Review by Malcolm Martland on show Feb 25th.
This is a remarkable sequel to The Girl Who Played with Fire by a sadly deceased master of recent Swedish crime thriller fiction. It is the last book of The Millennium Trilogy. The Observer summed it up as “That rare thing – a sequel that is even better than the book that went before…..to be read in great hungry chunks.” But I feel it would not make a lot of sense to read this before you’ve read The Girl Who Played with Fire and preferably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before that.
The action commences exactly where the previous book left off. Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander with a bullet in her brain has been found by Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, and friend of Lisbeth. Her father, Zalachenko has also been found seriously injured nearby. They are each responsible for the other's injuries and are airlifted to hospital while Mikael is arrested for police obstruction, and possession of a firearm, which he is trying to surrender to the police. Meanwhile Lisbeth's psychopathic brother Niedermann is on the loose having been allowed to escape by the incompetent police.
Then things get political, Lisbeth has been the subject of a plot to maintain that she is mentally incompetent since she was a child. There is an inner circle within the secret police that wants to keep it that way. But the inner circle is so secret that not even the Prime Minister knows about it, all dating from the time when Zalachenko, a Russian spy, was given refuge in Sweden. Vague links with the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. Some of the political chunks do get a bit heavy duty.
Lisbeth undergoes successful surgery to remove the bullet in her brain and is convalescing in the hospital which also is treating her father. She is suspected of murder and attempted murder and accordingly there is a police guard at the hospital. Fortunately the doctor who is looking after her refuses to let them interrogate her. He also brushes aside any attempts of mental assessment by the psychiatrist who originally incarcerated her in a mental hospital, and who is linked with the secret police’s plan to keep her silent.
Mikael in the meantime is released. He is also a close friend of Lisbeth. He sets out to help Lisbeth to clear her name, to see that her enemies are eliminated, and to see that she is declared mentally competent. She has not spoken to him for two years so communications need to be re-established. He manages to get her pocket Palm computer smuggled in and even sets up internet access for her – something that is a challenge for some of us even without the high security. Lisbeth contacts her ring of hackers and they provide her with as much information as she needs for her defence. Mikael suggests that his sister, Gianinni, act as Lisbeth's lawyer and accordingly she is allowed access. Mikael also attempts to expose the section of the secret police handling the Zalachenko affair. Mikael is quite a multitalented chap.
Meanwhile the secret police assassinate Zalachenko in the hospital. Dead men can't talk. It’s all very complicated, linked with former prime ministers and national security. I should say at this point that there is quite a high body count throughout and a degree of violence (surpassed only by Stuart McBride in my recent reading).
Eventually Lisbeth faces the court and in a defence worthy of a John Grisham novel Mikael's sister, Gianinni, demolishes the prosecution and has the declaration of mental incompetence revoked. I have to say Lisbeth is not totally innocent of all the charges and her methods of obtaining evidence are very dubious, but the reader’s sense of justice prevails – in her favour! The book comes to a very exciting but satisfactory conclusion with all the loose ends tied up and a few more bodies added to the criminal heap.
I think the Millennium Trilogy would make a great TV series – I think Kenneth Branagh, following his part as Wallander, would have to play Mikael Blomkvist, but who would, who could, play Lisbeth?
the psychiatrist who originally incarcerated her in a mental hospital, and who is linked with the secret police’s plan to keep her silent.
Mikael in the meantime is released. He is also a close friend of Lisbeth. He sets out to help Lisbeth to clear her name, to see that her enemies are eliminated, and to see that she is declared mentally competent. She has not spoken to him for two years so communications need to be re-established. He manages to get her pocket Palm computer smuggled in and even sets up internet access for her – something that is a challenge for some of us even without the high security. Lisbeth contacts her ring of hackers and they provide her with as much information as she needs for her defence. Mikael suggests that his sister, Gianinni, act as Lisbeth's lawyer and accordingly she is allowed access. Mikael also attempts to expose the section of the secret police handling the Zalachenko affair. Mikael is quite a multitalented chap.
Meanwhile the secret police assassinate Zalachenko in the hospital. Dead men can't talk. It’s all very complicated, linked with former prime ministers and national security. I should say at this point that there is quite a high body count throughout and a degree of violence (surpassed only by Stuart McBride in my recent reading).
