It's George Borrow Time

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The story so far. 

In 2017 I read The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane which was without question the best non-fiction book I'd read that year. I chatted about it at the time on this blog.  Now he lauded about the 19th century writer and linguist George Borrow Now as it happened there were loads of his books available for free on my Kindle. So I thought "Great. I'll download them",  Which I did.

And so far I've hated every one I've read. 

I've just finished reading three of them which trust me as I will explain as we go along is not the great achievement that it appears to be.

The Songs Of Ranild is presumably the lyrics without a tune. I read it quickly. I wasn't impressed. Did not last long.

Letters To His Wife - The worst of the three. If only because there were just twelve yes twelve letters. And they were just mundane. Nothing important. Him asking for money I can recall. Really just not worth the paper this ebook wasn't printed on.

The Zincali:an account of the gypsies of Spain is the most substantial of the three but not great. Basically he was trying to flog the bible to this "tribe". And yes tribe is the right word because throughout the book the impression he gives is of a man looking down at a group of people he probably considers a few notches above savages.

The only bit that made me smile was when he was describing the Zincali women as basically lascivious. You know full well that the rich male readers were bellowing their disapproval whilst planning to visit the area in the summer.

In short then nothing has changed. George Borrow is a blog villain.

Until the next time.

The Insomniac Meanderings Post : As An Atheist I've Really Upset The Sleeping Gods Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well as I start writing this it's 3:15am. Let's be clear here. I have the day off (four actually mind you I've worked the previous ten). I could wake up at any time I want but I've woken up three??!!!

The sleeping gods are very unhappy with me today.

The Brexit timetable is dominating the news as we see what clowns or perhaps even worse are in the two main Westminister parties at the moment. Few things move me away from it though one of them is what's happening March 9 when Cardiff City FC play West Ham. I have the day off (good news) but am facing the invisible timetable that I don't know when the tickets that Cardiff season tickets haven't bought will be available. So the situation as to whether I'll be able to be the quiet one amongst the bluebirds fans is unresolved.

I do hope I can get a ticket. West Ham are one of the few things that could make me forget about Brexit. Indeed it's probably the only thing that brings me to a state best described as ten year old happy (when of course they win).

In the world of Welsh Twitter the issue Brexit aside that has seen to dominate is the latest drama from BBC Wales Pitching In which I chatted about recently where people were angry about the depiction of Wales based on the trailer of the show set in a trailer park alone. Well I've seen the episode now and it's even worse than the trailer suggested.

I won't bore you by repeating myself here. Except that my theory that the casting director is English and living in England so only can hear one Welsh accent holds water (in case you wonder why I haven't checked it, well it's a bit stalkery if you ask me).

BBC Wales needs to avoid making cliché Wales productions like this if it wants to represent the nation. It's no coincidence I think that the standout drama shows from Wales (even those with English/Welsh versions) are those instigated by the Welsh language channel S4C.

Just registered for a People's Pension Webinar on February 28th. Yes I'm of an age now when it's not far away.

Am I one who is getting irritated by Kindle books on Amazon. That's to say those books that Mr Bezos promotes seemingly constantly by email etc. Am I the only one who is comfortable enough to read a book on a Kindle but disturbed when the book seems to be only on a Kindle?

Speaking of Amazon they have cancelled a subscription to Amazon Prime because the card (which was a prepay card anyway ) was out of date. Thing is I hadn't realised I clicked onto join it. Not particularly bothered except it reminds me to be careful for the future.

Alexa has just reminded me (it's 6:15 now)about Easy Yoga. An app that I downloaded out of curiosity. But as my left foot hurts I think I'll leave it for another day.....and relax.

Anyway time to go back to sleep now. Thankfully the urge to zzzz has caught up on me.

Until the next time.

In Which Thinking Of The Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan Movie You've Got Mail Leads Me To The Main Enemy Of The Small Independent Bookshop

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

One of the great things about Twitter is that it can lead you to things and moments that you half forgotten or slotted in the back archives of your memory. Yesterday @Warlkareham (all rights reserved etc etc) made a joke about the 1998 Tom Hanks Meg Ryan movie You've Got Mail (I won't tell you what the joke was. It's only fair that you have a look at his Twitter feed).

I'd seen the movie with the wife. Meg Ryan's small independent bookstore under threat from Tom Hank's megastore bookshop chain. Two things occurred to me when I saw the Tweet. Firstly with regard to my chat about Julie and Julia (also written and directed by Nora Ephron) this is unquestionably a woman's film. Or shall we say a film designed with women in mind.

But secondly, even though email is an important part of this piece I cannot think of a movie that has aged so quickly. After all if it was made today Tom Hanks' bookshop chain would be threatened by Meg Ryan's internet Amazon like monolith.

There is after all only one totally (if you also include stationery) bookshop chain in Britain. Waterstones. In South Wales I know of one in Cardiff and the other in Swansea but none in between. There are chains where books do form an important part of the stock (W H Smith / The Works) but other than those essentially in towns across this disunited Kingdom it's otherwise the rare small independent bookshop or a charity shop.

As an aside there is in the South East Foyles (which I've never liked) but the bookshop conglomerate I do miss is Borders. They really cared about books and it showed.

Now regular readers will know that I have ordered books off Amazon and that I have a Kindle and I'm not afraid to use it. But I still buy them from bricks and mortar places as well. No matter what the internet can do nothing beats the thrill of discovering something that has perked your interests from the shelves.

I won't say what I'm going to say next I've really thought through but it struck me yesterday that (ebooks aside) the main enemy of the small independent bookshop are not online retailers. Because if you're after a specific not easily obtainable tome then the internet is probably where you would go to anyway.

No. The main enemy of the small independent bookstores are the supermarkets.

Books occupy a relatively small space in a supermarket. But they will stock those that they know will sell and will use their purchasing power as large chains to be able to offer these books at discounted prices. Something the independent would not be able to do. As a consequence the small independent retailer would have less chance to attract what was used to be described as "passing trade" for an impulse buy.

So here's an idea...…...ban supermarkets from selling books.

