A little charmer

After lots of rain for the past few weeks I was not too surprised to see yet more rain today. Thank goodness I had something to even out the dreariness of all that rain.... CAKE!! Home baked caked mind you, not the shop bought kind of thing. It seemed to go a bit wrong when I was mixing it all together but in the end it all came together okay. I have been happily munching away at a few slices since about 3 today and it is good!!


#### SPOILER ALERT ####


The Great Train Robbery - Michael Crighton
It seems that Crighton has based this one on fact... well sort of anyway. The man was called Pierce, there was gold and it turned out it was a long time in the planning and they duplicated the keys. Credit to Crighton he did keep some of the names if the main players the same. Apart from that he seems to have taken a little detour from Truth Central. When you look up some of the facts around the actual, historic Great Train Robbery you find out how much Crighton did invent in his story but that does not say that I minded. It was quite an enjoyable story that (as usual with Crighton) moves along at a nice little pace. I am sure he invented most of the dialogue and probably a fair bit of the actions taken by the various players in this robbery game as well but hey.... It's all in good fun.
The story starts when we meet our Mr Pierce who seems like a proper gentleman but is far from it. He is hell bent on pulling off one of the greatest robberies in history. For this audacious plan to succeed he is willing to lie, bribe, cheat and scheme his way into the best and brightest families in Victorian London. With the help of some dodgy sidekicks he manages to get hold of the keys of the safes transporting the money. He then devises and ingenious plan which almost goes wrong at the final stage... several times (just to keep us on tenterhooks). 
One of the bits I like most about this book is that whole plotting of the robbery. Pierce and his accomplish Agar take their time in organising themselves. They stake out the station and go about carefully making their plans. For a long time it is only the two of them who know develop their plan. Later on they need the help of a man with very special talent. Willy is the guy they need to crawl through small spaces and there is only one little problem. Willy got himself nicked and is spending some time in Newgate Prison benefiting from her Majesty's excellent food and lodging facilities. This brings us to one of my favourite bits in the book, where Clean Willy escapes from prison against all odds. It is an incredible few pages where he scales walls, gets himself cut all over the place and finally moves across the rooftops to the hotel room where is met by Pierce and the others and then nursed back to health.
Another good bit is the part when we get to the day of the actual robbery. Pierce has worked it all out. His able assistant is waiting at the drop ready to catch the bag that will be thrown from the train and Pierce' s accomplice is boxed up and suitably smelly. The idea is to get the accomplice, Agar on board in a coffin and the way they go about this is both funny and clever. But... things do not all go quite to plan. Pierce happens meets an old friend on the platform and has to do some ducking and diving and quick thinking to ensure that he is able to carry out his part of the plan. He also has to rely on the help of his very able but very mysterious female assistant to help him out of the small hole he is in. In the end the whole thing is pulled off rather cleverly and they all go their separate ways. This could have been it but as there is no honour among thieves Agar gets caught and then sells them down the river. The plotters are rounded up and brought to justice. Well.. almost all of the plotters. Pierce's personal assistant and the mystery woman remain at large. They are the ones that help Pierce escape justice in the end. They ride of into the sunset, probably to swan off to some faraway destination and spend their ill gotten gains. Things do not go so well for the others involved in the plot as they get sent down. Ah well, I guess someone had to go to jail and Pierce is far to likable a rogue to be sent down. Pierce in court is a joy to read and the way he toys with the police is also very good! He manages to outmaneuver them on several occasions and definitely has the last laugh in the end.
One more thing I liked about the book was that it also gives you a bit of the history of the Victorian age. You get an idea of how society worked, who moved in what circles, how people interacted, what little vices they had and what life was like in London for both the well off and the not so well off. This makes it all a bit more "robust" so to say. It gives us a good picture of what sort of world these people live in and what the customs and conventions were in those days.
I found the whole story quite enjoyable and it scooted along at a good pace. Pierce is a good, fun central character to build the story around and the other accomplice are suitable roguish and entertaining in their own way. Agar is a good sidekick and he manages to claim a good part of the conversation and action in the book. The mystery lady is a bit of a dark horse and you can tell she has only been added to add a little more mystery to Pierce and his convoluted social life. It's a fun story and there are some really funny bits in it. There are also the tense bits of the "will they pull it off or not" but I kind of guessed it would not have been called the Great Train Robbery if they had failed so that tension is kind of not that big.
In short, perfectly likable, fun characters and loosely based on fact as well.
Best line of the book is Pierce's response when he is asked why he took the money, to which he replied: "I wanted the money".

Title: The Great Train Robbery
Author: Michael Crighton
329 pages
Avon Books
ISBN# 0-06-050230-4


Books to be read: 141

Impressive... end of!

