There were times that I lost patience with this book. More than a few actually, because if a thing could be said in fifteen words it would seem that PThere were times that I lost patience with this book. More than a few actually, because if a thing could be said in fifteen words it would seem that Patrick Hamilton preferred to say it in fifteen hundred, and only then if he couldn't find a way to say it in fifteen thousand. They were all nicely chosen words, and made up generally pleasing paragraphs, but after the eighteenth comma in a sentence it starts to feel gratuitous.
I haven't read too many reviews of this yet but I think I did see somewhere that if you have not read any Patrick Hamilton before you shouldn't start here. I would agree wholeheartedly.
Horrifying acts of violence in the same sentence (I think, at least in the same paragraph), as descriptions of the various lovely flora of Maybe 3.5?
Horrifying acts of violence in the same sentence (I think, at least in the same paragraph), as descriptions of the various lovely flora of the English countryside. And I may never look at a craft fair the same way again.
So that much was interesting, but the ending just didn't do it for me. Maybe not 3.5....more
I think this 7th in the series is the longest yet, and it felt even longer than that. Conversations carried on for far too long, some of the info dumpI think this 7th in the series is the longest yet, and it felt even longer than that. Conversations carried on for far too long, some of the info dumping variety, and lengthy descriptions lost me halfway through. Peripheral characters were introduced with needlessly detailed backstories. Et cetera.
There was the promise of a new character to the series - Detective Kate Miskin - but I looked ahead to see that she's apparently missing in #8, and so I fear she has suffered the fate of a previous character who dared show some personality and was never heard from again. At all costs Adam Dalgliesh must not be surrounded by recognizably unique individuals to which he, lacking in personality altogether, might compare unfavorably.
Bottom line: even though the pace and my interest did pick up in the last 50-75 pages, the few reviews I have skimmed for future installments have convinced me that they only get longer, and not in what I would consider a good way. I am abandoning this series for now and reminding my future self that returning to it means returning to proclamations like this: "If he's as good a detective as he is a poet, he's a dangerous man."...more
1 - Adam Dalgliesh is a dud. He's not interesting as a character; he has no flaws other than "impersonal and coThis one posed several problems for me:
1 - Adam Dalgliesh is a dud. He's not interesting as a character; he has no flaws other than "impersonal and cold to all other human beings" and "disgusted by imperfections in human bodies." His side job as a published poet does nothing to detract from his boring-ness. I do not care that he can quote whichever poet someone offhandedly mentions (and I'm trying to think of the last time someone offhandedly mentioned a poet to me. Coming up blank).
2. There was a sidekick/lower level police detective back in book 4, who looked like he was taking a turn for the unlikeable (and therefore possibly introducing some interesting developments in the Dalgliesh universe). There was no sidekick at all in book 5, and here in book 6 we are introduced to a new one. Disappointing.
3. I don't know what it is about the suspects and other side characters - I just cannot bring myself to care about most of them.
4. I like this series enough to carry on, but I'm a little less happy about it. I guess there are worse problems....more
At first I thought, "this Jane character is too GOOD," and she really was. In the end of it all though, Dorothy Whipple remains Dorothy Whipple; this At first I thought, "this Jane character is too GOOD," and she really was. In the end of it all though, Dorothy Whipple remains Dorothy Whipple; this was not one of my favorites and yet I still liked it immensely....more
Not my favorite, due in part to Dalgliesh purposely avoiding most interactions and so therefore, the story's supporting characters being entirely uninNot my favorite, due in part to Dalgliesh purposely avoiding most interactions and so therefore, the story's supporting characters being entirely uninteresting. He was avoiding them because he'd decided to abandon his career as a detective, a choice which he then waffled about for the full duration of the book. "Is the detective going to detect?" seems a strange choice for a plot element. Here's hoping he has made up his mind and #6 doesn't turn out to feature Dalgliesh as an insurance adjuster or construction worker....more
This is a story of exactly what it is to be a mother, told by way of the lives of two very different mothers and their adult or near-adult children, fThis is a story of exactly what it is to be a mother, told by way of the lives of two very different mothers and their adult or near-adult children, first published in 1948 and proof that as much as we have changed, we have also remained exactly the same. It reminded me of Dorothy Whipple, but only because I became familiar with Dorothy Whipple first - had it been the other way around I'm sure I'd have said Dorothy Whipple reminds me of Richmal Crompton.
In any case, I am grateful to have come to read both of them....more
Not much distinguishing some of the characters in this one from some of the other characters (specifically, the students all kind of ran together and Not much distinguishing some of the characters in this one from some of the other characters (specifically, the students all kind of ran together and the Sisters, same). And Sergeant Masterson finally emerges as more of a character, perhaps unfortunately on his part because I for one now strongly dislike him.
Enjoyed it all the same, a closed community mystery being nearly as good as a tiny village with vicarage mystery, if you ask me....more
I am fairly sure this was never meant to be a cozy mystery - and so why did PD James use a cozy seaside town as the setting? Alas we shall never know.I am fairly sure this was never meant to be a cozy mystery - and so why did PD James use a cozy seaside town as the setting? Alas we shall never know.
I am very much enjoying this series, enough so that I purchased book #4 when the Kindle version didn't become available at my library soon enough. This is despite Unnatural Causes wanting me to believe it's possible to distinguish one person's typing from someone else's (on pages produced via an actual typewriter). I learned to type on an actual typewriter with an actual carriage return and I would never have imagined such a thing. My own typing did not look in any way unique, but then, I was not a Scotland Yard detective in the 1960s.