Eventually Lisbeth faces the court and in a defence worthy of a John Grisham novel Mikael's sister, Gianinni, demolishes the prosecution and has the declaration of mental incompetence revoked. I have to say Lisbeth is not totally innocent of all the charges and her methods of obtaining evidence are very dubious, but the reader’s sense of justice prevails – in her favour! The book comes to a very exciting but satisfactory conclusion with all the loose ends tied up and a few more bodies added to the criminal heap.
I think the Millennium Trilogy would make a great TV series – I think Kenneth Branagh, following his part as Wallander, would have to play Mikael Blomkvist, but who would, who could, play Lisbeth?
Review by Malcolm F. Martland 25 February 2010
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Richard Dawkins - The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Review by Malcolm Martland on show Feb 25th.
I know that in pubs, clubs and other places it is not good form to talk about politics or religion but this book invites discussion of both. I do realise I should have understood what to expect as Richard Dawkins is a famous atheist and author of” The God Delusion” – and of course he went to Oxford which explains a lot!
But this book is about science, science for the people, and it’s nothing that most graduates in Natural Sciences don’t know and couldn’t write – but most of them didn’t. There was very little new that I had not already learnt at school and university 40 years ago – and Watson and Crick’s DNA proposition was 1953 and Darwin’s Origin of Species 1859.
Very grandiose writing – Dawkins seems determined to put as much information as he can on every page – repetitive too – self quoting in abundance. Yes I agree with him and did enjoy the book but he does bang on and on. But despite that it is a very informative and enjoyable book. I particularly enjoyed his clear description of radio-isotope decay and its use in archaeological and fossil dating. But all facets of evolution are fascinating – it is evolution that is one of the wonders and miracles of life.
But he does keep trying to prove himself against the Creationists. As a scientist I don’t give a damn what creationists think about evolution because they I think are not just fundamentally wrong but stupidly opinionated too? They might be very nice people but just are not worth talking to on the subject until they have accepted some proper science.
But I do worry about Dawkins’ viewpoint. He tells us things like Nature’s conscience is neither benevolent nor divine – I’m not sure if he is attributing a “being” to “Nature” or not. He sometimes seems to be creating his own god = Nature, and forming his own religion -Evolution – major prophet Charles Darwin, disciples Crick and Watson and of course Dawkins (aka Darwin’s rottweiler) and his followers Ben Goldacre and Markus Brigstock. They even had their own strange carol service for non-god believers recently. OK I’m fine with them not believing but please shove a parallel religion at us, makes me suspect they will all become zealous converts from agnosticism or atheism in later life like CS Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge and many others.
What the book did for me however, is make me get out all those science books I’ve been meaning to read or reread – Bill Bryson’s, A Short History of Nearly Everything, some 1950’s Pelican paperback’s by Ralph Buchsbaum, Animals without backbones and more – so Richard Dawkins has rekindled my enthusiasm for science for which I am grateful.
My verdict: a very interesting and informative read covering a huge topic – but if you can dispense with the religious bigotry try reading Steve Jones’ “Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England” instead – I intend to.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins 2009 Bantan Press rrp £20 (paperback due out 29 April 2010 rrp £8.99)
Review by Malcolm F. Martland 25 February 2010
I know that in pubs, clubs and other places it is not good form to talk about politics or religion but this book invites discussion of both. I do realise I should have understood what to expect as Richard Dawkins is a famous atheist and author of” The God Delusion” – and of course he went to Oxford which explains a lot!
But this book is about science, science for the people, and it’s nothing that most graduates in Natural Sciences don’t know and couldn’t write – but most of them didn’t. There was very little new that I had not already learnt at school and university 40 years ago – and Watson and Crick’s DNA proposition was 1953 and Darwin’s Origin of Species 1859.
Very grandiose writing – Dawkins seems determined to put as much information as he can on every page – repetitive too – self quoting in abundance. Yes I agree with him and did enjoy the book but he does bang on and on. But despite that it is a very informative and enjoyable book. I particularly enjoyed his clear description of radio-isotope decay and its use in archaeological and fossil dating. But all facets of evolution are fascinating – it is evolution that is one of the wonders and miracles of life.
