Alms for Oblivion - again
I have now read all ten volumes of Simon Raven's Alms for Oblivion. I am very impressed. Raven creates a whole cast of utterly believable but revolting characters that one would hate to have to deal with in real life but are enormous fun to read about. The rather frightening thing is one comes away quite convinced that Raven has taken to heart the advice "to write what one knows". Where he writes about things I think I know about he's perfectly plausible and gets details right. Why should I assume he's less accurate or perceptive elsewhere? For a non-mathematician he even manages to write about mathematics and fundamental physics in a non cringe worthy way. (The physics is nonsense but, in the context of the 1950s, plausible enough.)
I'm not entirely sure who I would recommend these to. I think the appeal is broader than, say, fans of Anthony Powell, with whom comparisons are often made. There's something of Ian Fleming but Raven is less facile. There's also something of the post Cold War LeCarré. Certainly the cynicism about government agencies and their self-serving actions is very similar. Also Raven writes about sex more often and in considerably greater variety than any of the other three.
This entry was originally posted at http://chickenfeet.dreamwidth.org/955434.html. You can comment here or there as you choose.
I'm not entirely sure who I would recommend these to. I think the appeal is broader than, say, fans of Anthony Powell, with whom comparisons are often made. There's something of Ian Fleming but Raven is less facile. There's also something of the post Cold War LeCarré. Certainly the cynicism about government agencies and their self-serving actions is very similar. Also Raven writes about sex more often and in considerably greater variety than any of the other three.
This entry was originally posted at http://chickenfeet.dreamwidth.org/955434.html. You can comment here or there as you choose.