Books and Stuff (NS, No 21) - Reading in Oct 2021

Currently Reading

William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World

Dampier's account of his meandering voyage around the world, more often than not employed as a buccaneer (he was later recruited to lead a naval expedition, but could shake off his piratical ways).

This might end up being a slow read, not because it's not interesting, but because of the format.  Nevertheless, I'm giving it a go and it is a ripping yarn.

This edition has been sat unread on my shelves since I bought it on publication - I'm shocked to find that was back in 1998!  A cautionary tale...

Finished Reading

J D Davies, Kings of the Sea: Charles II, James II and the Royal Navy

As I said last month, this study of Charles and James's naval policies is one I've been looking forward to reading for some time.  And it was worth it.  It really is an excellent, well-written book, not in the least bit dry.

Michael Moorcock, Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles

I've not read any Michael Moorcock and thought that a Doctor Who book by him might be a way in.  Perhaps my lack of a grounding in his other works was an issue, as apparently he's liberally mixed his own multiverse into the Doctor Who setting.  Given his reputation, I kept expecting something clever or interesting, and was quite disappointed when it was neither.  A rather dodgy pastiche of PG Wodehouse didn't help (if I want poor Wodehouse parody, he wrote enough himself...).

Books & Stuff (NS, No 10) - Reading in 2020

I know it's rather late to do a review of 2020, but I'm a rebel...

Goodreads, which I use to track these things, informs me that I read 46 books in 2020.  That's pretty good going - no doubt a result of Lockdown. By my count it's 27 fiction and 19 non-fiction, more of the latter than I expected to be honest.  For those who want the full list, I restarted a monthly round-up of all my reading in May 2020, so delve into the back-list.

In the past I tried to give my top-ten (sometimes giving separate lists for fiction and non-fiction), but I always found that tricky, so this year I'm again going to give highlights rather than shoe-horn things.

Susanna Clarke

My first book of 2020 was a re-reading of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, not a small undertaking but one that I enjoyed greatly.  It rates as one of favorite books.  At the time it came out, the merger of historical writing and fanasty was quite novel.  There have been many imitators since, but not many of them have been able to carry it off: the secret is that Clarke has masterty of both genres and brought something new to each of them.  I followed it up re-reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu, a collection of short stories set in the same universe as Strange and Norrell.

Strange and Norrell came out in 2004 and Ladies in 2006; fans had been impatiently waiting for the next work since then.  It came out in September 2020.  After avoiding reviews and other publicity, I read it in November.  My initial opinion of it can be seen here.  Suffice to say, I enjoyed it: it rates as my BOOK OF  THE YEAR.

Joe Abercrombie, The Shattered Sea Trilogy

• Half a King
• Half the World
• Half a War

I'm a long-standing fan of Joe Abercrombie.  This trilogy, published in 2014 and 2015, was written and marketed as 'Young Aldult Fantasy'.  I'm not quite sure what that means, perhaps there was less gore and sex than in Abercrombie's other works, but they (and other 'adult' themes) were still there.  Certainly there was no diminishment in the qualtity of his writing.

I read them in March and would certainly recommend them.

Mainly Non-Fiction in April and May

April and May saw a few non-fiction books that are worthy of notice.

William David Compton, Where No Man Has Gone Before

This is part of the Official History of the Apollo Programme produced by NASA, focussing on the science programme.  As such, it might be expected to be quite dry.  Instead, Compton does a very good, readable job of explaining how the expectations of the science community were meet, dismissed or managed in the light the limits of enginnering.  

Of particular interest is the on-going struggle over astronaut selection between those who primarily wanted the appointment of test pilots and those who wanted scientists on the moon.  Naturally, most of the hard science was planned for the latter missions, so the early cancellation of the programme saw much alteration of plans in order to get as much done as possible.

Peter Hunter Blair, The World of Bede

This is an excellent introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, religion and the life and works of Bede.

The book was first published in 1970, so I'm sure that it's been superceeded in many aspects.  But for someone who, like me only has a general knowledge of the subject, it was great.