But he does keep trying to prove himself against the Creationists. As a scientist I don’t give a damn what creationists think about evolution because they I think are not just fundamentally wrong but stupidly opinionated too? They might be very nice people but just are not worth talking to on the subject until they have accepted some proper science.
But I do worry about Dawkins’ viewpoint. He tells us things like Nature’s conscience is neither benevolent nor divine – I’m not sure if he is attributing a “being” to “Nature” or not. He sometimes seems to be creating his own god = Nature, and forming his own religion -Evolution – major prophet Charles Darwin, disciples Crick and Watson and of course Dawkins (aka Darwin’s rottweiler) and his followers Ben Goldacre and Markus Brigstock. They even had their own strange carol service for non-god believers recently. OK I’m fine with them not believing but please shove a parallel religion at us, makes me suspect they will all become zealous converts from agnosticism or atheism in later life like CS Lewis, Malcolm Muggeridge and many others.
What the book did for me however, is make me get out all those science books I’ve been meaning to read or reread – Bill Bryson’s, A Short History of Nearly Everything, some 1950’s Pelican paperback’s by Ralph Buchsbaum, Animals without backbones and more – so Richard Dawkins has rekindled my enthusiasm for science for which I am grateful.
My verdict: a very interesting and informative read covering a huge topic – but if you can dispense with the religious bigotry try reading Steve Jones’ “Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England” instead – I intend to.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins 2009 Bantan Press rrp £20 (paperback due out 29 April 2010 rrp £8.99)
Review by Malcolm F. Martland 25 February 2010
Friday, 26 February 2010
show 11th March 2010
This show was recorded for the bookshow as showhost away.
Welcome to the bookshow on radio scilly 107.9fm. My guests today are a couple of voices from the past – Lesley Jones and Linda Wornes. Welcome back ladies so glad to have you with us again, long time no hear. Tell every one it s not because you don’t like doing the show but because you can’t read enough to keep up with it..! Got a few interesting books coming up The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Have a Nice Day by Justin Webb. 'The Poisonwood Bible' and 'Prodigal Summer', both by Barbara Kingsolver.
Interesting title, Linda, Poisonwood Bible but after having read the blurb I have to say that if you really want to know about the Congo then read ‘Tim Butchers Blood River A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart’.
As for Prodigal Summer, well after reding this reviewers comments: 'I adore this book and have recommended it with evangelical zeal to many friends', I can hear the preacher starting to get in a frenzy and his congregation starting to clap – yes Lord!!!
Mixed reviews for Angels Game: Disappointing, I loved Shadow of the Wind and wondered if The Angel's Game could live up top it - it didn't.
Have a Nice Day, (say it in that American accent). Americans & america is exactly what the book is about. But Lesley thinks a slightly biased cross section.
Welcome to the bookshow on radio scilly 107.9fm. My guests today are a couple of voices from the past – Lesley Jones and Linda Wornes. Welcome back ladies so glad to have you with us again, long time no hear. Tell every one it s not because you don’t like doing the show but because you can’t read enough to keep up with it..! Got a few interesting books coming up The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Have a Nice Day by Justin Webb. 'The Poisonwood Bible' and 'Prodigal Summer', both by Barbara Kingsolver.
Interesting title, Linda, Poisonwood Bible but after having read the blurb I have to say that if you really want to know about the Congo then read ‘Tim Butchers Blood River A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart’.
As for Prodigal Summer, well after reding this reviewers comments: 'I adore this book and have recommended it with evangelical zeal to many friends', I can hear the preacher starting to get in a frenzy and his congregation starting to clap – yes Lord!!!
Mixed reviews for Angels Game: Disappointing, I loved Shadow of the Wind and wondered if The Angel's Game could live up top it - it didn't.
Have a Nice Day, (say it in that American accent). Americans & america is exactly what the book is about. But Lesley thinks a slightly biased cross section.
show 4th March 2010
Today we aired the telephone interview with Terence Frisby, Babs Simpson, Maggie Perkovic and myself. If you missed it catch it on the Radio Scilly website. Also a link on my blog.
