What are you reading now?

[french frank]

Once done that idea couldn't very well be used again!

There was some anger and cries of "cheating' from people reading "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" for the first time. My idea was more of a cliché: the story within a story to induce readers into making false assumptions about what they were being told. I don't have much interest in straightforward fiction (that's for factual narrative). But then, I've never had any of my fiction accepted for publication

[LMcD]

Just about to start 'Overlord', which is one of the few books by Max Hastings that I have not yet read. His integration of the experiences of individuals into the larger picture and his detailed yet commendably clear explanation of the latter are masterly.

[Pulcinella]

Just finished The other Bennet sister, by Janice Hadlow, her take on Mary's life after the death of Mr Bennet and the entail on the house coming into effect.
Perhaps a bit long for its content, but some splendid language and put downs.
I loved it when Lady Catherine, having criticised both the grocer and the cook on a visit, helped herself to another piece of the despised cake.

Now just started Amnesty, by Avarind Adiga (winner of the Man Booker Prize with The White Tiger).

[Petrushka]

I'm sure there is great scope for a short story, or a novel, in that synopsis 8o, but I'm not the man for it. My contribution to the theme of hidden narrators is to refer to Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (was it?) where the first person narrator was them what dunnit.
I'll get my coat.

Once done that idea couldn't very well be used again!

[Padraig]

....I think I'd sell my soul....to be able to eat cornish pasties, pies and belgium buns again....let alone walk up a hill....

I'm sure there is great scope for a short story, or a novel, in that synopsis 8o, but I'm not the man for it. My contribution to the theme of hidden narrators is to refer to Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (was it?) where the first person narrator was them what dunnit.
I'll get my coat.

[HighlandDougie]

Well, I may be in a very contrary mood but that doesn't stop me from recommending, "Cahokia Jazz", by Francis Spufford. Sort of - but not really - a police procedural. An imaginative triumph.

[eighthobstruction]

....I think I'd sell my soul....to be able to eat cornish pasties, pies and belgium buns again....let alone walk up a hill....

[vinteuil]

re : 'narrator identity'. I have just been re-reading Death in Venice , this time in the Norton critical edn, translated by Clayton Koelb. The novella itself takes up about 60 pages, the rest of the 230 pages comprises notes and essays, including an interesting piece by Dorrit Cohn, 'The Second Author of Death in Venice' - which tries to disentangle which parts of the book are narrated by Mann, which by 'the narrator', and which by Aschenbach. I think I need to reread the essay...

And I think it's time to try again with Dr Faustus. Years back I read the Lowe-Porter translation (struggled, but eventually enjoyed). A friend has recommended the more recent translation by John Woods.

[AuntDaisy]

In this case a narrator who is apparently identifiable but may actually be another of the characters; so the 'point of view' aspect is not clear. I gave up on my idea of telling a story in which there were no characters at all. I can't remember who the 'narrator' was, if anyone. It all got a bit convoluted. I also took an idea from Borges y yo about the 'narrator' meeting himself on a park bench. I have a feeling that's the one I submitted to Stand magazine and they just returned the covering letter with the word 'No' written on it. I think there might be a short story in all of this

Thanks, that helps. As does a "Borges & I" translation (courtesy of Wikipedia).
BTW, I misread that as Strand magazine, Holmes.

[french frank]

Not sure what a "narrator identity puzzle" is, exactly.

In this case a narrator who is apparently identifiable but may actually be another of the characters; so the 'point of view' aspect is not clear. I gave up on my idea of telling a story in which there were no characters at all. I can't remember who the 'narrator' was, if anyone. It all got a bit convoluted. I also took an idea from Borges y yo about the 'narrator' meeting himself on a park bench. I have a feeling that's the one I submitted to Stand magazine and they just returned the covering letter with the word 'No' written on it. I think there might be a short story in all of this

[AuntDaisy]

Over lunch in the caff: Henry James short story The Lesson of the Master. Moderately interesting where the style doesn't obscure meaning; and I there and then determined that I WILL complete my collection of short stories based on narrator identity puzzles. (I don't believe I shall as I find writing very difficult.)

I haven't read the Henry James short story, but have heard a radio adaptation.
Not sure what a "narrator identity puzzle" is, exactly. But, I'd guess that some forum posts might fit the bill...
Good luck with the writing.

[french frank]

Over lunch in the caff: Henry James short story The Lesson of the Master. Moderately interesting where the style doesn't obscure meaning; and I there and then determined that I WILL complete my collection of short stories based on narrator identity puzzles. (I don't believe I shall as I find writing very difficult.)

[Ian Thumwood]

I wondered if anyone had ever read any of Claudia Pineiro's books ? I had never heard if her until one of her books was reviewed on A Good Read.

'Betty Boo' is really good. It does not include any speech marks but I find the style really compelling. The writer is Argentina's best selling crime writer but it is unlike any crime story I have read. The eponymous heroine is a novelist who is employed to write a piece about a murder for a newspaper. The behaviour of all the characters and their thoughts and dialogue ring true. I love the fact that we are reading frim a female perspective and the interaction between the women seems more authentic than anything else I have read. Pineiro is a terrific writer. This is perhaps a perfunctory plot yet Pineiro elevates the story into high quality literature . This is the best Latin writer I have encountered .

[LMcD]

??? I was asking Padraig about Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series (with Sean Bean).

Sorry - I thought 3603 was a reply to 3595!
I thoroughly enjoyed Sean Bean's Sharpe, but haven't read anything by Bernard Cornwell.

[Padraig]

??? I was asking Padraig about Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series (with Sean Bean).

I saw one episode some time ago, f f, but I was intimidated by the number of Sharpe books available in the public library. I have sometimes followed a series eg the Harry Bosch detective novels by Michael Connolly, and the Ian Fleming Bond series of paperbacks

. I'm re-reading Lives like Loaded Guns, a biography of Emily Dickinson by Lyndall Gordon.