystery, as well as to survive in this time of complex political intrigue.
  
  [** this type of recommendation always depends on what it is that you actually liked about the said book - often they look merely at the subject matter with no regard to skill of the author]


• Corduroy Mansions, The Dog Who Came In from the Cold,
  and A Conspiracy of Friends by Alexander McCall Smith

  As the name suggests, this is a trilogy of stories set around the inhabitants of a block of flats, which, in this case, are in Pimlico rather than Edinburgh. As usual it's full of truly likeable characters expressing view on all kinds of philosophical subjects - not to mention featuring a very likeable - as well as philosophical - dog. If you are not a keen follower of Alexander McCall Smith, then, of course, it's just another set of gently (and genteel) humorous stories - but, if nothing else, his undiminished popularity demonstrates they are above the ordinary.
  Most enjoyable.

  

  
  

Posted on August 31, 2019 at 4:21 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Sunday August 25, 2019

Romeo and Juliet

Classic Bourne reinvention of Romeo and Juliet which I found excellent and enjoyed a lot more than the recent "Christmas family" ballets. The setting is some sort of institution or asylum, and there are not "two houses divided" but an authoritarian oppressive system with brutal guards - into which the teenagers are committed by apparently unfeeling parents.
A very fresh and new feel achieved by Bourne working with a young cast of dancers and choreographer. Prokofiev's ballet music is reorchestrated, cut and reordered by Terry Davies.

Posted on August 25, 2019 at 7:54 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Wednesday July 31, 2019

Books in July

• The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux
  First written (in French) in 1907, this has been reissued, and is lauded as "genre defining" as one of the first locked room mysteries. It was highly influential on the members of the Detection Club, and John Dickson Carr and Agatha Christie both refer to the book in their own novels, through the mouthpiece of their characters:
  'And here is The Mystery of the Yellow Room. That - ah, that is really a classic! I approve of it from start to finish.' ..... 'All through there is truth, concealed with a careful and cunning use of words.' ..... 'Definitely a masterpiece, and, I gather, almost forgotten nowadays.' [Hercule Poirot, The Clocks, 1963].
  All I can can say is that I cannot agree with the blurb "as readable now as when it first appeared" as I found it a great struggle to read - although I suppose that quote may be true in either a positive or a negative sense...
  Gaston Leroux, is probably better remembered today as the author of The Phantom of the Opera, probably due to the film adaptations and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.


• Our House by Louise Candlish [Read by Deni Francis and Paul Panting]
  This is a really terrific book, well worthy of the Crime and Thriller award for 2019. I think it's not unfair to say that the premise of the story - well, it's opening, and the title - seems preposterous - except the author completely draws you in and it all becomes totally believable - and speaking as one who is very attached to her home - truly dreadful.
  There are many crimes involved here - some criminal, some highly criminal, and some (many) personal betrayals. And then there is the final twist at the end where the characters believe they are at last "doing the right thing", which leaves the reader to imagine the inevitable yet more devastating consequences.


• Weeds
  This is a Ruth Rendell short story, read by David Holt, and produced by Rosemary Watts.
  It's only 15minutes long but the real skill of short story writing is all displayed here.
  Rodney Hithe's having a "charity weed hunt" in his immaculate garden - but the discovery of an adventitious poppy sparks horrifying consequences. We are outdoors on a beautiful sunny day bu there is some kind of foreshadowing of sinister events to come. And when they do, we are left to resolve and understand the clues (which we do completely).
  

Posted on July 31, 2019 at 11:29 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Sunday June 30, 2019

Books in June

• Killing the Beasts by Chris Simms
  As Chris is best known for his DI Spicer series, I decided to start at number one, (published in 2005), and read it as written on the page.
  Maybe Chris (like many other authors) was not trying for a series right off the bat here - Spicer really has equal billing with the other characters he introduces. However, I can see why these were an immediate success.

  This month I joined Chris's Readers Club and downloaded (and read) my free prequel to the Spicer series: Roller Coaster; I also read Baba's Bites which is a mystery short story but very much bordering on the horror category - well written and well told, but left me feeling distinctly down.



• Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs [Read by Kate Harper]
  This fourth book sees Tempe Brennan called in as part North Carolina's disaster response team responding to a plane crash in the mountains. The team must collect evidence over a wide area, and painstakingly identify the victims - who seem to be largely from a college sports team, and this leaves Tempe worried sick about her own daughter. However, pushing her worries aside and focusing on her work, Tempe finds a body part (foot) which she suspects was not actually from the crash, and without support from her colleagues and superiors, she feels compelled to find out the truth on her own.


• Castles in Spain
  A bookseller is surprised to be asked to try and solve a military mystery...
  'When I walked into this house I was simple Grahame Mayer, the bookseller. Now it seems I'm Philip Marlowe, private eye.'
  Edward Boyd's five-part thriller serial first broadcast in 1987, based on his 1986 play, and produced by Patrick Rayner.
  Grahame Mayer, the bookseller, is played by Ray Brooks - famous for many things possibly most memorably from his (and my) youth in the 60s film The Knack. Other players include John Westbrook, Alexandra Mathie, Garard Green, William Hope, John Hannah, and Jonathan Tafler.
  

Posted on June 30, 2019 at 7:23 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Sunday June 16, 2019

Adam Kaye at the Rose

Yet another performance from the Fringe that I thought worth a revisit. I would say a great afternoon's "entertainment" - he is great but, by the nature of the subject, it is a bit of a polemic and the closing chapters are a bit harrowing for artist and audience.

Posted on June 16, 2019 at 12:11 PM. Category: Days Out.

Friday May 31, 2019

Books in May

• After the Party by Cressida Connolly
  I was fascinated by this book. It provided a particularly interesting read for me, covering many aspects of social history which have long appealed.
  Firstly, it was an excellent story about a "real" (not real) person, Phyllis. Told from her point of view I completely empathised with her and, although I think it's meant to be more ambiguous, I was totally convinced that she was simply naive. Somehow the writing drove the story beyond the usual themes of her "not realising" what was happening in 1930s England; as part of a lower middle class social stratum - which she was thrust into having returned from a life abroad - she really did not realise what was happening. Only vaguely interested in politics, (if at all), she just went with the social norms within her "set", where she and her husband were keen to fit in.
  Secondly it is set in and around Sussex, with a lot of historical detail about fascism and fascist groups there, including the British Union seaside camps (no mention of "National" or "Fascists" any more), and the defacing of the Jewish-owned theatre at Worthing with anti semitic graffiti ("just high spirits"). I felt I should know about all this - yet I did not.
  Thirdly, the imprisonment of fascists at the outbreak of war, and subsequent internment on the Isle of Mann - along with other categories segregated internees - was really an unknown (or at least unexplored) piece of history for me. The effect on the local inhabitants for the duration was really pretty terrible.
  Finally, I liked the way the story was told, supposedly written by a third party based on interviews with Phyllis, as an old woman in the 1970s. It interleaves two timelines: 1938, told as a story in the third person; and the 1979, interviews written in the first person. In 1938, you can be sympathetic to Phyllis, and see the gradual slide into an extremist organisation without questioning its values; in fact, although the "Party" of the title is meant to indicate a watershed moment which "changed her life forever", I did not really find that to be the case - it was just one more step on the slippery slope. However, it is clear from the 1970s, Phyllis that she is, or turned out to be, an altogether more unpleasant person.
  I would recommend two other reviews: Café Society, and A Manor of Reading.


• Tangerine by Christine Mangan
  It's 1956, Alice lives in Tangier with her husband John. Lucy, a once inseparable friend, but now estranged, arrives without warning, expecting to carry on the friendship where it left off over a year ago. This all seems to work out fairly well, but after an initial new sense of freedom, Alice begins to experience the familiar feeling of being controlled and stifled by Lucy - and then John goes missing....
  This is a rather creepy psychological thriller to quote Joyce Carol Oates: "As if Donna Tartt, Gillian Flynn, and Patricia Highsmith had collaborated in a screenplay to be filmed by Hitchcock". I can see a strong connection with Patricia Highsmith, of whom I have to confess I am not overly fond, although that did not appear to affect my enjoyment of this book. The setting in the 1950s enhances that Highsmith feeling, and the progress of the story is not unlike that of Mr Ripley if that's not too much of a spoiler. However, I am astonished that it's a debut novel as it's highly polished and convincingly evocative of time and place.


• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  My sister lent me this book which I had heard of as an award winning debut novel. It's the type of novel that appeals to me (like a Christmas Carol et al) as in a way it is a tale of redemption - where the protagonist is redeemed rather than redeeming herself... I'm aware that this is a bit arrogant in that Eleanor definitely does not think she needs saving from anything, (she is fine), so I am seeing her from my point of view and from what I feel is normality. However, I think we believe she herself feels a kind of happiness at the end of the book that she was not experiencing previously.
  Eleanor is shifted out of her settled existence by a small act of kindness that she shows to another, and from there on we find small acts of kindness abound, and Eleanor finds she has friends that she never knew she needed. The book exudes a "gentle warmth", as the Guardian reviewer puts it, as well as being really humorous and a joy to read. [And yes it did remind me of Judith Hearne but for those for whom that might be worrying, it has a somewhat more uplifting ending].


• A Price to Pay by Chris Simms [read by Becky Hindley]
  The first book about DC Iona Khan - which I have not yet read (listened to) was part of the Guardian round-up of crime fiction in 2012. This is the second book, but works well as a stand alone story.
  It starts with the strange death of a teenage runaway, who apparently killed herself leaping from a motorway bridge into the speeding traffic below. The girl's identity is unknown, but Iona links her profile to three others of recently missing girls. In addition, the CCTV footage - such as it is - provides some interesting clues about a possible second person with her on the bridge as she jumped. Even more creepy is that Iona herself has a close resemblance to the dead girl, and soon becomes a target for the sinister gang involved in the disappearances. Hold tight for a thoroughly thrilling read...


• Stand By For West: Battle for Inspector West
  I was fascinated to see this available on iPlayer, with it's star Patrick Allen who was a very prolific actor in my youth - the last thing I noticed him playing was Colonel Sebastian Moran in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series from 1986, though it seems he was pretty active long after that, (often as an "announcer" as he has a stereotypical "true Brit" (or more precisely English..) voice. Anyway it seems there were quite a few of these multi-episode radio series of which this was the first.
  John Creasey created Chief Inspector Roger West, and he featured in more than forty novels between 1942 and 1973 - the basis for this series Battle for Inspector West was published in 1948. Apparently six of the novels were adapted for radio by Maurice Travers.
  First aired in 1967, stars Patrick Allen, Sarah Lawson, Humphrey Morton, Philip Bond, Denise Buckley, Hamilton Dyce, John Cazabon, Eva Stuart, Francis de Wolff, Trevor Bannister, and Preston Lockwood; produced by John Fawcett Wilson.


• Death in the Clouds
  First published in 1935 - I remember a very old copy in a red cloth binding that I read as a teenager, (well-read and dust jacket missing). However, this is one of the BBC radio plays from 2003 with John Moffat as Poirot - never liked his interpretation (or more precisely accent) but he seems to have done them all - and Philip Jackson - who by contrast seems to be the perfect Japp.
  On a flight from Le Bourget to Croydon, (I'm loving it already), a woman is found dead. It's intended to look like a wasp-sting was responsible, but Poirot (co-incidentally on board) is not taken in.
  Dramatised in 2003 by Michael Bakewell, and directed by Enyd Williams, also starring, Geoffrey Whitehead, Murray Melvin, Teresa Gallagher, Carolyn Jones, Ben Crowe, Andrew Harrison, Bruce Purchase, Liza Sadovy, Priyanga Elan, and Steven Critchlow.
  

Posted on May 31, 2019 at 4:36 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Tuesday April 30, 2019

Books in April

• Loose Tongues by Chris Simms [read by Joe Jameson]
  Having picked up on Chris' writing, I went to the library to look for all his books available as downloads. This the first of two books about newly qualified DC Sean Blake. His Mother is retired from the police and is very anxious about him - and he feels about her as we all probably do about our Mothers - we love 'em but they don't 'arf go on....
  Anyway it's a really good mystery with another thrilling ending - and a bit sad. I really like Sean and I'm looking forward to reading Marked Men.


