Off Topic Art & Literature

I’m just reading a series by Nick Louth am enjoying each one so far am on the 7th book. Really good author….

 

Ironic as it is the first book that I have read written by her.

 

Just finished the slightly disappointing "A song for dark times" and thinking that , with two books in the Rebus series to go, this is a transitional novel which will set things up for an exciting conclusion. My guess is that:-

1. Siobhan Clarke ends up inheriting Rebus' "outsider" role

2. Malcom Fox gets taken down by Complaints when his relationship with Big Ger ends up compromising him.

3. Big Ger gets plugged by the young mugger.

 

Great film on prime called Sound of Metal with Riz Ahmed.

 

If I write a book, remind me not to let you read it

 

Just finished William Boyd's "An Ice cream war" which charts the fortunes of two brothers and an American farmer in East Africa duirng WW1. I love Boyd's writing but was surprised just how dark this satire was. It was a good read although I still thinkhis best two books are "The blue afternoon" and "Love is blind."

 

Here’s a link to 100 20th Century paintings, one for every year from 1900 to 1999. An extraordinary compilation. Needless to say, the replies on Twitter start arguing about various substitutions, but it’s fascinating to see just about every art movement in 100 years all in one place, with no artist having more than one representation.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1577745696933003284.html

 

I was fascinated by this. I am not any kiond of expert in painting but it was interesting how "conservative " the earlier paintings were. The abstract stuff was not appealing in my opinion. Good to see Eric Ravillious in the mix. One of my favourite atists.

 

Dali slipped 2 in. But that's Dali for you.
Interesting collection, and I'd heard of about 7

 

He said, she said by Erin Kelly

This novel is a time lapse drama set in 1999/2000 when the main events took place, that had ongoing impact on the lives of the two main protagonists, Kit and Laura, up until the time the matter was resolved in 2015.

The narrative is written in the first persons of Kit and Laura. The plot centres around the conviction of Jamie Balcombe, the son of a very wealthy family, for raping Beth at a event set up by people keen to capture the “Lunar Eclipse of the Sun” in 1999 at Lizard Point in Cornwall. Laura is the only eye witness to the attack and basically it is her word plus the victim’s against Jamie’s.

Naturally, the family of the convicted man set up an appeal and as things turn out the evidence around the action is more convuluted than meets the eye, as it turns out there was a liaison between Kit and the victim, Beth, only hours before. Kit is desperate to hide this fling from Laura who at the time was his girlfriend, and then became his wife. He goes to extraordinary lengths to keep Beth away from his family home for fear of her revealing all to Laura and the inevitable fallout.

I would say this is a book that can be classified as an “airport,”“train ride” or beach read, and for any eclipse watchers out there.

 

Nearly 2/3rds of the way through Ian Rankin's latest "Rebus" novel and have to say that I think that this is one of the best in the series. The previous book seemed to push the credibility a little bit too much with the retired Rebus getting too involved in a police case. In this effort, Rebus still find it impossible to keep his nose out of where he should not be intereferring but there is a real sense of a number of the characters coming to the end of their arc across the series. Some of these issues has been alluded to previously and it is nice to pick up this one and be proved right. However, the extent of the demise of some of the characters was probably not so predictable. In my opinion, in the light of recent incidents regarding "corrupt" police officers, this books does ring true, as does the thread running through the book regarding the impact of modern technology on accountability , whether it is the police, the press or how individuals can track and monitor with their mobile phones. I still have a way to go with this book but it is impossible to put down. Think I have guessed the identity of the mystery character "C", though.

 

Anyone who has following the Rebus books is going to be shocked by the ending of the latest offering. Makes you wonder how the final installment is going to pick up the story. For my money, one of the best books in the series.

 

Am reading a series of American detectives Kane and Alton. Written by D K Hood. 16 in the series. Not a bad listen at all with an English narrator

 

Have read them all good read/listen in my book!

 

Whoever recommended the Railway Detective series of novels by Edward Marston, thank you! I’m on no.6 now, and they get better and better with each one.

 

The Man on Platform 5 – Robert Llewellyn

After reading this book, I wanted to find out a bit more about the author. On doing so, I learnt that the book is a “reversal” of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”.

The story revolves around three characters – Ian, a rather snooty Gresham, and her rather more socially and caring half-sister Eupheme. The opening begins when a train that the two sisters are travelling on comes to a halt at Milton Keynes station where the two girls spot a group of train spotters. Of course Gresham denounces them as a lost cause, a waste of space and beneath her social standing. There is of course irony in this dismissal. Eupheme challenges her sister’s view and states that these characters can be changed if given a chance. As there seems to be a considerable halt at the station, Eupheme gets off the train and exchanges a few words with Ian and gives him her business contact. From there the story unfolds.

Having read a brief synopsis of Pygmalion, the reverse paralled between the two are in the male-female role of the main characters Ian and Eliza, and the tutors giving them tuition to improve their speaking and enunciation skills.

The book covers a few themes, one being the UK’s class structure and how this is maintained through a marriage between the offspring of two wealthy families, the opportunities or lack of them to improve one’s social standing and attitudes regarding a person’s sexual orientation.

It is quite a funny book in parts and once I settled down to reading it, I raced through it in a couple of days.

 

I have been reading Attar's 12th century Sufi poem "The conference of the birds." I was prompted to read this having seen a Hoopoe whilst on holoday in Qatar - this being a bird I have waited about 40 years to see! The book concerns the spiritual journey of a number of birds, the Hoopoe being the leader and guide for his colleagues. I was recommended it by someone I met on the unlikely named Banana Island who had forgotten the name of the poem but recalled it featured a Hoopoe and felt that I should read it given I was on my own quest to find this bird.

 

C'etait moi, je crois!!

 

I’ve just started listening to those.on no 3

 

I’ve been listening to J D Kirk’s Scottish detective series (Jack Logan) 14 in the series. They seem to warm up each new story. Am on book no 9. Very enjoyable stories well worth a read.