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So, a list of all the books I read this year, using the hashtag #pressfuturistreading...
1. Graham Greene - The End of the Affair.
One of my favourite novels of all time, but I’m amazed at how much I’d forgotten: almost everything after Sarah’s death. Mr Parkis is *everything*.
1. Graham Greene - The End of the Affair.
One of my favourite novels of all time, but I’m amazed at how much I’d forgotten: almost everything after Sarah’s death. Mr Parkis is *everything*.
2. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
As with many of the Spark novels I've read, I have the sense that there's something going on here that has escaped me; the fascism seems an awkward add-on whose significance is signalled by its incongruity.
#pressfuturistreading
As with many of the Spark novels I've read, I have the sense that there's something going on here that has escaped me; the fascism seems an awkward add-on whose significance is signalled by its incongruity.
#pressfuturistreading
3. John Lucarotti - Doctor Who: Marco Polo
Enjoyable enough, but I preferred the reconstruction I watched several years ago of the now lost TV story via tele-snaps and the original soundtrack.
#pressfuturistreading
Enjoyable enough, but I preferred the reconstruction I watched several years ago of the now lost TV story via tele-snaps and the original soundtrack.
#pressfuturistreading
4. Graham Greene - It's a Battlefield
Bewildering, and the least enjoyable of all Greene's novels I've read so far, except for The Man Within. I never really felt engaged by what was going on with the many loosely-connected characters.
#pressfuturistreading
Bewildering, and the least enjoyable of all Greene's novels I've read so far, except for The Man Within. I never really felt engaged by what was going on with the many loosely-connected characters.
#pressfuturistreading
5. Nick Hornby - High Fidelity
27 years after I absolutely loved Fever Pitch, I get around to reading this, and for the first half it speaks far too pertinently to my late-90s self, but then Rob becomes more infuriating than sympathetic, which is a shame.
#pressfuturistreading
27 years after I absolutely loved Fever Pitch, I get around to reading this, and for the first half it speaks far too pertinently to my late-90s self, but then Rob becomes more infuriating than sympathetic, which is a shame.
#pressfuturistreading
6. John Bude - the Cornish Coast Murder
Very enjoyable escapism from @BL_Publishing.
(Finished this three weeks ago but forgot to post it.)
#pressfuturistreading
Very enjoyable escapism from @BL_Publishing.
(Finished this three weeks ago but forgot to post it.)
#pressfuturistreading
7. Anthony Rolls - Scarweather
Very unusally, I worked out what was going on early on and was entirely right. Another very enjoyable read from @BL_Publishing.
#pressfuturistreading
Very unusally, I worked out what was going on early on and was entirely right. Another very enjoyable read from @BL_Publishing.
#pressfuturistreading
8. Lois Austen-Leigh - The Incredible Crime
One of the most remarkable novels I’ve read in a long time: a strange combination of a golden age detective novel and Northanger Abbey, written by a descendant of Jane Austen. An absolute gem from @BL_Publishing!
#pressfuturistreading
One of the most remarkable novels I’ve read in a long time: a strange combination of a golden age detective novel and Northanger Abbey, written by a descendant of Jane Austen. An absolute gem from @BL_Publishing!
#pressfuturistreading
9. Gil North - Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm
A rare disappointment from BL Crime Classics: though the ending is very dramatic, there was a strong undertone of misogyny throughout - a female villain is endlessly described in terms of her breasts and body.
#pressfuturistreading
A rare disappointment from BL Crime Classics: though the ending is very dramatic, there was a strong undertone of misogyny throughout - a female villain is endlessly described in terms of her breasts and body.
#pressfuturistreading
10. M.C. Beaton - Death of a Gossip
A light but very enjoyable introduction to Hamish Macbeth in print.
#pressfuturistreading
A light but very enjoyable introduction to Hamish Macbeth in print.
#pressfuturistreading
11. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - A Study in Scarlet
In the words of Sven Goran Eriksson, 'first half good, second half not so good'; I'd have enjoyed the novel much more if half of it had not been an overlong flashback.
#pressfuturistreading
In the words of Sven Goran Eriksson, 'first half good, second half not so good'; I'd have enjoyed the novel much more if half of it had not been an overlong flashback.
#pressfuturistreading
13. Ellen Wilkinson - The Division Bell Mystery
Slightly pedestrian parliamentary mystery
#pressfuturistreading
Slightly pedestrian parliamentary mystery
#pressfuturistreading
14. Margaret Atwood - The Penelopiad
Quite an entertaining reimagining of the Odyssey from Penelope's perspective; the several comic verse interludes have a slight air of pantomime about them, which I enjoyed.
#pressfuturistreading
Quite an entertaining reimagining of the Odyssey from Penelope's perspective; the several comic verse interludes have a slight air of pantomime about them, which I enjoyed.
#pressfuturistreading
15. Arthur Conan Doyle - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Enjoyably read by Stephen Fry, with the highlights including The Red-Headed League and the Adventure of the Speckled Band.
#pressfuturistreading
Enjoyably read by Stephen Fry, with the highlights including The Red-Headed League and the Adventure of the Speckled Band.
#pressfuturistreading
16. M. C. Beaton - Death of an Outsider
Another enjoyable and undemanding Hamish Macbeth, though well-nigh all the actual investigating takes place off-the-page in the penultimate chapter, which is somewhat annoying.
#pressfuturistreading
Another enjoyable and undemanding Hamish Macbeth, though well-nigh all the actual investigating takes place off-the-page in the penultimate chapter, which is somewhat annoying.
#pressfuturistreading
17. M. C. Beaton - Death of a Perfect Wife
This may perhaps be my last Hamish Macbeth; it had a nasty, sneering tone of little-minded smug conservatism that rendered the guilty pleasures of undemanding Hamish just that little bit too guilty for me.
#pressfuturistreading
This may perhaps be my last Hamish Macbeth; it had a nasty, sneering tone of little-minded smug conservatism that rendered the guilty pleasures of undemanding Hamish just that little bit too guilty for me.
#pressfuturistreading
18. Ian McEwan - The Cockroach
McEwan has written several of my favourite novels but, as this novella and Solar (2010) demonstrate, he's not a comic writer.
#pressfuturistreading
McEwan has written several of my favourite novels but, as this novella and Solar (2010) demonstrate, he's not a comic writer.
#pressfuturistreading
19. Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
An excellent retelling of a classic story: only the memorable (but somewhat meaningless) emergence of the Dalek from the Thames is fumbled; excellently read by William Russell.
#pressfuturistreading
An excellent retelling of a classic story: only the memorable (but somewhat meaningless) emergence of the Dalek from the Thames is fumbled; excellently read by William Russell.
#pressfuturistreading
20. Arthur Conan Doyle - The Sign of the Four
A jolly story; a considerable improvement on A Study in Scarlet in that the closing narration of the backstory is both livelier and shorter than in the previous novel. Stephen Fry's Indian accents, though...
#pressfuturistreading
A jolly story; a considerable improvement on A Study in Scarlet in that the closing narration of the backstory is both livelier and shorter than in the previous novel. Stephen Fry's Indian accents, though...
#pressfuturistreading
(At this point in the year, my next book would probably be something from the Booker longlist, but I've really no appetite at all for it this year and might stick with my escapist crime for the moment.)
