Ade > Recent Status Updates

I have been reading this PoS for fking ever.

"Sometimes, we'd drive onto the Moors proper, perhaps for a desultory stroll around the rim of the Hole of Horcum..."
*snigger*

"and then realized that if they were just on their way upriver, Three Men In A Boat must not have been written yet" OH COME ON!!! Is this guy a complete drooling imbecile?! THIS is the point at which I may hurl this woeful farce down in disgust.

Just read the extract from Ghosting by Jennie Erdal, and was compelled to look it up. She ghost-wrote books on behalf of Naim Atallah, the Quartet publisher. She even wrote his obituary, despite predeceasing him by twelve months - in fact, only in 2020. Worth googling.

"Terence's idea of roughing it consisted of pork pie, veal pie, cold roast beef, a ham, pickles, pickled eggs, pickled beets, cheese, bread and butter, ginger beer and a bottle of port. It was possibly the best meal I had ever had in my life." I'm not even a big meat eater and it sounds pretty great to me. Cold cuts always sound more appetising than they deserve, aye? (He said, staring at another sad cheese sarnie.)

The story has thankfully picked up over the last few chapters, although any alleged humour is still woefully unapparent. If only most of the characters weren't so evidently stupid.

Lot of raves about this but so far, not only have I not even wanly smiled, but I can't even spot where the amusement is supposed to lie. Perhaps it picks up. Or not.

Hoskins's lament for the peasant's view of the open fields before enclosure and how we can never recover or experience it is one of the most evocative pieces of historic writing I've come across.

This now reads like historical fiction despite the contemporary setting, but then we live in a time when March was last year and 2019 a decade ago. The wedding chapter made me wonder if Coe & I were both bystanders at the same car crash a few years ago (except in this one, the bride split after mere months). And the middle-aged sex scene was excruciating. Only the regular Doug/Nigel sparring matches feel a tad broad.

Had this since it came out in paperback but have been fighting shy of starting it as I was fed up of reading and thinking about brexit. However, now we currently have other concerns (although with six months until disaster, brexit disquiet is picking up again), I thought I'd give it a go and it's quite engrossing so far. Could do with a quick character précis to refresh my memory though.

Just remarkable to consider some of the everyday commonplaces now consigned to the past, and television is often a clearer indicator of these than most. The passing fads for cookery shows, makeover shows, docusoaps, reality TV, 'daytime telly', 'late nite telly', etc. - all now had their day and, insofar as they still exist as genres, mostly unnoticed.

Just remarkable to consider some of the everyday commonplaces now consigned to the past, and television is often a clearer indicator of these than most. The passing fads for cookery shows, makeover shows, docusoaps, reality TV, 'daytime telly', 'late nite telly', etc. - all now had their day and, insofar as they still exist as genres, mostly unnoticed.

Still ploughing through Sandbrook; enjoy it when it's on my lap, but it's too heavy for the daily commute and, as I'm not by inclination a fan of Margaret Thatcher, too depressing to read in one go. Right now, "Armchair Nation" takes precedence and then I will pull Ghostland off the stack. Meanwhile, I have Sid Smith's updated "In The Court of King Crimson" lined up - but first the preorder for "A New Day Yesterday".

"The big draw of the first weekend's schedules [after the launch of colour television]... was The Black and White Minstrel Show." Of course it was.
This book is a delight from the off.

Initial thought: the two previous hardback tomes in this series had fairly classy-looking covers. This one...doesn't. Although it conveys "sustained jingoistic nightmare" quite well.

You'll do well to get through the first chapter on Mrs T without feeling faintly queasy. It's even-handed but even so, there's more praise in there than many would feel she deserved.

Just a warning for anyone embarking on this: no wood actually gets cut until chapter 10. Up to then, there's a lot of dreaming sentiment about the nobility of the tradition, the history of the craft and one anecdote about a log boat whose near-irrelevance almost caused me to toss the book. One might suspect this is all a displacement activity and that's probably only right, as it reflects this type of venture.

After a slow start, this has turned out to be a fascinating book, with a sideline in caustic observation on the causes of brexit, urban decay and unintended consequences. The tales of Geti Park in Istanbul and Canary Wharf in London are worth the admission fee alone.

Reading about the 1939 Eton-Harrow cricket match, won by Harrow for the first time in 31 years and culminating in a punch-up started by, would you believe, the Old Boys watching rather than the schoolboys playing. Posh people have no idea how to behave.

"Tell me, Miss Bennet, what first changed your mind about insufferable prick and enormous Derbyshire country estate owner Fitzwilliam Darcy?"

OMG, this is brilliant. If you haven't read it yet, don't hesitate any longer. I count the hours between being able to open the pages again.

Bonus points to Zafon for writing the (real life) photographer Francesc Català-Roca into the narrative, even if it did feel a trifle contrived.

Oh Jesus, chapter 19... *vomits everywhere* I've never seen the film "Saw" and I hadn't ever planned to either. At least it couldn't have happened to a nicer character.

Oh yes, this is excellent.

Tied up in Oswalds and Aelfriths; this is turning into a bit of a slog.

Picked up speed quite suddenly with the descent into WW2 and Labour's defenestration of Chamberlain in favour of Churchill as PM. One can see why Attlee was proudest of taking his party into coalition government at a time of national need.

Think I'll stop here and skip the play scripts, they don't really work on the page.

Only just started - couldn't resist dipping in and was then hooked. Hugely readable, addictive and meaty on the detail without getting bogged down. Lots of interesting snippets about late Victorian England and the Empire. Looking forward to the rest.

Not a good sign when I find myself looking for any excuse to avoid reading more of a book. Finding this fairly shallow and unengaging.