We're obviously talking here about towns where there is an independent bookshop but why not?  After all competition would still exist from W H Smith and The Works as well as of course online. Also supermarkets could easily fill the space with something else. I suspect that as a gift aside most people don't go into Tesco and the like specifically to buy a book. So you know what? I don't think that shoppers - readers or otherwise -would otherwise care if they disappeared from the aisles.

Perhaps, perhaps just perhaps, you would create a generation of readers who whilst still purchasing online would also experience the wonder and love of stepping into a local bookshop.

Perhaps.

Until the next time.

The Amazon £5 Random E-Book Buying Game : November Edition

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

As I've not played this game in a while these are the rules.

Armed with just £5 in my e pocket I try to buy as many ebooks for my Kindle as possible starting with the Daily Deals and seeing how recommendations they influence me....and that's it.

This time though I'm going to match the number of books bought by getting the same number of free Classic books they do. Just starting with the recommendations from the last classic novel I read. Agnes Grey.

So let's begin:

Nothing interests me on the Daily Deals. Does Amazon really think anybody but snobs would be interested in the Ritz cookbook? Even if it is for 99p (I wonder why?!)

Go through their autumn deals for 99p again nothing interests me until I see a copy of Wishful Drinking by the late Carrie Fisher. A writer I've always wanted to read but never got round too. Bought 99p.

Trawl through the recommended picks. Nothing. That is until I see The Complete works of Henry David Thoreau. I remember once buying a postcard when I was a teenager where he spoke of people following a different drummer. Funny after all these years it comes back to me. Bought 99p.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley. Shortlisted for the 2016 Booker prize is 99p. Worth a shout. Bought.

Peterloo The Massacre And it's Background by Donald Reed is topical not just for the film but also the unequal society has returned to Britain. Highly praised the book is 99p. Bought.

Finally Nick Spalding's novel Checking Out seems interesting. 99p. Bought.

So five free books to get.

Starting with The Way Of The Flesh by Samuel Butler. A book which seems ahead of it's time.

So we add also by Mr Butler Erewhon Revisited. Then Hudibras, then his notebooks and finally his book on Evolution. Not sure it it's supposed to be funny or not. Will find out in due time.

I think in all the cases of the free books it's fair to say the Butler did it.....I'll get my coat.

Until the next time

On Books : Where All Roads Lead To Rome Apart From An Embarrassing Turn-Off To A Cathedral

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Been a while since I've read books from my Kindle. Well these are four I've read in a few days as it's seems reading has powered back into my interests. All of them are available free as they are well out of copyright. Most of them also have some connection with the Roman Empire despite the random way I pick books there.

I swear my Kindle has a mind of it's own.

So let's start with:

Hannibal Makers Of History by Jacob Abbott. Mr Abbott was a prolific American author and this biography of the Carthaginian general who almost conquered Rome was written in 1876.

It's a workmanlike tome. It won't excite you to pursue the subject further but it's not dull either. Of the books I'm going to chat about today this it has to be said was by far the best.

Roads From Rome is a collection of stories from Ancient Rome by Anne Allinson published in 1913. I liked this one the least of the four I'm chatting today. Boring and not livened by having characters from that time ("Oh look there's Ovid, and now Virgil is making a guest appearance!")

Truly the greatest pleasure I received from this book was finishing it.

Now when you discover that Amazon have many old books no longer in copyright for free your instant reaction is to download them first by the digital ton and then properly ask questions afterwards. So when I saw a book called Ely Cathedral it was just downloaded. Though I do remember thinking I can't remember Ely in Cardiff having a cathedral (the main church in Wales is in another area of Cardiff, Llandaff). But not being an expert on churches and not normally interested anyway I electronically put the book to one side for another day.

Well that day came. And I discovered that this anonymous 1857 guide was about Ely Cathedral in Ely Cambridgeshire.....whoops.

So we have a book about a subject I'm not interested in in a place I'm unlikely to visit unless the wheels of my life really radically change. You won't be surprised to know I found the book dull. Though to be fair that's more due to me than the guide. If you're interested in churches then it might be for you.

Now the question I know you're asking as I'm writing this on an early (5:09am!) Sunday morning is this. What would the Emperors of Rome have been had they been living in the present day?

Some would have been politicians, others military figures, others managing a branch of McDonald's with Caesarean authority. But Meditations by Marcus Aurelius shows that this Roman emperor would have been a self help guru for in a Romancised way that's essentially what the book is.

Now unless you're interested in Roman history, or intend to live your life in the Ancient Roman manner in the same way someone  would wonder "What would Captain Kirk do?" when faced with any life event what you get if you take off the Roman aspects is ponced up common sense. Just like most self-help books really.

The next book I'm reading is Behind the Line A Story of College Life and football by Ralph Barbour.

Until the next time.

On Books: Including For Men At Some Time What Is The American Version Of Jane Austen

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Let's start with the latest library book I've read:

Peter Haining - The Great English Earthquake

Did you know there was a violent earthquake in England in 1884 with Essex as it's epicentre? Well  didn't. How a book about an earthquake in England during the Victorian era reached a small library in South Wales I don't know. But there we go.

Historians and Seismologists will love this book. Mr Haining knows his Essex earthquakes and the research he's done clearly shows this. However for the general reader (of which I'm unquestionably one) account after account of the ground shaking and damage to buildings can be wearisome after a while.

Still if you're into earthquakes and especially Essex earthquakes this is the book for you.

So a couple of days ago I was looking through the hard drive of the DVR (dominated by programmes the wife records now for me it's just Pobol Y Cwm and Bones generally speaking) when I noticed a film she'd recorded in late December when I was away in Essex exile looking after my unwell mother.

" I see you recorded Little Women" I said

"What of it?"

"Well I'm reading it right now".

And for the first time ever when I mentioned to the wife what book I'm reading she actually gasped.

My attitude to Louisa M Alcott's classic novel was exactly that to whatever Jane Austen tome you'd care to mention. As a boy/teenager/in my twenties I avoided it as it was "for girls". When I got older it was a case of so many books so little time...until now.

Let's start by saying that a fifty four year old man is not the target audience for this. But given it's classic status any true reader does need to say that they've read it.

