tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post297096552439059310..comments2023-11-05T08:01:10.010+00:00Comments on Think of England: The second postBrithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-15686162283411966702010-09-06T12:22:43.447+01:002010-09-06T12:22:43.447+01:00Recu, my indigestible review seems to have communi...Recu, my indigestible review seems to have communicated the sort of queasiness I felt when reading the novel. Which is a success of sorts, I suppose.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-57535723904227658152010-09-02T10:40:46.444+01:002010-09-02T10:40:46.444+01:00I say Susan, steady on. It's far too early in ...I say Susan, steady on. It's far too early in the day for me to cope with steamy double entendres. <br /><br />It's hard enough dealing with all those fancy descriptives in Gaw's mini-review: didactic AND ruminative, forsooth.Recusanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11446741817585462393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-79289680245513685182010-09-02T09:01:29.270+01:002010-09-02T09:01:29.270+01:00Vague memories of the second coming ... mmmVague memories of the second coming ... mmmSusanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00179895758709928467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-77503533838462343102010-09-01T18:34:00.867+01:002010-09-01T18:34:00.867+01:00I am working on an archive of letters at the momen...I am working on an archive of letters at the moment and the references to afternoon post had me thinking the same thing - because I can easily remember it being a fact of life and yet it seems also so long ago...Hannah Stonehamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11139146341592918233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-63374562275677313022010-09-01T16:07:04.072+01:002010-09-01T16:07:04.072+01:00Parts of it were much more more poorly written tha...Parts of it were much more more poorly written than a Le Carre or Ballard. There's one bit that's very self-conscious and uneven; it reads like a creative writing exercise shoe-horned in just to make up the numbers.<br /><br />The book could have done with a good, old-fashioned edit. But in the end his inability to live up to his pretensions annoyed me - it was all flash and not enough Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-20258847678749678382010-09-01T15:51:18.650+01:002010-09-01T15:51:18.650+01:00I thought it was better than that, but basically i...I thought it was better than that, but basically it was a Le Carre novel without the characters and plot, or a Ballard without the ideas. Some of it was painfully self-conscious.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-4859799919271391642010-09-01T15:42:10.395+01:002010-09-01T15:42:10.395+01:00The last novel I read, Netherland - which received...<i>The last novel I read, Netherland - which received almost universally favourable reviews - was disappointing, the more so as it was an intriguing and unusual proposition: a novel featuring a Dutch banker and his adventures with immigrant cricketers in post-9/11 New York.<br /><br />However, I found it inaccurate in details, unevenly written, and self-indulgently didactic and ruminative. Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-50526894646586473042010-09-01T15:40:53.411+01:002010-09-01T15:40:53.411+01:00I ended up despising Netherland. I posted on it so...I ended up despising Netherland. I posted on it somewhere back in me archives.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-52606676557738539922010-09-01T14:58:28.405+01:002010-09-01T14:58:28.405+01:00I've only just started it but it's zipping...I've only just started it but it's zipping along quite well so far.<br /><br />I just finished 'Netherland' (Dabbler post to come on that) and thought that was a tad overrated, though parts of it were excellent.Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-50302785678416538362010-09-01T14:50:18.753+01:002010-09-01T14:50:18.753+01:00It was the incident in the garden square that gave...It was the incident in the garden square that gave me pause for thought. What do you think of it (the novel, I mean)? I thought it was overrated. But then I think that of most contemporary novels.Gareth Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058241057385364459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-89796267528862068772010-09-01T13:46:48.179+01:002010-09-01T13:46:48.179+01:00I had a good one the other day where I paid lots o...I had a good one the other day where I paid lots of money for a VERY important work related package to come by recordeded guaranteed pre-noon next day delivery. After I waited all morning and it didn't arrive I got hold of someone who told me that 'When we say guaranteed, that doesn't actually mean "guaranteed"wormhttp://thedabbler.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9501938.post-25222372636227034622010-09-01T12:03:55.655+01:002010-09-01T12:03:55.655+01:00I dimly recalled the second post and the hope that...I dimly recalled the second post and the hope that something that didn't arrive by 9AM, might arrive by lunchtime. How things have changed. We're now lucky to get one post a day and don't expect first class mail to arrive the next day.Willardnoreply@blogger.com