"Stoner," by John Williams

Novel, 1965

A dreary, drearily-principled life story told in a conventional start to finish kind of way, about a solid but unremarkable University of Missouri academic. From such unpromising source material, Williams turns in an absolute page-turning gem, with which any disaffected 'average man' will surely empathise. A real achievement in which a tragic set of characters slide into old age and obscurity gain, if not heroic, then an almost mythical quality.

"A Suspension of Mercy", by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1965

Nail-biting suspense of little subtlety but huge impact, in which a net and circumstances draw ever tighter round a pretty unhinged, psychotic central protagonist. This is real page-turning stuff and a study in a few disintegrating personalities, where the readers' view is continually shifted around by some deceptively read-a-long writing skirting over some pretty seismic motivations and actions. This is a novel which is relentless and which at any point, could have jumped off in a number of different directions.

"Hangman's Holiday", by Dorothy L Sayers

Short stories, 1933

Stories concerning themselves more with the thoughts than the deeds on the part of Lord Peter Wimsey and the even more excellently named Montagu Egg. These stories are entertaining for the most part, although details which demand close attention - times of events and Monty Egg's Salesman's Handbook prominently feature, often derail the pace and the reader's attention. While the plots are slight, they're smart enough and show a bygone, more innocent
world.

"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.

"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

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.

"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.