The world of books and art, 1789 – 1914
Book review – The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844) “Hatred is blind; rage carries you away; and he who pours out vengeance runs the risk of tasting a bitter draught.” The Count of Monte Cristo is a 1250 page adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas (working with a collaborator), originally serialised... Continue Reading →
4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie (1957) Spoiler alert. In this review I describe the early parts of the novel, but do not reveal whodunit. Sherlock Holmes was born about 1854, and by 1927 had retired to Sussex to take up beekeeping. As one great detective left the stage, another one entered. Jane Marple was... Continue Reading →
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn by Colin Dexter (1977) No human action happens by pure chance unconnected with other happenings, none is incapable of explanation. Warning - this review contains spoilers INTRODUCTION: Colin Dexter and Inspector Morse had a lot in common, I expect they would have enjoyed sharing a few pints of Old... Continue Reading →
Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) O God!' I screamed, and 'O God!' again and again; for there before my eyes--pale and shaken, and half fainting, and groping before him with his hands, like a man restored from death - there stood Henry Jekyll! In an ideal world... Continue Reading →
Book review – Talking about Detective Fiction – P.D. James - originally published in hardback by the Bodleian Library, Oxford in 2009. Six months ago I might have casually told you that the only detective fiction I was familiar with was Sherlock Holmes. When I thought about the genre I tended to think of the... Continue Reading →
Book review – The Gulag Archipelago – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn [pub. 1974] The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is an account of the Soviet Union's forced labour camp system. Apart from the prominence of ice and snow you probably think that it wouldn't make ideal Christmas reading. But let me give you three reasons why you... Continue Reading →
Book review – Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie [pub. 1934] [Dont worry, I won't be giving away the book's ending in this review] This is a rambling review of the first and only Agatha Christie that I have read, Murder on the Orient Express (1934) [I later reviewed 4.50 from Paddington]. Like a... Continue Reading →
Book review – When the World Screamed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Professor Challenger #4). 1928. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories, but did you know that he created a series of stories for another eccentric genius, Professor George Edward Challenger? There are five Challenger stories in total, this is... Continue Reading →
Book review - Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958) I have just read a fascinating book, Things Fall Apart* by Chinua Achebe. It was published in 1958, but is set in the 1890s. The book was given to me by a friend: "I think you might enjoy this". As usual on these occasions my... Continue Reading →
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Henry Thoreau was many things: an essayist, poet, practical philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor and historian. Those were days when there was still room to do many different things, rather than the intense specialism that is common today. But perhaps most famously, he was author of the book... Continue Reading →
The Long Victorian 