On The Book Piles VII

Let's look at what's lurking on the piles this time. Would you believe some things have actually changed? It's a miracle! Some titles continue, however, to lurk...


'Kentucky Thriller' by Lauren St John (2013)

Not started yet, but it's time is coming soon. This young readers' adventure, the third in the series, will hopefully live up to the first episode more than the second, but we will see.

'Journey To The West' (Volume 2) by Wu Cheng'en (~1590)

Lots of progress in 'Journey To The West', as Monkey continues to become more and more of a superhero while the rest of the pilgrimage party become increasingly similar to idiot sidekicks. Monkey's antic are awesome, if occasionally coarse, and leads you to wonder at the relationship that the historical Chinese peoples had with nature, spirituality and the animal kingdom. Also, the sheer number of ghosts, gods, spirits, immortals, demons and monks is impressive, to say the least. Very much recommended, if you can take the thousands of pages that make up the whole four volume episodic epic. It's essentially a million interconnected short stories, with cliffhangers. Are the Chinese to blame for serialisation? Oh, the horror!

'The Conan Chronicles' (Volume 2) (1932-1934) by Robert E Howard

Two stories in, and this collection shines very brightly indeed. The man was a certifiable genius, although he is still obsessed with the adjective 'supple' in this second collection. It's important to note that the stories were written out of sequence, while these two collections try to put them in order of Conan's fictional life, so the quality jumps up and down a little. They're still very inventive, no matter which way you look at them, full of lurid details and slimy monsters from the depths. At certain points, you wonder at just how much braver publications were in their content back in the old days. Well done, Robert E Howard. More will follow once it's completed.

'Till Death Do Us Part' by John Dickson Carr (1944)

Just a few pages in, and it becomes clear that this is an entirely different beast of a story to 'The Hollow Man'. It's still familiar, thanks to the Radio 4 adaptation, again featuring the great Donald Sinden, but in a lesser fashion. The central problem so far is this: Did Dick Markham's fiancée really kill the fortune teller at the village fête for knowing about her alleged past, or is he succumbing to paranoia while the true culprit roams free? Only Dr Gideon Fell will be able to penetrate the lies and reach the truth...

'Somebody Owes Me Money' by Donald E Westlake (1969)

Ah, Donald Westlake, the man behind 'The Hot Rock'. This is a lesser known example of his work, currently half read during a sudden burst of re-reading, and is pretty solid. If you don't expect the heights of 'The Hot Rock' or 'God Save The Mark', then it's a nice diversion. A character piece with occasional bursts of adventure and mystery. The main advantage of Westlake is still nicely present: The brilliantly humorous prose. Let's hope it ends well!

'The Voyage Of The Beagle' by Charles Darwin (1839)
Yes, it's still there! Still languishing on the non-fiction pile, but now in top position as Freud's book on jokes has finally been finished. (It was good.) There's not a lot to write. No progress, but I know it's probably very interesting, with lots of detail of the natural world. The next coach journey will see massive progress, definitely.

'Galileo's Daughter' by Dava Sobel (1999)

Only a few pages in, still, but it will fly by once it's restarted. There's something so very intriguing about reading the correspondence to Galileo from his daughter. Yes, his side has been lost, but we still have hints and fragments of his life as reflected in her writing. It might even warrant some writing after it's read! We can only wait and see...

O.