Yesterday, as I sat in the office and sneezed about 6 times in two hours and felt my nose getting blocked I decided that today was not going to be a day of activity for me. I have to say that after a nice little lie in and a leisurely stroll my Saturday is shaping up to be exactly that!
Apart from updating my blog today, the only further plans I have are to cook myself a nice roast chicken (nice and easy, in the oven), to read my book (nice and relaxing, on the sofa) and to have an early night (nice and comfy, in bed).


For my latest book review a spoiler alert is not required. I would almost say I should put a MUST READ on it. 


Forgotten Voices of the Great War - Max Arthur
Is simple terms this books tells the story of the First World War from the point of view of those who lived through it. We hear from soldiers from both sides of war and from those who are left at the home front. It is one of the most interesting and moving books I have read in a long time! They are all stories that come from the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum and they have been collected in this book.
In the beginning of the book you feel the enthusiasm from the young lads that cannot seem to wait to sign up for this war. They are going to go and have an adventure, defend France, win the war and be home by Christmas. Some couldn't wait to join up and worried that the war would be over by the time they were ready to go out there. What astounded me that kids as young as sixteen were signed up and set to fight in this war. they weren't supposed to. Soldiers were supposed to be 19 and a half before they were allowed to sign on and be sent to fight but this rule was applied fairly loosely in some places. The longer the war goes on the more exhausted, disillusioned, desperate the soldiers' accounts become.
The pressure that these lads were under when they were being shelled and the reality of trench warfare is described so vividly. The soldiers tell of their daily struggle for survival and little things that make life so difficult. There's the rats as big as a small cats, there's the lice, the latrines (or lack thereof), the dead bodies piling up, the gas attacks, the fatigue, the mud, the confusion, the barren landscape, the waiting and the noise of the guns... and the quiet afterwards. 
Food seems scarce for the British and French but when you then read that the Germans found a British deserted post and were astounded by the amount and types of food left you know that for both sides this war was a war of attrition and of who could hold out the longest.
The tales of the mud and the tremendous losses they suffer and they are simply astounding. The mud is everywhere at one point. Soldiers are trying to get guns and food to the front lines and are wading knee and waist deep in mud. some almost drown when they fall asleep in the trenches, some get stuck and are left to die on their own. During the attacks you read that some platoons start out with hundreds of men (up to 500) but as they go over the top at the end of a barrage they have only 5 or 6 members left. The loss of human lives on both sides and the devastation caused to the landscape is simply astounding. Actually "astounding" does not even do justice to it. Probably, my understanding of it does not even do justice of the events. I don't think that living the lap of luxury we know today we can ever understand what these men had to go through in those war years.
The circumstances the young men had to fight under must have been overwhelming for them and at times victory would have seemed impossible. Yet... they fought on. They did not give up... Some tried to give up... some stuck their hand up just a little too high out of their fox hole, lingered before that opening in the trenches just a little longer than necessary so that some stray bullet might just find them but the majority were there to win this war. And if you objected and refused to fight.... you were simply shot. Demoralising as that was to the other troops who had to carry out the sentence, it was done regularly. Some survived the war as the policy on conscientious objectors seems to have changed throughout the war.
Reading all these stories definitely made me realise that it is the loss of their lives and the fact that they persisted to the end that ensured that we are able to live the comfortable lives we live now.
We owe it to them to remember! We owe it to ourselves to know what went on in those trenches, that people were killed and cut down in the prime of their lives. It seems the least we can do.

An impressive read... a must read, but prepare to be humbled and astounded by scale of it all.


Title: Forgotten Voices of the Great War
Author: Max Arthur
313 pages
Ted Smart
ISBN# 9780091882099


Books to be read: 142

Success... on some fronts at least

So... I am about to embark on review number two for today. Other achievements for today include: getting my laundry done, and the only item remaining on my to do list is "doing the dishes". Things are going well... if not for the fact that actually I now do not really want to go and do the dishes but would rather curl up on the bed with my book. Perhaps I can talk myself into a compromise? It'll be a long shot...


