I like the way she writes.\u00a0 I found the first half gripping, then felt it was going adrift, but returned to it with delight, because of her prose and the fresh way she writes about people.\u00a0\u00a0 Especially in sexual relationships.\u00a0 I keep going despite several breaks because she can really write.\u00a0\u00a0 However though I have re started many times I still haven\u2019t finished it so I must reluctantly conclude the book doesn\u2019t quite work for me.<\/p>\n
One of the books I devoured on the road and left behind on a hotel shelf.\u00a0\u00a0 I know I loved it but can I remember why or where?\u00a0\u00a0 Alas.<\/p>\n
I left this for a fact on a hotel shelf in Sydney.\u00a0\u00a0 I was only quite enjoying it and it went as a sacrifice to weight.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a nice McNally Edition I picked up in New York.<\/p>\n
Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction. <\/em><\/p>\n Now this one I still have because the author kindly sent me a Kindle copy.\u00a0 I believe I was supposed to write something about it, but the road is so demanding, and tiring and tasking, that I am afraid I forgot to do that.\u00a0 I think Henry will forgive me as I recommend the book a lot.\u00a0 The gist is that we have already passed the point of becoming extinct once we became the sole hominid on the planet, but, he allows some room for the possibility of survival if we can manage to leave the planet and colonise space.\u00a0 The future does not look optimistic on that front and the only upside is that we won\u2019t be here to witness it.\u00a0 However we will shortly suffer the consequences of our short sightedness in terms of survival on this planet.<\/p>\n This is a note I wrote to my pal Stephen Greenblatt who had kindly shared his book with me.\u00a0\u00a0 I just adored it as you can see.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all let me say I read your book end to end with delight.\u00a0 Your writing is effortless, your humor superb, your arguments unanswerable.\u00a0 I love the way you now bring Marlowe to life in the way that you did Shakespeare.\u00a0 Through their writing as well as through the scant historical details of their lives you make them live for us.\u00a0 Marlowe in particular, the precocious boy suddenly lifted out of his working class world and expanded by education which propelled him into Cambridge which allowed his brain room to expand and grow and view the Universe as well and revealing his thoughts in the dangerous world of late Elizabethan life.\u00a0 That naturally rang home to me, a boy who was gifted a similar elevation.\u00a0 You expose so well the curse of religions and their cruelty when given half a chance, as well as the dangers faced by scientists in trying to reveal the Universe to us and of common people in the years when religions changed with the weather.<\/p>\n I loved learning about Bruno and his dangerous – though totally accurate – views of the universe and the true nature of the sun and earth\u00a0 – for which he paid with his life.\u00a0 Everyone should expect the Inquisition!\u00a0\u00a0 In short you\u2019ve done it again, written a totally engrossing, compelling read, throwing light onto a genius poet and playwright who was mysteriously removed from the stage in his prime by forces unknown.<\/p>\n An amazing story.\u00a0 Enthralling. Gripping and true.\u00a0 Though \u00a0<\/em>I had my appetite whetted by Henry Green\u2019s short narrative. \u00a0This detailed history of the three year expedition by the Portuguese Magellan for Spain, the mutinies, the tragedies, the discoveries was absolutely superb.\u00a0 It led me into searching for more details about the Chinese exploration of the globe which seems to have certainly preceded all the European \u201cdiscoveries\u201d and I went looking for any book that shed light on the Chinese Treasure Fleet of\u00a0 Cheng Ho in the15th Century.\u00a0 Quite by chance I found a copy of the below in Betty\u2019s Books, a delightful bookshop in Newcastle, NSW.<\/p>\n The year a magnificent Chinese Fleet sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance.<\/em><\/p>\n These Junks were five times bigger than Magellan\u2019s boats and it is clear that these fleets sailed the world and it was their maps, so valuable, that finally got into the hands of European explorers and led to the age of discovery.\u00a0\u00a0 I remember reading his previous book 1421 but I think it may have gone when I chucked out my library.\u00a0 This book too remains somewhere on a shelf in a hotel in Australia for someone else to enjoy.\u00a0\u00a0 I take photos of the covers to remind me not to forget, and by the context I think I left it in Sydney, which makes sense.<\/p>\n An enthralling account of the Life of Elaine May, with wonderful stories of the extraordinary Mike Nichols, their meeting, their early days, their successes, and their subsequent inevitable interactions in life and showbusiness.<\/p>\n An early recently discovered very short story.<\/p>\n I found this 2nd<\/sup> hand in a rather lovely Coffee House Bookshop in Newcastle Australia.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure I hadn\u2019t read it but I very much enjoyed it, particularly the first half which is wonderfully written.\u00a0 The plot twist works very well.\u00a0 A very pleasant travel read with lots of nostalgia about Cambridge in the early seventies.<\/p>\n Another total blinder from Thomas Perry.\u00a0 How does he remain so good?\u00a0\u00a0 A female protagonist is attacked for doing her job.\u00a0\u00a0 She goes on the run from police, news organizations and revenge seekers.\u00a0\u00a0 Totally gripping.<\/p>\n Which I found second hand in paperback in Newcastle Australia and left in a hotel in Sydney.\u00a0 I had not re read it in a while and the problem was that after writing \u201cWhat About Dick?\u201d I kept giggling at various points where Helen(a) stole umbrellas or Leonard Bast(ard) walked all night into the countryside.\u00a0 It\u2019s my own fault I know but since I have a first edition at home I left this for some other reader to enjoy, who hadn\u2019t been polluted by comedy.<\/p>\n The astonishing rise of England\u2019s greatest warrior King. <\/em><\/p>\n A big book in all ways, and I was grateful to Sydney for publishing it already in paperback.\u00a0 They do that there and it\u2019s much better for we travellers.\u00a0 The only problem with Henry Vth for me was that I did not like him at all.\u00a0 Of course one can feel sympathy for him being attached to the Court of the worrying Richard 11nd, but only in the way you can feel sorry for Caligula attached to the court of Tiberias.\u00a0\u00a0 His father was unpleasant but I began to particularly dislike the son when he invaded France and this dislike grew with every siege and\u00a0 chevauchee.\u00a0\u00a0 Is this what we want from our Rulers?