Steve's Bookshelf 2013

[Karsa Orlong]

 

Anyone who's read WofW and TM, have you tried The Space Machine by Christopher Priest? It's an interesting spin on the tales.

 

I saw your review of that, Michelle - I shall definitely give it a go at some point 

 

 

Is that the one with the music? I remember my dad used to play that one at top volume in the car when I was a child . . . scared the hell out of me and scarred me for life.

 

It's that Justin Hayward's fault 

 

 

I would love to get into H G Wells, although I read 'A Modern Utopia' at uni and didn't really like it. This 'Invisible Man' sounds interesting, though - I might have to step out of my comfort zone and give it a go!

 

Oh no, please don't start with The Invisible Man

[poppyshake]

In that case, I have to point out that you came in here saying you were interested in reading Wells - I never went in your thread and said I was interested in a Russian novel   

You are accusing me of pushing Russian novels at you now    I may have mentioned something but I'm sure it was all in context like all my posts  You may not have asked as such but I could tell you wanted to know  

[poppyshake]

Poppyshake, for me, the best way to experience War of the Worlds is the audio version. I preferred it to The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, although they're all good.

Do you mean a straight re-telling of the story on audio Michelle or the Jeff Wayne musical? I've had the original musical on CD for ages and love it and have seen the more recent theatre production (though only on DVD alas.) What I wouldn't give to have seen the original cast performing it.

[pontalba]

 

 

 

 

You'll probably be okay with the paperback.  It won't have all the spelling mistakes the original Kindle version had.  Just so long as you don't end up with the Mills & Boon cover they sent me . . .

 

 

The Sunne in Splendour Mills & Boon.jpg

 

 

 

I don't think it's that cover, should arrive soon.  I'll let you know.

[Michelle]

The one I listened to was (I think) the dramatised radio version.

[pontalba]

Do you mean a straight re-telling of the story on audio Michelle or the Jeff Wayne musical? I've had the original musical on CD for ages and love it and have seen the more recent theatre production (though only on DVD alas.) What I wouldn't give to have seen the original cast performing it.

 

 

The one I listened to was (I think) the dramatised radio version.

 

I wonder if that is the same as the CD that came with the rereleased book form of The War of the Worlds that came out when the new film was brought out.  I purchased that, but never listened to it....

[Little Pixie]

Yeah, there's no way I'm reading that on the tube

 

I have re-started the Kindle edition instead 

 

Hurray ! Will you be secretly reading Mills & Boon on it too ?  

[Karsa Orlong]

Hurray ! Will you be secretly reading Mills & Boon on it too ?  

 

 

Why?  Are you trying to get rid of the 500 you've got in your TBR pile? 

[Little Pixie]

 

Why?  Are you trying to get rid of the 500 you've got in your TBR pile? 

 

Well, I certainly asked for that.

[Karsa Orlong]

I just found the plan I was supposed to be working on  

 

Plan update:

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - finished 13/06/13

Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden - finished 24/07/13

Prophecy by S. J. Parris - finished 18/06/13

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian - finished 14/07/13

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - finished 27/06/13

The Odyssey by Homer - finished 24/08/13

Something by David Gemmell, to be decided (probably either Hero in the Shadows or The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend) - finished 26/07/13

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

The Technician by Neal Asher - finished 04/07/13

Pompeii by Robert Harris - finished 06/09/13

The Silver Spike by Glen Cook - finished 22/06/13

 

The one no-one saw coming: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - finished 16/08/13

 

 

 

So it's not going too badly, then    I shall probably squeeze A Deepness in the Sky in between the 2nd and 3rd 'Thorns' books

[Karsa Orlong]

Just to put a final nail in the coffin of the Sunne in Splendour saga, I received an email from the seller:

 

 

We are sorry to hear that you no longer require your order – simply reseal the packet, display the words 'Return to Sender' and return the item to us and we will refund you as soon as we receive it. Providing you use a postbox to return the item, you won't be charged for postage.

 

Please enclose the dispatch form received, along with a note detailing the reason for return, so we can ensure the return is processed correctly.

 

 

Very good of them, I thought, but there are a couple of problems . . .  mainly that I didn't keep the packaging so can't do the 'return to sender' bit, and because the book is so thick I doubt it would fit in a letterbox anyway, so I'd have to pay for postage and packing myself, which I'd already worked out would cost me around £4, so long as I didn't want it tracked.

 

So, in the end, more hassle and expense than it's worth.  The paperback will be going to the Cancer Research Shop on my next visit.

