by Clare Tomalin
This book was a joy to read, especially as while reading it we stayed for a couple of nights at the Old rectory in St. Juliot, where Hardy met his first wife.
The book is very accessible and paints a great picture of the contradictions and tensions in his life and particularly with his women. It also gives a great picture of the novels and their setting which makes you want to visit Dorset and read the books again. 9/10
Saturday, November 18, 2017
The two-penny bar
by George Simenon
Another enjoyable outing with Maigret, this time investigating a six year old murder brought to his attention by another criminal, the night before the man is guillotined. Great stuff 8/10
Another enjoyable outing with Maigret, this time investigating a six year old murder brought to his attention by another criminal, the night before the man is guillotined. Great stuff 8/10
The Golden House
by Salman Rushdie
Set in America this book tells us the story of a family of Indian immigrants with secrets to hide. They move into a large house in New York in the same block as our narrator Rene Unterlinden, himself the son of Belgian immigrants. The Indian family take the name Golden and hence The Golden House.
Salman Rushdie is a great story-teller and hence the narrative moves along and keeps you interested as we hop between the stories of the three golden children and eventually their father. From the beginning we know something bad is going to happen. I enjoyed the book but it is not the best of his I have read. There are endless lists in the book which are both tedious and pretentious and this bugged me. Having said that there is also a back story running about the 2016 presidential election where Trump is portrayed as the Joker to Clinton's Batwoman, and also a quirky aside about the origins of a fedora hat! It apparently has a claim to be on the list of famous belgians. 7/10
Set in America this book tells us the story of a family of Indian immigrants with secrets to hide. They move into a large house in New York in the same block as our narrator Rene Unterlinden, himself the son of Belgian immigrants. The Indian family take the name Golden and hence The Golden House.
Salman Rushdie is a great story-teller and hence the narrative moves along and keeps you interested as we hop between the stories of the three golden children and eventually their father. From the beginning we know something bad is going to happen. I enjoyed the book but it is not the best of his I have read. There are endless lists in the book which are both tedious and pretentious and this bugged me. Having said that there is also a back story running about the 2016 presidential election where Trump is portrayed as the Joker to Clinton's Batwoman, and also a quirky aside about the origins of a fedora hat! It apparently has a claim to be on the list of famous belgians. 7/10
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