Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Sayers' Strong Poison is highly regarded, but 1/4 in I don't know why. "I fell in love at fist sight, ergo she MUST be innocent" is pure BS. Even the insufferable Wimsey admits there was NO evidence provided to justify his conviction (ha!). Repeatedly castigating Parker for doing his job as a police officer and following the evidence is rich, too.

Uncle Robin, I have been working my way through Margery Allingham's books over the last 18 months, one every now and then in between others. The first one is pretty awful, the second and third are a bit silly but getting better, but after that she really hits her stride. I am really enjoying them.

Better than Sayers I think, because she was so in love with her own creation. Allingham started off doing Albert Campion as a bit of a spoof on Lord Peter I think, but he has developed his own gravitas. It's his "silly ass" persona that made the first few books a bit tedious.

[CRussel]

I always enjoyed Campion. Gosh, it's been years since I read any of them, though. I wonder...

Well, it will have to wait until after I read the latest Bruno, Chief of Police novel, To Kill a Troubadour, which just made its way to me from the library.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Uncle Robin, I have been working my way through Margery Allingham's books over the last 18 months, one every now and then in between others. The first one is pretty awful, the second and third are a bit silly but getting better, but after that she really hits her stride.

Exactly!

It was this progression that moved me to check out Sayers/Wimsey, hoping for a similar growth. Although I'd not read Sayers when I read Allingham, it was clear that Campion started as "Wimsey lite", just as you say. It was a pleasure to watch the author and her character find their own voice

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Better than Sayers I think, because she was so in love with her own creation.

And created a Mary Sue to act it out. The books with Harriet Vane are icky, Busman’s Honeymoon being especially cringe-worthy. While many, if not most, find her Gaudy Night to be her best, my own preference is for the Vane-less Murder Must Advertise.

I was glad when your recommendation caused me to reconsider Allingham, when I had abandoned Black Dudley. I couldn’t imagine what I had seen in her back in the day!

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

While many, if not most, find her Gaudy Night to be her best, my own preference is for the Vane-less Murder Must Advertise

These are the only 2 of hers I've kept on my TBR. I'm adding more Brian Flynn, ECR Lorac and Christianna Brand stories as I can afford them.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by issybird

And created a Mary Sue to act it out. The books with Harriet Vane are icky, Busman’s Honeymoon being especially cringe-worthy. While many, if not most, find her Gaudy Night to be her best, my own preference is for the Vane-less Murder Must Advertise.

I was glad when your recommendation caused me to reconsider Allingham, when I had abandoned Black Dudley. I couldn’t imagine what I had seen in her back in the day!

Decidedly icky! Whereas Campion's Amanda, who only appears now and then, is delightful. This is the end of Pearls Before Swine, when he finally gets home after trying to do so for the whole book. He had been away in Europe for a couple of years, as this one is set during WW2:

Mr. Campion opened the gate, crossed the vegetable patch and, skirting the cottage wall, turned on to the little grass lawn which had a muddy path running through it. There he stopped abruptly, an intense emotion, three parts honest embarrassment, overcoming him.

There was a person not yet three upon the path; he was white-haired and was wearing sun glasses. At the moment he was squatting by a puddle, one discarded sandal firmly clasped in his hand.

His preoccupation was a simple one. He was trying to fit the shoe into an imprint recently made by it in the mud.

As Mr. Campion came up to him, he raised his head from his task and stared upward, and for a time they stood looking at one another in amazement.

A girl with red hair and a wide mouth came out of the cottage and joined them. She was brown and slender, and her green dress was formal and a little old-fashioned.

“Hello,” said Amanda, “meet my war work.”

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Gatton

The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson. It's book #4 in a 10 book series The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Unbeliever. I've been reading this series for about thirty years and am on book 4 lol.

Cue King George from Blackadder "Yes well I'm a slow reader myself."

Anyway I'm not sure what it is about Donaldson's prose I like so much. It's rather dense and the man clearly LOVES his thesaurus (upside: I learn a lot of new words especially for colors).

I remember seeing some of these books and the covers grabbed me. I was given the first two books and I started reading the first one and by the time I stopped reading, I was a good chunk of the way in. I did enjoy them. What I have not yet read is the last (and final) series. I really do need to get to them someday.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I remember seeing some of these books and the covers grabbed me. I was given the first two books and I started reading the first one and by the time I stopped reading, I was a good chunk of the way in. I did enjoy them. What I have not yet read is the last (and final) series. I really do need to get to them someday.

I really liked the first two sets of Thomas Covenant chronicles, but the Last Chronicles I found ... somewhat annoying. The Last Chronicles rewrites history a bit, not changing it as such, but introducing another layer that didn't entirely convince me. But he writes well so I had no trouble finishing, and I ended up satisfied, although a couple of the books come close to a 3/5 (lower than any of the first books). I'll probably reread them sometime just to see if things look different second time around.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

And created a Mary Sue to act it out. The books with Harriet Vane are icky, Busman’s Honeymoon being especially cringe-worthy. While many, if not most, find her Gaudy Night to be her best, my own preference is for the Vane-less Murder Must Advertise.

I was glad when your recommendation caused me to reconsider Allingham, when I had abandoned Black Dudley. I couldn’t imagine what I had seen in her back in the day!

I'll take Ngaio Marsh's Troy in her Alleyn books ANY day over either of those being discussed.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'll take Ngaio Marsh's Troy in her Alleyn books ANY day over either of those being discussed.

I'll second that opinion.

Allingham's Campion improves towards the end of the series IMHO, where she shifts focus more onto the criminals than the sleuth.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'll take Ngaio Marsh's Troy in her Alleyn books ANY day over either of those being discussed.

I like Troy. A lot. I thought the books improved markedly when she was added to the mix. But then I enjoy all three of these authors, even as I recognize the limitations of Sayer. FWIW, I also like Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books, though they're rather different.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I like Troy. A lot. I thought the books improved markedly when she was added to the mix. But then I enjoy all three of these authors, even as I recognize the limitations of Sayer. FWIW, I also like Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver books, though they're rather different.

Sayer..MEH! Read one book and that was one book too many.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'll take Ngaio Marsh's Troy in her Alleyn books ANY day over either of those being discussed.

Troy is a great character, my favourite Marsh stories are the ones she's in. The more I learn about Marsh, the more I suspect Troy is "based on/inspired by" Marsh, with painting substituted for theatre. I have 1 Marsh bio in my TBR at present and another on my Kobo wishlist, she's much more interesting to me than Allingham, Christie or Sayers, and Troy's appeal is a reflection of that

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sayer..MEH! Read one book and that was one book too many.

Anyone’s entitled to dismiss an author on the basis of one book. I do it myself all the time. There are a lot of books out there and there’s no point in throwing good reading time after bad. However, you can’t be taken seriously as a critic, especially of an author as important to the genre as DLS, on the basis of one book and that the first, where most authors haven’t hit their stride. Even her second was a vast improvement - and the first was not terrible.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by issybird

Anyone’s entitled to dismiss an author on the basis of one book. I do it myself all the time. There are a lot of books out there and there’s no point in throwing good reading time after bad. However, you can’t be taken seriously as a critic, especially of an author as important to the genre as DLS, on the basis of one book and that the first, where most authors haven’t hit their stride. Even her second was a vast improvement - and the first was not terrible.

I agree with all of the above - except the bit after the hyphen. I found Whose Body so awful I took a break of nearly 2 years to recover before resuming my self-imposed Sayers discovery program