Apparently Little Women was originally two books before merged into the one we know today. This did not surprise me. For (talking about the completed package) if football is described as a game of two halves then so is this novel. I can't remember another book where there seems to be a radical and sudden difference between it's first and second half. If there was one reason why I couldn't say I liked Little Women it was that.

The first part was very homespun American. And the thing is, nothing much really happened. It was a dull read. Indeed it was a shame that it wasn't set in the American South because with the general storyline (the lives of a group of women living in genteel poverty) I couldn't help thinking of cliched Country and Western tunes. The type that work along the lines of "We were poor and living in a cardboard box in Nashville....but we were happy" (not that poor mind you,they have a servant).

But it seemed as if Ms Alcott realised this because in the second half everything that she could have put in such a book seemed to be thrown in all of a sudden. So I disliked it for a different reason. That things happening so quickly in relation to the first part beggared belief.

But yet again it wasn't aimed at me. Mind you I've read Caitlin Moran and Marian Keyes and have enjoyed them as well. So perhaps it was just the case that Ms Alcott knew her audience and was happy enough with that.

Perhaps. Who can tell?

And in the random way I pick books from the Kindle the next ebook turns out to be Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. As I've said before in this blog my view of her is that she's in that group of writers I call "Literary Switzerland". In that I don't dislike them but I can't understand why they're considered great. A position that always bothered me because I feel I've missed something.

My Kindle has a mind of it's own.

Until the next time.

The Brief Return Of The Bookshop, Penguin Paperbacks and A Quick Word About Greetings Cards

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Wasn't working today (Monday) so the wife had some tasks for me to do.

"Get some ham as long as there are no purple bits in it".

Which I did. Apparently though the look was so white it was inedible so in the bin it went.

"Why did you get me Wholemeal bread?"

"I thought you liked it".

"I like Wholegrain idiot"

Oops...

But the one thing I did do without any argument or comeback was to post a couple of birthday cards the wife bought the day before. I went to Penarth to get some stamps before posting the letters. Job done.

Now a quick aside about cards. My wife is not the only woman I know who takes an interest in cards to such a forensic level it's CSI in it's thoroughness. She particularly takes interest in the verse.

Unless the card is humorous (rarely find them funny) I however have no interest in reading the verse. As long as the event, the picture and to whom it's referring to are OK I'm happy enough. And just for the record, when I receive a card I read what someone has written but the verse could be in Chinese for all I care.

Anyway back to Penarth and I was walking past the local bookshop where I noticed a series of miniature Penguin Paperbacks called Penguin Modern being displayed in a sought of light olive green cover.

The bookshop is called Griffin Books and it's that type of quirky place which is slowly disappearing from the local high street so more power to it's elbow. Unfortunately as we currently live in an apartment in the hunt for a proper home my book buying ways have been curtailed so much as though I would like to as there is no space currently for me to be a regular customer.

Ditto my collection of Penguin paperbacks which is locked in storage as I speak. Held until the moment arrives when I can open them and start reading "properly" again. At the moment the Kindle holds sway. And although as I've explained before the e reader has it's uses, there is something about the quiet pleasure of turning a page the electronic usurper can't match.

But here was a situation where the books were just £1 each and they were pocket book size....so....yes I was tempted......and having succumbed I went in.

Looking at the shelf where these Penguin Modern books were (fifty of them) the shop assistant/manager mentioned that they had been popular and were selling well. I could see why. There were works from authors from many parts of the globe such as Italo Calvino and Chinua Achebe. Eventually though I plumped for these two.

Different

Ryszard Kapuscinski was a Polish journalist who wrote The Emperor about the last days of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia and a collection of journalism called The Soccer War which I have read as well as other works that I haven't. I read once a review of a book that questioned a lot of the veracity of his work but as I haven't got round to reading that book I've no idea how valid that critique was.

Susan Sontag is a writer I've never read (so many books so little time) but I'm looking forward to reading her.

And so I was thinking. You know what I could just collect them. They're only small and wouldn't take that much space. I'd also be supporting my local bookshop.

Then I'd realised I'd made a mistake. I remembered too late that I didn't collect Penguin paperbacks with coloured bindings after 2013, Because their new owners did not recognise trade unions. I was so excited to buy an actual physical book it just slipped my mind.

Obviously I won't buy any more. But I feel I owe a debt to the Griffin Bookshop even though they wouldn't know (or probably care). So this is what I'll do. They are arranging a poetry reading in May (including Carol Ann Duffy). If I can make it I'll go there. If not I'll buy a hardback book from the shop.

Support your local bookshop.

Until the next time.

On A Boring Underground / Subway Journey? Call Perry Mason

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

For those who don't know. If you want to go to Victoria Underground station from Snaresbrook station you take the central line to Mile End, cross the platform and take the District Line to Victoria and that's it. Great railway journeys of the world it ain't.

So what you need to pass the time is a book. And I don't mean the Kindle either. Wasn't going to take that to the underground. So instead I looked at my mother's bookshelves and noticed a slightly battered paperback that I bought. I took it and read it. Half from Snaresbrook to Victoria on Tuesday and the remainder on the reverse journey today?

Why? Because wife/daughter came down from Wales to remind themselves what I looked like (and of course vice versa) for these five days.

A couple of diversions from the main chat. Firstly Monday is important as to whether I stay in Essex exile or can leave for Wales that day. Everything will depend on the result of my mother's outpatients appointment and whether after that able to leave before the Beast From The East snow arrives. Fingers crossed for that.

Secondly a quick word about the borough of  Westminster. People talk about the contrast within a short space of time between rich and poor. Must admit I agree. Here is a building near Victoria station.

Rich 

I must admit I really hate this building. Not just because of my dislike of untrammelled capitalism. But because it hurts my eyes.

A short walk away you'll get this

Reality

Anyway back to the book I picked which was...

Erle Stanley Gardner - The Case Of The Negligent Nymph

Erle Stanley Gardner's creation Perry Mason was the lawyer cum detective. This was in fact the first Perry I've ever perused. And I loved it.

It occurred to me as I was reading that this was the sort of novel (part of a series of course but this was written in 1956) that I think is rarely written nowadays. Where you're reading a book purely as an entertainment and you get the feeling that the author is having fun. That Erle is holding a party and you, the reader have been invited.

