Tag: BURGESS

Sam Riley to star in Burgess book

~ winstonsdad ~ 2 Comments

I am a huge fan of the books written by the late Anthony Burgess so ,was amazed to hear on the film grapevine that a film is to be made of the book starring Sam Riley who starred in control the film about Joy Division where he played Ian Curtis .He is down to play the Elizabethan playwright ,in burgess book about Marlowe Dead man in Deptford which was one of the last novels he wrote and last published in his life time I read the book in 93 when it was first published  ,but have decide to reread it and review it for the blog  as I loved it loads first time round .Look forward to the film as he was meant be a spy so can see dark alleys and taverns in this film .

all that glistens is it gold

~ winstonsdad ~ 6 Comments

I have Been pondering if all that glistens is gold ,this last few months for the first time in my life .I ve been mainly reading new books as in just out .I ve enjoyed a good many ,my question is how many of these books will be here in twenty years how many will stand the test of time ,what makes a book stand the test of time .Do writers have vogues ? Does the quality of the writing make a difference ,i ve a number of books from Persephone and capuchin both who publishers books that have fallen by the wayside the ones i ve got and have read all seem great books .Most of my life i ve read books that have been out for a while read many by the writers i love Burgess ,Doyle ,Maugham ,Roth ,Updike,Mailer Kerouac,Burroughs most of these have stood the test of time .so the question is –

what makes a book last ?

 

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 ?