Thursday February 28th, 2019
Books in February
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Tombland by C J Sansom
The novel is set in the summer of 1549 during the reign of Edward VI. Shardlake now works for Princess Elizabeth although he does not enjoy her unconditional favour. More in a role with a mission of plausible deniability, he is sent off to investigate a potential scandal involving a distant relative of the the Princess. However, the book is really all about Kett's rebellion. In fact the novel is almost a day by day account of the hot summer when the rebels were camped outside Norwich laying siege to the city. It could be said that the narrative is overlong, but it inspired me to take a long weekend there to explore all the places mentioned in the book. Now, I (and G) have been to Norwich on business many times, but this visit really amazed me. Previously, I must have been going around with my eyes shut; neither G nor I had ever visited the historic parts of the city. I did not even know that Tombland was an area in the city (even though a colleague took me round the cathedral years ago when I attended his retirement lunch - which may even have been in the Maid's Head).
Anyway - it's all there to view - with many references to Kett and events pertaining to the rebellion, even though in my ignorance I had never heard of Kett before seeing this book. The overall experience of the book and the stay in Norwich was really wonderful. -
Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell [Read by Susan Ericksen]
The 23rd Scarpetta novel (apparently) sees her isolated and alone, unable to confide in anyone, and fighting to save her niece from prosecution by the FBI. Events have left her confused, worried, and not knowing where to turn....
Need I go on?
I can't begin to sketch the plot and I am drawn to use the words of a review given for Kathy Reichs on GoodReads by Skip: "Gone are the days when Scarpetta actually conducted autopsies, and helped solve crimes. Now she spends most of her time paranoid, obsessed, and convinced that everything in her life is being manipulated to harm her or her loved ones."
It seems to me that the Scarpetta should actually talk through her angst with her niece, and not burden the reader with it... -
The Gates of Baghdad
A disparate group of adventurers set out from Damascus to visit the legendary Gate of Baghdad, also known as the Gate of Death, (which not surprisingly seems to haunt the characters, who range from the innocent to the darkly experienced). Mr Parker Pyne is among their number, touring the Middle East, and finds himself involved in unravelling the inevitable murder mystery that follows.
Dramatised in 2002 by Mike Stott, and directed by Dirk Maggs, starring, among others, Patricia Routledge and Richard Griffiths. -
Appointment with Death
A wonderful Christie classic plot where a murder is committed in plain sight but no real obvious murderer is forthcoming, despite many witnesses to... many things... rather, there are many plausible suspects since Mrs Boynton was a detestable woman, seemingly invincible, and delighting in exerting her power over all around her.
I think the murder was perhaps slightly more plausible in its complexity - ie one that could be envisaged actually being carried through - in comparison with say Death on the Nile, where the sheer logistics boggle belief. [Either way, not an issue so much on the radio.]
Dramatised in 2001 by Michael Bakewell, and directed by Enyd Williams, starring, among others, John Moffatt and Miriam Karlin.
Sunday February 24th, 2019
Unravel 2019
I've had a splendid day (immersed in a wool experience like no other) at the Maltings, including cheese scones, followed by a sociable tea time, and a yummy meal out at the Giggling Squid in Farnham. Alison and I went to view all the retail opportunities without much expectation of any purchases and then bought some luxury wools from Kettle Yarns. I have been eyeing up this specific jumper for about 3 years now (makes me wish I'd knitted it when I first saw it) ...
...and Alison became enmeshed in the same project having been seduced by the wonderful colour range.
So now we are going to do a knitalong..... or so I plan...
Thursday February 7th, 2019
When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other
I'm a great fan of Cate Blanchett but when I heard she was appearing in a play at the NT I imagined I would never get a ticket especially as it was in the smaller Dorfman space. However, I think sales were not what they'd expected (it's not a play to everyone's taste) so we were able to book for a matinee.
This new play by Martin Crimp is 12 Variations on Samuel Richardson's Pamela and it's very ... explicit. Frankly, the original by Samuel Richardson dating from 1740 is weird enough: "A 15-year-old servant (Pamela) is approached by the master of the house, who solicits her for sex. She resists and he abducts her. Encouraged by his housekeeper, he tries and fails to rape her. More twists and turns ensue, they realise they're in love, they marry."; it was subtitled "virtue revealed". Quite beyond needing a good dose of #metoo, I suppose it could be said that these variations provide a thought provoking treatment of a totally unacceptable set of premises, through violence and (priceless) role reversals, involving bridal gowns and sex toys. Need I say more? I observe it was interesting being exposed to all this in the middle of the afternoon - emerging from the theatre under the cover of darkness might have been more suitable somehow. Saying that I enjoyed it would not sit well, but I would not have missed out on it for the world.
Limbering up for our sedate afternoon in the theatre, we spent the morning at the British Museum - last chance to see I am Ashurbanipal: Warrior. Scholar. Empire builder. King slayer. Lion hunter. Librarian.
I think the latter role and the huge wall displays of the Library were what impressed me most - he wanted a copy of every book worth having - reams (not) of tiny cuneiform writing on small clay tablets - showing evidence of burning but surviving the destruction of the empire. It made me want to learn cuneiform - and then to my amusement there was a section at the exit of the exhibition asking for volunteers to do just that...
King Ashurbanipal of Assyria (669- 631 BC) was the most powerful man on earth - and dead keen on slaughtering lions for some reason. His reign from the city of Nineveh (now in northern Iraq) marked the high point of the Assyrian empire, which stretched from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the mountains of western Iran. And yet the one thing I remember from school is making a careful drawing of the trademark winged bull, with a paragraph copied from the history book saying no more than "not much is known about the Assyrians" - I guess they had not translated enough of the tablets at that time.... or they were all self-publicity:
I am Ashurbanipal,
King of the world,
King of Assyria.
[Shortly after his death, the Assyrian empire fell, Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, and its ruins lost to history.]