[Timstar]

Well done on sticking with the plan, you started King of Thorns then?

 

Good news about the return, they won't often pay for return postage

[Karsa Orlong]

Well done on sticking with the plan, you started King of Thorns then?

 

No, it's next up, after The Sunne in Splendour (Kindle edition ).

 

 

Good news about the return, they won't often pay for return postage

 

Yeah, shame I can't take advantage of it.

[Timstar]

Yeah, shame I can't take advantage of it.

 

 

I have started listening to the audio book The Count of Monte Cristo, great so far. But the narrator pronounces Dantès name as 'Dan-tez' whereas I always thought it was 'Daan-tey' how would you pronounce it?

[Karsa Orlong]

I read it as Dan-tez

[Timstar]

I read it as Dan-tez

 

 

 

Can't say I'm a French expert... or even slightly grasp the language but I thought S was commonly silent at the end of a word. As in Dumas is pronounced 'Do-Mar'  

 

But maybe i'm wrong...

[Karsa Orlong]

That'd be another negative for audiobooks for me, then - if you were reading it you could pronounce it any way you wanted to 

 

ETA: http://www.forvo.com/word/dant%C3%A8s/ 

Edited September 20, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[pontalba]

 

I have started listening to the audio book The Count of Monte Cristo, great so far. But the narrator pronounces Dantès name as 'Dan-tez' whereas I always thought it was 'Daan-tey' how would you pronounce it?

 

In the Gerard Depardieu version of The Count of Monte Cristo, they pronounced 'Dan-tez'. 

[frankie]

 

 

Can't say I'm a French expert... or even slightly grasp the language but I thought S was commonly silent at the end of a word. As in Dumas is pronounced 'Do-Mar'  

 

In Shawshank Redemption they pronounce it  'dumb ass'

 

  (I think 'do-mar' would be how I'd pronounce it, too)

Edited September 24, 2013 by frankie

[Karsa Orlong]

Book #56:  The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

 

 

From Amazon:

 

Richard, last-born son of the Duke of York, was seven months short of his nineteenth birthday when he bloodied himself at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, earning his legendary reputation as a battle commander and ending the Lancastrian line of succession. But Richard was far more than a warrior schooled in combat. He was also a devoted brother, an ardent suitor, a patron of the arts, an indulgent father, a generous friend. Above all, he was a man of fierce loyalties, great courage and firm principles, who was ill at ease among the intrigues of Edward's court. The very codes Richard lived by ultimately betrayed him. But he was betrayed by history too. Leaving no heir, his reputation was at the mercy of his successor, and Henry Tudor had too much at stake to risk mercy. Thus was born the myth of the man who would stop at nothing to gain the throne. Filled with the sights and sounds of battle, the customs and love of daily life, the rigours and dangers of Court politics and the touching concerns of very real men and women, The Sunne in Splendour is a richly coloured tapestry of medieval England.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

You would hope that, after all the efforts I went to to get the edition of this book I was happiest with, I would enjoy it - and the good news is that I did, for the most part.  I had been wanting to read some fiction about the Wars of the Roses and, after slogging through the rather dire BBC adaptation of Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins Wars' books, I decided to go for this one.  Gregory's books may well be very good, but all fingers seemed to point to The Sunne in Splendour as being the best.  So, after a couple of aborted attempts at starting the novel, it was with some relief that I got hold of the 30th Anniversary edition for Kindle, with scanning errors eradicated, 'Americanisms' in the dialogue removed, and - from what Penman says in her new Afterword - various bits of general improvement and correction.

 

The story covers Richard's life from 7 years old until his death at the age of 32 and covers all the major events in between, beginning with the murder of his brother Edmund and moving on from there.  Whilst Penman doesn't paint Richard as an all-round good guy - he certainly has flaws, here - it's refreshing to have him presented as a rounded human being, not as the evil so-and-so history might have us believe.  Penman is at pains to point out that a lot of what we perceive about Richard has been passed down from Tudor historians, who were eager to put a less than positive light on Henry VII's predecessor, even to the extent of giving him a deformity (which has since been disproved).

 

What I found Penman did brilliantly was to have some major events happen 'off screen'.  Now, normally I wouldn't like that, but she pulls it off by showing how these people (and all but one of her characters were real people) react in the aftermath of the events.  Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick - the Kingmaker, if you like - is as ruthless and power-hungry as you might expect, just as Edward IV is charismatic and brilliant.  Middle brother George, on the other hand, is shown to have good reason for his various acts of treachery, whilst Elizabeth Woodville comes across as a complete harridan, interested only in power to the detriment of all else.  Marguerite D'Anjou is handled superbly.

