Thursday, 31 March 2016

"Killer in Drag", by Edward D Wood Jr

Fiction (also known as Black Lace Drag), 1963


A fiction very reminiscent of Ed Wood's films, in which things - stylistically - are going pretty well, but then the dialogue creaks just a little too protestingly or the plot takes one of those turns you'd never expect, not in a thrilling, but more in a perplexing way. Still, this is entertaining stuff which, for the most part is effective. There just are a few too many times when you pull up and realise this is almost pure wish fulfilment on the author's part. A book which, if not taken seriously, is good enough. Those who do take it seriously are as daft as the author, and his films.

Monday, 28 March 2016

"The Accidental" by Ali Smith

Novel, 2005

The dramas surrounding a dysfunctional liberal family, whose participants' lives are sparked while they're on a holiday break in Norfolk and visited by Amber, a strange, wandering life force who has a shocking affect on all the characters. Ultimately, this is quite a sad, reflective read, which sets off at a canter but ends
- for the characters - in disarray, even if the children in the drama have a slightly rosier looking future. The switch between characters' stories is brilliantly done and provides an entertaining read, right through from the beginning to the end.

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19836244

Saturday, 26 March 2016

Another story

I'm putting some of my stories up on this blog. Any faint encouragement and/or constructive criticism most welcome. I'll read some of your stuff in return if you'd like. A kind of mutual self-help?

There are two stories at the mo. I'll be adding to them, on the Story page.

Monday, 7 March 2016

"Traitor's Purse," by Margery Allingham

Novel, 1941

A tangle of a whodunnit in which there's no corpse and the super sleuth starts the piece far from either super or sleuth-like. While the plot trips over itself a little at times, the pacing and evocation are excellent. There are, in places, excellently evocative passages, and when bits and pieces slowly come together, there's a pleasure in discovering through the eyes of Campion. And a rather strange set-up too, revealed right at the end of the book, which works more effectively than if it had been put in at the beginning.