Kevin's Watch

Dragonlily wrote:I have DREAM OF SCIPIO and haven't read it yet. Would you give your impressions?

It's pretty good so far, though I'm finding it to be somewhat difficult to keep track of, since the approach here is that he tells the stories of 3 different men in the south of France at 3 different periods of history (last days of the Roman Empire, the 1300s, and the 1930s), and jumps back and forth between each of their stories, linking them together. As a result, the individual storylines aren't as straightforward as they might otherwise be. There's also a bit of philosophizing, which does make it a dense (if interesting) read so far.

Thanks. I too read INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST, so I'm acquainted with the way Piers twines his historicals together. I've moved SCIPIO up the tbr stack.

I succumbed to the library again. Now reading THE MOSAIC OF SHADOWS, the first of a highly promising mystery series by Tom Harper, set in Byzantium at the time of the crusade which ended with Baldwin taking Jeruselem as his kingdom.

Dragonlily wrote:I have DREAM OF SCIPIO and haven't read it yet. Would you give your impressions?

OK, that was weird. I posted my original reply yesterday, but it didn't show up for a while until you replied.

I should mention that Pears' approach with "The Dream of Scipio" is somewhat different from "An Instance of the Fingerpost". The 3 stories in "Dream" are mixed together and presented in short vignettes, as opposed to being presented as 3 separate stories one by one, as with the 4 stories in "Fingerpost". Hence, the reason I find it a little disjointed.

OK, anyway, I moved it up the tbr's. The book attracted me from the start.

When I get the time today, I'll be starting Edward Marston's THE COUNTERFEIT CRANK, which I was lucky enough to find at the library. That's the same mystery series I've been reading. Then I will be finished with the series.

Dragonlily wrote:OK, anyway, I moved it up the tbr's. The book attracted me from the start.

No problem, wasn't trying to discourage you from reading it or anything.

Finished "The Dream of Scipio" last night. Once I got used to the narrative style, I really enjoyed it. The 3 stories are woven together very effectively and the philosophy behind it all is fascinating.

GIRL SLEUTH: NANCY DREW AND THE WOMEN WHO CREATED HER

A publicist offered this one to us, and I was curious.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

the Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Finished last evening Lawrence Block's THE BURGLAR WHO STUDIED SPINOZA. Purely entertainment, well worth the time it took to digress from a short story collection. If I had run out of things to read, I would be looking for more Lawrence Blocks.

next up for my reading group,
ANita Shreve: the Weight of Water
takes place in New Hampshire

Just started the second of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Series, about the Danish occupation of England, The Pale Horsemen. Usual fare, enjoyable if you like the historical fiction.

--A

the Watchmen absolute collective hardcover
Alan Moore

just finished reading 'demon awakens' in the demonwars trilogy by RA Salvatore, i was very impressed.anyone else read salvatore?

One or two of them, drow and whatnot isn't he?

Anyway, am reading a timeless classic, Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

--A

Excellent!

i have been instructed, by my best girlfriend, to read something called "The World is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved" by Trebbe Johnson.

anybody heard of this?

The History of the Soviet Union

THE TIDAL POOLE by Karen Harper. Second of a series of mysteries with Queen Elizabeth I as the detective. They combine a thorough knowledge of the people of the time with the lack of a feel for those same people. At least, to me. The most I can suspend my disbelief is for a few moments at a time.

danlo wrote:Excellent!

Always. I was interested to see that this edition, (I have 3 different ones, and I'd never read this one) contains an afterword, about

Spoiler

the subsequent death of his son etc.

I hadn't known that.

--A