I suspect any degree of realism in this book was purely coincidental and that if you're a member of any branch of Law and Order you'll be tearing your hair out at the depiction of characters in your profession being ridiculed by the genus that is Mason. But it really doesn't matter. It's an entertainment. It's the perfect book for a commuter ride. Doesn't think you're thick. But doesn't expect your brain to be in top gear either. 

Until the next time.

On Reading In A Hospital Outpatients And A Little Bit More Hooray For Harlow

Hello there. Hope you're feeling today.

Whilst there is always the unexpected. Basically the only things that would apparently stop me from returning to Wales by the end of the month are two particular outpatient appointments for my mother.

Today was appointment number one.

I won't go into full details. But everything was fine. However it did involve waiting for about three hours in the hospital. Three hours which I spent reading. And since three seems to be the number of the day then three was the amount of books completed today, most of the time in that three hour period.

So let's start with Scarlet Thomas' 2001 novel Bright Young Things. Which is about a group of jaded but brilliant twentysomethings that find themselves in an island. Won't go further as I don't wish to spoil it for anybody else.

The best thing about the book are the opening chapters before they reach the island. They are interesting. They paint a picture of the "Bright Young Things" of the title.

Unfortunately for me that was yesterday. The bits I read today were dull. It is the sort of book where you wonder whether all of a sudden the author just forgot the plot. There was a feeling of drift.

And speaking of drift....I nodded off in the outpatients as I was reading,almost dropping the kindle as I did so. Think I mentally nodded off long before that. As for the ending. Some people might be angry about it. To be honest I was too disinterested to care.

James Whistler was an artist. He was also the author of The Gentle of Making Enemies. A book which details some of the run-ins he had with the art establishment. Particularly a libel case he had with John Ruskin. The same Ruskin who wrote Harbours of England that I chatted about (albeit very briefly) in my last post.

I couldn't work out reading this whether Whistler just enjoyed being a stirrer or was just a pain in the backside. If I was a betting man I'd say the latter. An interesting book but really for curiosity value only.

Lady Susan (which I finished after going leaving outpatients) was Jane Austen's shortest novel though apparently written before (though published after) the others. It's basically a comedy of manners although in the form of various correspondence.

Of the three (there's that number again) Austen books I've read this was the one I liked the least. It just seemed not so much Lady Susan or Lazy Susan but a Lazy Jane. Just didn't seem that exceptional. Still, if this her earliest book perhaps it's forgivable.

The current book I'm reading is Romance Of Roman Villas (The Renaissance) by Elizabeth Champney

Yesterday went to Harlow to buy a pair of jeans. I noticed another statue.

Upright Motive.....Certainly Upright

This was done by Henry Moore. One of the few sculptors (for what it's worth) I've ever heard of. Can't say I like it personally, but it's worth mentioning.

Aside from the jeans I bought something else

I Shopped Polish

Until the next time.

The Return Of The £5 Amazon E-book Buying game (£4.68 Version)

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's the first of the month and the early morning. I'm in Essex exile whilst my mother is still in hospital recovering from her operation so at the moment have nothing much to do.

So in the spirit of shrugging my shoulders before I go and have a bath decide to resuscitate the Amazon £5 ebook buying game. Basically where starting from their Daily Deals and following from their recommendations try to buy the cheapest (though they would have to interest me) books I could buy for a total of £5.

This time though. As there is £19.68 in the account. The balance to play with, rather like chocolate bars, has shrunk to £4.68 for this month.

So let's begin.

I look at the Daily and Monthly Deals. Nothing screams buy me. So I look at the books that are "recommended" for me based on my ebook-buying purchases. One book strikes me instantly. The Common Reader by Virginia Woolf. A collection of essays. Worth a read I think so bought for 99p.

£3.69 left. "Top Picks For you" The screen emboldenedly pronounces. I look.I notice The Tenderness Of Wolves. Costa Book of the year 2007 (Costa has been going for over ten years?) . That too is 99p. Bought.

£2.70 left. Suddenly my eyes fall on a complete collection of the works of Marcel Proust. Have never read him but you feel that a subconscious literary bucket list in your head is saying "buy it". It is also just 49p so bought.

£2.21 left. The system then gives me the complete works of James Joyce. but I know I've Dubliners in the Kindle so I pass. Then I notice the complete works of Franz Kafka for 49p as well. That same literary bucket list is telling me not to be an idiot and buy it, and buy it now.

So I do. £1.72 left. The collected works of the essayist William Hazlitt crops up. 99p. Bought.

73p left. Spend 49p on the complete works of Alexander Pushkin. I know I have a novel of his (I think a poetic one at that) in storage at the moment. But hey. It's the complete set so why not? Bought and for this month the game is finished.

And I look at the books I've bought and think? Am I a proper reader? All these classic works that I haven't read. But then it comes back to the curse of the reader. So many books but so little time. Even at my fifty four years on this planet life interferes with the need to turn and now swipe the page. Still they are bought now. A greater chance that I'll get round to reading them sometime.

Until the next time.

On Books: Including One Which Seems To Quietly Go Mad

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Finished The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. It reminded me of Don Quixote and Les Miserables where it appeared that though there was a basic plot Sterne seemed to throw in every piece of writing he ever did and somehow shoehorn it into the book.

It's a novel celebrated for being freewheeling in style. Personally for me it was as effective as a three wheeled car. You can guess that I didn't like it.

The next ebook is rather interesting. It's Letters on Sweden, Norway and Denmark by Mary Wollstonecraft (Mary Shelley). Thing about it is this. Whenever I watch anything about Mary, there always seems to be something along the lines of anything she wrote aside from Frankenstein was rubbish so this is a good test.

As for my recent library book borrowings, there were two. Firstly:

Annie Prolux - Barkskins

This is a brick sized book. It's going to take me a long while to read it. Unlike.....

Things That Are - Amy Leach

This is a book of essays about animals, plants and stars. It's also weird. I really wish I could break copyright and give you examples of the odd sentences that Ms Leach makes. Best I can tell you is that I challenge any reader of this book to say that there wasn't at least one example in every chapter where you thought "What on Earth is she writing?"

or

"Is she on drugs?"

