50 Books Challenge 2022 Part Seven

Patrick O'Brian! You can't move for people throwing bouquets at the whole series. Not a fan myself.

@AliasGrape I assume she's read English Passengers by Matthew Kneale? Quite a few years old now but I thought a very solid novel, plenty going on.

Mildly left field but what about one of the whatsisname Master and Commander novels, is it O'Brien? With the Aubrey character in them? I can't Google on this tab but will correct his name in a minute. I'm saying thus despite being very underwhelmed by them myself, I found the approach tedious and clunkily written, but lots of men people seem to love them.

The Ship Beneath the Ice is a new book that has been reviewed well, Alias.. A good follow up to Erebus?

Thanks @Stokey and @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie for those recommendations.

I know she’s read the Allende. Still Life is a good possibility and I will check the others out.

Caliban

Barrow’s Boys is good

The Caiban Shore

The Sinking of the Whale Ship Essex
The Worst Journey in the World
Jan (James then) Morris Coronation Everest

So, have just finished the aforementioned The Whalebone Theatre , a debut novel by Joanna Quinn. This was a very well received debut and is indeed impressive and accomplished. A quick google tells me this was her PhD project extended and is a somewhat different enterprise.

It is a country house novel, leading into a WW2 novel and, yes, this is indeed a narrative very familiar ! Like most Amazon reviewers, I felt it was a book of two halves- although the opening is slow , I thought it was more atmospheric and intriguing , creating interesting ambivalent feelings towards the adult characters. The WW2 stuff moves at a faster pace but, to me anyway was less original when the heroine gets to France. I actually found all the 1919 stuff about the dynamics of class and marriage and the bit about Jasper's dead first wife more adeptly done.

The best bit is Flossie who gets abandoned for too much of the novel and her affair with Hans is really well done. I found brother Digby less interesting. The Russian painter adds very little to the plot really. The book is intentionally female focuses which leads to some of the male characters (Digby, Willoughby, Taras, Jasper, Hans ) being ditched from the narrative, often never to return.

There are lots of characters - maybe too many and I kind of forgot who some of them were.

When Quinn writes another one , I hope she will ditch the sudden forays into PhD Creative Writing experimentation with form stuff! She does it about 4 times and it jars ,although they were some of the more memorable parts so maybe it did serve its purpose!

Still Life is another good one, war too but based in Italy with a chaotic bunch of characters.

Isabelle Allende's latest one The Long Petal of the Sea may go down well @AliasGrape. I found it over researched, but it starts in the Spanish Civil War and moves over to Chile.

Thanks @EineReiseDurchDieZeit She's definitely read/ got the first.

I think TTOD might be a winner, I had mixed feelings but I'm sure she'd like it, but I've got this niggling feeling I've either given it to her before, or recommended it - I honestly can't remember though.

I'm going to have to just ask her I think!

Thanks @PepeLePew - that's one that's on my tbr list too after seeing recs on here.

@AliasGrape

Homage To Catalonia ? TTOD ?

I'd recommend South Riding by Winifred Holtby. I think anyone who enjoys good stories and good writing would like it and it's both edifying (lots of chat about local authority committee meetings and drainage) and a good love story.
It's set in a lightly fictionalised Hull though so not terribly interesting as a location.

That sounds fab @Terpsichore - can't seem to get hold of a copy in time for Christmas unfortunately but it's definitely going on the list for her next birthday :)

I’ve recommended this before, @AliasGrape, but I was enthralled by Fergus Fleming’s Barrow’s Boys, which is largely about the sea-voyages of the 19thc to try and explore undiscovered territory - including the Franklin/Erebus expedition - but also land journeys. It’s wonderfully written and truly fascinating. One of my stand-out books of a couple of years ago.

Sorry @Tarahumara - it was you who suggested The Lacuna and I think she has read it but thank you.

@Gingerwarthog thank you I’ll check that out

Thanks Piggy
I think she’s read The Lacuna
I can’t see her enjoying Zafon for some reason - I’m not sure why. I think she can cope with some elements of magical realism but not too much.

Ive never known her speak about/ enjoy anything war related as in WW1 or WW2 - certainly not from the British side anyway. But that’s not to say she wouldn’t enjoy it - just that it’s not the sort of thing that comes up when we talk books. (Spanish civil war or any type of coup or revolution anywhere then yes, more interested!) I’ll check out the Whalebone Theatre though, sounds like it could be a good one (maybe for me too!)

If she likes the sea then what about Fabled Coast which tells of the myths and legends around the UK coasts?

37. The Hobbit J.R.R Tolkein. This was a prime reading book which I picked up because I'd not read it and heard a lot about by friends who are huge tolkein fans. I loved it and couldn't put it down near the end, I know it's seen my many as a children's book but I still adored it. Not sure if I'll ever read lord of the rings but am glad to have read this.

Next book is A Christmas Cornucopia thought it be a good pick up and put down over next few days.

@AliasGrape
My similarly active and sharp father in law loved Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier.

Also Whalebone Theatre has an amateur dramatics plot. Sort of.

Also, has she read Carlos Ruiz Zafon?

If she loved The Poisonwood Bible, how about The Lacuna?

How is she on war stuff? The Whalebone Theatre is good. It's similar in some ways to heart's Invisible Furies but I think it's a whole lot better. Female protagonists who have some gumption and end of an era type stuff. Got 50 pages of it to go so will be reviewing soon!

Just dropping in with a plea for help - not much of my own reading to update on at the moment.

Have my 86 year old aunt staying for Christmas and her gift hasn't arrived. I want to get her a back up book from amazon just in case.

She's not your typical octogenarian, was still working in travel up to the start of COVID, lives abroad, still travels a lot, sings in a choir, acts in an amateur dramatics group, member of a walking group.

She loves travel writing but has probably read most of the big names, big fan of Dervla Murphy and has read all of her work.

A few years ago I sent her Erebus which was a hit - she loves ships/ sailing.

Last one I sent her was The Heart's Invisible Furies - chosen on the basis that it reminded me a bit of John Irving and she loves his books. She liked it.

Other stuff I know she loved to give an idea of her taste -

Like Water for Chocolate
Big fan of Isabelle Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Poisonwood Bible
Tulip Fever
Stuff about Spain - Ghosts of Spain etc

Does anyone have any suggestions? Either for travel writing/ biography that might appeal, or good novels with a travel slant, or set somewhere interesting?

39. A Three Dog Problem by S. J. Bennett The second in the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series. These books are pretty silly with the ridiculous premise that Queen Elizabeth II was some sort of super sleuth who regularly solved crimes. But they're easy to read, good little mysteries and give an interesting insight into the inner workings of royal life and all the staff the royals have and the ways in which they rely on them. In this one a senior housekeeper at Buckingham Palace is found dead beside the swimming pool, ostensibly after a tragic accident. Apparently separately, the Queen is investigating how a personal painting of hers has somehow ended up in the office of a royal navy officer and a campaign of hate mail among the staff at the palace needs investigating. Are all these issues linked? Or just unfortunate coincidences?