I read the first two way back when they were relatively new.
I found the stories OK but his writing was like high school stuff sometimes, to be honest.
The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer
A ‘different’ take on the spy novel. Definitely inspired by le Carré in spirit - but doing its own thing with the material. Time and again this book carefully sets up cliched situations of the genre - only to pull the rug from them, sidestepping expectations, opting out of trite superhero spy fast food in favour of more interesting turns.
An enjoyable read, recommended.
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Started the Count of Monte Cristo and I’m enjoying it a lot. A rich tapestry of characters and themes. By my current pace it should be completed in a month or so. But it’s not a race, it’s about enjoyment.
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I’ve been listening to the Slough House novels (sometimes referred to as the Jackson Lamb thrillers) by Mick Herron on Audible. They’re spy thrillers with the Slough House of the title being home to Mi5 operatives who have made a serious mistake (for example one left classified information on the tube) but for various reasons cannot be fired and so are sent away to complete menial tasks to grind them down and force them to quit. The plots are played completely straight but there’s a wonderful streak of dry sarcasm running through them.
So far I’ve listened to the first 2, Slow Horses and Dead Lions, and would enthusiastically recommend them. The plots have been very different with the first dealing with a trio racist ‘England First’ types while the second had a more outlandish plot concerning Russian sleeper agents. And since my my experience was through Audible it would be remiss of me not to mention Seán Barrett’s excellent narration.
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I’m up to page 381 of The Count of Monte Cristo. These days we have Netflix. Back in the 1880s they had books, and this book happens to be a real adventure that excites you so much you need to keep reading.
I’m aware of the general outline of the story but actually reading it is a different experience altogether. Especially as I have the Penguin Classics unabridged version.
Edmond Dantes is already one of my favourite characters and is the template for the modern antihero. A haunted past, seeking revenge, unbelievably rich, the use of aliases, a luxurious cave and expensive transportation which he pilots himself. He’s a cool dude and has a large amount of mystery. I’m looking forward to reading how his single-minded pursuit further darkens his personality.
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The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
Historical fiction is a passion of mine, and Bernard Cornwell is one of the best there is.
I finished The Count of Monte Cristo about two weeks ago, and loved it.
I’m comfortable calling it my favourite non-Bond book as of now. It’s very theatrical with various suspensions of disbelief, but it’s oh so entertaining and satisfying.
Others on my list:
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland
Through The Looking Glass
Dracula
Neuromancer
Also keen to check out the Elvis books Last Train To Memphis and Careless Love by Peter Guralnick. From my own research I see they have a strong reputation and are thorough in their detail. That’s the type of book I like to read. As a fan of character studies, particularly those focused on a rise and fall (Jim Jones, L. Ron Hubbard, etc) I think these two would be fascinating.
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Read through Isaac’s Storm about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. It’s my third Erik Larson novel. His novels are always meticulously researched and are great, fascinating reads. That was preceded by The Chase, the first in Clive Cussler’s Isaac Bell series. It was a fun read and I’m excited to read more Isaac Bell stories. But, my next read is going to a Dirk Pitt novel, Havana Storm.
About to dive into Ian Rankins 2019 rewrite of Westwind. It was a Christmas present last year that I hadn’t got round to reading, but then i came across a review whose summation made it jump to the top of the queue
Westwind is an enjoyable spy-thriller right up until it reaches its final climax. The characters are likable, and it’s easy to root for them as they try to figure out what is going on before they are all killed by super-spies and assassins from around the world. The book’s big flaw is how much it begins to resemble a James Bond movie as it approaches the big-reveal part of its story. Just as in a typical Bond script, as soon as the villains seem to have custody of all the good guys, they can’t resist boasting in detail about their mad plot and how it all works. Rather than eliminating their rivals immediately, they prefer to explain what will happen (in great detail, mind you) after they kill them. The unfortunate effect of this approach is that it pushes Westwind from far-fetched thriller category into cartoon category, making it not so thrilling after all.
When the ONE bit they make a downside is it’s resemblance to your favourite film/book/game/comic series, it surely makes it a must read?!?!
Very aware I’m preaching to the choir of this website
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Re-reading Clancy. “Executive Orders”.
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Max Hastings - Vietnam and epic tragedy 1945-1975
Decided to go for my Hamilton books. Going on a literary Matt Helm binge.
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Currently reading “Damned to Fame” Samuel Becketts biography. I have always loved Beckett’s work and this is a particularly fascinating read, especially his work for the French resistance during World War 2.
Like so many of us Dubliners, could only love the city from a distance. Apparent in his work. Recommended strongly!
