![]() It features a crime in the Irish village of Glennkill, and a flock of sheep led by a ewe called Miss Maple who collectively solve the mystery. This one was said to be ‘priceless’, ‘witty’ and ‘full of philosophical musings and profound observations’. My second attempt at light reading was Three Bags Full, by German author Leonie Swann and translated by Anthea Bell. ![]() Can a paedophile earn redemption? Under what circumstances can an avenger be forgiven? Am I the only one who finds this offensive, even if he was a childhood bully? Have I missed an ‘hilarious’ joke here?Ĭity of the Dead OTOH raises very interesting cases for redemption. No fancy ideas about redemption in this novel: without a trace of authorial irony, Mrs B brusquely implies that Edmund clearly deserved to die a horrible death. On page two we are told that nobody is mourning the young local heir to the manor who’s been blown up in the North Sea, because he was a bully. I am out of step with the entire reading universe, it seems, because IMO, quite apart from its stock characters and ridiculous plot lines, this historical novel of WW2 is overwritten and tasteless. From my shelves I took down the ‘hilarious’, ‘enchanting’, ‘uplifting’ and ‘profoundly moving’ The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan but abandoned it after the requisite 50 pages. ![]() ![]() I have read some rather grim books lately, and I wanted to read something more light-hearted. ![]() City of the Dead is a book that made me think about all sorts of things, but I shall try not to make this review into a rant. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |