Janet Posted March 29, 2016 Author Share Posted March 29, 2016 I went to the library today and borrowed another Agatha Christie Poirot CD audio book for Peter and I to listen to in the car when we go away next. This time it is Lord Edgware Dies, narrated by Hugh Fraser who plays Captain Hastings (not Gavin Hastings, which I just typed! ) in the ITV adaptations. I also borrowed a DVD of Cold Comfort Farm based on the book of the same name by Stella Gibbons. I've read the book before but it was chosen for book club and I didn't really want to re-read it so I thought I'd try watching it instead! </cheat> I also go the following in the post from the lovely Claire today. I said I wanted to read it so she's loaned it to me. I've enjoyed the two (or is it three?) of Tony Hawks's previous books that I've read so hopefully I shall enjoy this too. I love surprises , especially when they involve books, so thanks, Claire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Great review! A bit of a shame about the narrator. I hope you enjoy all your newly acquired books . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 I also borrowed a DVD of Cold Comfort Farm based on the book of the same name by Stella Gibbons. I've read the book before but it was chosen for book club and I didn't really want to re-read it so I thought I'd try watching it instead! I'm rereading Cold Comfort Farm at the moment for my English County Challenge. Have to say, I'm not getting as much enjoyment out of it as I did first time. In fact I'm struggling a bit. It's OK, and I can see why it's rated, but actually I've enjoyed some of her other stuff more since that last read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Great review! A bit of a shame about the narrator. I hope you enjoy all your newly acquired books . Thanks, Gaia. I'm rereading Cold Comfort Farm at the moment for my English County Challenge. Have to say, I'm not getting as much enjoyment out of it as I did first time. In fact I'm struggling a bit. It's OK, and I can see why it's rated, but actually I've enjoyed some of her other stuff more since that last read. I'm sorry to hear that. I really didn't fancy re-reading it. I haven't watched the DVD yet - I shall do so on Sunday whilst Peter is watching the T20 in the pub! (It's on Sky, which we don't have). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 As ever, I'm behind with my reviews. I'm also struggling to decide what defines a classic in my first post of my blog (a perennial problem, I think...) - I mean, I've classed South Riding by Winifred Holtby (first published 1936) as a classic, even though I don't think it's particularly well known, but I haven't classed The Stars Look Down by A J Cronin (posted a year earlier) as one. It's easy with books by Dickens, Hardy, Austen, Trollope etc, but I think it's a bit of a grey area for books published from 1900 to the start of WW2. It doesn't matter in the great scheme of things, but it's frustrating there not being a definitive answer! I watched Cold Comfort Farm today (I didn't go into work after my weekend of being poorly - I only work two days a week so I'm going to go in on Thursday instead). It was great - but I can't sufficiently remember to book to decide if it's a faithful adaptation or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 It's easy with books by Dickens, Hardy, Austen, Trollope etc, but I think it's a bit of a grey area for books published from 1900 to the start of WW2. It doesn't matter in the great scheme of things, but it's frustrating there not being a definitive answer! I agree, this is totally frustrating me too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I agree, this is totally frustrating me too . That actually brought me up short. Here I am reading books, some of which are deemed to be classics, but not knowing what the definition of a classic book is?! So I googled it. "A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, for example through an imprimatur such as being listed in a list of great books, or through a reader's personal opinion" is what came up - courtesy of Wikipedia. It doesn't exactly tie you down does it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 is what came up - courtesy of Wikipedia. It doesn't exactly tie you down does it! Not really! Ah well - it's only for my own benefit how I classify so it doesn't *really* matter much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I'm sorry to hear that. I really didn't fancy re-reading it. I haven't watched the DVD yet - I shall do so on Sunday whilst Peter is watching the T20 in the pub! (It's on Sky, which we don't have). I took a short break from it to finish another book in time for my book group, and then returned on Sunday, promptly reading the whole of the last 60% in one sitting! Loved every second of it. I think it the problem was as much the fact that I was having to read in short chunks which to me is really not doing right by a book. As soon as I was able to get my teeth into it, the book fizzed away nicely. Have now also got the DVD (Kate Beckinsale version) to enjoy their interpretation of it too I'm also struggling to decide what defines a classic in my first post of my blog (a perennial problem, I think...) - I mean, I've classed South Riding by Winifred Holtby (first published 1936) as a classic, even though I don't think it's particularly well known, but I haven't classed The Stars Look Down by A J Cronin (posted a year earlier) as one. It's easy with books by Dickens, Hardy, Austen, Trollope etc, but I think it's a