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Currently rereading Forever and a Day. I’m really enjoying it. I know I’ve said this before, but the chapters set at Sixtine’s house are excellent.
I also started in on my copy of From Tailors with Love. Great stuff so far, very informative and insightful!
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Finished reading 1897’s Dracula.
Loved the ‘found footage’ nature of the story with the way it’s constructed via correspondence. That hooked me in straight away.
The first section of the book with Jonathan Harker inside Dracula’s castle is excellent and always gets the most praise. The sense of foreboding as The Count approaches England, stowed aboard a boat during a storm he generated, and killing all aboard, is also an excellent sequence.
The book slows down afterwards with the goings on with Lucy, her suitors and Renfield, but I for one wasn’t dissuaded. Dracula maintains a presence throughout these sections even when he’s featured minimally. I enjoyed the lore most of all, particularly how Dracula is a strong character with various supernatural powers, but with many weaknesses he must endure or overcome through guile.
I also completed the two Alice books and appreciated the general spirit of entering a weird world we don’t fully understand. After I’ve finished Neuromancer, which I’m reading currently, I’ll purchase Crime and Punishment. Really looking forward to that based on what I’ve heard about it.
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Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
Basically there are two variants of superhero: those who actually do command some form of supernatural - rather: superphysical - power(s), like Superman, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and so on.
And those that just put on some bizarre garments out of an 80s s/m spandex nightmare and act as if. The latter variety tend to make up for the absence of superpowers with a fierce dedication to hone their natural physique in all kinds of smash-bang-crunch arts and their intellect in the fields of deduction and detection. Oh yes, money tends to help too.
Be that as it may, the myth of the individual rising far above and beyond their own limits and capabilities is older than Nietzsche’s musings or Siegel and Shuster’s creation. And maybe the root of it is the simple belief of a child that their mother or father can save the entire world for them…
Harkaway puts us on Mancreu, a little island somewhere in the Arabian Sea. It’s a place where natural volcanic activity and human interference created a bizarre disaster threatening to render the island uninhabitable and contaminate the entire explosive region.
Weird gasses and chemicals are mixed into the fallout of the island’s volcano and have created a range of strange phenomena with flora and fauna. A United Nations rescue mission basically just exists to evacuate the inhabitants before the island is set to be destroyed by thermonuclear device. Only in the meantime the community is considered state- and lawless, an advantage various players use to advance their own agenda.
Here the burnt-out case Lester Ferris, sergeant in HM Armed Forces and at 39 at the end of his useful career as sergeanting goes, is posted as housekeeper and last informal representative of the former sovereign (before HM’s government washed its hands of the inconvenience Mancreu has become). Here he forms a relationship with the locals while his posting is extended month by month. And the more he grows out of his military habits and into life on Mancreu, the more he wants to make a difference and solve the riddle of a boy that grew to be his friend.
Revealing much more about the plot of Tigerman risks to either spoil it, or send potential readers in a wrong direction. Harkaway tends to set his work in a landscape where different literary genres overlap. Tigerman is no different, there’s an underlying theme of the superhero, a father/son relationship that’s not made easier by circumstances, a thriller/intrigue mystery, a flirt that might become a love story, a farce, a drama. All wrapped up in a fantasy island and its outlandish clientele that may be much closer to the truth than we’d like to admit.
Recommended.
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I finished Brave New World, and what a book. It’s basically the importance of feeling your own pain, holding on to your individuality and how society wants conformity. One of my favourite reads so far.
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I’ve read Brave New World a few times, and when I do I often partner with Nineteen Eighty-Four. And some times a few episodes of The Prisoner. It feels as though as time goes on, the messages in all of these works gets more poignant. And while academically that may seem interesting, on a social level I find it alarming.
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Bush at War by Bob Woodward
Making sense of events and developments on the political landscape of the Middle East, and the attitude of the Western Hemisphere towards it, has never been easy. These days it’s becoming even more complicated with a reversal of doctrines that have shaped the lives of an entire generation.
To fully grasp the impact and meaning of the last two or three weeks it’s best to go back to the point where all this started, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks; the first hundred days where terms like ‘nation building’ and ‘war on terror’ were introduced to Washington’s political textbook and would ultimately shape not just US foreign policy but all our lives in some form or other.
Woodward’s account of this crucial time is brimming with insight and fully aware of the fact this was history in the making. I think we all were, those of us that were around and witnessed this focal point in our history. All the more revealing how, only 20 years later, nobody acting then would recognise the outcome we’ve seen now. People can indeed be aware they are shaping a world - but totally ignorant which shape they are giving it.
Recommended.
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A perfect sentence which unfortunately does not stop to be true.
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