I’ve not had a great couple of weeks at the cinema. Safe Haven, Hansel and Gretel, Die Hard and Warm Bodies have been latest big screen forays and it’s fair to say that none of them will be troubling the compilers of the end of year “Best of” lists…
A Cold Snow In Castaway County
1 March 2012 by 1 Comment
I’ve not yet visited America but I have a strong sense of what different areas are like. New York City is a place of 24 hour excitement, Los Angeles is glamorous…
Nights of Awe
22 February 2012 by Leave a Comment
At the beginning of this year I had never read any Finnish literature, it’s nearly the end of February and I’ve now read two great Finnish books. The first was the great little novella, The Brothers….
The Reluctant Detective
29 November 2011 by Leave a Comment
I was first drawn to Scottish crime novel The Reluctant Detective by the tweets of its author Sinclair Macleod who uses social media to promote this book and its follow up The Good Girl. He claims that his novels are as “Scottish as Irn-Bru and Haggis” and offer “Crime with a Scottish accent” …
Was Jane Austen Murdered?
15 November 2011 by Leave a Comment
Jane Austen, author of classic books including Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility, died in 1817 at the age of just 41. Since then there has been much speculation about the cause of death with suggestions including Addison’s Disease, Hodgkin’s Lymphona and Bovine Tuberculosis. The latest theory comes from crime novelist Lindsay Ashford is that the author died of arsenic poisoning, very possibly deliberately administered…
The Fifth Commandment (El Quinto Mandamiento)
14 October 2011 by Leave a Comment
There’s a great exchange in the very first episode of the The West Wing where Toby argues with a Christian fundamentalist about the order of the Ten Commandments. As President Bartlet points out later in the scene the first commandment is “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me”…