bit of a grey area for books published from 1900 to the start of WW2. It doesn't matter in the great scheme of things, but it's frustrating there not being a definitive answer! Waterstones published a book back in 1999 called The Test of Time where they asked a whole host of people what makes a classic a classic? They got back as many different answers as there were contributors, or so it felt! Calvino has published his 14 points that make a classic, but one or two are somewhat abstruse. Personally, a classic is something along the lines of a book that successfully spans more than one generation (preferably more than two), and has something to say to the reader beyond just a story. That's still very loose,and there needs to be something of greatness in there, of being part of a canon, but that's largely how I see classics. Much as I absolutely adored South Riding, I don't think it's quite made it fully as a 'classic' yet, although it should do in the next few years. It simply isn't yet strong enough in the current generations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 "A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy...through a reader's personal opinion" That's the bit I'd pay attention to, because I think it really does come down to personal opinion. Personally, I like to use a date to draw a nice clean line between them. This way I don't run into problems such as yours, Janet, of classifying one as a classic but not another published around the same time. At some stage I decided to use World War II as my dividing line. Books published prior to the end of WWII (so, up to and including 1945) are classics (to me). There's a bit of a grey area for what I would call 'modern classics', but if I have to define that, it would probably be books published between, say, 1946 and the end of the Vietnam War. Why Vietnam? I have no idea. There's no logic behind my choice. But I think books published after that are a little too recent to be considered any type of classic. That's my humble opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 6, 2016 Author Share Posted April 6, 2016 (edited) I took a short break from it to finish another book in time for my book group, and then returned on Sunday, promptly reading the whole of the last 60% in one sitting! Loved every second of it. I think it the problem was as much the fact that I was having to read in short chunks which to me is really not doing right by a book. As soon as I was able to get my teeth into it, the book fizzed away nicely. Have now also got the DVD (Kate Beckinsale version) to enjoy their interpretation of it too I'm glad you enjoyed your revisit to the book in the end. I sat down to watch the DVD on Sunday afternoon (after a weekend of being poorly) only to find I'd forgotten to unlock the DVD case when I picked it up from the library. It was due back on Tuesday so although I was still feeling wobbly and hadn't gone in to work (I work part-time so I went in today instead to make up my time) I dashed to the library to open it and watched it on Monday early evening with my 18 year old daughter. I thought it was great! I can't really remember a great deal of the detail of the book so I'm not sure how faithful the adaptation is. The cast were brilliant. I wasn't going to re-read the book before Book Club but I think I might try to skim read it if I get time. I will respond to the second part of your post in a separate reply. Edit: My daughter loved it too! Edited April 6, 2016 by Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Neverwhere by Neil GaimanThe ‘blurb’Under the streets of London there's a world most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There's a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining... And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city. Richard Mayhew moves from his native Scotland to take up a new job in London. He imagines London to be a grey, or even black, city – not the colour-filled metropolis he finds there, and he quickly settles in. Three years later and Richard has a career and a demanding girlfriend called Jessica. One evening, when he and Jessica are heading out to dinner with her boss they come across a young woman who is bloody and being pursued by two men. Richard rescues her (much to Jessica’s disgust – the meeting with her boss is important… doesn’t he realise that?) but soon discovers that the young woman, Door, is from the mysterious London Under – a whole new, unknown world below his very feet, and that one act of kindness changes the course of his life as he is drawn into a perilous adventure in the dangerous underworld from which there appears to be no return…I didn’t realise this was a ‘novelisation’ – a book written on the strength of the TV series and it’s funny (it’s really not!!) because I was only thinking the other day that I’ve never read a novelisation before. I sincerely wish I’d watched it when it was on! As someone who loves the lively, bustling, eclectic city of London I very much enjoyed reading about the alternative version. I loved the characters, particularly Door, the charismatic Marquis de Carabas and the loyal protagonist Richard – I also loved the characterisation of various districts of London. Although I would say that fantasy really isn’t my thing, I’ve read several of Gaiman’s books since I was drawn to the cover of The Graveyard Book back in 2009 and so far I have enjoyed them all! I have got Anansi Boys on my ‘to read’ pile so I shall look forward to trying that at some stage.The paperback edition is 385 pages long and