If this book was a person it would be the sort of eccentric that's no harm to others but talks no sense whatsoever when you speak to them. You just nod as they go on not understanding anything that is being said.

And to think that in 2013 there were people who paid £12 for this.

Until the next time.

On Books:From Dickens to Golf,Science and Ending With East End Crime.....As You Do

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I finished my post on The Thirty Nine Steps so excited was I in throwing the theory forward that racist John Buchan is still remembered today because of sex harasser Alfred Hitchcock that I'd forgotten to mention what my next ebook on the Kindle was going to be.

Well in the spirit of the season it's Charles Dickens' A Christmas....no only kidding...been there done that....seen the movie (and the musical as it happens).

It was in fact Martin Chuzzlewit.

I did not unfortunately like it. For me it seemed a lot more meandering than other books of his I've read and yet unlike those other ones it didn't seem to easily to move back into the central plot. Consequently my mind meandered as well. There are books that you persevere with because you feel as a reader you should but the only thing you're looking forward to is the end.

The only interesting thing to me about the novel were those scenes set in America. It made me wonder whether Dickens was the first writer (or the earliest still remembered today) to think that he could get greater American sales by setting part of the story there. Just a thought.

The next ebook turned out to be Arnold Palmer: Reflections On The Game by the aforementioned Arnold and Thomas Hauser. This I bought for free. Now I know why. It was just a few pages. A glorified magazine/newspaper article. Obviously Arnold Palmer had the right to chat about golf more than most people, but none of what I read held any surprise. It was a waste of the nothing I paid for it.

So the ebook I'm now reading is The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. Gentleman by Lawrence Sterne. It's a classic of British literature and am looking forward to it.

Have also read two library books. This was the first.

The Accidental Scientist - Graeme Donald

As the cover explains it's about the great accidental discoveries in science. In this case it's a book that scientists would buy their non scientist friends ("See? Science can be fun")

The trouble with this and similar type books is that you realise as you're reading it that each chapter would have made a better complete book in it's own right. So what you're reading may not be awful, but it is unsatisfying.

This was the other library book.

David Meikle - Kate Beal Blyth - The Krays The Prison Years

I'm not old enough to remember The Krays in their gangster prime. But growing up in the East End of London (I was born in Forest Gate) I do remember that even in prison for the rest of their lives they still seemed to have this myth surrounding them. Indeed for longevity in the collective East End memory the only other icon I can immediately think of is Bobby Moore.

So a detailed book (based on a TV documentary - not revealed until the end) about this rarely documented period in their lives banged up in prison is a worthwhile addition to the library of stuff written about the Krays. It's also the best book of the four I've chatted about today (yes it was more interesting than Martin Chuzzlewit) but perhaps that's my East End background talking

It's not without problems. For me the biggest was the surprising little time spent to their early prison years. It also made me feel a little sympathetic towards Ronnie Kray, given that he was a diagnosed with severe mental problems including schizophrenia. You wondered what would have happened to them if he hadn't been plagued with these illnesses

Still I "enjoyed" reading it and it's recommended. Won't be able to get new library books until Tuesday so we'll see what they are then.

Until the next time.

The Dilemma For The Left Wing Reader Regarding The N Word:Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Regular readers will remember that I chatted about the American school that banned Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird from their exam board lists because some people felt uncomfortable with the use of the N word. This action inspired me to go to the library and read this book (so thanks for that).

On reading it confirmed my view that with regard to the N word context is what you judge a novel on. Here it was perfectly acceptable especially when you read the passage when Atticus Finch condemns it.

But now I find myself in a dilemma regarding the current book I'm reading on the Kindle: Thomas Wolfe's novel You Can't Go Home Again (published posthumously in 1940). I'm about a quarter of the way through and the N word has been used twice. Afro Americans in this book a poor lower order who work in menial jobs. Susceptible/gullible to the avarice of the (white) guy who's apparently the lead villain.

Nothing suggests,aside from the very last point, that the writer disapproves. It's just normal American small town life.

And all of this, apart from giving an idea as to how bad the bad guy is has apparently nothing to do with the plot.

I remember reading John Buchan's book Prester John. Which as I've said before was even allowing for the attitudes of the time stunningly racist. I kept reading it thinking, "well this is going to change" but I was wrong.

So I'm inclined to stop reading this novel.

But....

As I've said I'm about a quarter of the way through the book. What if something changes? What if Mr Wolfe shows that he doesn't approve of the racist society as it was then? If that turns out to be the case then it makes me look like an idiot.

And that's the dilemma. Remember unlike Harper Lee's classic novel I've no idea what to expect from this book. Thomas Wolfe is a new writer to me. So should I stay or should I go?

For the moment I'm staying. I feel uncomfortable about that but the thought of a plot change (unlikely I think but don't know for certain) to undermine the impression currently given makes me give Mr Wolfe the benefit of the doubt.

It's a big doubt though.

Until the next time.

Why Being A West Ham Fan Living In Wales And Working An Afternoon Evening Shift May Be The Best Thing Right Now

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So yesterday I was working the afternoon evening shift at work. Didn't to be honest have much thoughts about anything except just making sure I did my job and looking at the weather outside. I'd thought from the forecast I saw that Friday was going to be the calm before the storm....literally. That storm's name was Brian and apparently he was coming in the next day.

(What a name for Storm eh? Brian. Suggests that it will come in and reek havoc whilst discussing train timetables and wearing slippers)

As it happened Friday night weather wise wasn't that great either. Rain and wind with skies that darkened early. It was the gale before the storm.

And work was well, work. Left at around ten. The journey back to the apartment, which would normally take me thirty minutes took longer because the roads were treacherous due to the rain. Eventually though I made it. Wife/daughter were asleep (Daughter asleep? On a Friday? Is she unwell? Thankfully not).

I get out my Kindle tablet open the Alexa app and ask for a "flash briefing" which is Amazon's flash term for news headlines. Essentially then Theresa May is quite close to begging the EU to move quicker whilst at the same time slowly backing away from the hard line she originally gave. The Prime Minister really is incompetent wrapped in a professional wrapping.

