Rosemary and Carolyn, thank you for talking about the Scotland Street series by McCall Smith, I saw them listed in the front of the book, didn't really know what they were, so got a Dalhousie (sp?) instead, which I have heard of, so now I know what to get next time. I appreciate being able to hear from our readers about what's good and what's not.
So far this book Corduroy Mansions, is amazing, to me. He's got this apartment house and all these people in it and people they encounter, spin off after spin off: like they used to say on TV here (tho O Henry said it first) "there are a million stories in the naked city." And it seems that McCall Smith's ideas are infinite. You can almost see how an author's mind works: oh I could make a book about this, or this, or this incident or character. It's pretty amazing, and I hope that yellow flecks in an iris don't mean colon issues, I've always had them!
It's a dangerous conceit, I think, this type of book, would you say it has a plot or not? So far the only plot I see is the apartment house itself and the people in it, but I'm not very far along. It reminds me in a way of Our Town without the overarching drama. And it's a type of structure which could get away from him, so many many characters, and modern readers really don't like a million characters (and I admit I find my mind wandering some, too), but I really like the underlying feel of the book and admire him for trying. It's different. He's clever.
He's nice. That sounds odd from somebody who liked Relic and Reliquary but he's nice and sometimes that's nice to read, too. Whatever you're in the mood for, right now, it's "nice" I'm in the mood for.
I look forward to the next in the series and his Scotland Street, series, too, tho I have not been to Edinburgh enough times to know what's real and what's not.
Babi, that sounds interesting, let us know if you like it or not. I've heard mixed reviews on Saylor and would like to hear from people here as to how they like this book.
I'm also listening, in the car, to The Twelve Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie, read by Hugh Fraser, who plays Hastings on the TV series with David Suchet. I've read it and heard it before, but it's really so enjoyable: it's a pleasure to listen to. Fraser, who does the reading, can do any voice. He sounds like Hastings as he reads but he can play any of the parts, and does Suchet (Poirot) better than Suchet. You would swear you were watching it on TV. He can do young and old women, Cockney, you name it: he is incredible and a pleasure to listen to. Christie was so brilliant it's unreal.
I guess I'm into recreational enjoyable reading at the moment, and I get a LOT of good ideas here, thank you all!
