Category: U.K

Dark knights of the soul by jermey simpson

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The notes –

Jeremy Simpson is a hugely successful businessman ,setting up the british base of Swiss based office furniture company ,he has also worked in the paper industry for a finnish company ,and achieved an honour from finnish Government the order of finnish lion ,similar to our honour system in uk ,it was an honour for someone not from Finland to be awarded it .

The book –

We join the books two main characters Nicholas and Charlotte on valentines day when they both receive an invite to an up market swiss hotel in Zürich by a group calling them the knights of the temple of Solomon to attend a symposium,there both intrigued and are joined on the trip by theo the three of them all been involved in academic research involving or connected to knight Templar folklore or history ,in Zürich they meet the leader of the modern knight Templar a dark foreboding figure the grand master ,Nicholas then meets a fellow Brit who appears to be a friend of the Templars but is really a british intelligence officer ,that recruits them to help expose the Templars ,as the story unfolds they find a shocking plot they have to run to pass on the information whilst avoiding the clutches of the Templars at every turn .in a tale where nobody appears to be how they first seem .

they were immediately engulfed by a welcoming committee of the Templars ,men women dressed in mock silver mesh material ,over which they wore white tabards with large red Templar crosses emblazoned on the front and back .they gave their names and were immediately assigned rooms and their luggage whisked away ………….

the arrival in Zürich to the Templar symposium .

My view –

When Quartet first ask if I was interested in this I must admit it didn’t jump out but ,i had a think and tour the site set up for the book by Quartet and thought I d give it a whirl my main concern was the Dan Brown mention as i reads ten pages of one of his books and tossed it away for being poorly written and slightly OTT,well what a surprise this was it was wonderfully paced and read in a couple of days you can tell the writer has visited the places mention and in the style mentioned ,he also has an interest in Templar folklore and how it is interpreted in the modern-day ,the book is fairly believable with well round characters if the dan brown readers want to read a better paced and more realistic book they can’t go far wrong with this ,I found it a refreshing change myself .now for the score .

the score –

Badger

Badger –they look a bit like they’ve a knights tabard on ,come out a night so reflect some of the darkness in this story but are also are solid and robust like the story itself .

persephone reading week cheerful weather for a wedding by julia strachey

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Julia Strachey

Notes – 

Julia strachy was on the fringes of the bloomsbury group she was a cousin to the biograph Lytton Strachey  part of the famous stachey family,she was published by hogarth press orginally that was connected to the group  she also published another novel twenty years after this .It was book 38 in persephone releases . 

The book –  

The book follows dolly the main charcaters wedding day to the hon Owen Bigham , we start with the morning nerves and her brothers frolicking about downstairs on the sofa . 

Robert’s black shoes sticking on the arm of the sofa were crossed one over the other , and revealed a gleam of emerald between the shoes and the trousers . 

  

her mother flaps as the day progresses nerves run high drinks are taken to calm nerves ex’s appear Joseph that confides he is still in love with dolly  and aunts are abound ,In what seems a typical if a little fraught at times wedding day in  the thirties . 

My view – 

I was looking forward to reading this book and was disappoint it oozes the era ,Dolly’s brothers and the aunts made me think of Woodhouse and Wooster with his aunts .But this book is slightly darker than them ,Julia had wonderful observations and great dialogue in this book .The book is wonderfully produce with an elegant front cover and nice inner leaves .I m a little disappoint that this was the only book i ve got to read for Persephone week , but due to work and home commitments i haven’t had the time .This was a wonderful book to republish a lost gem from a writer connected to so many other writers . 

Links – 

the life of Julia Strachey – a 2 page pdf file 

bad vibes by luke haines

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 this biography / music history book is about the band the auteurs and his project badder meinhof and starting of second group black box record .As soon as i saw this book was out i want to read it having considered this time as a time i was buying records including the auteurs and his other band black box record .

 Luke has a very dry and wryly funny way of describing the time ,which evoke memories in myself he talks about his band starting and the hype that surround the first album new wave which i remember as they seemed to have been a favourite if the nme at times ,and the band having a sound vaguely similar to suede .At times you will laugh out as he takes broadsides of the contemporary’s of his time suede ,blur and oasis all cleverly put down .Haines details the hard life of touring and recording which is the treadmill of the modern performing artist .In places i was surprised like how much he didn’t want to tour with 80’s indie group the the ,yet at the time i thought this was a great idea them touring as they both have quite maverick personalities and quirky lyrics .there is also a great deal about the album they made with the great Steve Albini which is my favourite album of Haines the wonderful after murder park .In the end you learn that luke is a probably the last of the groups from this era to still be going . If you liked his music you ll love this book in places it is funny and a great reminder of a wonderful time in british music .

the old women in my head who sifts through the files that contains memories that fill these pages needs a rest. so , as we reach an approximate halfway point in proceedings ,why not tell the old dear put her feet up for a few minutes as we examine that thing they call Britpop . we hav at some point why put of the inevitable ?

the start of the chapter old women midway in the book .

the book is published by William Heinmann .

