tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post5717711307887344682..comments2023-11-25T13:33:56.102+10:30Comments on bibliolathas: {review} creepy, noir, & memoirskiourophilehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-29679740455656201822015-09-24T16:46:10.253+09:302015-09-24T16:46:10.253+09:30No doubt she was pleased with the hangings of thos...No doubt she was pleased with the hangings of those two... I hadn't realised how many books she had written, so perhaps I should give her a go in a context in which her personal voice doesn't predominate. skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-71391928299587996872015-09-23T18:34:29.072+09:302015-09-23T18:34:29.072+09:30I remember her book about Christie and Haigh, '...I remember her book about Christie and Haigh, 'Murder with a Difference,' being much better. The TV show 'Foyle's War' features a military driver played by Honeysuckle Weeks that matches Ms Lefebure's persona almost perfectly ... Thaddeus Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13355509531561446830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-70336235959706647892015-09-22T17:51:27.267+09:302015-09-22T17:51:27.267+09:30The further I get from the book, the more horrible...The further I get from the book, the more horrible she becomes (the classicism of dirt, for instance), even when I factor in the 70 years. Thank you for your comments.skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-12607817302409670562015-09-13T09:48:31.249+09:302015-09-13T09:48:31.249+09:30To her credit, the late Molly Lefebure's narra...To her credit, the late Molly Lefebure's narrative of autopsies in 1940s Britain is very descriptive, if adjective-laden. What detracts from the book is her 'jolly hockey sticks' attitude and storytelling: it is reminiscent of Kenneth More's delight at losing his legs in Reach for the Sky. <br /><br />Her cheerful and unwitting disrespect for the dead is as repulsive in 2015 as her enthusiasm for birching the lower classes. In Molly's judgement, murder victims largely had their own stupidity, cleanliness or depravity to blame for their predicament. They certainly deserved better than be dissected while mortuary staff ate sandwiches, or have their crime scene photographs displayed at her dinner parties for fun.<br /><br />Miss Lefebure, who sometimes refers to herself in the third person, is a sycophantic proponent of hanging. One feels she would dispatch the 'dirty old' lower classes personally if given the chance and never suffer an atom of regret. Indeed, she'd probably invite her rah-rah chums to gloat over the condemned before enjoying lashings of ginger beer.Richard Froärdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13710575860171073273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-89072966721515214542013-07-12T13:52:24.918+09:302013-07-12T13:52:24.918+09:30He's so versatile - maybe he's off inventi...He's so versatile - maybe he's off inventing a new genre. ;-) skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-60159497118693542962013-07-12T08:22:24.711+09:302013-07-12T08:22:24.711+09:30I'm waiting impatiently for the next by Michel...I'm waiting impatiently for the next by Michel Faber. He is way overdue. Anoka Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04439036719357012798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-46744782726696181082013-07-08T17:26:19.236+09:302013-07-08T17:26:19.236+09:30Thanks Christine - I'm popping over for a visi...Thanks Christine - I'm popping over for a visit. I'm not sure re Murder on the Home Front - the cover of my copy says it's a "major TV series from the makers of Downton Abbey" (!), but maybe they had to haul in their grand ideas when they actually read it... ;-) I'd start with In a Lonely Place if you want to read some Hughes - really scary and beautifully written. skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-89617280022667590212013-07-08T16:42:35.479+09:302013-07-08T16:42:35.479+09:30Murder on the Home Front rings a bell - was it on ...Murder on the Home Front rings a bell - was it on radio 4 quite some time ago? I'm sure I remember hearing it read as a book of the week, or a dramatisation. The Blackbirder sounds interesting, but very different to anything I might usually read, but that's no reason not to try! My Paris read is much lighter I'm afraid http://goo.gl/BjpB9<br /><br />Christine Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814026435889782750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-60525053946083344312013-06-28T17:27:37.186+09:302013-06-28T17:27:37.186+09:30I can't praise In a Lonely Place highly enough...I can't praise In a Lonely Place highly enough - so cinematic, so frightening, so noir! The whole package. Go on!skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-20652614218433208902013-06-28T04:30:09.662+09:302013-06-28T04:30:09.662+09:30I remember your other review of the Hughes. It sou...I remember your other review of the Hughes. It sounded fabulous, but somehow I didn't get it on my TBR. Well, it's going on now! Thanks for this recommendation! I love good noir.Jennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00251983804060081813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-38067141082547392352013-06-27T14:35:15.576+09:302013-06-27T14:35:15.576+09:30Hughes' The Expendable Man arrive in the post ...Hughes' The Expendable Man arrive in the post too, so I see some more noir in my future very soon. skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-32788820804701891842013-06-27T05:51:06.419+09:302013-06-27T05:51:06.419+09:30It's so frustrating when you can't say muc...It's so frustrating when you can't say much about a book because of spoilers, I mean on one hand it's great because the book in questions tends to be brilliant, but on the other hand...<br /><br />I'm interested in The Blackbirder though would have to pass on the Blitz book because of my recent reading (too much on it at once). Another time, maybe, especially given it's a primary source.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-87396137145901629572013-06-26T16:03:24.921+09:302013-06-26T16:03:24.921+09:30It was interesting as social history, indeed; she ...It was interesting as social history, indeed; she just really rubbed me up the wrong way. Don't let me put anyone off reading it, please, esp. as it is such an interesting 'privileged' contrast with something domestic like Nella Last's War.skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-70842825819733727382013-06-26T15:44:11.593+09:302013-06-26T15:44:11.593+09:30Oh, lucky thing! - that's the sort of sad you ...Oh, lucky thing! - that's the sort of sad you have when you're not having sad. So jealous! skiourophilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08200877834536477400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-84477949082845243752013-06-26T15:18:30.443+09:302013-06-26T15:18:30.443+09:30Oh, I was really interested in the Lefebure when y...Oh, I was really interested in the Lefebure when you mentioned it in your earlier post but now, after the "I wondered… why the State cannot prosecute people for being dirty", I am rather quite put off! <br />Have fun with the July events! Sadly, I will have to give them a miss as I'll be heading off to Italy for a holiday. (Okay, so maybe that's not so sad after all.....) :pAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8488371842288429064.post-90274533455622582042013-06-26T12:54:04.726+09:302013-06-26T12:54:04.726+09:30At first glance I thought Murder on the Home Front...At first glance I thought Murder on the Home Front was a mystery - there seems to be a bit of trend in war-set mysteries right now. But this sounds much more interesting - "World War Two meets CSI with better frocks" made me laugh!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17782561487396697870noreply@blogger.com