• Sing Me to Sleep by Chris Simms [read by Becky Hindley]
  Owing to my ferreting about in the virtual library, this month is a bit of a Simms-fest. This is a "stand-alone" mystery which could not be more different from his police procedurals - it's more of a ghost if not horror story which keeps you guessing. Having read a couple of Chris' short stories, he seems rather good at writing this type of tale, and this one was excellent; he easily sustained the plot to the length of a full novel (often they don't, hence the number of "collections" of short stories on these topics). However, looking at my tastes in books and dramas overall, I'm not sure I'm so keen on stories of the supernatural - I suppose it's that they very often have a sting in the tail, and I have a preference for justice done, people laid to rest, and happy endings. It's all made up after all. [...or is it?].


• The Graveyard of the Hesperides, The Third Nero (or Never Say Nero Again),
  and Pandora's Boy by Lindsey Davis

  Just catching up on the Flavia Alba novels.
  Skeletons are found in the grounds (and probably the cupboards) of the the run-down eponymous bar that Manlius is renovating - that's the mystery for Flavia Alba to solve. Any spare time is taken up with planning for her imminent wedding celebration - and provides a neat opportunity for Lindsey to roundly satirise the entire process, as she always does, in very modern terms. Thus the plot involves sex workers, bones, wedding planners and lentils. The culmination is spectacular to say the least.
  The second book is set in AD 89 and the Nero in the title refers to the period between the autumn of 69 AD and the reign of the emperor Domitian, when various Nero impostors appeared on the scene, (one has to ask "why?" although it seems Nero still had a number of supporters willing to believe or invent anything ... fake news anyone?). Scholars suggest the number of Nero impostors was two or three, although St. Augustine (we like him...) wrote of the popularity of the belief that Nero would return in his day, known as the Nero Redivivus legend. Flavia Alba works to solve the mystery at the heart of the story while her new husband is still recovering from the effects of their wedding celebrations (or "event") in the previous book.
  For the third book we are still in Rome AD 89. Pandora supplies herbal remedies, and there is a suggestion that one of them may have been responsible for the death of a young girl from a wealthy family - alternatively she died from a broken heart. Either way, love potions and the occult were involved. Bizarrely, Flavia Alba is asked to look into it by Manlius' ex-wife. This book seems to have been more favourably received by readers than the previous two.

  

  
  

Posted on April 30, 2019 at 12:49 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Thursday April 4, 2019

Home, I'm Darling

This is a witty play about a couple's decision (or more exactly the wife's decision) to turn the clock back in their domestic life to a simpler era - the 1950s. Judy (played by Katherine Parkinson) takes voluntary redundancy and decides to live a retro life - in decor, fashion, cooking, and relationship. Her husband appears to bask in his new role - but predictably, after a time it palls, and the financial reality begins to bite. This is a satire on the desire to move back to an artificial version of an era, existing only in the minds of most who hanker for it, but were not even alive at the time. It's a nostalgia for the "cup-cake" existence as enshrined by events like the Goodwood Revival - and although not wholly unreal, it's not how ordinary people living through that grey post-war era remember it most - definitely not the glamorous "New Look" or Joan Miro art available to Princess Margaret and Grace Kelly.
[But rather wearing your school gaberdine mac out to dances with the sleeves pushed up to try and look like a fashionable trench coat, even though it was a give-away shade of bottle green...].

Posted on April 4, 2019 at 8:26 AM. Category: Days Out.

Monday April 1, 2019

All About Eve

How could one pass up the opportunity to see Gillian Anderson and Lily James in such iconic roles? Serendipity meant I was able to take Alison with me for a little appropriately-timed celebratory outing. For me, this did not disappoint, although Michael Billington (my personal bellwether) was - unusually - not so enamoured. It's hard not to compare it with the Bette Davis film - even though, (Philistine that I am), I only belatedly realised during the performance, that it was a film I had actually seen(!). Unsurprising, there was a more immediately obvious comparison with the staging of Network, and although I thought it was excellent, the use of the multi-media technology did not have quite the same intrinsic relevance to the plot.
However I found it wonderful, and would not have missed it for the world.

