by Georges Simenon
An early Maigret set in Concarneau. A good story in a great setting. Very evocative of the Breton coast while enjoying Maigret's unorthadox methods 7/10
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Set i Barcelona in the middle of the twentieth century this book grew on me as it went along. There were parts at the beginning where I was a little bored and others where the story swept you along.
However, as the book moved along there were some great twists and surprises that made the second part of the book much more enjoyable. 7/10
Set i Barcelona in the middle of the twentieth century this book grew on me as it went along. There were parts at the beginning where I was a little bored and others where the story swept you along.
However, as the book moved along there were some great twists and surprises that made the second part of the book much more enjoyable. 7/10
Netherland
by Joseph O' Neil
For me this was a book about cricket in New York with another story thrown in. The other story did not grab me but the cricketing references were sublime. 7/10
For me this was a book about cricket in New York with another story thrown in. The other story did not grab me but the cricketing references were sublime. 7/10
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Doctor Pascal
by Emile Zola
The last of the Rougon-Macquart novels. I enjoyed it because it rounded off the series well and because it is autobiographical and because it is set in Provence. You could criticize it for being melodramatic and for the boring exposition of medical theory but I wouldn't. I feel like I have lived the second empire with these characters and I am going to miss them.
The book would have been more difficult if you were not reading it at the end of the series but I am going to score it high for nostalgic reasons if othing else! 8/10
The last of the Rougon-Macquart novels. I enjoyed it because it rounded off the series well and because it is autobiographical and because it is set in Provence. You could criticize it for being melodramatic and for the boring exposition of medical theory but I wouldn't. I feel like I have lived the second empire with these characters and I am going to miss them.
The book would have been more difficult if you were not reading it at the end of the series but I am going to score it high for nostalgic reasons if othing else! 8/10
Monday, May 04, 2009
Flight of the Falcon
by Daphne du Maurier
As you would expect this was a good taut thriller but I did find you were always one step ahead of the hero. Set in a fictional university town in Italy it moves at a rapid rate and is definitely a good holiday read. 7/10
As you would expect this was a good taut thriller but I did find you were always one step ahead of the hero. Set in a fictional university town in Italy it moves at a rapid rate and is definitely a good holiday read. 7/10
Total Chaos
by Jean-Claude Izzo
Set in Marseilles this is a thriller with a flawed hero and the backdrop of a flawed city which makes both attractive. This is the first in a trilogy and I will definitely hunt out the other two episodes. 8/10
Set in Marseilles this is a thriller with a flawed hero and the backdrop of a flawed city which makes both attractive. This is the first in a trilogy and I will definitely hunt out the other two episodes. 8/10
Map of Another Town
by MFK Fisher
This picture of Aix en Provence in the late 50's to early 60's is great. She creates maps from her memory which is a great way of remembering places. Having just visited the town it was interesting to compare her map with mine. 8/10
This picture of Aix en Provence in the late 50's to early 60's is great. She creates maps from her memory which is a great way of remembering places. Having just visited the town it was interesting to compare her map with mine. 8/10
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Seeking Whom he may Devour
by Fred Vargas
A wolf, Adamsberg, and a trip way out of Paris but still a great quirky novel. Glass of wine, open fire, feet up, forget reality and enjoy....8/10
A wolf, Adamsberg, and a trip way out of Paris but still a great quirky novel. Glass of wine, open fire, feet up, forget reality and enjoy....8/10
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Paris Enigma
by Pablo de Santis
A crime thriller set largely in Paris at the time of the 1900 world fair. I did not enjoy it. There were too many characters who were left without much more than a name and by the end, which I did enjoy, one could easily have lost the will to finish it 3/10
La Debacle or The Downfall
by Emile Zola
The penultimate novel in the Rougon Macquart series and a harrowing account of the last days of the empire, the French defeat at Sedan and the subsequent Paris commune. Gritty stuff but a great novel and covering all the stuff that Zola excels at such as realism, crowds and the baser sides of the human condition. It was great to see Jean Macquart again. 9/10
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
by Muriel Barbery
This book was very funny, witty, sad and all in all the best book I have read during the last year. 9/10
This book was very funny, witty, sad and all in all the best book I have read during the last year. 9/10
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Steig Larsson
A good thriller with a double story line running through it. Some of the language is pretty naff but it doesn't detract from the excitement. I think I still prefer Fred Vargas. 7/10
A good thriller with a double story line running through it. Some of the language is pretty naff but it doesn't detract from the excitement. I think I still prefer Fred Vargas. 7/10
Sunday, December 28, 2008
This nights foul work
by Fred Vargas
A french detective novel which is fairly wacky and reminds one of "The Incredible Journey" at one point. However, I like my crime novels off the wall and you will need to suspend your disbelief no more than you would for Agatha Christie or most other crime novels. The serious crime unit under Adamsberg is an interesting place there is no doubt. 8/10
A french detective novel which is fairly wacky and reminds one of "The Incredible Journey" at one point. However, I like my crime novels off the wall and you will need to suspend your disbelief no more than you would for Agatha Christie or most other crime novels. The serious crime unit under Adamsberg is an interesting place there is no doubt. 8/10
L'Argent
by Emile Zola
A very timely read of this the 18th novel in the Rougon Macquart series. It deals with the rise and fall of a bank toward the end of second empire France. It has many parallels with the current financial crisis and is perhaps a warning not to over react too much. These things are cyclical after all even if the scope widens to a global level.
