tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post5712528174749747659..comments2024-03-26T17:48:56.627+00:00Comments on 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?': The MinotaurMartin Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-87940486565469735722010-03-12T14:26:33.284+00:002010-03-12T14:26:33.284+00:00I agree with your favourite choices and also agree...I agree with your favourite choices and also agree with Catherine that Grasshopper was excellent. Another that I thoroughly enjoyed was The Chimney Sweeper's Boy.<br /><br />I also much prefer Barbara Vine to Ruth Rendell.<br /><br />I shall read Minotaur now - I have it but haven't read it yet. You've resparked my interest!Kit Courteneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07211606676705095432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-81155857614455858092010-03-11T17:56:30.652+00:002010-03-11T17:56:30.652+00:00Thanks, Dorte and Nicole. Among the Rendells with ...Thanks, Dorte and Nicole. Among the Rendells with a Vine-like feel that I can recommend are Going Wrong and The Bridesmaid. In fact, most of them are excellent.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-39829318578464449632010-03-11T17:55:05.939+00:002010-03-11T17:55:05.939+00:00R.T., thanks for the link to the interesting revie...R.T., thanks for the link to the interesting reviews. <br />An editor often has a huge say, but in the case of a national treasure such as Rendell or P.D. James, I would assume that most editors would be cautious about saying anything that would upset such an important writer. This was the case with Agatha Christie, and explains why the errors in her later books went uncorrected.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-72631635745791989222010-03-11T17:52:15.168+00:002010-03-11T17:52:15.168+00:00Margot, Ann, Elizabeth, thanks for your comments. ...Margot, Ann, Elizabeth, thanks for your comments. Elizabeth, I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling these reservations about a book by a great crime writer.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-74639879024712895212010-03-11T17:51:06.656+00:002010-03-11T17:51:06.656+00:00Hi Deb, as a fan of shorter books, I sympathise! T...Hi Deb, as a fan of shorter books, I sympathise! That one is one of the few Hill novels I haven't got round to reading yet.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-65718916320728836052010-03-11T17:49:58.497+00:002010-03-11T17:49:58.497+00:00Hi Xavier - nice point! I'd never thought of a...Hi Xavier - nice point! I'd never thought of a comparison with Rinehart and co, but...Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-91915128755219849682010-03-11T17:49:18.388+00:002010-03-11T17:49:18.388+00:00Hi Juxtabook. I thought The House of Stairs was pr...Hi Juxtabook. I thought The House of Stairs was pretty good too, though A Fatal Inversion is, for me, almost impossible to top.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-54929095721635824062010-03-11T17:48:29.473+00:002010-03-11T17:48:29.473+00:00Maxine, I very much agree. Thomas H. Cook does, I ...Maxine, I very much agree. Thomas H. Cook does, I think, foreshadow rather more subtly than BV did in this particular book. I haven't read The Likeness. Nesser is a writer I definitely admire.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-43773578049199662772010-03-11T16:27:25.231+00:002010-03-11T16:27:25.231+00:00I think that while almost all her Wexford and Burd...I think that while almost all her Wexford and Burden stories are of high quality, the Vine stories vary a lot (from okay to unforgettable). My own favourite is The Chimney Sweeper´s Boy.Dorte Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14535044092722418173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-65756245676503016272010-03-11T16:15:20.793+00:002010-03-11T16:15:20.793+00:00I actually enjoyed The Minotaur for its build-up a...I actually enjoyed The Minotaur for its build-up and foreshadowing; it's more of a why-dunit than a who-dunit, as A Dark Adapted Eye. I found it interesting that Rendell linked the autism to having been exposed to a childhood illness.<br /><br />I've not read A Dark-Adapted Eye but the television adaptaion with Helena Bonham Carter really captured my imagination. I also love Rendell's 13 Steps Down; she's one of my favorite authors.<br /><br />Great post, Martin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-59687372408566909502010-03-11T14:59:20.043+00:002010-03-11T14:59:20.043+00:00What I had to say about THE MINOTAUR can be found ...What I had to say about THE MINOTAUR can be found <a href="http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.asp?bookid=6038" rel="nofollow">here at BookLoons</a>. <br /><br />As for your recommendation for "pruning," I agree with you; as a matter of fact, I think all the Vine books that I've read would be helped in that way.