How Thomas Hardy Beat Bryan Adams

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've oftened felt that where I differ from a lot of people is not in my likes or dislikes but in those things I'm neutral about. I've chatted before in this blog about the problems of being literary Switzerland regarding F Scott Fitzgerald, Anton Chekov and Jane Austen. But I can expand that further, the almost religious love for Star Wars is something that's passed me by, entertaining that it is. And as for The Simpsons? Clever, funny to an extent but not something I'm bothered about recording.

Musically speaking I realised that Canadian soft/hard/easy to chew over rock person Bryan Adams comes into my Swiss roll of neutrality. People seemed to like him or hate him. For me it was but a shrug.

Yesterday however he was challenging my reading.

I was working the afternoon/evening shift at work so the morning was free. And there was to be honest nothing to do. So I decided to spend the time reading.

Our friend whose house we're living in decided however decided that the morning was going to be spent cleaning the house and that she would listen to music to entertain her as she did so specifically the work of Bryan (and for the record I did offer to help but she turned that politely down - when you have a system someone else is a distraction).

Now let me stress something before I go on. Our friend has very kindly opened the doors of her home for us whilst we're purchasing our next one. Her house her rules. It was up to me to deal with it and adapt.

So I sat down and continued reading The Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. Would I be put off from the novel by the Adams Family of tunes he's produced? Well you can guess from the title that I couldn't stop the thing I started.

The Mayor of Casterbridge is truly masterful. Slowly but surely Hardy maps out how a man, capable of emotional cruelty but rather flawed than evil, faces the consequences of his actions. All the characters are well rounded and multifacted. There are no simple heroes and villains in this novel.

Needless to say I was swiping the page oblivious to the life's work of Bryan. He didn't stand a chance. It might have been the 1812 overture and I wouldn't have noticed.

At their best books can do that.

After I finished that the next book was Summer In The City State by Eamonn Sheehy. An account of his time in Morocco. It was finished quickly. To be honest it was just an essay than a book and it was just too short. Really needed to have been longer.

And now the book is an omnibus edition of three crime Inspector Montalbano novels from Andrea Camilleri. Already I've finished one, The Shape Of Water and now am The Terracotta Dog. I finished the day at eleven pm pretending that I was the good inspector by eating spaghetti whilst reading in Bari. Even though the spag bol was frozen and I was in Barry. Ah well.

It was a good day for reading.

Until the next time.

On Books And Wandering Along Barry Road

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Winter In Madrid by C J Sansom is a novel praised by The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Express (a publication that describes itself as "the world's greatest newspaper".....only in a parallel universe). So let's make this clear that my view is not it appears the main body of opinion of this book. But there you go.

It has been described as a "spy novel". Presumably to distinguish itself from the thriller genre. Thrills being severely lacking here as indeed is "Spy" in "Spy novel". There is a spy element set up in the beginning but then it seems to be almost forgotten until half way. Also a plot twist so obvious that it might well as been wrapped in neon. So let me make this clear. If you're considering this book for the spying part don't. You'll be very disappointed.

So what's left seems to be a checklist of things I feel I've read before. War weary central character, menage a trios, foreign location (fascist but neutral Spain in the second world war). All done better (Graham Greene came to mind - there's a Harry Lime character here as well). All in all all very unsatisfactory. There is nothing worse for the reader than the serious piece that fails.

The next book which I finished was Confessions of a Beachcomber by E J Banfield (published 1906). Not as racy a book as the title would suggest. Also more technical about the natural world of the Australian coast than I'd expected, but that's my problem not Banfield's. However mainly towards the end it was also racist in the sort of treat people with a skin darker than yours as you would a pet dog. Not a book I'll read again.

So now I'm going through The Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. So far, so good. At least there's a book where I seem to agree with popular opinion.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to wander round Barry Town as I've hoped. Things just cropped up to make his impossible. The closest was on Sunday when I wandered ten to fifteen minutes along the Barry Road, off where I'm living at the moment. Hardly great explorations of our time I know, but when you're new to an area you can find interest in what's new, until you become part of the area when it all becomes mundane.

So let's start when I'm about to leave the street. An ordinary terraced road when suddenly I notice something along the pavement....a horse.

I call to the wife "There's a horse being ridden along the pavement!"

Wife tells me to shut up. "People will think you're insulting the area".

I disagree. There's a difference between insulting an area and saying "There's a horse being ridden along the pavement"

As I entered the road turned left and noticed as the journey developed noticed that further up the hill I went the type of house changed. Up the hill meant that the houses became semi detached and to my memory some were detached as well.

Starting my journey saw a café that did an all day breakfast. The sort of thing that would give you a free ticket to heart attack city if you ate it regularly but occasionally...? Must admit I'm tempted.

Passed Jenner Park Primary school which seemed to be built in a Victorian style (the bricks appeared new).I like this style. Nowadays schools seem to be built like office blocks.

Found a new and easier way to get to Jenner Park, home of Barry Town FC than I was told. Shame the season's finished. There was a game being played that day but was too busy to enquire about it.

The Park Of Jenner

I saw this a few minutes afterwards.

I didn't realise that you could include TY (house) and NEWYDD (new) as one word. After enquiring about this on Twitter it was suggested to me that it was named after a coal mining village in the Rhondda and that Barry was the port it was shipped from. I've no idea but just putting it out there.

There was a convenience store towards the end of the road. The local headlines were about a teenager who tried to commit a robbery using a fake gun and a chip shop burnt down due to an overnight fire. You might think a thousand and one jokes seem appropriate here, but livelihoods has literally gone in flames.

Opposite the store there was this chain pub restaurant.

Wonder if anyone talks Anton Chekhov here.....probably not

Later Wife/daughter and I went to have dinner here. Lighting was a bit dark. As if designed by the Addams Family. But could not fault the food or service at all.

As we walked back there was something heartbreaking. Put on a lamppost was a smiling picture of a child with some flowers and a printed note saying "We will remember" on it. Sometimes even words are not enough.....

There is a view from the road. Here it is.

Not the Rhondda. Still a good view

Hopefully on Wednesday will be able to wander round the town called Barry itself.

Until the next time.