Then I ask for a "Sports Update". I'd been speaking to a Swansea City fan that evening and had realised was unaware who West Ham were playing that weekend.

Well West Ham were not playing anyone during the weekend.
They had already played that evening.
They played Brighton...at home.....
,,,,and had lost three nil!!!

To lose at home is bad enough, to lose against a team that you should have at beaten is worse but to lose at home against a team that you should have beaten by three goals is just beyond. Is this the same Slaven Bilic who just two seasons ago had led us into Europe? Have West Ham just decided to go for a similar Brexit from the Premiership? For it does appear from a distance that way.

What is happening?

I am saved the smug comments from Arsenal fans had I still been living in London. Though for those who know me here in South Wales I'm probably the only West Ham fan they know. Have to prepare for that.

Still even from this distance I still feel the embarrassment and yes the shame. For just like Brexit the cliff edge of relegation is appearing and no one seems to know how to stop it.

Something has got to be done, quickly as well.

Until the next time.

How Bruce Chatwin, Brian Aldiss and the NRL Fared In The Rainy Sunday Test

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Although my daughter has one more day of the school holidays left to go but let's face it the Monday doesn't really count) the wife had plans for Sunday.

"Let's go to Tenby" she said on Saturday.

I shrugged. Been there done that. As I've said before in this blog I'm not really a beach person.But then again I'd no real alternative option so fine.

However it's now Sunday morning....and it's raining. It was one of those Sundays (wherever in the world you are) that aside from getting any necessary provisions you know from the moment you get up that you're staying in.

There's now a channel called FreeSports ....yippee to that...where you can watch....surprise,surprise sports without having to pay for it. As mentioned before because of the internet connection where we are renting at the moment I've had to drop BT Sports. This was good news for the wife and daughter as it meant the number of programmes I'd recorded dropped to one (Professor T). Now however I'm back DVR'ing as if my life depended on it. So they find they're watching something and then the screen suddenly changes to an Australian rugby league game. Oh how they love that

Ah yes Australian Rugby League. The NRL. A season about to go into it's final stages. I'm Ok with the sport. Football will always come first but don't dislike it. So on Sunday morning watched a recording of a few games. The most important for me being the North Queensland Cowboys versus the Brisbane Broncos.

This game, being the first to watch was going to decide which NRL club I was going to follow. But. even though it might mean that I wouldn't be able to watch them for the rest of the season I'm no glory seeker. So whoever lost would have, for what it's worth, my support.

Well.....go get them Cowboys from now on then.

I enjoyed the games of course having the advantage that not living in Australia meant I wouldn't know the result in advance and could watch them later. There is a possibility dem Cowboys will move into the final eight at time of writing but I don't know and am not finding out before I finish watching this week's games

In the afternoon though wife/daughter wanted to watch movies. In particular Evita starring Madonna. Wasn't interested in that (though it raises the question whatever happened to Jimmy Nail?) so picked up and continued to read In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin.

Now I haven't finished the book yet. But those of you hoping that I would be somehow transported into the wildlands of Argentina and wax lyrical about the prose will be disappointed. I don't like travel books where the natives are treated like exhibits for the examination of the writer. He is not superior.

Furthermore the chapters are short,very short, one, two, three pages long. Tells a story and moves on when you're sure he could have got into more detail.

You know what? It might have been a better read as a blog (before his time I know).

When the skies grew darker I turned to my Kindle and it's backlight for further reading. However Charles Dickens will  have to wait. Amazon always throw offers at you when you've bought a Kindle. Normally I can ignore them. But recently they've offered deals on works by the recently deceased writer Brian Aldiss who I wrote about recently. Well I was tempted and bought a complete set of the short stories he wrote in the fifties as well as a complete set of his essays. Not only that but cannot resist reading them (starting with the essays) now thus jumping the queue of the great ebook unread.

Will chat about it when I've finished. All I'll say now is that I'm not disappointed.

It's Monday as I'm writing this. It's raining...but I have work coming up.

Until the next time.

Have I Been Persuaded By Jane Austen? Well....

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So picture the scene. I'm at the rented apartment from doing the afternoon/evening shift at work. Daughter is on her tablet. Wife, who moans when daughter or me are online, is on the laptop playing Mahjong.

I go to my normal returning from work routine. Ask loved ones how they are (incidentally never argue when you've just returned to work late at night. Your brain....well my brain anyway...is not up to it). Go to the toilet (TMI? Sorry). Change my clothes, contact my mother in Essex and ping a microwave meal (I've boiled it down to two. Beef Lasagne or Spaghetti Bolognese

And what then? It's about eleven pm. I have to stay up for about an hour before going to bed to rest my wide stomach. So what do I do? Normally I'd watch something on YouTube or Netflix and nod off on the sofa, or listen to a downloaded programme on the BBC radio iplayer and nod off. But not this day, Saturday. For my Kindle has told me that I've only half an hour left of Persuasion to read and I'm going to finish it come what may.

This task then, the reading equivalent of having a walk after dinner (it's after eleven at night I'm not walking out), is completed. From never reading Austen I've now read two of her novels in a short space of time. Things and indeed me have certainly changed recently.

Having said that, and mentally registering your round of applause, regular readers of this blog will remember my rather ambivalent view of Emma. That I did not dislike it but didn't feel as if I was reading great literature either. Thus Jane Austen was part of that group of writers such as  F Scott Fitzgerald and Anton Chekhov that I was literary Switzerland towards.

Now I have read two Austens I must be to the majority of the male population a freak. A male not in the artistic or educational worlds who has read two Austens?! Clearly to most men that and the fact I wear glasses must make me an expert on the subject.

So let me start by saying this. I much preferred Persuasion to Emma. It is a book with less of the Austen clichés. Less dances,less indeed a dance of manners.

Perhaps more importantly however it has a character (which I'm not going to spoil  by revealing here though obviously you can surmise it's a woman) that the reader can root for. Whilst there was no one I actually hated in Emma, it did thinking retrospectively lack that emotional hook.

And that central character is believable as well. There is no way that Gwnyeth Paltrow could justifiably played her without being laughed at all the way to the goop. Out of curiosity after I read the book I checked who played this person in the 1995 film adaptation. She seemed exactly the right fit to my imaginary picture.