\u00a0\u00a0 Ruthless efficiency in warfare, and the belief that God has singled you out personally to determine the state of Western Europe.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes there are far more unpleasant people around at the time but bashing in towns and cities in the name of God is hardly England\u2019s greatest King.\u00a0 Shakespeare here has done him a huge favour of course and Lawrence Olivier, but historically at the time England was the one doing the invading so Henry V is hardly the victim of Nazism.\u00a0 I learned a lot about myself while reading this highly readable and enjoyable biography of one of the greatest Worrier Kings from the deeply mysterious world of the Medieval Ages.<\/p>\n Another brilliantly written suspense book.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the right definition.\u00a0 She is more like Highsmith in narrative form.\u00a0 Her observation of character is as good, her writing as fine, and she leaves you in the same suspended state of not quite knowing what will happen.\u00a0 No spoilers.<\/p>\n An odd book which I found second hand in the Adelaide Central Market.<\/p>\n A brilliant book where \u2013 as a huge fan of Eve – I learned to appreciate Joan a little more.\u00a0\u00a0 Very interesting and of course I knew half the characters in it \u2013 odd people like Earl McGrath and the imperious mischievous Ahmet Ertegan.\u00a0\u00a0 A very finely researched book based on her discovery of a box of unsent letters, which are of course the most accurate kind, since they say what you think, but then cleverly withdraw from the unpleasant consequences.<\/p>\n Oh I love David Mamet.\u00a0 Here he brilliantly peels away the bullshit that surrounds the acting trade.<\/p>\n On the Nature and Purpose of Drama<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kindle.<\/p>\n I felt very fortunate to fall upon this book in the back of Dymocks in Perth.\u00a0\u00a0 I, like many others, was saddened by his early death, and I had no idea that anything else had been published since his decease and yet there it was!\u00a0\u00a0 So I fell on it and devoured it on a day off.\u00a0\u00a0 Then of course I left it behind in an hotel somewhere, because, well, bags are heavy on the road, so I can give you no information whatsoever, except I immediately recommended it to fellow Kerr enthusiast Jeff Davis and I remember I loved it and intended to buy it again when I returned to the Untied States.<\/p>\n A re-read.\u00a0\u00a0 Still a bit disappointing.<\/p>\n Episode 7 of Slow Horses. Very good read, except unaccountably it lost a little at the end.<\/p>\n I had not read him or what looks like this series which appears to be the last of The Renko novels.<\/p>\n I had previously abandoned this book some years ago on an earlier visit.\u00a0\u00a0 I might re-leave it again.\u00a0 I was intrigued at first then I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Renaissance Queen of France.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Kindle. \u00a0\u00a0The life of Catherine de Medici, the Italian Princess who became Queen of France, and mother of several Queens of France.\u00a0 This author argues that she was far less the monster that she is painted after the St. Bartholomew Massacre.<\/p>\n I read for a while before remembering I had definitely read this BUT it set me up for the third of this trilogy which has been newly published and which I have yet to read.\u00a0\u00a0 I blame Don Winslow for this confusion since he keeps recommending him, and rightly so.<\/p>\n Prequel to Savages.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Intermezzo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sally Rooney I like the way she writes.\u00a0 I found the first half gripping, then felt it was going adrift, but returned to it with delight, because of her prose and the fresh way she writes about people.\u00a0\u00a0 Especially in sexual relationships.\u00a0 I keep going despite several breaks because she can really write.\u00a0\u00a0 However […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions\/838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ericidle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Dark Renaissance \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen Greenblatt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Preview)<\/h2>\n
Over The Edge of The World\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Laurence Bergreen.<\/h2>\n
Magellan\u2019s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe<\/h4>\n
1434\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gavin Menzies<\/h2>\n
This is What Happened\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n
Nobody Walks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n
Miss May Does Not Exist\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carrie Courogen<\/h2>\n
The Glass That Laughed \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dashiel Hammet<\/h2>\n
Sweet Tooth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ian McEwan<\/h2>\n
Hero\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Perry<\/h2>\n
Howard\u2019s End\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E.M. Forster<\/h2>\n
Henry V\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dan Jones<\/h2>\n
The Blue Hour\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paula Hawkins<\/h2>\n
The Human Factor\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graham Greene<\/h2>\n
Didion & Babitz\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lili Anolik<\/h2>\n
True and False\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n
Three Uses of the Knife:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n
Research\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philip Kerr<\/h2>\n
May We Borrow Your Husband\u00a0 \u00a0Graham Greene<\/h2>\n
& Other Comedies of the Sexual Life.<\/h4>\n
Joe Country\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mick Herron<\/h2>\n
Independence Square\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Cruz Smith<\/h2>\n
The Master & Margarita\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mikhail Bulgakov<\/h2>\n
Catherine de Medici \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leonie Frieda<\/h2>\n
Whiplash River\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n
Double Barrel Bluff\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lou Berney<\/h2>\n
The Kings of Cool\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don Winslow<\/h2>\n
Bambi vs Godzilla\u00a0 \u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n
Everywhere an Oink Oink\u00a0 \u00a0 David Mamet<\/h2>\n
Fifty Grand\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Adrian McKinty<\/h2>\n
The Promise \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Damon Galgut<\/h2>\n
Making Rumours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ken Caillat<\/h2>\n