What are you reading now?

[Stanfordian]

'Happy Odyssey' - Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.

[Richard Tarleton]

'Happy Odyssey' - Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.

I just came across a reference to him in Max Hastings's "All Hell Let Loose", his history of WW2, where he is mentioned in the chapter about the Norway campaign. What an extraordinary life story. Allegedly the model for Evelyn Waugh's Ritchie-Hook.

[DracoM]

'Riddley Walker' / Russell Hoban - for the fourth time. Weird language, weird situaitions, frightening implications.

[vinteuil]

'Happy Odyssey' - Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.

... an interesting (scary) wiki entry; they indicate that he doesn't mention his VC in Happy Odyssey - nor his wife and children -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart

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[Joseph K]

'Happy Odyssey' - Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.

Not the Right Honourable Sir Hercules Hannibal Habeas Corpus Anderson K. G., K. P., K. T., P. C., K. C. B.,M. P., J. P., M. B., D. S. O., S. O. D., M. F. H., M. R. I. A., B. L., Mus. Doc., P. L. G., F. T. C. D., F. R. U. I., F. R. C. P. I., F. R. C. S. I.?

[Mal]

I just came across a reference to him in Max Hastings's "All Hell Let Loose", his history of WW2, where he is mentioned in the chapter about the Norway campaign. What an extraordinary life story. Allegedly the model for Evelyn Waugh's Ritchie-Hook.

Brigadier Ritchie-Hook! Just encountered him in Waugh's "Men at Arms", one of literature's funniest characters in one of the funniest literary novels. I immediately borrowed the other two books of the "Sword of Honour" trilogy from the library. I'll add Hastings's book to the list, after Waugh and Ricks's Churchill & Orwell I fancy a comprehensive overview of WW II, warts and all. And of course I must read Happy Odyssey. (Both books are in my library - there must be a Waugh fanatic on the staff - hurrah!)

[Petrushka]

Currently re-reading Single & Single by John le Carre. I say re-reading but I have little memory of reading this first time round though in fairness it was 19 years ago.

My next le Carre re-read will be The Constant Gardener, one I didn't get on with too well first time so it will be interesting to see how I feel when I get round to it for the second time.

[vinteuil]

Not the Right Honourable Sir Hercules Hannibal Habeas Corpus Anderson K. G., K. P., K. T., P. C., K. C. B.,M. P., J. P., M. B., D. S. O., S. O. D., M. F. H., M. R. I. A., B. L., Mus. Doc., P. L. G., F. T. C. D., F. R. U. I., F. R. C. P. I., F. R. C. S. I.?

... I think you have forgotten that he was HRH rear admiral right honourable Sir Hercules Hannibal Habeas Corpus Anderson... (Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry)

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[Richard Tarleton]

Currently re-reading Single & Single by John le Carre. I say re-reading but I have little memory of reading this first time round though in fairness it was 19 years ago.

My next le Carre re-read will be The Constant Gardener, one I didn't get on with too well first time so it will be interesting to see how I feel when I get round to it for the second time.

Single and Single another version of "a son's anguished relations with his father" [Adam Sisman] previously explored in A Perfect Spy....

Sounds as if you're re-reading them in chronological order, Pet

"One place where The Constant Gardener did not sell well was Kenya itself. The depiction of a nation riddled with corrupt policemen, officials and politicians was not appreciated by the authorities, who banned the book from sale; it became a joke in Nairobi that, to avoid trouble with the authorities, bookshops stocked it in the gerdening section." [Sisman]

[muzzer]

I have just finished The Invention of Angela Carter by Edmund Gordon, an exemplary biography which I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone with an interest in this phenomenal writer.

[Petrushka]

Single and Single another version of "a son's anguished relations with his father" [Adam Sisman] previously explored in A Perfect Spy....

Sounds as if you're re-reading them in chronological order, Pet

"One place where The Constant Gardener did not sell well was Kenya itself. The depiction of a nation riddled with corrupt policemen, officials and politicians was not appreciated by the authorities, who banned the book from sale; it became a joke in Nairobi that, to avoid trouble with the authorities, bookshops stocked it in the gerdening section." [Sisman]

Yes, I'm re-reading in chronological order as and when the mood takes me. I've got the Sisman biography but not yet read it as it's too big to cart around and will have to wait for retirement in 18 months time.

[Mal]

My next le Carre re-read will be The Constant Gardener, one I didn't get on with too well first time so it will be interesting to see how I feel when I get round to it for the second time.

Will that work? Why do you think it'll be any better the second time?

I gave up on Tinker, Tailor a few months ago,... too much convoluted plot for me, with under-developed characters. I made it through Spy who came in from the cold and a A small town in Germany, a few years ago, but again there was too much spy-toshery for me to rate them A+. Try Waugh, he's much funnier, his characters have three dimensions, and the tricky/tedious goings on take a few pages rather than hundreds.

Then again, sometimes an urge for spy-toshery comes upon me, and I have Smiley's people sitting on a shelf staring at me willing me to give le Carré one more chance.

[Richard Tarleton]

Will that work? Why do you think it'll be any better the second time?

I gave up on Tinker, Tailor a few months ago,... too much convoluted plot for me, with under-developed characters. I made it through Spy who came in from the cold and a A small town in Germany, a few years ago, but again there was too much spy-toshery for me to rate them A+. Try Waugh, he's much funnier, his characters have three dimensions, and the tricky/tedious goings on take a few pages rather than hundreds.

Then again, sometimes an urge for spy-toshery comes upon me, and I have Smiley's people sitting on a shelf staring at me willing me to give le Carré one more chance.

No point unless you've read TTSS, Mal..... Moles in SIS/MI6 is convoluted, that's sort of the point

[Mal]

I have just finished The Invention of Angela Carter by Edmund Gordon, an exemplary biography which I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone with an interest in this phenomenal writer.

Don't know her work at all, must correct that. Good Guardian web chat with Gordon here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/live/2017/feb/21/angela-carter-webchat-with-biographer-edmund-gordon-post-your-questions-now

Not liking Coetzee is a black mark against her, though. I rate his work highly. She likes Rushdie - I gave up on Midnight's Children. So maybe she's not for me, maybe a bit too experimental & Magic Realist. But my local library has several of her works, so I'll give her a try, maybe(!) Any you'd recommend for those who like straightforward novels?

Guardianista: "I have seen it written that Nights at the Circus was Angela Carter’s attempt at a Booker. I was wondering, why do you think she never made it onto a short list for the prize, and was she upset at being overlooked?"
Edmund_Gordon: "Yes, she was furious about being overlooked by the Booker! I think there were various reasons that she was overlooked - the most important one being the conservatism of some of the judges. (Richard Cobb, John Fuller and Ted Rowlands did for Nights at the Circus when it was nominated - the other judges, Anthony Curtis and Polly Devlin, had put it on their personal shortlists...)"

[Stanfordian]

Not the Right Honourable Sir Hercules Hannibal Habeas Corpus Anderson K. G., K. P., K. T., P. C., K. C. B.,M. P., J. P., M. B., D. S. O., S. O. D., M. F. H., M. R. I. A., B. L., Mus. Doc., P. L. G., F. T. C. D., F. R. U. I., F. R. C. P. I., F. R. C. S. I.?

Sorry, but V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. was his title! Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a professional soldier who rose to rank of Lieutenant-General. His V.C. and D.S.O., and was mentioned in dispatched six times, all examples of his bravery. He fought in the Boer War and both World Wars. "He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them." He lost an eye and had a hand amputated and that was before he escaped from prison in Italy in WW2.