But.....

The other thing that I've realised having read two of her books now is that Jane Austen characters rarely go beyond second gear emotionally. No throws of passion or spasms of anger. To me as a reader this seems irritating and unrealistic.

Still, what do I know....being a boy. (an old one admittedly) ?

So Jane Austen stays for me in a state of literary Switzerland. Which as I've said before is more difficult to explain than disliking her because if you're neutral towards a writer there's more chance that you've missed something (you dislike a writer them there are weapons you have to explain why).

Now to the next book which turns out to be David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It's been a while since I've read any Dickens ( so many books so little time) so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Now tying up the loose ends I've also finished The Golden Rules of Blogging (& When To Break Them) by Robin Houghton. To be honest all it taught me is that if your blog is not a business then the best rule is simply trial and error. Adhere to the "rules" and you will just miss the fun of creating and running it.

Until the next time.

As Nations Go The Brink Of Nuclear War....Let's Talk About Hilary Mantel And P G Wodehouse

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So for the past few days the world has to face the serious possibility of war between the United States and North Korea. Who knows how this will pan out. Let's just hope that both nations will wake up to the cliff edge they're walking towards. After all it will be far more than just those two countries that will be directly affected. And indirectly every country in the world.

And what of course this proves also is that fat men with stupid hairstyles should not be allowed to lead nations. Remember that when Boris Johnson tries to be British Prime Minister.

Let's then drag ourselves to the more civilised pursuit of reading books then. First off being Hilary Mantel's collection of short stories The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher......oh.

When you read a well known author for the first time, as I will go on about when discussing P G Wodehouse, their reputation precedes them. Sometimes it's very difficult to shake that off as you're going through the book. With Mantel it wasn't that difficult. She's known for historical fiction, indeed have given out the Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 on the subject, revealing a voice that could be best described as a gentle Dalek.

These short stories though are set in the late twentieth century to the present day. So they're relatively modern which meant I could approach them relatively fresh. There are ten stories in the book, but one, Comma, I'd already found out was about child cruelty. Wasn't going to read that. So I'm chatting about the remaining nine.

Three of these Hilary Mantel stories had, much to my surprise some of the worst writing I've read since reading Sam Allardyce's autobiography........

(I'll pause here. I'm going to claim to be the first person able to put Hilary Mantel and Sam Allardyce in the same sentence. Now I've done it twice)

.....the writing was that bad I noticed it.

Two of the stories were inconsequential. What I mean by that is that was that my reaction at the end was to mentally shrug my shoulders.

One was well written but had a surprise ending so disturbing I wish I hadn't read it.

Three (the final three as it happens that includes the Assassination of Margaret Thatcher) were truly engrossing.

So a mixed bag then. I can't say I really have an opinion of Hilary Mantel after having read the book. Seems I'll need to read another one to have an opinion of her. Not today though. The next tome that I took out of the baby collection of books that is Sully library is this.

Cecelia Ahern - How to Fall in Love

Now this is an unexpected experiment. Regular readers to this blog would know how I've gone on about male readers avoiding female writers because the covers were too "girly" and argued that Marian Keyes is a far better writer than her chick lit covers would suggest. Well here's a book that the old me would have avoided by a famous "chick lit" writer. So we'll see how I get on.

With regard to the Kindle The Man With Two Left Feet And Other Stories by P G Wodehouse is finished. Every one of my prejudices were confirmed. Young men just want a good time, upper class men are mainly stupid, young women are pretty, old women are battleaxes, life is just froth. Problems just go away like that.

Even attempted suicide, suicide, is treated as if it was mere whimsy. Goodness only knows how he would have dealt with nuclear war.

So as you can guess I hated it.

The next on the ebook pile is Persuasion by Jane Austen. Thus far (early days) I prefer it to Emma.

Until the next (hopefully not radioactive) time

A Further Thought On Ford in Bridgend And Caitlin Moran To The Rescue With Old Technology

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday was Saturday and just after lunch had to drive from where I live now to the outskirts of Bridgend town to begin the afternoon/evening shift of work. Normally my choice of  radio station of this journey is BBC Radio 4 ( the station coming back varies, but that's unimportant here) solely because I can catch up with the news at one the next time world events and me meet on these shifts will be when I've finished at ten in the evening.

The programmes before and after the news normally just wash over me. And so it should have been this time. Being a Saturday afternoon that was Any Questions where a panel answer audience questions on the issues of the day. Normally it's too predictable to be of any interest to me and occasionally annoying when a particular guest I don't like turns up. Here it was Julia Hartley-Brewer, a talk show host who can be best described as a toilet trained Katie Hopkins.

Now one of those questions was of the government's plan (and the fact that this government has a plan over anything is astonishing in itself) that no petrol or diesel cars would be sold by 2040. It appears that similar moves are being made across Europe (taking back control...ha!). The point though is whatever the timescale and how it's implemented it does appear that the future is electric. Cars will be humming to a different beat.

It was when they had finished discussing this issue that I passed the turnoff to the Ford Bridgend plant. Only then did my brain join the dots. Something I already knew but didn't register properly before.

It's an engine plant.

I have written before of my belief that the UK and Welsh governments need to move now to secure the future of Ford Bridgend. If motoring is to be electric then investment needs to be made now to make sure that the factory and the jobs are safe. The plant will need to be updated to cater for electric cars in order for it to be relevant in this new age. Ford will want incentives to do this and too be honest money should be thrown at them to be tempted to do this and fend off the consequences of Brexit. Because if the technology goes to a country in the EU, then whatever the enviornmental benefits of electric cars are the environmental costs to Bridgend will be disastrous.

Both the near closure of the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot and the closing down next year of the Tesco Call centre in Cardiff revealed governments (particularly that of the Labour run Welsh administration) that were seemingly caught out by events. Here they have time to seriously make an effort to secure the future of Ford Bridgend.

But the clock is ticking.

And to lighter matters.

Have finished Dostoevsky's The Idiot. Don't really need to say any more than I did yesterday. You know I liked it.