J S Weiner, The Piltdown Forgery

This is another old book, in this case published in 1955.  The thing of note is that this is the first book-length account of the exposure of the fraud by one of those who made the initial expose in 1953.   

Again, it might be thought to be a dry subject, but the fact that my copy is a 1955 edition from the old Boots Travelling Library, shows that there was huge public interest in the case.  It makes good reading as a dectective story, a study in vanity and hubris, and for those interested in 1940s-vintage forensic techniques.

Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth

There have been libraries' worth of books written on Tolkien of course.  The advantage Shippey has is that he knows and understands the influences on Tolkien and, unlike many of us, he actually understands the philology that is at root of his creative process (from 1979 to 1996 Shippey held the Chair of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Leeds that Tolkien held in the 1920s).

 

Joan Druett, In the Wake of Madness

I first got to know Joan in the 1990s, when I could lay a tenious claim to being a maritime historian.  It was therefore a great pleasure to read this, her account of a 1841 mutiny on an American whaleship in the Pacific.  It was a great scandal at the time and did much to influence Herman Melville's writings (he was serving in the whaling fleet at the time).

Joan did a great job in ferreting out contempory accounts and documents, and tells a story of brutality and racism that was glossed over at the time and since, while at the same time telling us a lot about how whaling on the far side of the world shaped New England society.

Michale Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

This account of Jewish boys in 1940s New York fighting Nazis through the medium of comic books is a great read.  It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001, and deservedly so.

I'm not a comic-book fan, but this is obviously heart-felt homage to the Golden Age.

J D Davies, the Matthew Quinton Series

• Gentlemen Captain
• The Mountain of Gold
• The Blast that Tears the Sea

There is a a lot of naval fiction written, a lot of it fairly bad (and like bad science fiction it always seems to come in series) so, as a rule it's not a rabbit-hole I tend to go down.  However I made an impulse buy in a charity shop of Gentleman Captain, the first book in this series.  I suppose there were two reasons: first, because by being set in the Restoration Navy, it was a different period from the usual Napoleonic or Tudor tale; and, secondly, because I was vaguely aware of Davies as a respected historian of the period.  It was enough to pique my curiosity, and worth it.  

The series follows Matthew Quinton, a member of an aristocratic Cavalier family - exiled during the Commonwealth - who return on the Restoration.  Matthew opts to join the Royal Navy and is appointed a 'Gentleman Captain'.  The series charts the (not insignificant) tensions between the 'Gentlemen' and 'Tarpaulins' - those who owe their appointment to the belief that the aristocracy are natural leaders and those survivors of Cromwell's navy who earned thier appointment through merit.

There are seven books in the series (plus two in a prequel series about Matthew's grandfather in Drake's navy): I've now read the first three (and am up to the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Battle of Lowestoft).

Naval History

As anyone who follows this blog should know, I have an interest in naval and maritime history.  However, like many, that was initially prompted by accounts of Napoleonic Wars at sea.  Thus, apart from the obligatory books on the Armada or Samual Pepys and an interest in the exploration voyages of Anson and Cook, I hadn't read much of earlier periods.

Now one thing I was aware of from what little reading I had done, was that the Restoration was a fascinating period.  For anyone who wants proof of that, I'd point them to Claire Tomalin's outstanding biography, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self.  Of course, the resolution of any civil war is bound to be tricky, but the sheer amount of intrigue and politicing during the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution is staggering.  That one of the reasons the Davies' Matthew Quinton series is such a good read.

So, I've decided to read up on the subject.  As a result in the latter half of 2020 I read a number of books on the navy in the period 1640 to 1740.  I don't think any one of them deserves pulling out for this hightlights post, but it was a significant feature of my reading in the year.

Ghost/Horror Stories 

• Robert W Chambers, The King in Yellow
• Arthur Conan Doyle, Tales of Unease
• H P Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
• M R James, Collected Ghost Stories

I've never been what you can call a horror fan, but over the last year or so, I've become interested (primarily through RPGs based on the Lovecraft Mythos) enough that I read enough during 2020 for it to be worth mentioning.

