Reading etc.

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

Daniel brought 12 Agatha Christie books home from the charity shop where he was doing some Transition Year work experience. They only cost €5. Money broadly well spent. I have only the vaguest recollection of what this one was about. But definitely a Miss Marple. Enjoyable in an Agatha Christie kind of way.

4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

In fairness, you know what you’re going to get with Agatha Christie and, generally you get it. This is no exception. I’d forgotten how competently she writes. I mean, you are not distressed by grammatical errors or very unhappy turns of phrase.

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

Another enjoyable story from Ms. Christie.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

A classic which I have definitely read a couple of times before but so convoluted that I couldn’t remember who the murderer was. Our first sighting of Poirot so of interest for that reason alone.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Sadly, I did remember the murderer here as it is so unusual. This makes it distinctly less good but very clever, if you don’t know.

One Two Buckle my Shoe by Agatha Christie

At this point, I was thinking that perhaps a break in my Christie consumption might be no harm.

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

I found the narrator here particularly irritating. The story is entertaining overall but, ferociously racist. I am indebted to my loving spouse for the information that Mesopotamia means between two rivers from the Greek and that’s where we get hippopotamus as well (this was in answer to my question, “Where exactly is Mesopotamia?” so not as useful as you might imagine). And I thought his classical education was wasted.

I decided that an Agatha break might be opportune at this point.

The Girls by Emma Cline

This is about a girl who ends up briefly joining a commune in the 60s and then someone is murdered. It’s very well written, in fairness, and has had rave reviews but I found it miserable and unsettling. I wouldn’t recommend.

The Stairlift Ascends: Tweets from a Covid Cocoon by Helen O’Rahilly

This isn’t even really a book – just a collection of tweets – but anyone who deals regularly with elderly, physically frail but mentally robust relatives would enjoy it.

The Searcher by Tana French

I love Tana French but I didn’t love this book. It’s not bad, but it didn’t engage me the way some of her earlier books did. It’s about a retired US police officer who ends up trying to solve a case in the west of Ireland. Very unsentimental about rural Ireland which I quite liked.

Born to be Mild by Rob Temple

This is by the guy who does the “Very British Problems” stuff which I find mildly funny and that’s what I was looking for here but it wasn’t quite what I got. It’s autobiographical and it is a bit funny in places but it is also pretty sad – the author has had quite serious mental health problems and the book is about his recovery. Pretty gloomy in spots.

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

More adventures of Peter Grant, the magic policeman, his girlfriend the river and so on. This one wasn’t bad.

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

More Peter Grant. This one features bells. Not bad.

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch

This is a Peter Grant novella featuring ghosts. I quite enjoyed it.

The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch

This is about the German magic police and set in Trier. I enjoyed it. Peter Grant does not feature but his German counterpart does know about his existence. Ben Aaronovitch’s car/parking obsession is yet again prominent and beginning to get on my nerves. His German detective in Trier has to walk the last 100m to a rendez-vous as the Platz is pedestrianised. I cannot imagine a German giving out about this. Annoying.

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is undercover and the book is, in my view, unsuccessful. It’s about computers and it doesn’t hang together particularly well. Disappointing.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

There was an article about this series of books about Roman Britain in the ever-lovely Slightly Foxed. I thought I would give them a try. This is the first in the series and I can see how if you read it at the right age, it would be great and bear repeated re-reading. I’m just not the right age and it didn’t work for me but I would be keen to press it on an 11 year old.

Her Royal Spyness Solves her First Case by Rhys Brown

A friend of mine picked this up in a book exchange at work. A detective story set in the 20s, the detective is an impoverished aristocrat who is something like 40th in line for the throne. Not for me but not awful.

You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld is always good. These short stories are all good though not exactly heartwarming.

No One Now Will Know by E M Delafield

This is such an odd book. Firstly, I found it on my bedside table. How did it get there? Did I buy it? Was it a present? Did it come from my parents’ house? No idea. It’s by the author of the brilliant, hilarious “Provinical Lady” series. I have read another of her more serious books, “Consequences”, and found it quite sad. This was the same. But although, it was first published in 1941 there’s something very Victorian about the melodramatic plot. It’s written backwards, starting in 1939 and going back to the 1870s. In the first part of the book we follow 12 year old Callie who, after her grandmother dies, leaves Barbados to a new life in England with her cousins. Happily, and quite unusually in this kind of fiction in my experience, they’re lovely and all is well but there are dark hints of a mystery associated with her parents. In the second half of the book we find out what happened to her parents. The interest in the book lies more in its mood than its plot and I find myself unsure whether I would recommend it or not. Interesting though.

Just before my mother died, I went to a wonderful exhibition of Mary Swanzy’s paintings in the Crawford gallery.  She was apparently a second cousin to Oswald Swanzy who would have been…unpopular locally. 

As well as the beautiful paintings there was a recording of an interview she gave on television shortly before she died in the 1970s.  I was very struck by it at the time but then my poor mother died and this post stayed in my drafts but now is its time to shine.