Show 25th Feb 2010
G’day & welcome to the bookshfow on radio scilly 107.9fm. My guests today are Ro Bennett and Malcolm Martland. Books on review this week are:
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer, Old Filth by Jane Gardam, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest Steig Larssen The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Dawkins.
FILTH — Failed in London Try Hong Kong.
Based on Rudyard Kiplings early life ("Baa Baa Black Sheep", written when he was 23, and which describes his experiences as a six-year-old "Raj orphan", sent from Bombay to live in Southsea)
One reviewer of Richard Dawkins book said: On far too many occasions the author launches off into attacks, jibes and generally derogatory remarks about creationists, which are annoying and distracting.
Artemis Fowl: Fairies, demons and technical gadgets.
Steig Larssen :You have read all of these now Malcolm, do you have a favourite, have any let you down in expectation? "No, I would highly recommend the entire 3 books starting with The Girl With The Drgaon Tattoo.."
Next week will be a book show special with an exclusive interview with Terence Frisby, playwright, director, producer and author of ‘Kisses on a Postcard’. Listen to him chat with myself, Babs Simpson & Maggie Perkovic , a lovely, amusing man. You can look him up on his interesting website ‘www.kissesonapostcard.com’ and hear the play and parts from the forthcoming musical.
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer, Old Filth by Jane Gardam, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest Steig Larssen The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Dawkins.
FILTH — Failed in London Try Hong Kong.
Based on Rudyard Kiplings early life ("Baa Baa Black Sheep", written when he was 23, and which describes his experiences as a six-year-old "Raj orphan", sent from Bombay to live in Southsea)
One reviewer of Richard Dawkins book said: On far too many occasions the author launches off into attacks, jibes and generally derogatory remarks about creationists, which are annoying and distracting.
Artemis Fowl: Fairies, demons and technical gadgets.
Steig Larssen :You have read all of these now Malcolm, do you have a favourite, have any let you down in expectation? "No, I would highly recommend the entire 3 books starting with The Girl With The Drgaon Tattoo.."
Next week will be a book show special with an exclusive interview with Terence Frisby, playwright, director, producer and author of ‘Kisses on a Postcard’. Listen to him chat with myself, Babs Simpson & Maggie Perkovic , a lovely, amusing man. You can look him up on his interesting website ‘www.kissesonapostcard.com’ and hear the play and parts from the forthcoming musical.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl and The Lost Colony
Review by Ro Bennett on show 25th Feb 2010
I read the first Artemis Fowl book in 2001 when I was still teaching. It was in the school library and had an exciting cover. These books are ostensibly for children, but people like me enjoy them too! Eion Colfer the author describes his creation as ‘Die Hard with fairies’
I’ll read you the product description:
Twelve year old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom and threaten to expose the secret underworld of fantastic and magical creatures. He wants the fairies pot of gold but he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive.
But he’s taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon, which is short for Lower Elements, Police Reconnaissance Unit. For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you’ve got the mother of all sieges brewing!
Each book stands alone although if you read them in sequence you can see the development of the characters. In the beginning Artemis appears to be quite a nasty little rat but then you feel sorry for him when you realise he is searching for his missing father and trying to prevent his mad mother from doing something stupid. And over the series he develops into a nicer person. He has a devoted bodyguard called Butler who is a James Bond type - cool martial arts expert dedicated to keeping his young master alive and safe.
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony is the seventh book in the series, although there is
another shorter book which was written for World Book Day in 2004.
In the Lost Colony, Artemis is tracking demon activity on the time - displaced island of Hybras. The time spell which keeps Hybras stuck in oblivion is beginning to unravel and Artemis is busy investigating how to fix it, when right under his nose a 12 year old French female rival (and love interest) kidnaps a young demon just as he manifests on Earth. Not knowing what trouble she has started, Artemis must break into her chateau, pitch his wits against her psychotic security and somehow get the demon back to Hybras then fix the time spell.
The books are entertaining and fast moving with a variety of interesting and amusing characters. Colfer has an amazing imagination and also triggers the reader’s own imagination - for instance, when you see a shimmering like a heat haze - is it the heat or is it really fairies activating their mesmers so we are mesmerised and vibrating at such a high velocity that the human eye cannot pick out their true form? In the books Colfer describes the most fantastic technological and magical inventions. Absolutely fascinating and thought provoking for both kids and adults!
Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code
Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception
Artemis Fowl and The Lost Colony
The Seventh Dwarf
Ro Bennett
happycastaway@btinternet.com
I read the first Artemis Fowl book in 2001 when I was still teaching. It was in the school library and had an exciting cover. These books are ostensibly for children, but people like me enjoy them too! Eion Colfer the author describes his creation as ‘Die Hard with fairies’
I’ll read you the product description:
Twelve year old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom and threaten to expose the secret underworld of fantastic and magical creatures. He wants the fairies pot of gold but he knows that the only way to separate the little people from their stash is to kidnap one of them and wait for the ransom to arrive.
But he’s taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon, which is short for Lower Elements, Police Reconnaissance Unit. For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you’ve got the mother of all sieges brewing!
Each book stands alone although if you read them in sequence you can see the development of the characters. In the beginning Artemis appears to be quite a nasty little rat but then you feel sorry for him when you realise he is searching for his missing father and trying to prevent his mad mother from doing something stupid. And over the series he develops into a nicer person. He has a devoted bodyguard called Butler who is a James Bond type - cool martial arts expert dedicated to keeping his young master alive and safe.
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony is the seventh book in the series, although there is
another shorter book which was written for World Book Day in 2004.
In the Lost Colony, Artemis is tracking demon activity on the time - displaced island of Hybras. The time spell which keeps Hybras stuck in oblivion is beginning to unravel and Artemis is busy investigating how to fix it, when right under his nose a 12 year old French female rival (and love interest) kidnaps a young demon just as he manifests on Earth. Not knowing what trouble she has started, Artemis must break into her chateau, pitch his wits against her psychotic security and somehow get the demon back to Hybras then fix the time spell.
The books are entertaining and fast moving with a variety of interesting and amusing characters. Colfer has an amazing imagination and also triggers the reader’s own imagination - for instance, when you see a shimmering like a heat haze - is it the heat or is it really fairies activating their mesmers so we are mesmerised and vibrating at such a high velocity that the human eye cannot pick out their true form? In the books Colfer describes the most fantastic technological and magical inventions. Absolutely fascinating and thought provoking for both kids and adults!
Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code
Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception
Artemis Fowl and The Lost Colony
The Seventh Dwarf
Ro Bennett
happycastaway@btinternet.com
Jane Gardam - Old Filth
Review by Ro Bennett on show 25th Feb 2010
bought Old Filth because the reading group at St Martins said they were interested in any book by Jane Gardam. I’d never heard of her so decided to look her up.
From the back cover: FILTH in his heyday, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now only the oldest QCs and Silks can remember that his nickname stood for Failed in London Try Hong Kong. I didn’t know what Silks were so looked it up and it’s Queen or King’s council so named because they had the right to wear a gown made of silk.
Long ago, Filth was a Raj orphan - one of the many young children sent ‘Home’ from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam’s novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. In s doing, she not only encapsulates a whole period from the glory days of the British Empire, through the Second World War, to the present and beyond, but also illuminates the complexities of the character known variously as Eddie, the Judge, Fevvers, Filth, Master of the Inner Temple, Teddy and Sir Edward Feathers.
This didn’t particularly inspire me to read the book but it had mainly good reviews so I went for it. I found it a very touching book and I felt quite weepy several times. But besides it being tragic in places it’s also humorous, for instance he always refers to the lady who helps out in the house as Mrs...Er... and the time he decides to drive his Rolls Royce which he hasn’t driven for years up North on all the motorways.
However there were several surprises and shocks as the book progressed and I found myself saying things like ‘ Oh my goodness so that was him!!‘ or ‘Oh no! that was her!!’ It was a real page turner. I often found myself feeling so sorry for Filth. He’s a complex character but also very naive at the same time. My heart went out to him and I felt quite protective of him.
I didn’t know anything about Raj orphans. Rudyard Kipling was a Raj orphan and was educated in Britain. The children were sent very young to foster parents or boarding schools and that must have been horrendous. Kipling was only 5 when he was sent over and according to the book he suffered from half blindness when he was 7 - a psychological blindness - how traumatic it must have been for them! Imagine leaving India or Burma or wherever and arriving in England in the Winter without your mum and dad!