All four of these books are worth recomending.  The King in Yellow is a mixed bunch, my view from May 2020 is here.  The same link gives you my take on The Tales of Unease; basically that familiarity with Sherlock Holmes makes one forget how good a writer Conan Doyle was and all the other stuff he wrote.  I've not read a great deal of Lovecraft, but if it's all of the quality of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, I've a treat in store (sadly, from my other reading I know it's not).  For me, however, the Master is MR James.

Books & Stuff (NS, No 4): Reading in July 2020

So what did I read in July?  Furlough for me ended on 23 June, and I practically been pulling six-day weeks since then, so reading time has cut-back.  Nevertheless...

J D  Davies, The Blast that Tears the Skies

The third in the Matthew Quinton series about the Restoration Navy.  It's 1665: the year of the plague and the Battle of Lowestoft.  How can it not be exciting?

In this one Quinton is given command of a large but ancient ship and tasked with the dealing with the (historical) rumour that twenty captains from the old Parliamentary Navy will defect during the first battle with the Dutch.  There's also various politicking within his family.

Jen Campbell, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

A moderately amusing collection of odd and annoying things people have said to booksellers.  It will appeal to anyone who has worked in a shop and ever thought that life would be a lot easier without customers.

Currently Reading

Stanley Ellin, The Speciality of the House

I'm carrying on with this great collection of short stories.  I find that if I read too many short stories one after another I loose the effect, so I'm treating this as a book I'm dipping into.  As it's a rather large collection, it'll be a while before I get to the end.

Simon Harris, The Other Norfolk Admirals: Myngs, Narbrough and Shovell

Biography of the aforesaid admiral.  Another study of the Restoration navy.

Bayt al Azif: A Magazine for Cthulhu Mythos Roleplaying Games, Issue 2 (Aug 2019)

Number 2 of this magazine, which keeps up the high standard of No 1 (which I read back in June).  I keep thinking I should do a proper review of both issues.

Books and Stuff (NS, No 2): Reading In May 2020 (Part 2)

You can see the post about the splurge of reading I did in the first part of the month here.  Since then I've settled down a little (basically, I'm sleeping better, so not reading into the early hours, which is obviously a good thing).  As the reception of that post was positve, I am reviving the series where I look at what I've been reading (probably on a monthly business).

Read

J D Davies, The Mountain of Gold

The second of the Matthew Quinton series about a captain in the Restoration Navy.  In this one he get's involved with Robert Holmes and a version of one of his River Gambia expeditions.  About half the book is involved with Quinton's domestic problems, but I don't mind that.

This book held up to the promise of the first, and I shall carry on with the series.  Holmes has just started the Second Anglo-Dutch War, so things will be livening up a little!

Arthur Conan Doyle, Tales of Unease

I mentioned this on my earlier post.  As I've said, I'm a fan of Conan Doyle and his, under-rated non-Holmes stories.

These tales of the supernatural rate nicely with the RW Chambers ones I read earlier in the month, and although they don't reach the peak of MR James, are very good.  Being Doyle, many of them touch on Spiritualism and many or the heroes are medical men, but there are two very good mummy stories, a satirical story about the electric chair (!!) and even a story (from 1913) about the perils of aviation.  Well worth digging out if your interested in pre-Hollywood horror and ghost stories.

Currently Reading

Peter Le Fevre and Richard Harding (edd), Precursers of Nelson: British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century

And I've continued with the series of biographical articles on Admirals of the long-C18th.  I've now got up to Vernon and Hawke, so am on a little firmer ground that I was with the earlier ones.

Books and Stuff (NS, No 1)

Last night I was taking on the phone to my Kindest Critic and the subject of blogging came up.  She reminded me that back in the day (when I used to blog more frequently) I used to have a regular round-up of what I'd been reading.  These used to be quite popular posts.  And looking back at some of them this morning made interesting reading for me.

What with the lockdown, insomnia and what-have-you, I've been a) reading more, and b) thinking about reviving the blog a little.  I'm not going to do the weekly 'Books and Stuff' posts that were a feature of the early years of the blog, but I may start posting a little more often and record my thoughts on my reading.