[I also want to mention Monica Dolan here: she is a fabulous actress, and to my mind seems to be in "everything" either in noticeably character-acting leads, but also in quieter supporting roles, undergoing such amazing transformations that I always have to do a double-take to check it really is her.]

Posted on April 1, 2019 at 8:25 AM. Category: Days Out.

Sunday March 31, 2019

Books in March

• Hall of Mirrors by Christopher Fowler [Read by Tim Goodman]
  I'm guessing to counteract the effect of the inevitable implausible aging of his protagonists, the author has moved the action to an earlier time in B&M's careers - 1969 - and the setting is a country house - a locked room mystery. As a consequence, CF was not able to rely so much on the eccentric characters of our heroes (formed over years to make not only a peculiar crimes unit but two very interesting peculiar old chaps) - and I missed the very real strange underworld of the London that they (and probably the author) inhabit. There seemed also to be a very strong element of almost slapstick humour, which, outside of this book, I can admire but rarely makes me laugh - although when done well I have to admit to rolling in the aisles with everyone else (for example, the "Goes Wrong" shows, but rather less Norman Wisdom).
  So... our friends - who I should mention would still not actually be very young men in 1969 - are sent to a posh but country house ("Hall") owned by a dope-smoking Lord (a familiar cameo of the era); they are acting as body guards to one of the house guests. There is plenty of opportunity (taken) for observing the end of Swinging 60s and the social changes in play at that time. The country house is in disrepair, and the British class system is being questioned, which is illustrated in the differences between Bryant and May themselves.
  I enjoyed it all as much as ever but trying to visualise B&M in their primes is challenging for author and reader.
  [Interestingly, Maggie Armitage (the witch) makes a lot more sense as her younger self - a young bohemian new-age character I can strongly identify with... the dawning of the Age of Aquarius..]


• The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
  [Read by Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson, and Andi Arndt]
  Alison - who reads a great deal, very widely, and very quickly - recommended this book to me. I was not familiar with this author, but I thought the book was excellent. It's a kind of psychological thriller, and I think I had worked out the unexpected twist in the book fairly early on, although when this happens I find it's often what the author intended.
  It is written in two timelines - "then" and "now", as well as in several voices. As usual, I was listening to the book and with different actors voicing the parts, it worked very well. It's a sad tale, but right from the start, they were tragic characters so no ending could have been a conventionally happy one.


• I'll Keep You Safe by Peter May
  "Niamh and Ruairidh Macfarlane co-own the Hebridean company Ranish Tweed". I'm hooked already.... A book about tweed....
  Ruairidh promises his wife he will always look after her, but as in the age old tradition tragedy strikes. On a business trip to Paris to promote their luxury brand, Ruairidh is killed by a car bomb. To make matters worse, it seems he was in the car with a lover, and the French police have Niamh down as their prime suspect. Finally, she returns home to Lewis, bereft, and struggling to cope with managing their business (while the French police officer doggedly continues her enquiries in Scotland).
  And that's where the old tradition ends. It's all very sinister and tense throughout, with many interesting twists before the thrilling denouement.
  [I was a bit surprised as I thought this novel was written earlier in May's career and recently reissued, but it seems to have been first published in 2018.]
  

Posted on March 31, 2019 at 4:56 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Tuesday March 26, 2019

A Hundred Words for Snow

It's all about a probably extraordinary (given what happens) 15 year old girl's relationship with her probably very ordinary Father, and her compelling desire to scatter his ashes at the North Pole. Improbably, but made wholly convincing, she runs away with a passport and her Mother's credit card...
Gemma Barnett plays the engaging teenager with an ambition, and we all loved her. [Being a one woman show, with overtones of a "rites of passage", combined with the delightfully unlikely heroine reminded me of Lydia Larson's Finding Fassbender in Edinburgh - which I know Rob would have loved also - but sadly, I failed to see any sign of a transfer].
Directed by Lucy Jane Atkinson, this is another wonderful show from the Trafalgar Studios. [Although they will for ever have to go some distance to top The Grinning Man].