An ironic part of the book is that his colleagues and juniors who are all in awe of him describe him as someone to whom nothing much has happened in his life, they have no idea of all the things he experienced. And of course, reading the book you know that is far from true.
When the story opens Filth is almost 80 and he and his wife Betty have retired to a comfortable life in Dorset. I don’t want to give any of the story away as that would spoil the way it unfolds and the surprises wouldn’t be surprises then. It’s well worth reading.
One review I agree with said: A gentle yet gripping story that describes the life of a distinguished judge taking the unpleasant consequences of his childhood and carefully unwrapping them to show how they have echoed and shaped his adult life.
Ro Bennett
happycastaway@btinternet.com
bought Old Filth because the reading group at St Martins said they were interested in any book by Jane Gardam. I’d never heard of her so decided to look her up.
From the back cover: FILTH in his heyday, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now only the oldest QCs and Silks can remember that his nickname stood for Failed in London Try Hong Kong. I didn’t know what Silks were so looked it up and it’s Queen or King’s council so named because they had the right to wear a gown made of silk.
Long ago, Filth was a Raj orphan - one of the many young children sent ‘Home’ from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam’s novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. In s doing, she not only encapsulates a whole period from the glory days of the British Empire, through the Second World War, to the present and beyond, but also illuminates the complexities of the character known variously as Eddie, the Judge, Fevvers, Filth, Master of the Inner Temple, Teddy and Sir Edward Feathers.
This didn’t particularly inspire me to read the book but it had mainly good reviews so I went for it. I found it a very touching book and I felt quite weepy several times. But besides it being tragic in places it’s also humorous, for instance he always refers to the lady who helps out in the house as Mrs...Er... and the time he decides to drive his Rolls Royce which he hasn’t driven for years up North on all the motorways.
However there were several surprises and shocks as the book progressed and I found myself saying things like ‘ Oh my goodness so that was him!!‘ or ‘Oh no! that was her!!’ It was a real page turner. I often found myself feeling so sorry for Filth. He’s a complex character but also very naive at the same time. My heart went out to him and I felt quite protective of him.
I didn’t know anything about Raj orphans. Rudyard Kipling was a Raj orphan and was educated in Britain. The children were sent very young to foster parents or boarding schools and that must have been horrendous. Kipling was only 5 when he was sent over and according to the book he suffered from half blindness when he was 7 - a psychological blindness - how traumatic it must have been for them! Imagine leaving India or Burma or wherever and arriving in England in the Winter without your mum and dad!
An ironic part of the book is that his colleagues and juniors who are all in awe of him describe him as someone to whom nothing much has happened in his life, they have no idea of all the things he experienced. And of course, reading the book you know that is far from true.
When the story opens Filth is almost 80 and he and his wife Betty have retired to a comfortable life in Dorset. I don’t want to give any of the story away as that would spoil the way it unfolds and the surprises wouldn’t be surprises then. It’s well worth reading.
One review I agree with said: A gentle yet gripping story that describes the life of a distinguished judge taking the unpleasant consequences of his childhood and carefully unwrapping them to show how they have echoed and shaped his adult life.
Ro Bennett
happycastaway@btinternet.com
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Tom Rob Smith - Child 44
Review by Maggie Perkovic on show 18th Feb.
This book was first reviewed by Malcolm Martland last year on the show and although he was not a great fan I thought I might like the historical content of Russia after the defeat of the Zsar and the life under Stalin's rule.
In Stalin's Soviet Union, crime does not exist but still millions live in fear. The mere suspicion of disloyalty to the state, the wrong word at the wrong time can send an innocent person to his execution.
Officer Leo Demidov, an idealistic war hero believes he's building a perfect society but after witnessing the interrogation of an innocent man his loyalty begins to waiver and when he is ordered to investigate his own wife, Raisa, Leo is forced to choose where his heart truly lies.
Then the impossible happens. A murderer is on the loose, killing at will and every belief Leo has ever held is shattered. Denounced by his enemies and exiled from home, with only Raisa by his side, he must risk everything to find the criminal that the state won't even admit exists. On the run Leo soon discovers the danger is not from the killer he is trying to catch but from the country he is trying to protect.