<br /><br />This leads to my question: How much does an editor have to say about matters such as "pruning"? Moreover, does a writer of Rendell's/Vine's stature have much of an obligation to "obey" such editorial advice, or are well-established (iconic) writers given free rein in all such matters?R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-66219548770613770862010-03-11T14:09:41.890+00:002010-03-11T14:09:41.890+00:00Yes, there can always be too much foreshadowing. I...Yes, there can always be too much foreshadowing. I sadly haven't read much of Rendall but she is on my list of must reads. Thanks for the post, Edward.<br /><br />annAnn Elle Altmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02192162600274764681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-47230027060076501452010-03-11T13:28:32.378+00:002010-03-11T13:28:32.378+00:00I felt EXACTLY the way you did, Martin, when I rea...I felt EXACTLY the way you did, Martin, when I read this book a few years ago.<br /><br />I loved the sense of place I got, but I found the Swedish girl's determination to stay put fairly unrealistic. The foreshadowing was too heavy-handed. <br /><br />I'm a huge Rendell/Vine fan, but this book was a disappointment to me--mostly because I think it could have been really riveting.<br /><br />Elizabeth<br /><a href="http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Mystery Writing is Murder</a>Elizabeth Spann Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625595247828274405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-872956598957081342010-03-11T13:20:40.187+00:002010-03-11T13:20:40.187+00:00Martin - Thanks for this review. I'd like to e...Martin - Thanks for this review. I'd like to especially thank you for mentioning <i>A Dark Adapted Eye </i>. I truly enjoyed that book; it really is, as you say, rewarding. Perhaps I'll wait on <i>The Minotaur...</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-91166234395925794682010-03-11T13:20:40.188+00:002010-03-11T13:20:40.188+00:00I've commented before about how much longer my...I've commented before about how much longer mysteries have gotten since the Golden Age, or even since the 1970s (can you imagine Agatha Christie publishing a 500-page behemoth?) and how that requires an incredible amount of unnecessary information and description in order to "make" the page count. Even the best mystery writers are falling prey to this quest for bigger-bigger-bigger. Right now I'm reading Reginald Hill's THE PRICE OF BUTCHER'S MEAT. Hill is one of my favorite writers and Dalziel & Pascoe are two of my favorite fictional detectives, but I'm already at page 136 and, so far, not a single murder has taken place--nothing but exposition. Although it's undoubtedly well-written, I find myself saying, "Come on, come on, get to the crime--after all, this IS a mystery!"Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-24055928543817816172010-03-11T12:13:20.230+00:002010-03-11T12:13:20.230+00:00"We know that Something Terrible Will Happen,...<i>"We know that Something Terrible Will Happen, because Kerstin tells us so. Again and again."</i><br /><br />Ruth Rendell going HIBK is a weird thought indeed, and I'd be curious to read the book for that reason alone.Xavierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05702919450638993709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-30484801178228166912010-03-11T12:10:32.376+00:002010-03-11T12:10:32.376+00:00I second what you say about Barbara Vine and A Dar...I second what you say about Barbara Vine and A Dark-Adapted Eye. Grasshopper is also excellent. Oddly I much prefer Barbara Vine to Ruth Rendell! I guess that's why she has the two persona.Juxtabookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17102279698993288454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-22348477129664289182010-03-11T11:58:42.153+00:002010-03-11T11:58:42.153+00:00This foreshadowing of doom is rather irritating wh...This foreshadowing of doom is rather irritating when overdone, I agree. It is a trademark of Thomas H. Cook, whose novels are otherwise very good. But the constant references to a traumatic event that is revealed at the end of the novel are often quite a let-down (almost by definition). A recent book that did this far too much was The Likeness by Tara French. An author like Hakan Nesser can show how well an author can have a chilling effect without the need for a long repetitive build-up.Maxine Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06628509319992204770noreply@blogger.com