Posted on March 26, 2019 at 8:29 AM. Category: Days Out.

Thursday March 14, 2019

Rebus: Long Shadows

This is a 2018 DI Rebus play completing the final leg of its tour with a week at the Rose theatre.
Ron Donachie* plays John Rebus pretty well perfectly in my opinion; he comes across as an older guy right enough, but conveys the impression of being as wily and tough as he ever was. The play fits in with the timeline of the novels' with Rebus retired and consulting on cold cases.
The set was highly atmospheric, aided by the incidental music - and probably a smoke machine(!) - centring on an open staircase standing in for the entrance to Rebus' tenement building where much of the action takes place; small spaces were created with the (increasingly popular) dynamic addition of props indicating other venues.

I loved it.

[* Ron Donachie is a very familiar face on TV - I swear he has been in everything - especially where a stock Scotsman is required - and he's always terrific.]

Posted on March 14, 2019 at 11:55 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Thursday February 28, 2019

Books in February

• Tombland by C J Sansom
  The novel is set in the summer of 1549 during the reign of Edward VI. Shardlake now works for Princess Elizabeth although he does not enjoy her unconditional favour. More in a role with a mission of plausible deniability, he is sent off to investigate a potential scandal involving a distant relative of the the Princess. However, the book is really all about Kett's rebellion. In fact the novel is almost a day by day account of the hot summer when the rebels were camped outside Norwich laying siege to the city. It could be said that the narrative is overlong, but it inspired me to take a long weekend there to explore all the places mentioned in the book. Now, I (and G) have been to Norwich on business many times, but this visit really amazed me. Previously, I must have been going around with my eyes shut; neither G nor I had ever visited the historic parts of the city. I did not even know that Tombland was an area in the city (even though a colleague took me round the cathedral years ago when I attended his retirement lunch - which may even have been in the Maid's Head).
  Anyway - it's all there to view - with many references to Kett and events pertaining to the rebellion, even though in my ignorance I had never heard of Kett before seeing this book. The overall experience of the book and the stay in Norwich was really wonderful.


• Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell [Read by Susan Ericksen]
  The 23rd Scarpetta novel (apparently) sees her isolated and alone, unable to confide in anyone, and fighting to save her niece from prosecution by the FBI. Events have left her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn....
  Need I go on?
  I can't begin to sketch the plot and I am drawn to use the words of a review given for Kathy Reichs on GoodReads by Skip: "Gone are the days when Scarpetta actually conducted autopsies, and helped solve crimes. Now she spends most of her time paranoid, obsessed, and convinced that everything in her life is being manipulated to harm her or her loved ones."
  It seems to me that the Scarpetta should actually talk through her angst with her niece, and not burden the reader with it...


• The Gates of Baghdad
  A disparate group of adventurers set out from Damascus to visit the legendary Gate of Baghdad, also known as the Gate of Death, (which not surprisingly seems to haunt the characters, who range from the innocent to the darkly experienced). Mr Parker Pyne is among their number, touring the Middle East, and finds himself involved in unravelling the inevitable murder mystery that follows.
  Dramatised in 2002 by Mike Stott, and directed by Dirk Maggs, starring, among others, Patricia Routledge and Richard Griffiths.


• Appointment with Death
  A wonderful Christie classic plot where a murder is committed in plain sight but no real obvious murderer is forthcoming, despite many witnesses to... many things... rather, there are many plausible suspects since Mrs Boynton was a detestable woman, seemingly invincible, and delighting in exerting her power over all around her.
  I think the murder was perhaps slightly more plausible in its complexity - ie one that could be envisaged actually being carried through - in comparison with say Death on the Nile, where the sheer logistics boggle belief. [Either way, not an issue so much on the radio.]
  Dramatised in 2001 by Michael Bakewell, and directed by Enyd Williams, starring, among others, John Moffatt and Miriam Karlin.
  

Posted on February 28, 2019 at 3:09 PM. Category: Books of the Month.