 

The first section of the book is terrific.  It pulled me in immediately with the aforementioned murder of Edmund, and then cracks on at quite a pace.  The second section, perhaps entitled 'Anne' as a warning, does go a bit Mills & Boon at times.  Okay, it's not that bad, but I did feel the book slowed a great deal at that stage.  I think, maybe, that Anne Neville is just a little too bland in this book; she's too sweet and loving and it's in these instances that I was pulled out of the experience.  Fortunately, the book gets back on track, treason piles upon treason, historical figures change allegiances like there's no tomorrow, and the final section of the novel is breathtakingly brilliant, including the expected battle scene, but also one particular council scene that I found incredibly powerful.

 

My only complaint really, in the end, is that the book is just too long, and I really lost some impetus in the middle, kept thinking I was only halfway through and wanted to get it done.  But I'm pleased that I didn't do my usual thing and force myself to read it when I wasn't in the mood.  I took my time over it and enjoyed it more as a result.  And, I suppose, I should be thankful that the publishers didn't make her spread it over a trilogy - or more - and kept it to one superior volume.  

 

It's a cracking piece of historical fiction.  Hilary Mantel it is not - Penman's writing isn't on that level - but it's hugely enjoyable and, vitally, it has about it an air of authenticity that makes me want to believe that this is how it was.

 

 

8/10

Edited September 27, 2013 by Karsa Orlong

[Athena]

Great review ! I'm sorry to hear the book dragged a bit in the middle, though your 8/10 rating means you quite enjoyed it overall, that's good (especially after all the trouble you went through to read the book!). It's a beautiful cover. What do you plan on reading next?

 

I should really read up on the history of the UK, I don't know some of the names you mentioned . I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten some of the things I was taught in primary and secondary school about history (I don't think we were ever taught the history of royal Britain, though.) (history has always confused me, I feel like I can never know exactly how things happened or understand everything exactly). No, you don't have to go and explain unless you want to , I don't want to cause any problems for you just because of my lack of knowledge .

Edited September 27, 2013 by Athena

[Signor Finzione]

Great review! Glad to hear you managed to make it to the end and still enjoy it. It's a pretty attractive-looking book, I have to say. Is it written in 1st person or 3rd?

 

Don't worry, Gaia, the only names I recognised were Richard III and Henry VII.

[Karsa Orlong]

Great review ! I'm sorry to hear the book dragged a bit in the middle, though your 8/10 rating means you quite enjoyed it overall, that's good

 

Thanks, Athena.  I think any book this long is going to have parts where it drags a bit, it's probably unavoidable.  

 

 

(especially after all the trouble you went through to read the book!). It's a beautiful cover. What do you plan on reading next?

 

King of Thorns is up next 

 

 

I should really read up on the history of the UK, I don't know some of the names you mentioned . I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten some of the things I was taught in primary and secondary school about history (I don't think we were ever taught the history of royal Britain, though.) (history has always confused me, I feel like I can never know exactly how things happened or understand everything exactly). No, you don't have to go and explain unless you want to , I don't want to cause any problems for you just because of my lack of knowledge .

 

As in the Wars of the Roses?  Hee, now you're testing me!  They were wars fought for the throne of England between the houses of York and Lancaster over the course of about 30 years during the mid to late 15th century.  Richard III was the youngest of four York brothers and the second Yorkist king, after his eldest brother Edward (IV) 

[Karsa Orlong]

Great review! Glad to hear you managed to make it to the end and still enjoy it. It's a pretty attractive-looking book, I have to say. Is it written in 1st person or 3rd?

 

It's in third person, multiple pov etc.

 

Actually, one thing I should have mentioned is that it is so obvious to me now just how much George R.R. Martin has taken from the Wars of the Roses for 'A Song of Ice & Fire'.  I'm starting to wonder now if his books should be classed as 'historical fantasy'

[Athena]

As in the Wars of the Roses?  Hee, now you're testing me!  They were wars fought for the throne of England between the houses of York and Lancaster over the course of about 30 years during the mid to late 15th century.  Richard III was the youngest of four York brothers and the second Yorkist king, after his eldest brother Edward (IV) 

x

Thanks !

 

I hope you like King of Thorns, though I think you will .

 

I can see what you mean about A Song of Ice and Fire, Lancaster and Lannister sound somewhat similar for a start.. (I'll have to read up on Wikipedia on War of the Roses, before today I hadn't actually heard of this phrase .).