Note: #4 became available at the library within a day of my purchase. A good reminder to return books as quickly as possible upon completion.
It's possible that I am just being picky but I'm realizing that I like distractions and red herrings to be resolved, even if only in a minor kind of wIt's possible that I am just being picky but I'm realizing that I like distractions and red herrings to be resolved, even if only in a minor kind of way, along with the rest of the plot. They can't just be thrown in at will and abandoned. I say they 'can't' be but I am wrong, because they definitely are in A Mind to Murder, and I don't like it. It's very unsatisfying.
I found the ending to this one somewhat unsatisfying as well, but I really did enjoy the reading of it and so allowances have been made.
I'm guessing that as the series progresses, fewer herrings will be left rotting on the side of the road. Fingers crossed....more
First: if there were a finite number of exclamation points to be used in all of literature, this book would have used the last of them.
Had I realizedFirst: if there were a finite number of exclamation points to be used in all of literature, this book would have used the last of them.
Had I realized that an entire month+ would pass while I struggled through Crime and Punishment, I would have avoided it as diligently as I avoid crime and punishment in real life.
It wasn't difficult to read in a 'billion-year-old Russian classic' kind of way; the translation (Pevear and Volokhonsky) I read was as smooth and comprehensible as I think the text allowed. However:
That a character might go on with an internal or external monologue for several dense pages, unbroken by paragraphs;
That said monologues were painfully repetitive and often (intentionally) senseless;
That characters almost unrelentingly shouted at each other, cried out over things, and collapsed onto couches;
That I don't love reading from the POV of a drunken or drugged character, and that this preference apparently applies to Russian former students in states of mental collapse;
This is a hard book to review. I didn't hate it, in fact I liked it well enough (except when I didn't), but reading it felt like whacking moles must fThis is a hard book to review. I didn't hate it, in fact I liked it well enough (except when I didn't), but reading it felt like whacking moles must feel. Everyone uses that analogy but I doubt anyone has ever in real life had to whack a random assortment of actual moles. Except the guy who invented the game, I guess. Anyway.
Some of the metaphorical moles here: gothic horror (especially when we got to the girls laughing in the classroom), romance, religion vs science, medicine, societal inequity, the Victorian London housing abomination, friendship, purpose, romance again, and specifically, all of the people who loved Cora. Certainly I am missing some of the moles, the bottom line being that when I think back to my reading in order to sum it up here, I cannot come up with the words.
One other thing - the author may or may not have mentioned that she (Cora) often wore a men's coat and dirty boots. Every time she did, I had to remind myself that we were in Victorian England, because otherwise I didn't really feel it, even though the writing on the whole was very good. There were more than a few sentences, after reading which I thought: what a perfect way to say that!
I've known for a while now that Dorothy Whipple can make me love or hate a character within the course of a single page; now I know she can do it withI've known for a while now that Dorothy Whipple can make me love or hate a character within the course of a single page; now I know she can do it within a single paragraph or even, occasionally, one single sentence....more
(Just kidding! It was not that at all, and yet lacking those qualities it was still excellent and perWhat a lighthearted and delightful trio of tales!
(Just kidding! It was not that at all, and yet lacking those qualities it was still excellent and perfect. I don't know that I ever want to read the last story, Antarctica, ever again. It was excellent and perfect all the same.)...more
I find myself trying to recall what Antonia's story entailed, or Angus Lordie's, and I'm coming up blWell . . . this was fine, except when it wasn't.
I find myself trying to recall what Antonia's story entailed, or Angus Lordie's, and I'm coming up blank. They were boring. Aside from a stolen dog (view spoiler)[and by the way, what about that stolen dog? Will that incident be made clear in a future volume?? (hide spoiler)] they had little to nothing happening. Domenica’s trip was not particularly interesting, though it had a few moments that might have become interesting, except they never did. Even Pat and Matthew were duds in this one, the one possible exception ((view spoiler)[Wolf - wouldn't it have been great if he and his girlfriend had somehow gotten what they deserved? And another thing, what did the nun say to him to make him go away? (hide spoiler)]) never going anywhere.
Bertie, thank goodness, and the ridiculous Irene remained entertaining, but as usual there’s too much other (boring) stuff going on, and so we don't see nearly enough of them.
Bottom line, when I found myself feeling impatient while reading, I knew it was time to at least have a break from this series. ...more
More like 3.5 but what the heck, I'm loaded with stars to give out, I can afford the extra half.
The #2 installment in this series makes its origins aMore like 3.5 but what the heck, I'm loaded with stars to give out, I can afford the extra half.
The #2 installment in this series makes its origins as a serial novel, with a new chapter published daily (daily!) a little more obvious. I got the feeling that McCall Smith threw in plot threads a little haphazardly and then abandoned a few of them that, had he been writing a novel in the normal way, he'd have had time to revise or remove in later edits.
I also suspect that some of the lengthier and more boring conversations/ introspections/ monologues were written when he really wasn't sure what should happen next, plot-wise.
All the same I am entertained and he certainly has a way with describing humanity. Number 3 was immediately available at my library, so I will follow these characters for at least that much longer....more
We Are All Mad Here
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