is published by Headline. It was first published in 1995. The ISBN is 9780755322800.5/5 (I loved it)(Finished 5 March 2016) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Glad that you enjoyed Neverwhere Janet, it is one of my favourite Gaiman stories. I have seen the TV series (I think Lenny Henry was involved with the creation of the story somewhere along the line), and it is good, with some great acting and the characters well captured. I may have the DVVD around somewhere still, if you ever fancy watching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Great review! So far I've liked all the Gaiman books I've read. This one sounds good too, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Glad that you enjoyed Neverwhere Janet, it is one of my favourite Gaiman stories. Great review! So far I've liked all the Gaiman books I've read. This one sounds good too, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks. I have seen the TV series (I think Lenny Henry was involved with the creation of the story somewhere along the line), and it is good, with some great acting and the characters well captured. I may have the DVVD around somewhere still, if you ever fancy watching it. That's a kind offer. I'm currently behind on my DVD watching but I may well take you up on the offer some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Great review of Neverwhere - I've just added it to my wishlist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Great review of Neverwhere - I've just added it to my wishlist Thanks. It's great fun - I hope you enjoy it when you get round to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share Posted April 21, 2016 I haven't been able to post much as my laptop died with little warning. Sadly I hadn't done a full back up since the start of January so my beloved spreadsheets are woefully out of date. (Yes, I know it's my fault for not backing up more often). To add to my woes, it appears the new laptop I bought last week isn't working properly so I'm going to have to go back to the shop this weekend. Woe is me!! On the plus side I'm having a good reading year so far in 2016. I'm listening to two audio books (one with Peter in the car), both of which I'm really enjoying, and I have started The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers which is also shaping up to be a good read. I used to bell-ring, once upon a time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 I hope you can get the laptop fixed . I'm glad your reading is going well, though . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Oh dear. Sad news about your laptops. My computer has been sending me a message every day to tell that I haven't back up in about 40 days. I think I better get on top of that now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Eugh, technology is a pain isn't it?! Can't believe your new one didn't work, that's really annoying! I'm terrible for not backing stuff up too - I should know better, given the amount of times I've lost, or almost lost, everything I have to total system failure. And currently I'm working off a 9 year old second hand brick, so the chances of it dying relatively soon are pretty high! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 I've once lost files because the hard drive broke and I didn't make a backup very often, so now I try to do so regularly. I don't want that to happen again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Thanks, Gaia, Kylie and Noll. I took the new laptop back (It was an HP - same as my previous one) and now have a shiny Lenovo. It's very quick!! Peter has ordered some gadget to put my old hard drive into to see if he can extract my lost files. Fingers crossed! At least I had backed up this year! I really ought to make more of an effort to do it more regularly. Noll - 9 years is pretty impressive! I think perhaps you ought to do some sort of back-up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Peter has ordered some gadget to put my old hard drive into to see if he can extract my lost files. Fingers crossed! At least I had backed up this year! I really ought to make more of an effort to do it more regularly. Noll - 9 years is pretty impressive! I think perhaps you ought to do some sort of back-up... A bridge of some kind, I'd imagine. I used one of those to get all the junk off my last laptop onto this current one after the old one's power socket went and I couldn't turn it on anymore. Hard disk was fine, the machine was just damaged in a way that prevented it taking power from a supply. Bridge worked wonders, saved all my stuff. My current one is only 9 because it's second hand - I've had a year and a half. Its former owner was an I.T. guy here in UCC as a work laptop, so I'd say he took good care of it. But yeah, definitely time to do a backup. I have a perfectly good huge external hard drive, so I have zero excuses if I lose anything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 On the plus side I'm having a good reading year so far in 2016. I'm listening to two audio books (one with Peter in the car), both of which I'm really enjoying, and I have started The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers which is also shaping up to be a good read. I used to bell-ring, once upon a time! Is that the Ian Carmichael one ? I think The Nine Tailors is my favourite of the adaptations ( though it`s a brilliant book, anyway ). Condolences on the laptop. Boo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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