The next ebook on the Kindle pile is Our Italy by Charles Dudley Warner. first published in 1892. Only in this case "Italy" turns out to be California. If I understood the logic correctly. California is like Italy because of it's varied climate and landscapes. Thing is. In Chapter One there is mention of the Mojave Desert. No Geographer me but at this moment at least, before global warming changes things beyond recognition I don't recall Italy having a desert. There is also at least one moment where Europwe is compared unfavourably with the sunshine/drought/flooding/forest fire state. When you read it my first thought is "Then why the title Charlie?"

But let's be fair here. The target audience for this book now are probably Californian Geography teachers with an interest in local history. My lack of any real interest is probably because I'm so far away from the core demographic I'm in a different continent...which literally I am....specifically in fact the Italy with rain that is Wales.

Anyway I have 29 minutes according to my Kindle to go. I know this because that was the moment when a sign came up saying that it needed charging during a break at work. But unexpectedly there was a backup. Moranthology by a hardback book I'd bought yesterday in windy Porthcawl and had left in my work bag. Yet again in Ms Moran has come to my reading rescue. Not just because there was something to read but also that it's so damned good.

Until the next time.

Disappointment At The Library, Dilemma At The Supermarket

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

You may remember that last week I attempted to join the local library in Sully, the closest where we live at the moment in the Vale of Glamorgan. However because of the installation of "new systems" I couldn't borrow any books from the literary prefab but was assured that today, Tuesday, it would be ready.

The Prefab Library Sprout

So I walk in, ready for some hot book borrowing action, ready to have get some books. I give my name, say was promised a library card, prepare to receive it and off I go.

But....

The three lady librarians look at me amazed that someone who last week applied for a library card wishes to actually use the miniature services it has to offer.

A woman with long blonde hair who I assume to be the lead librarian tells me that they have just finished installing their systems.....but there is a backlog of applications to be put through.

I mention that there was a promise that this would be done in a week. Didn't show my anger, I'm a reader rarely a fighter. Don't think that I hid my frustration well mind.

Nothing could be done though. Saturday is it appears the next possible day that the card will arrive. They've promised to ring me when it does come. We shall see.

And you know what, much as I'm grateful to my Kindle I miss a paper book and going to  library these are the sort of things that won't be truly appreciated until they're gone. Yet I can't go back to appreciating these things because of something, Vale of Glamorgan council, that isn't my fault.

Angry,frustrated, disappointed and most of all bookless I travel to the nearby LIDLs ( aka along with Aldis the supermarkets people will go to after Brexit as everything else will be too expensive) to do a quick shop. Not a lot. Just a basketload of mainly things I forgot to get yesterday.

So I'm at the checkout. The stuff is on the conveyor belt and so I'm about to put my basket in the pile of empty baskets at the end of checkout before I can indulge in the game of filling up the carrier bag before the cashier has given you the cost or will he/she and the queue behind mentally tut at your tardiness. However empty baskets are not the only thing there. For in the previous basket there's a packet of ham and some white fillet of fish.

What to do? Put it back myself?  Tell the staff thus creating more delayed time and increased tuttiness from those behind me? Inform them about food probably made inedible by the lazy so and so before me.

No I was terribly,terribly British and said nothing. Just created a new pile for the baskets and let the sanctity of the queue continued unabated.

Civilisation is not destroyed yet.

Until the next time.

On Reading In The Early Morning, When You Know You've Won The Argument Over Your Wife And The Old Man And The Sully Sea

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I woke up at three thirty am in the morning. If this was tomorrow I'd be screaming blue murder at how late I was given I'm working the early morning shift for the next four days. Today however I just can't sleep once my eyes emerged from its slumber. Just have to get out of bed.

Now if I was still living in Bridgend I'd have turned the television on and watched some sport. That pleasure is however a thing of the past. In fact looking at the TV guide I'm set to record in the next week a couple of the recent Planet of the Apes films, a bit of Boxing and reruns of Castle and Columbo....and basically that's it. Nothing to watch now.

Outside dawn is slowly beginning to break. It's quiet. The world is asleep and you're having insomnia. The day appears to be bright.....unlike my mood

So I turn on the Kindle and finish off the collection of short stories The Safe Man by Michael Connelly and to be truthful nothing has changed from the position I chatted about on Saturday. This was a book best summarised by the phrase "Is that all there is"? I'd expected a lot more. No question the leader for the title of the most disappointing book of 2017.

I've decided not to buy anymore ebooks for a while and just go through the ones (in their hundreds and mainly free) already on my Kindle. Now that soon the library will be back on stream and I'll be reading two books on the go there's no need to purchase anymore for the moment.

Just starting then on an alphabetical basis the next book is Hannibal Makers of History by Jacob Abbott, which as far as I can tell was written in the nineteenth century. We'll see how I do.

I know it's hard to belive but from time to time me and the wife argue (yes shocking). But occasionally I'm reminded of the tell tale signs when I've won an argument. Yesterday the wife was looking at available houses in the Penarth area when she started speaking about a house she and our daughter had already visited when I was at work last week.

She encouraged me to go and look at the house online. Did just that. But as I went through this three bedroomed at the edge of our budget a large problem with the house was making itself clear...or rather the large field next to it.

For fields can include all manner of wildlife, including, as I said to her, members of the rodent family. My wife has a phobia of mice to the same extent that I have of dogs. Doesn't matter if we'd exchanged contracts and had moved in one sight of a mouse and she's packing off to her brother before you can say semi detached. So I go on. I'm not going look at a house that I know we're not going to buy.

And there was silence.

It was the silence of someone who couldn't think of anything to counter what I'd just said. I won't say it was silence was golden but it unspoke volumes about who was right.

For the first time today was able to walk to the sea around the village of Sully I mentioned yesterday. There was no beach where I was. Just rocks. Still it's an impressive view (though must admit my preference are the Valleys).

Remember not the South of France but South Wales

Must remind myself to take a picture when the weather is wet and windy and cliché Celtic. Perhaps then from those rocks Celtic gods will come to me and say that I must undertake my true purpose in making Wales a free and independent land again.

But for today after I took the picture went to do some shopping at Lidls...majestically of course.

Until the next time.