In her television interview she was sharp as a tack and very interesting on the Dublin she had known growing up in the late 1800s (she was born in 1882) and the Dublin of the 70s.  She commented bitterly that “You line your streets with motor cars” and that “The visual eye is hurt.”  That is even truer today than it was in the 70s.

She waxes nostalgic for a time when everybody lived over the shop and you didn’t have to take a car way out into the country to get out of Dublin.

When pressed on the poverty there must have been in the 1890s compared to the 1970s she agreed that “You never see a bare-footed child; you never see a raggedy child.”

She harked fondly back to an earlier time and a friendlier Dublin though she did call it  “Friendliness without familiarity” reflecting her own age and class.

Speaking of herself and her age, she commented to the interviewer: “We all turn into dowdy old ladies, you know.” She was quite fascinating which is hard to convey with a couple of quotes. I have had a look online to see if the interview is available but it seems not, unfortunately. Definitely worth a look, if you ever come across it. She talks a lot about art as well, obviously, but it was her descriptions of a long gone Dublin that I found most evocative.

It’s still only mid-November, but yet inspiration is running a bit thin.  Here is a list of my favourite re-reads (books or authors) for when I am not feeling strong.  Do tell me yours.

We had a big hardback collected Fr Brown Short Stories by GK Chestertonbook at home when I was growing up but I only turned to them when I had read “The Queer Feet” in a school anthology.  I am still very fond of them.

My sister-in-law introduced me to “The Diary of a Provincial Lady” by EM Delaware and I love it.  I still have her copy – for which I am truly sorry – and the sequel (which I bought for myself and is very good also but not, alas, as good).  It’s a series of diary entries by the slightly hapless provincial lady of the title.  Laugh out loud funny sometimes.

I very much enjoy the “Mapp and Lucia” books by EF Benson.  The later books, set in lovely Rye, feature two middle aged middle class English ladies who are bitter rivals.  The earlier books before  Lucia moves to Rye and encounters Miss Mapp are hilarious also.  Delightful.

Any regency romance by Georgette Heyer as explored extensively recently.

The Terry Pratchett “Discworld” books. I particularly like Tiffany Aching, junior witch.  Some of the “Discworld” books are better than others but I usually enjoy one that features Death and/or witches.

“Pride and Prejudice” is everyone’s favourite Jane Austen book for a reason.

All of PG Wodehouse.  Like everyone, I love Bertie Wooster but I also have a soft spot for the golfing stories.

Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple detective stories are great for a comforting re-read.  There was an excellent article in the Irish Times recently about how well she stands the test of time.

Like many another person, I do like “Cold Comfort Farm“.  Comforting and funny at the same time with a neat happy ever after ending for everyone.

I’m a big fan of children’s books.  I’ve been re-reading the CS Lewis “Narnia” books for years.   I have also re-read all of the JK Rowling “Harry Potter” books a number of times which considering that the first one came out when I was 28 suggests an ongoing openness to children’s literature.  I really enjoyed the Noel Streatfeild books when I was a child and I still like them.  “Apple Bough” is my favourite.

I’m a big fan of the Saki short stories which I first discovered in school through “The Lumber Room” and the slightly sinister “Sredni Vashtar”.  Now though, I like the chronicles of the utterly, vile and unscrupulous Clovis the best.

I enjoy the Myles na gCopaleen collected newspaper articles which my father introduced me too when I was young (by introduced I mean he was always re-reading them and I was curious).  Consistently clever and funny.

“The Valedictorian of Being Dead” by Heather Armstrong

I got this as an ebook from the library. I’m not a massive ebook fan but it was grand. I’ve been reading this woman’s blog for about 15 years. She is a consummate overachiever who has suffered from severe depression. This is about a radical treatment she underwent after a bad bout of depression. I have always enjoyed her writing and I found this an interesting read.

“Farewell Leicester Square” by Betty Miller

An interesting book about being Jewish in England. The author is mother of the more famous Jonathan and, most excitingly of all, lived in Cork, down the road from my parents when she was young girl. Covered here in what is now called the Irish Examiner but was for many years the Cork Examiner. It’s still quite true to its roots.

“Girl Woman Other” by Bernadine Evaristo

I didn’t expect to but I really enjoyed this story of different black women largely set in Britain. It won the Booker prize and I never really regard that as a recommendation but it is, actually, very good. It has no full stops though which drove me crazy.

“The Ratline” by Philippe Sands

I found this a bit overlong. It’s about a German governor of a Polish province during the war, Otto von Wächter. The author had a number of Jewish relatives who were from the province and killed while von Wächter was in charge. What makes it strange is that the author befriends von Wächter’s son who was a small child when he last saw his father and is now an elderly man.

It feels slightly weirdly exploitative in that the author uses the elderly son of the Nazi but they are also friends. And then von Wächter did such terrible things that it seems churlish to object to working with the son to set them right. The author clearly likes the son but he (the son) seems very naive. It left me feeling a bit morally confused.

“Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid

This is about race in America. It follows the lives of a black babysitter and the white woman who employs her. It’s really well written and entertaining with lots of twists and turns and enlightening as well. Recommended.

“Pompeii “by Robert Harris

This could be subtitled “The engineer’s tale”. It’s about a Roman engineer trying to fix an aqueduct just before Vesuvius explodes. It’s alright.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

This was the hit of the summer. I didn’t love it I have to say. It’s about a girl who is abused and lives alone in the swamp but manages to turn her life around. Not my kind of thing but alright.

“Queen Mary: The Official Biography” by James Pope- Hennessy

I was sent to this by Slightly Foxed the lovely literary quarterly featuring old or out of print books. Mr. Waffle got me a subscription for my birthday and it was a great present. To read this you have to have a relatively high tolerance for 19th century German princelings and their family trees, but, that aside, it is very entertaining. Also, you will be totally on top of morganatic marriages by the end and who doesn’t want that?

“The Charmed Life of Alex Moore” by Molly Flatt

I rather enjoyed this slightly odd sci-fi offering. A girl whose life is a bit grim, in a normal average way, suddenly becomes a complete over-achiever. The reasons for this are…surprising.

“The Missing Wife” by Sheila O’Flanagan

This author is a very popular author of “women’s fiction” and I read an interview with her in the paper where she said a lot of people didn’t read her books out of snobbery so I thought I would give her a go. I chose this one at random from the library. She is a very good writer and the story zipped along. It was about a woman who is an abusive (not physically), controlling relationship and how she gets out. I found it convincingly menacing and unpleasant. The problem was that that really made it quite an unenjoyable read for me. I found the new life a bit lightweight and unconvincing but the horrible husband was really cleverly done.

“Queen Adelaide” by Mary Hopkirk

As, I am sure you are aware, Queen Adelaide was Queen consort to William IV and my reading of the Mary of Teck book has given me a bizarre appetite for the lives of lesser know Queens consort. I saw this in a secondhand bookshop and felt I would give it a read. It was a bit dull, to be honest but, you know, alright. Quite down on the Fitzclarences and Dorothea Jordan (the King’s actual first family although he didn’t marry Mrs. Jordan) which contrasted with my memory of Claire Tomalin’s “Mrs. Jordan’s Profession” which I might read again, actually, for another view of dull but worthy Adelaide.

“The Quest for Queen Mary” by James Pope- Hennessy ed Hugo Vickers

This is all the bits that didn’t make it to the official biography – notes, letters etc. Hugely entertaining even if you haven’t read the biography. Highly recommended.

“Grown-ups” by Marian Keyes

I like Marian Keyes and some of this book was very funny and some of the characters really interesting. But bits were unconvincing and she can be a little preachy. Overall though, an enjoyable read.

“Imperium” by Robert Harris

I am unsure why I keep coming back to Robert Harris as I don’t enjoy his stuff very much. This is a very popular book but not really with me. If you’re interested in Cicero – go for it. I felt I was learning lots but I am unsure that this is a sensation I enjoy in my leisure time.

“Will this do?” by Auberon Waugh

God, I thought this was absolutely hilarious. He is the oddest man and I would say could be quite unpleasant in person. But he’s funny and, to be fair, laughs at himself as well. Evelyn Waugh sounds awful.

“The Unfortunate Fursey” by Mervyn Wall

This is a very peculiar book. It was written in the 50s and is a satire on Church and State. It tells the story of an innocent, virtuous medieval monk who ends up surrounded by demons and married to a witch. It’s just odd and I am not sure that it’s as funny today as when it was written.

“Rivers of London” by Ben Aaronovitch

This is a combination of magic and modern policing. I quite enjoyed it although the plot was complicated. There are loads of books in the series and I plan to read them all.

“Moon over Soho” by Ben Aaronovitch

PC Grant and his magic entourage solve another crime.

“Whispers Underground” by Ben Aaronovitch

More magical London.

“Broken Homes” by Ben Aaronovitch

The author really lets his enthusiasm for architecture show in this one. PC Grant is an architect manqué and so, I suspect, is the author.

“Foxglove Summer” by Ben Aaronovitch

PC Grant has a trip out of London and, happily, for the first time, nobody dies.

“Rodham” by Curtis Sittenfeld

The premise of this book is that at the moment Hilary could have married Bill, she said no rather than yes. It imagines different futures for them both. I found the early part, before it headed on the fictional path, hard going. After that, I really enjoyed it but I feel it is intrusive. Curtis Sittenfeld writes beautifully and that is always enjoyable. She clearly likes Hillary Clinton but, a bit like the Laura Bush book (American Wife), it’s hard on its subject in the sense that I can’t imagine that this would be anything but a very annoying and uncomfortable read for Hillary Clinton.

“Troubled Blood” by Robert Galbraith

The latest Strike novel. 900 pages. I loved it. And you know when you’re really enjoying a book and it’s very long that is just the most delightful feeling. For my money it’s the best of the detective novels to date. Recommended.