![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabiadrakeI read Guilty by Definition off the back of a recommendation somewhere. It’s not my usual genre — by which I mean contemporary novels — but it was very readable. If you like cosy mysteries, etymology and word puzzles, you will probably enjoy it. It has some of the traits that I dislike in contemporary fiction but the character writing is a degree better than it needs to be and it has moments of nice prose. At times it overexplains its literary references. I was unsurprised to see Dent has another in the series set to be published. And I’ll probably succumb and read it in three days or less. Yes, I’m being a little grudging about this.
(I think the reason I often like old crime/mystery novels is due to the surrounding historical detail in addition to the formulaic crimesolving. And I am convinced that, for the most part, writers were writing better — more conviction and erudition, less self consciousness — before the advent of social media. This is not to say that all earlier novels were good or that all contemporary novels are bad! But I frequently find myself bored by what Johanna Thomas-Corr described as “today’s rather more introverted and humourless literary scene, where many of our most feted writers seem to be scared of their own shadow”. And a little part of me withers any time I have to read a text message conversation reproduced on the page.)
G. meanwhile is extraordinary — a novel that pulls you along in its slipstream.
I watched A Man Escaped for the first time, which oh. such a great film. (tomethatscinema.jpg) I suspect Bresson may have been an influence on Fred Zinneman, although I haven’t seen this discussed anywhere.
We’ve been watching The Essex Serpent; unfortunately no strong feelings. Good setting, premise, sense of place, etc; the characters however do not seem quite... integrated into the story. Not ill-fitting; just lacking in a strong sense that this story belongs to these characters and could belong to no others. Perhaps the book has a greater sense of cohesion; for some reason I was never compelled to read it. Perfectly solid cast. I have decided I like Frank Dillane, having previously only seen him in In the Heart of the Sea, which was tragically not very good. (Again, many good actors. Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy, Joseph Mawle, Edward Ashley — whom I have decided I like since he was one of the best parts of Masters of the Air — and cameos from Donald Sumpter and Richard Bremmer! Like I said, tragic.) His and Jamael Westman’s performances liven up the Gothic seriousness a little, as does Hayley Squires’s when she gets the chance. Claire Danes does an excellent English accent, much better than most American actors. I find the show’s blue colour cast distracting. But I DO like the lingering shots of the Essex marshes.
(I think the reason I often like old crime/mystery novels is due to the surrounding historical detail in addition to the formulaic crimesolving. And I am convinced that, for the most part, writers were writing better — more conviction and erudition, less self consciousness — before the advent of social media. This is not to say that all earlier novels were good or that all contemporary novels are bad! But I frequently find myself bored by what Johanna Thomas-Corr described as “today’s rather more introverted and humourless literary scene, where many of our most feted writers seem to be scared of their own shadow”. And a little part of me withers any time I have to read a text message conversation reproduced on the page.)
G. meanwhile is extraordinary — a novel that pulls you along in its slipstream.
I watched A Man Escaped for the first time, which oh. such a great film. (tomethatscinema.jpg) I suspect Bresson may have been an influence on Fred Zinneman, although I haven’t seen this discussed anywhere.
We’ve been watching The Essex Serpent; unfortunately no strong feelings. Good setting, premise, sense of place, etc; the characters however do not seem quite... integrated into the story. Not ill-fitting; just lacking in a strong sense that this story belongs to these characters and could belong to no others. Perhaps the book has a greater sense of cohesion; for some reason I was never compelled to read it. Perfectly solid cast. I have decided I like Frank Dillane, having previously only seen him in In the Heart of the Sea, which was tragically not very good. (Again, many good actors. Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy, Joseph Mawle, Edward Ashley — whom I have decided I like since he was one of the best parts of Masters of the Air — and cameos from Donald Sumpter and Richard Bremmer! Like I said, tragic.) His and Jamael Westman’s performances liven up the Gothic seriousness a little, as does Hayley Squires’s when she gets the chance. Claire Danes does an excellent English accent, much better than most American actors. I find the show’s blue colour cast distracting. But I DO like the lingering shots of the Essex marshes.
no subject
Date: Feb. 13th, 2026 10:58 (UTC)Neither have I, but I agree with your opinion!
no subject
Date: Feb. 13th, 2026 16:21 (UTC)