 

the man who knew everything by tom stacey

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This is one of Capuchin classics reissues a book from the 1988 when it was originally published as “deadline ” and was made in to a tv movie featuring John Hurt .the book itself is set over the fifties and follows Granville Jones who is an old fashion fleet street reporter who has ended up in a middle eastern emirate ,Jones is a drinker the sort of report that likes to spend as much time in the bar as he does his typewriter .Jones is good friends within the current Emir ,but as with most things in this time the emirs position is in jeopardy as the emirate has a new found wealth thanks to the discovery of oil ,this also leads to a change in jones as a forgotten man to some one that is now in the centre of a major news story .the major themes in this story are empire britains diminishing strength the growth of oil money and new wealth ,also a man struggling or unwilling to come to terms with the post war world and its new media ,Stacey’s writing is journalistic and sparse not word is wasted .the book is only 145 pages long but feels much longer than that .

this particular friday lunch time Jones found himself unable to recognise the people with young McCulloch at the Darwish bar .They weren’t the self-assured young bankers whose company McCulloch favoured.the mail clerk handed jones a cable with his airmailed newspapers and the rest of his correspondence .he settled at one of the window tables and as Abdullah brought him his cold Tuborg and chilled glass he was opening his cable………….

a scene from early on in the book that brought back memories of ice-cold in  Alex the film

have you read any Capuchin classics ?

 

 

the girl with glass feet by Ali Shaw

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this is a great first novel it so reminded me of the irish folklore books my grandparents had when i was young the story of Ida as her feet turn to glass and Midas a lonesome photographer .the story centres on st haugland an island where there are wonderful and deadly jellyfish mad little cows with moth wings .as the story progresses Ida gets more glass ie cold and you start to see the uptight midas warm a little .they hunt for a cure or explanation of what is happening to Ida .

there is many echos of classic folk-lore here the magical island ,Midas’s name ,horrific consequences for venturing somewhere your not meant to .Shaw describes this magical place beautifully with bogs swamps it could be anywhere on the atlantic coast from Cornwall ,Scottish island the north-west coast of island .A lovely book for anyone that likes dreamy folksy tales it is a great read it manages to not via into fantasy or comedy which given the subject matter is very easy .

do you like folk story type novels ?

JERUSALEM BY PATRICK NEATE

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 This is Neate’s fifth novel,and his most accomplished in my opinion ,a many head story that moves back forward in time and across the world ,a study in what we are as English people where we ve come from and where we re going .Neate is a wonderful storyteller seamlessly weaving the stories together like a master weaver ,interweaving the strands of the story ,Neate performing tales comes through as the founder of bookslam ,you can imagine section of this book being read aloud .

 The story itself is three tales from present and past set in England ,South aArica and a make-believe african state ,the two stories in africa are separate by a century the first set in Boer war following a solider involved ,the later story set in a African state similar to some of the dictatorship in the recent past and present-day ,it involves the imprisonment of an english man as he falls foul of the whims of said dictator ,i feel these show the changing view of how we perceive ourselves and the african perceive us now and then it shows how the our place in the world has changed .the third story follows Preston a entrepreneur a child of Thatcher and Blair an urban music fan and label owner like a modern-day Anthony h Wilson it follows his rise and shows what happens when you reach the top when he becomes embroiled in a scandal over the song Jerusalem .elsewhere we encounter the quaint side of english culture with bushy and morris men .

“what’s this ? Preston asked . I think its Jerusalem ,innit ? I know that i mean what is it ? who is it ? Errol checked his i-phone .He shrugged .geezer calls himself nobody . Preston leant forward and started to nod to the music as the vocal dissolved in to mc’s rhymes .he took off his sunglasses . he said track him down , would you ? Errol said sure ,tubbs

have you read Patrick Neate ,have you a favourite ?

do you like books with intertwined stories ?

 

B S Johnson The Unfortunates

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  There are some wonderful books out there just by the way they look , from time to time like today i ll bring some pictures of them. this book is a great read if a little strange the book is divide in to 27 sections that can be read in any order except the first and last chapter .A great piece of post modernism ,i feel sad that Johnson is sometimes overlooked his work is difficult and challenge to read but reward the reader my addition is the 90’s reprint but there is a new version via new direction but hurry its a limited print run. Johnson was the subject of biography by the novelist Jonathan Coe called ,like a fiery elephant which i ve on the tbr pile

 

Have you read johnson what is your favourite book ?

