OneGuyFromBarlick

Got mail this morning from an old friend congratulating me on joining the secret world of Hartley admirers! He got to 'Food in England' well before I did.

Took a break from Dorothy just for a rest and read the two books on Racundra's cruises b y Arthur Ransome. Just like having a holiday in the Gulf of Riga in the 1920s....

Back into Dorothy. Have sent a copy to my daughter, she saw my copy and said it was right up her street. Mind you, only the paperback!

Got sidetracked, Susan gave me the first book in Pullman's 'Dark Materials' trilogy. They made a film and called it 'The Golden Compass', reputed to be because the Americans wouldn't understand what an alethiometer was.... Totally hooked, can't put it down!

I liked Northern Lights so much I went online and ordered the other books in the trilogy. Amazon must have geared up for Xmas, I expect it in the post today!

I finished 'Food in England' yesterday and to keep me going till the Dark Materials gets here I started re-reading Le Carre's 'Call for the Dead', the first Smiley novel and a goodie. Dark Materials is waiting for me at Frank Street PO....

The Dark Materials trilogy arrived. Am deep into 'The Subtle Knife'. Loving it!

Finished 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. Must look at the other books Pullman has written.... Wonderful read, I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys escaping into high-class fantasy.

I'm re-reading Le Carre...... Brilliant writing and factual stories, he knows about the intelligence community....

Hooked again by Le Carre. Smiley is brilliant and the writing superb.

Deep into Smiley......

I'm enjoying le Carre so much I have ordered the six latest volumes I haven't got.... Must stop buying books!

Xmas reading should arrive today......

Only two more to go!

Still ploughing through Beevor but for lighter reading I'm with CJ Sansom's "Dominion". It starts in 1940 with Chamberlains resignation and Halifax becomes Prime Minister instead of Churchill. OK its a novel but it does give you a pretty good impression as to where we would have been in the early 50's with an appeasement policy just before the actual fall of France. Germany is in control of Europe and allowed Britain to retain her dominions. Effectivly Britain is Germany's puppet with Beaverbrook as PM and Mosley Home Secretary. Churchill leads and inspires the resistance.....so a pretty good background for a bit of adventure.
I like Sansom and I'm waiting for another of his Shardlake novels to appear.Set in Henry VIII's time he is a lawyer working for Thomas Cromwell. Good reads. Nolic

Why do I keep thinking of Mr Trebus? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Trebus

Comrade, some well-researched novels can give a very good overall view of a period. That's one of the things I like about le Carre, he knew about the intelligence community and had good contacts. You can rely on his overall picture of what was going on. As for Mr Trebus.... Not sure if that's a poke at me but I am much tidier! I like le Carre and I'm happy to give his books a home and more important, read them! One more to come, it should get here today. I am still re-reading the ones I have already but will soon be on to the new crop! One of the advantages of being a pensioner, I can make a full-time job of reading for pleasure. Far better for me as well this weather!

I have grave news to report. After consulting with my daughters and finding out that even my grand-daughters have read it I ordered the 50 Shades of Gray trilogy yesterday. I think I ought to monitor their reading! It will be a break from wall to wall le Carre over the next week or two.....

50 shades arrived so I had a break from le Carre with the first volume. I'm told that my grand daughters have all read it and I'm impressed because they will have a far greater knowledge of the further reaches of sex than I did at their age! It's a page turner and I can see why it has been so popular, nearest I can relate it to is the Da Vinci Code. Not great literature but well written and good entertainment. I felt no pain!

Finished Shades of Grey. Can't say I am sorry, I got a bit fed up in the end but stayed the course! Back to le Carre and Smiley today and after that I am on the new books I haven't read. That will be a treat!

I start the first of the now crop today. 'The Night Manager'. Looking forward to my first new le Carre for about twenty years!

Still deep into le Carre. Good read! I'm on 'The Tailor of Panama' now.

I'm still working through them. I have to admit that they vary a bit in quality. 'The Tailor of Panama' was a bit long winded and not a great plot. On 'Single and Single' now which is better.

Am on the last of the le Carre project. They have lasted out nicely over the Xmas and New Year holiday.

Finished my le Carre adventure. He's good but if I have one criticism it is that over the years he has tended towards the cliff-hanger ending to his books. Call me old fashioned but I like the 'get the reader off the page' school of writing. I hate getting to the end of a chapter with many aspects unresolved and when I turn the page I find that is the end of the book.
A parcel arrived in the post yesterday from my mate Martha. It's a copy of her book 'The Kipper und Wipper inflation, 1619-23'. Published beautifully by Yale University and a serious tome. I know this won't grab most people but it's a very good account of an important economic event and the unique feature is that in the absence of hard historical data the evidence supporting her narrative is 17th century broadsheets pu8blished at the time. To me this is fascinating stuff but I realiser it is not everyone's cup of tea.
For light relief I am re-reading 'Sherston's Progress' by Siegfried Sassoon. Wonderful old fashioned writing about country life and fox-hunting in the first part of the 20th century. A complete antidote to the murky world of international intelligence.