Monthly Archives: May 2010
At that very time Paris was the scene of the most heinous atrocities
E.T.A. Hoffman’s Mademoiselle de Scudéri is the earliest Western detective story that I’m aware of. Like many people I’d thought that honour went to Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue. Like many people, I was wrong. Mademoiselle de Scudéri was … Continue reading
Nobody brought the gamblers in like Sinatra
I typed this quote up for my A Way of Life, Like Any Other writeup, but cut it for reasons of space. It’s a very good quote though, and it took a while to type. So I thought I’d share … Continue reading
Filed under Las Vegas, O'Brien, Darcy
Was there ever so pampered an ass as mine?
A Way of Life, Like Any Other, by Darcy O’Brien Singing in the Rain is one of my favourite films. If you don’t know it, it’s about the advent of talkies and how some film stars couldn’t make the transition … Continue reading
Filed under California, NYRB Classics, O'Brien, Darcy
Janos Bátky’s guide to romance
After the success of my previous literary dating tip, culled from the pages of Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, I thought it was time for more guidance for the lovelorn from the pages of fiction. Here we have Janos Bátky, … Continue reading
Filed under Literary Dating Tips, Szerb, Antal
But books live on, as does man’s eternal thirst for them.
The Pendragon Legend, by Antal Szerb Antal Szerb is best known for his second novel, Journey by Moonlight, which was published by Pushkin Press and proved something of a success for them. Before that though in 1934 he wrote his … Continue reading
his love was no longer operable
Swann’s Way, by Marcel Proust I doubt I shall ever eat Asparagus again without thinking of Françoise tormenting the kitchen maid. Swann’s Way is one of the most vivid and extraordinary books I have read. It’s only one sixth of … Continue reading
Thoughts on the lifespan of genres
I said in my post about William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki stories that I’d post shortly about the lifespan of genres. This isn’t a topic I know as well as I’d like to, but essentially genres are not the fixed things … Continue reading
Filed under Publishing
Laptop outage
Hi all, My laptop’s down at the moment, and may be so for a little while. That may mean updates have to come from my work computer, which takes a little longer and which won’t be happening anyway until the … Continue reading
Filed under Administrative posts