 

pocket notebook mike thomas

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the first think you notice is the cover of pocket notebook a wonderful retake on David Pelham beautiful clockwork orange cover from the seventies also combining the same font for the title as the film poster .the other think that struck me when reading the synopsis of the book was a connection to B S Johnson’s Christie Mallory double entry where the main character uses a double entry ledger to get even with the world.

 the story concerns Jacob (jake) smith a disgruntled angry armed response officer ,with his many habits and kinks from drugs ,dvds to a huge foot fetish .the story starts with jake and his feel officer frank partners in their job in armed response you soon discover that jake has a huge crush on Jess franks teenage daughter ,a mistake leads to a move back to uniform and a new partner the aptly named lap-dog a new keen young pc ,who jake immediately dislikes now on patrol jake starts to get involved with a teenage hooker called Lowri who’s boots Jakes loves .unable to stay in this position he ends up on suspension ,were he dress as an officer and wants to be an old style officer this leads to a thrilling climax .

      Thomas as a serving officer really captures the life of a modern day officer all paperwork and rules ,there are some subtile nods to burgess littered through the book from the use of droogs to use of dvds like burgess use of music in clockwork orange .Thomas brilliant catches the british underclass from doormen to hookers .the notebook entries are great as a barometer of Jakes mind as the story progresses .

lap-dog volunteered us to ops room before i could grab his drawf hand, stop his stumpy fingers transmitting, and now here i am in this hovel, stinking one-bedroom ground-floor council maisonette with its kitchen-stroke-dinner, its full of scummy water and festering dishes

a quote from pocket notebook by mike Thomas out 4thfeb on rbooks William Heinemann

which book do you think embodies modern britain ?

Howards end is on the landing by Susan Hill

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                     I first saw howards end on the landing in a daily bookshot from my twitter friend and blogger @robaroundbooks .The book tells the story of how Susan Hill decide to take a year away from buying books to work her way through some classics and books she’d never read .

                     the story starts on an autumn afternoon as Hill cleans tries to find a book and as she is comes across numerous old volumes long forgotten or dead as she puts it .This leads to a year of reading and not buying new books , as a self-confessed bookaholic myself that must have been hard ,but as Hill puts it you buy books move other books down the to be read pile or even sometimes on to a shelf never to be read .We are then taken on a quest as Hill decides to choice books ,along the way tells the story of her own life starting in Scarborough with its public library and boots lending library ,which reminded me of brief encounter where Celia Johnson talks of going to the boots library .Hill’s writing is warm full of antidotes of people she meet ,a touching last encounter with the great Bruce Chatwin before his sad dismiss .the chapters are short i picture it as being sat with hill in a comfy chair in a coffee shop every week as she told you the latest on her quest .This should be on every book lovers shelf it’s a wealth of knowledge and very entertaining along the way

I do not know if Edith Sitwell ever laughed possibly not .somehow that face was always haughty ,disdainful,solemn,watchful of expression,though the eyes might if flickered and glinted with amusement .so i was spared the humiliation of any sort of laughter when i replied to her question

quote from howards end …. when Susan Hill meets Edith Sitwell

 the cover is by peter dyer ,features lovely embossed and gilded leather volumes made up with the tihowards end is on the landingtle of the book ,which is published by profile books

hadrian the seventh by fr. rolfe (baron corvo)

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            Hadrian the seventh is the 1904 novel by the english eccentric Frederick Rolfe or as he styled himself Fr. Rolfe (baron Corvo ) .Rolfe spent most of his life fascinated by the catholic church and its workings ,trying on a number of occasions to enter the seminary to be come a priest hence he shorten his first name to Fr. Rolfe  to seem like a father.

            the story can be considered semi autobiographical ,bt maybe a dream life that Rolfe wanted  .It concerns George Arthur Rose a failing writer,chain smoker and cat lover who is whisked of to Rome ordained and ends up as the new pope as aa result of a deadlock on deciding who will be pope ,at that point rose becomes Hadrian the seventh of the title using the same papal name as the only other english pope .As the story unfold as he makes friends and enemies ,you get to see the workings of the church ,you ll laugh and cry as the story unfolds ,til the untimely end of Hadrian

    “they brought him before the altar ;and set him in a crimson-velvet chair asking him what  pontifical name  He would choose

 “Hadrian the seventh ” :the response came unhesitatingly ,undemonstratively  ”

on becoming the pope from Hadrian the seventh

  This volume IHADRIAN THE SEVENTH read was republished by nyrb classics in 2001 ,the cover is a lovely soft focus photo of the papal glove with nyrb usual block in top third with title etc

the glass room by Simon Mawer

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the glass roomyet another from this years booker shortlist ,this actually the first i read .the book is mainly set in the glass room a modernist house in the czech republic .i felt this work better as using a building as the main plotline for a book than alaa al awany the yacobian building . the story covers the peroid from the 30’s to modern day most of the action happening before and during the second world war .Maybe using the glass room is a good way at putting a spot light on the peroid and visualizing one small part of a large story like a magnifing glass .this was mawers eigth novel and shows a writer that is slowly growing in to a great writer