| More stuff under the bed |
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| REVIEWS |
| Legend |
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| Whacko! Straight under the bed |
| Good read on a wet night |
| Okay if there's nothing better |
| Give away to Vinnie's/return to lender |
| Ca-ca. In the bin. |
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| The Blood Doctor Barbara Vine, 2002 Biographer Martin, 4th Lord Nanther, researches the life of his great-grandfather, ennobled by Queen Victoria for his services as her personal physician and his expertise in diseases of the blood. As Martin's research reveals puzzling and ominous secrets in his forebear's public and private lives, his own life is undergoing upheaval as the House of Lords is abolished, and his beloved wife repeatedly tries to bear the child she desperately wants. Somewhat reminiscent of AS Byatt's Possession in its use of source research as a literary device to explore the private truths concealed by public approbation, and the nature of love, ambition and obsession. Vine's elegant, understated but accessible style makes for an intellectually and emotionally satisfying read . |
| (Last updated 25 January 2004) |
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| Disordered Minds Minette Walters, 2003 Thumping good page-turner by darkly eloquent Walters, as she explores social exclusion, prejudice and self-image through intertwined stories of the past and present. Author and academic Jonathan Hughes, a victim of his damaged childhood and self-created persona, teams with eccentric self-educated psychologist and councillor "George" Gardener to unravel the truth of a 30-year-old murder that resulted in the conviction and later suicide of an intellectually limited, socially marginalised young man. Through narrative, letters and documents, the mystery is resolved and the widening network of interested parties becomes a circle of friendship and love that allows Jonathan and George to make peace with their pasts and the uncertain future. The authenticity of dialogue and elegant ease of Walters' style produces a dramatic and rivetting read several cuts above the usual standard of best-selling thrillers (as one has come to expect from British women writers in the genre). |
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| The Meaning of Everything Simon Winchester, 2003 Simon Winchester tackles the story that provided the background for his best-seller The Surgeon of Crowthorne in this fascinating and entertaining account of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Impeccably researched, the book not only amply acknowledges the scope and significance of the achievement of bringing the "Big Dic" to publication, but also chronicles and gives recognition to many of the thousands of individuals whose contributions, great and small, brought the staggering project to fruition. Winchester's enthusiasm for his subject is as transparent and engaging as his prose style. |
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| Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language Don Watson, 2003 Former political speechwriter Don Watson indulges himself in an extended articulate and persuasive rant against the debasement of public language through the insidious pervasion of corporate-speak, what the jacket blurb calls "a debased, depleted sludge ...devoid of lyric or comic possibility: incapable of emotion, complexity or nuance" . Watson warms nicely to his subject matter, and the book is replete with horrible examples, but despite his entertaining and anecdotal style I couldn't help feeling that the topic might have been more than handsomely treated in essay form. Although it comes in at a smidge under 200 pages, the volume is just a bit long-winded and verging on tedious -- perhaps hearkening back to the author's speech-writing days? |
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