That is the blurb on the back cover and I must admit the opening chapter where a very thin pet cat is killed in a rather unpleasant way for food, I must add, did not endear me to the following chapters.
I have read the 'Russian Concubine' and the 'Concubines Secret' with all the ensuing "blood and guts" but this book seems to me to almost glory in the descriptive killing scenes!!
We all know that of many countries Russia has suffered a lot. Its people have starved, they have been used and abused but in this book I found it very hard to sympathise with the characters and that is wrong. Despite an intelligent and atmospheric book without that empathy with the characters the story fails.
'The Secret Speech' by Tom Rob Smith appears as an extract at the end of this book. It features Leo, Raisa and two young girls orphaned by the state when their parents were accused of helping an enemy of the state, he and his wife are now their guardians and yet they blame him for their parents death!!
Maybe someone might review this at a later date??
Review by Maggie
footnote from show host: In an interview with the author he was asked about this book and this was his comment (taken from Amazon.co.uk):
'It was inspired by a true story, a killer called Andrei Chikatilo who murdered over sixty children, girls, boys, over a period of ten years. Reading about the case I realized this wasn’t a criminal mastermind who’d evaded capture through devious skill. He’d gone on killing for so long because the system refused to admit he even existed. He should’ve been caught on numerous occasions but the prejudices of the State got in the way and, as a result, tragically, many children died. I felt such a tremendous sense of frustration reading about the events that I saw its potential as a piece of fiction. The real killer murdered in the 1980s. In Child 44 I moved the story back to the 1950s, when the stakes were much higher for someone who dared to risk opposing the State'.
This book was first reviewed by Malcolm Martland last year on the show and although he was not a great fan I thought I might like the historical content of Russia after the defeat of the Zsar and the life under Stalin's rule.
In Stalin's Soviet Union, crime does not exist but still millions live in fear. The mere suspicion of disloyalty to the state, the wrong word at the wrong time can send an innocent person to his execution.
Officer Leo Demidov, an idealistic war hero believes he's building a perfect society but after witnessing the interrogation of an innocent man his loyalty begins to waiver and when he is ordered to investigate his own wife, Raisa, Leo is forced to choose where his heart truly lies.
Then the impossible happens. A murderer is on the loose, killing at will and every belief Leo has ever held is shattered. Denounced by his enemies and exiled from home, with only Raisa by his side, he must risk everything to find the criminal that the state won't even admit exists. On the run Leo soon discovers the danger is not from the killer he is trying to catch but from the country he is trying to protect.
That is the blurb on the back cover and I must admit the opening chapter where a very thin pet cat is killed in a rather unpleasant way for food, I must add, did not endear me to the following chapters.
I have read the 'Russian Concubine' and the 'Concubines Secret' with all the ensuing "blood and guts" but this book seems to me to almost glory in the descriptive killing scenes!!
We all know that of many countries Russia has suffered a lot. Its people have starved, they have been used and abused but in this book I found it very hard to sympathise with the characters and that is wrong. Despite an intelligent and atmospheric book without that empathy with the characters the story fails.
'The Secret Speech' by Tom Rob Smith appears as an extract at the end of this book. It features Leo, Raisa and two young girls orphaned by the state when their parents were accused of helping an enemy of the state, he and his wife are now their guardians and yet they blame him for their parents death!!
Maybe someone might review this at a later date??
Review by Maggie
footnote from show host: In an interview with the author he was asked about this book and this was his comment (taken from Amazon.co.uk):
'It was inspired by a true story, a killer called Andrei Chikatilo who murdered over sixty children, girls, boys, over a period of ten years. Reading about the case I realized this wasn’t a criminal mastermind who’d evaded capture through devious skill. He’d gone on killing for so long because the system refused to admit he even existed. He should’ve been caught on numerous occasions but the prejudices of the State got in the way and, as a result, tragically, many children died. I felt such a tremendous sense of frustration reading about the events that I saw its potential as a piece of fiction. The real killer murdered in the 1980s. In Child 44 I moved the story back to the 1950s, when the stakes were much higher for someone who dared to risk opposing the State'.
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