Sunday February 24, 2019

Unravel 2019

I've had a splendid day (immersed in a wool experience like no other) at the Maltings, including cheese scones, followed by a sociable tea time, and a yummy meal out at the Giggling Squid in Farnham. Alison and I went to view all the retail opportunities without much expectation of any purchases and then bought some luxury wools from Kettle Yarns. I have been eyeing up this specific jumper for about 3 years now (makes me wish I'd knitted it when I first saw it) ...

...and Alison became enmeshed in the same project having been seduced by the wonderful colour range.
So now we are going to do a knitalong..... or so I plan...

Posted on February 24, 2019 at 5:37 PM. Category: Knitting and Crochet.

Thursday February 7, 2019

When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other

I'm a great fan of Cate Blanchett but when I heard she was appearing in a play at the NT I imagined I would never get a ticket especially as it was in the smaller Dorfman space. However, I think sales were not what they'd expected (it's not a play to everyone's taste) so we were able to book for a matinee.
This new play by Martin Crimp is 12 Variations on Samuel Richardson's Pamela and it's very ... explicit. Frankly, the original by Samuel Richardson dating from 1740 is weird enough: "A 15-year-old servant (Pamela) is approached by the master of the house, who solicits her for sex. She resists and he abducts her. Encouraged by his housekeeper, he tries and fails to rape her. More twists and turns ensue, they realise they're in love, they marry."; it was subtitled "virtue revealed". Quite beyond needing a good dose of #metoo, I suppose it could be said that these variations provide a thought provoking treatment of a totally unacceptable set of premises, through violence and (priceless) role reversals, involving bridal gowns and sex toys. Need I say more? I observe it was interesting being exposed to all this in the middle of the afternoon - emerging from the theatre under the cover of darkness might have been more suitable somehow. Saying that I enjoyed it would not sit well, but I would not have missed out on it for the world.

Limbering up for our sedate afternoon in the theatre, we spent the morning at the British Museum - last chance to see I am Ashurbanipal: Warrior. Scholar. Empire builder. King slayer. Lion hunter. Librarian.

I think the latter role and the huge wall displays of the Library were what impressed me most - he wanted a copy of every book worth having - reams (not) of tiny cuneiform writing on small clay tablets - showing evidence of burning but surviving the destruction of the empire. It made me want to learn cuneiform - and then to my amusement there was a section at the exit of the exhibition asking for volunteers to do just that...

King Ashurbanipal of Assyria (669- 631 BC) was the most powerful man on earth - and dead keen on slaughtering lions for some reason. His reign from the city of Nineveh (now in northern Iraq) marked the high point of the Assyrian empire, which stretched from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the mountains of western Iran. And yet the one thing I remember from school is making a careful drawing of the trademark winged bull, with a paragraph copied from the history book saying no more than "not much is known about the Assyrians" - I guess they had not translated enough of the tablets at that time.... or they were all self-publicity:

I am Ashurbanipal,
King of the world,
King of Assyria.

[Shortly after his death, the Assyrian empire fell, Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, and its ruins lost to history.]

Posted on February 7, 2019 at 11:51 PM. Category: Art and Culture.

Thursday January 31, 2019

Books in January

• Watchman by Ian Rankin [Read by Tom Cotcher]
  Miles is a spy who wants nothing more than a quiet life looking into other people's lives. He does not work in the field and doesn't want to. However, to redeem himself after a couple of spectacular failures, he is sent on a "simple mission" to Ireland; however, he finds himself set up as a bit of a patsy, which causes him to go on the run.
  This is one of Rankin's earliest works from 1988 which was re-released in 2004 with an introduction by Rankin discussing his early writing style. I think this stands up well and indeed it seems the only objection of more critical readers is the lack of Rebus.


• The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham
  In line with Connelly and Rankin, Billingham (may I call you Mark?) has introduced us to a new character in the shape of Nicola Tanner. In the case of all authors, whose original detectives are true rule-breaking "characters", the brief for these newbies are that they be as different as possible from their previous creations* - and probably younger since these fictional detectives age with their authors (except notably VI and Kinsey Millhone). Naturally this results in some resistance from their diehard fans. So - in line with .... etc - in this book the laddish Thorne and the anal Tanner work together, which has the effect of complementing each other so that they appear to live in a more complete personality landscape.
  O - I almost forgot - the plot's good too. Starting with a (topical) spate of cat killings in London, which Thorne is disgusted at being roped in to investigate.
  [* Connelly is probably an exception here - he has created many memorable characters over the years and they have usually crossed paths with one another in various books - although when Bosch works with Haller, we get to see how fundamentally different they are.].


• Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs [Read by Lorelei King]
  This is the third Temperance Brennan book which was first published in 2000. The "theme" is outlaw bikers and gangs - and after bystanders are caught in crossfire Tempe joins a Special Operations Unit. As usual, there's a lot of forensic detail as well as the "skeleton found in the woods" which inevitably turns out to be related, and an annoying relative who gets sucked in.
  There is a fair degree of critical comment from readers, though on the whole I don't think they would have caused Reichs much angst - but it did make me laugh that some of it was complaining about how different this was from the TV series Bones, (which first aired in 2005 and I note is described as a comedy-drama), as if these were books based on the series.


• When In Rome
  Set in the 1970s, Ngaio Marsh's gentleman detective, Roderick Alleyn travels incognito among a group of tourists visiting Rome. He is on the trail of a drugs syndicate, but soon he is involved in blackmail and murder.
  Dramatised in 2003 by Michael Bakewell, and directed by Enyd Williams.
  I've been a fan of Jeremy Clyde since I first saw him in the 1980s in a stage production of Design for Living (with Maureen Lipman and Simon Jones), and I always look out for him in his too-many-to-mention character TV appearances.


• The Game's Afoot
  First broadcast in 2008, this was an absolute delight for me. Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, Nick Utechin chooses portrayals of Holmes on radio (if not a contradiction in terms) across the decades. This is 3 hours long, including some rarer recordings of Holmes and Watson in action:
  • The Adventure of the Speckled Band (17/05/1945)
    Stars Cedric Hardwicke and Finlay Curry
  • The Red-Headed League (19/10/1954)
    Stars Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud
  • The Boscombe Valley Mystery (12/12/1966)
    Carleton Hobbs and Norman Shelley
  • The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Solitary Cyclist (17/03/1993)
    Stars Clive Merrison and Michael Williams
  • The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Abergavenny Murder (18/05/2004)
    Stars Clive Merrison and Andrew Sachs as Watson (both perfect)
    [These were new series adventures written by Bert Coules as a (very good) pastiche of Doyle's work; 16 episodes aired between 2002 and 2010. Each of the stories is based on a throwaway reference from an actual Doyle short story or novel. This programme includes an interview with Bert Coules]
  
  

Posted on January 31, 2019 at 12:22 AM. Category: Books of the Month.

Thursday January 17, 2019

The Favourite

We went to see The Favourite - matinee at the Everyman. It's every bit as good as everyone said it was....
It's interesting that this takes the exact same subject matter (ie the relationship between Sarah Churchill and Queen Anne) as the play Queen Anne that Elaine and I saw at the Haymarket in 2017 - with a marked difference in tone and thus also popularity. The film is truly original and witty; it turns the potentially dry material into a comedy - albeit a very dark one.... faction... but at its best.

Posted on January 17, 2019 at 11:24 AM. Category: Art and Culture.

Wednesday January 16, 2019

Stan and Ollie

George has booked us a double bill - today and tomorrow - of films at the local Everyman.
Today it's the film about the declining years of Laurel and Hardy when they were on their final tour which was in the UK in 1953. They continued the tour despite a hiatus due to Ollie's catastrophic heart attack (which occurred in Worthing no less - PR judging a beauty contest).
I cannot begin to complement the actors on their portrayals of the characters - admittedly they had a lot of footage to use as source material - but really they were brilliant. However, I think the most telling was a famous dance routine which the Reilly and Coogan performed immaculately - could not have been better - perfect. But when you see the originals perform together (and both versions are shown in the credits), they are just not quite perfectly in time - and yet at the same time - they are! It's very odd - like a couple of people wearing very comfortable old jackets, performing perfectly in time with the music and routine, and yet not quite taking the timing from each other.
I loved it - and Coogan is - as I may have mentioned before - a gem.

Posted on January 16, 2019 at 1:36 PM. Category: Art and Culture.