Some of the book gets bogged down in technical stock dealing and the English reader suffers from there only being one translation in existence. Now would be a good time for a new full translation! Not one of Zola's greatest by any means but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would from some of the comments I had read earlier. 7/10
www.emilezola.info
A very timely read of this the 18th novel in the Rougon Macquart series. It deals with the rise and fall of a bank toward the end of second empire France. It has many parallels with the current financial crisis and is perhaps a warning not to over react too much. These things are cyclical after all even if the scope widens to a global level.
Some of the book gets bogged down in technical stock dealing and the English reader suffers from there only being one translation in existence. Now would be a good time for a new full translation! Not one of Zola's greatest by any means but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would from some of the comments I had read earlier. 7/10
www.emilezola.info
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The White Tiger
by Aravinda Adiga
The story of a an Indian growing up in India in a time of huge change(ie Now!). It is a very readable tale touching on the caste system, corruption, murder, the new economy and the emergence of India-all in an engaging style. The main character remained somebody I felt distant from and could not take to, but I am not sure we are meant to like him. He is a killer and a corrupt businessman after all! 8/10
The story of a an Indian growing up in India in a time of huge change(ie Now!). It is a very readable tale touching on the caste system, corruption, murder, the new economy and the emergence of India-all in an engaging style. The main character remained somebody I felt distant from and could not take to, but I am not sure we are meant to like him. He is a killer and a corrupt businessman after all! 8/10
A Fraction of the Whole
by Steve Toltz
This is a long meandering book which in many ways is full of drivel and in others is very amusing. It reminds me in some ways of Peter Carey's, Illywhacker but maybe that is just the Australian connection kicking in. At over 800 pages I could have done with it being a little shorter but I skipped along through it just to find out what happened next. I would not read it again. 6/10
This is a long meandering book which in many ways is full of drivel and in others is very amusing. It reminds me in some ways of Peter Carey's, Illywhacker but maybe that is just the Australian connection kicking in. At over 800 pages I could have done with it being a little shorter but I skipped along through it just to find out what happened next. I would not read it again. 6/10
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Clothes on their Backs
by Linda Grant
As someone who grew up in the 70's I enjoyed some of the nostalgia in this book but I never really connected with the story or the characters and was left disappointed come the end. 6/10
As someone who grew up in the 70's I enjoyed some of the nostalgia in this book but I never really connected with the story or the characters and was left disappointed come the end. 6/10
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Rancid Pansies
by James Hamilton-Paterson
The third novel featuring Gerald Samper, a snobbish writer living in Italy(mostly). While not as laugh out loud funny as Fernet Branca this is still very amusing in places and a great critique of the Princess Diana myth as only Samper could do it. 6/10
La Bete Humaine
by Emile Zola
The seventeenth novel in the Rougon Macquart and one of the best. After the dream this is straight back in to the darker side of the human existence and a roller coaster murder yarn set on the railway line between Le Havre and Paris. It is Zola at his best painting wonderful descriptions of the landscape and a plot that runs along with the railway it depicts. 9/10
Monday, August 25, 2008
Have Mercy on Us All
by Fred Vargas
The second novel I have read by this author. It is published by Vintage in the UK and had some bad editing mistakes but apart from that annoyance was a good read. The main character is likeable and suitably flawed as a human being to make him attractive.
The premise behind the story requires some suspension of reality but is none the less absorbing for that. 7/10
The second novel I have read by this author. It is published by Vintage in the UK and had some bad editing mistakes but apart from that annoyance was a good read. The main character is likeable and suitably flawed as a human being to make him attractive.
The premise behind the story requires some suspension of reality but is none the less absorbing for that. 7/10
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