So Far in May 2020...

Goodreads.com tells me that I've completed 25 books so far this year.  These are the ones I read in May.

Michael Bond, More About Paddington

How can you not like the little chap?  This is the second book in the Paddington series, and he's already very much at home in the Brown household.

There's not really much to be said about this.  The stories are lovely.  1959 attitudes to the sale and  handling of fireworks are something of an eye-opener to some-one who was brought up on 1970's public information films though! 

I can't help hearing Sir Michael Hordern's voice when I read the stories (which always makes it a little odd when I watch The Spy Who Came in From the Cold or Where Eagles Dare - oddly enough it never bothers me when I listen to his Gandalf).

Joan Druett, In The Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon

This is a book by my old friend, New Zealand author Joan Druett.  Here she looks at the events around the 1841-42 Pacific cruise of the whaler Sharon of Fairhaven, MA, which saw Polyneasian crewmen mutiny and murder the captain.  This was of course a great scandal at the time but the causes were covered-up.  Joan examines the financial presures on the captain and his brutality and racism which lead to the mutiny (the turning of a blind eye to such things telling us a lot about the American merchant fleet of the time).

A really excellent read, well-worth looking into even if you're not particularly interested in maritime history.

Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

The Pulizer Prize-winning novel which tells a story of two Jewish cousins who battle Nazis by creating a comicbook hero.  A great depiction of New York in the early war years that manages to tell us a lot about the Golden Age of comics and their creators.  

My description doesn't do it justice.  It's a great read: I literally sat up all night reading this one!

Michael Bond, Paddington Helps Out

What can I say?  After mutiny, murder, mayhem and Nazis I needed another helping of the kindest bear you'll ever meet.

Robert W Chambers, The King in Yellow

The 1895 collection of short stories that had a huge influence on the Lovecraft Mythos.

The stand-out of the collection is the first story, 'The Repairer of Reputations', a story of madness and a truly unreliable narrator.  The others are a mixed bunch - perhaps the next best is "The Street of the First Shell", a tale of American artists living through the 1870 Seige of Paris.  The stories about Paris perhaps get a bum deal from those who go to the book expecting weird literature (only the first four of the ten stories - with the 'King in Yellow' and 'Yellow Sign' motifs - fall into that category).

Boria Sax, Crow

A study of the cultural impact of corvids.  An interesting little book, even if it did sometime make me a little cross with its generalisations and assumptions.

J D Davies, Gentlemen Captain

First book in the Matthew Quinton series of novels about an officer in the Restoration Navy and the (not insignificant) conflicts therein.  This one is set in 1662 and is concerned with treason in Scottish waters.

It sounds pretentious to say that I was aware of Davies' non-fiction and academic works on the period, but I hadn't tried the fiction.  Well, now I have and I enjoyed it a lot.  I've already ordered a cheap copy of the second book in the series.

Alan Abbey, Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls: Naval Wargame Rules for the Age of Sail

All this maritime reading prompted me to dig out and re-read BBIB.  The immediate results can be read here, more will no doubt follow.

Currently Reading

Peter Le Fevre and Richard Harding (edd), Precursers of Nelson: British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century

Published in 1999 - right in the middle of what publishers of naval history were touting as 'Nelson Decade', ie between the bicentenaries of the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar - this is a study of British naval leadership in the Long C18th (so from Torrington to Keith).  With over a dozen authors, there's a mix of stuff here.  Solid work though.  Neither a light nor quick read.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Tales of Unease

As the editor says in his introduction (the editions I read of both this book and the King in Yellow were by Wordsworth with introductions by David Stuart Davies), Doyle's work can be overlooked both because of the overwhelming presence of Sherlock Holmes and because of the sheer quantily and variety of stuff he wrote.  His longer works can be a bit thin, but he is the master of the short story though.  

If he'd only written these ghost stories they'd be worth remembering.  They're not as good as MR James, but they compare well with the RW Chambers.