Random thoughts and observations
I’ve never been to sea, but I enjoy naval fiction and recently discovered the work of Alexander Kent. Kent is a pseudonym for Douglas Reeman, a British author who has written dozens of books, set mostly in the Napoleonic era and the Second World War. I’ve been reading novels from the Bolitho series. Richard Bolitho [...]
Mr American by George MacDonald Fraser is a pleasant wander through 585 pages. Not in the same league as the Flashman series, the story meanders, tackles social issues, skirts around social issues, entertains and frustrates, but generally leaves the reader feeling good. The main character is Mark Franklin, an American who sets tongues wagging in [...]
I’ve promised to write a book one day about my country newspaper experiences. As I head towards the end of my time at the Kalgoorlie Miner some anecdotes are coming back to me. This one isn’t strictly related to the Miner, but I should be able to adapt it for the book somehow. Shortly after [...]
I enjoyed Pillars of the Earth immensely and it was with genuine excitement that I picked up a hardcover copy of the “sequel”, World Without End, around Christmas. Pillars is an all-time classic, a modern masterpiece in my opinion. I guess it’s not easy to follow an epic with an epic, which is probably why [...]
I’ve just finished reading Flashman by George Macdonald Fraser. It’s the first in a series of satirical novels based on the fictional character of Harry Flashman, expelled for drunkenness from Rugby School, who goes on to serve with British forces in Afghanistan. Flashman is the bully from “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” by Thomas Hughes. He’s also [...]
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