Books 1-5 for 2014
1. Dear Enemy by Jean Webster. 151 pages.
I'm not sure what it is that's so appealling about Webster's books, but I like this one nearly as much as daddy Long-legs, to which it is a sequel of sorts.
Judy, protagonist of the last book is now in a position to place her friend Sally in charge of the John Grier Home (where Judy grew up) and this book consists of Sally's letters to her and others.
There's a slightly worrisome undercurrent in the book about hereditary insanity and eugenics, but I'm not sure how seriously this is supposed to be taken and it mostly doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the rest of it. Besides, it was written in 1915, when the thinking about such things was rather different than it is now.
2. The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 178 pages.
1920s derring-do adventure with John Carter, Prince of Helium.
John Carter finally gets his wish to return to Barsoom, but unfortunately for him, arrives on the shores of the Lost Sea of Korus - this is the supposed Heaven of the tribes of Barsoom and anyone who returns therefrom is summarily put to death. But Carter must do just that, if he ever wishes to see his lovely wife, Dejah Thoris again...
Many swashes were buckled in the making of this book :)
3. A Duty To The Dead by Charles Todd. 258 pages
A nurse in WWI is charged with a message from a dying man to his brother. But having delivered it, she feels that her obligation to him will not be fulfilled until she has ensured that his last wish is properly carried out, and her sense of duty draws her into the affairs of his family and the mystery of a long ago murder.
I found this book very gripping and well-written, even though there's not anything hugely original about it. I think it evoked something of the atmosphere of a Sayers novel, which is a Good Thing for me.
4. Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy. L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh. 266 pages.
I liked this better than the first time I read it. I still feel it falls short of a fully original Sayers, but I'd be hard pressed to explain exactly why - there's just an indefinable something that simply isn't there.
Still, as fan fiction goes, it's up there with the best thereof.
5. A Presumption of Death by Dorothy. L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh. 199 pages.
Another Wimsey novel based on some of Sayers' writings and worked up into a novel by JPW.
I think this one is possibly better than Thrones, Dominations in terms of writing, but it suffers from insufficient Lord Peter and a slight case of Trying Too Hard - too many references to other books, which are too laboriously explained.
Also, JPW seems to suffer from the common fanfic writer's love for pairing off all the unmarried characters in the stories.
Still a decent read though.
I'm not sure what it is that's so appealling about Webster's books, but I like this one nearly as much as daddy Long-legs, to which it is a sequel of sorts.
Judy, protagonist of the last book is now in a position to place her friend Sally in charge of the John Grier Home (where Judy grew up) and this book consists of Sally's letters to her and others.
There's a slightly worrisome undercurrent in the book about hereditary insanity and eugenics, but I'm not sure how seriously this is supposed to be taken and it mostly doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the rest of it. Besides, it was written in 1915, when the thinking about such things was rather different than it is now.
2. The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. 178 pages.
1920s derring-do adventure with John Carter, Prince of Helium.
John Carter finally gets his wish to return to Barsoom, but unfortunately for him, arrives on the shores of the Lost Sea of Korus - this is the supposed Heaven of the tribes of Barsoom and anyone who returns therefrom is summarily put to death. But Carter must do just that, if he ever wishes to see his lovely wife, Dejah Thoris again...
Many swashes were buckled in the making of this book :)
3. A Duty To The Dead by Charles Todd. 258 pages
A nurse in WWI is charged with a message from a dying man to his brother. But having delivered it, she feels that her obligation to him will not be fulfilled until she has ensured that his last wish is properly carried out, and her sense of duty draws her into the affairs of his family and the mystery of a long ago murder.
I found this book very gripping and well-written, even though there's not anything hugely original about it. I think it evoked something of the atmosphere of a Sayers novel, which is a Good Thing for me.
4. Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy. L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh. 266 pages.
I liked this better than the first time I read it. I still feel it falls short of a fully original Sayers, but I'd be hard pressed to explain exactly why - there's just an indefinable something that simply isn't there.
Still, as fan fiction goes, it's up there with the best thereof.
5. A Presumption of Death by Dorothy. L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh. 199 pages.
Another Wimsey novel based on some of Sayers' writings and worked up into a novel by JPW.
I think this one is possibly better than Thrones, Dominations in terms of writing, but it suffers from insufficient Lord Peter and a slight case of Trying Too Hard - too many references to other books, which are too laboriously explained.
Also, JPW seems to suffer from the common fanfic writer's love for pairing off all the unmarried characters in the stories.
Still a decent read though.