#### SPOILER ALERT ####


Lord Edgware Dies - Agatha Christie
First of all... good riddance to Lord Edgeware. We only meet him for a few pages but he seems a perfectly nasty, controlling little man. Secondly, I now believe I will never understand how Poirot does what he does. He keeps all these thoughts inside his little grey cells and does not share with the class so you have no idea how far along he is in solving the case. Mind you, even if he did share what he was thinking I doubt I would get it. I think I am a Hastings not a Poirot and such is my lot in life.
So who do we have on the main suspect list? We have Lady Edgeware, she is presented as a dumb, money grabbing kind of type and the wife of the dead body in the title. Next on the list is her actor friend, Bryan. He was madly in love with her, then scorned by her in favour of a more financially benificial candidate so he has plenty of reason to set her up for murder. Interestingly we have an impersonator as well.... and she is good. Carlotta can be anyone you want and yet go unnoticed, a rare talent indeed. Unfortunately for Carlotta she dies before the whole thing even gets going but we know she is connected to it all. There is the Lord's daughter Geraldine who is mousy, was afraid of her father and happy to see him die. Finally, we have the heir to the estate Ronald Marsh, previously disgraced, a bit of a rogue but now rolling in clover. He comes out with all guns blazing so he is sure to be hiding something. He is the one that is arrested for the murder but you kind of know he didn't do it. Why would he? 
There are a few others who could technically be in the frame for the murder but I am happy to say that I was not tempted by them for a minute! I know Christie too well by now. We have Lord Edgeware's assistant who seems to have a bit a sympathy for the daughter but none for the wife or heir. She had opportuity for sure but the motive is a bit foggy. There's the dodgy butler who bolts when the ground gets too hot under his feet. Sure, he may have taken some money but why kill the goose who lays the golden eggs? Last but not least there is the new suitor of Lady Edgeware. I ruled him out as soon Christie mentions him as he sounds like someone who would have trouble fighting his way out of a paper bag with scissors. Therefore, plunging a knife in someone's spinal column does not seem the kind of thing he would be any good at.
Once again Christie leads us up the garden path, gives us several possible scenarios for the murders (oh yes, there are a few more bodies in this one than just the Lord!). It seems that at one point even Poirot is stumped by this one. The final conclusion is delightful and comes out of the blue. Christie is so good at playing at your preconceptions of the types of characters she portrays that you make your own deductions based on type alone and in the end get proven wrong... and I mean totally wrong. The murderer never behaves they way (s)he should with Christie and the brilliant things is that even with that knowledge I am still wrong about who dunnit every time. You tell yourself not to take everything you read on face value, to allow for people to behave out of character and not to type. However, who is more likely to have reason to behave out of character and therefore be the killer? That is never clear to me and that is probably part of why I get it wrong every time.
It is a good story, with a decent body count. It moves along nicely with a bit of a lull when Poirot gets stuck and then a rush to the end once the final clue arrives. You do keep finding out little bits of info as you go along... well Japp does. He seems to be the delegated dog's body in this one. He goes out on the road getting the information whilst Poirot sits at home, has his tea and biscuits, tidies his moustache and lets his little grey cells do the running around..... bloody brilliant!


Title: Lord Edgeware Dies
Author: Agatha Christie
351 pages
Harper
ISBN# 978-0-00-781555-5

Books to be read: 143

Two is the magic number

 As Sunday comes round again, the laundry gently spins around in the washing machine and I am once more seated at the table to update my blog. At times life's predictabilities are just what the doctor ordered. Since I only had a few pages to finish on my previously mentioned book I it may come as no surprise that I have finished another one in the meantime as well. I am hoping that this session, accompanied by coffee and M&Ms will allow me to get through both reviews!


#### SPOILER ALERT ####


Gaelic Ghosts, Tales of the Supernatural from Scotland - Sorche Nic Leodhas
This was a great collection of Scottish tales, none of which I had ever read before. A lot of the stories are more funny than scary and that makes them more of a light read. According to the author's introduction some of the tales are collected from friends and family of the author and some are local legends. I have to say that all put together they make for a lovely and entertaining bunch of tales to read. Not too long so you can read several in one session and not too scary either. All of them reviewed below:

The Wicked House of Duncan MacBain
It seems that for the wicked Duncan the party never ends and now he has found a nice surveyor from London to try and trap in the house. The locals try to discourage the lad from going walkabout at night without giving too much away but the stubborn, know-it-all Londoner does what he wants and gets into a slight bit of trouble. Nobody dies... phew.

Sandy MacNeil and his Dog
Sandy loves dogs and they love him. All the dogs in the village follow him around and love him. When he finally does get a dog of his own it is a very special breed! They live happily enough but when the dogs annoys Sandy he lashes out at it and the beast jumps through a wall and is gone forever. Not without leaving a little present for Sandy though!.... the golden kind.

The Man who didn't believe in Ghosts
A young lad is left a house which is haunted. He is the rational kind who does not believe in ghosts and wants to settle there but his fiancee is having none of that. He has to convince her that there are no ghosts in the house. Being the young lad he is, he moves in and gets to the bottom of the ghostly goings on. At the base of this one is a story of a pair of lovers kept apart after death by a vengeful Laird. Once they are reunited peace and tranquillity is restored.

The Giant Bones
A warning for inquisitive strangers not to go and wander off into Scottish caves. Especially not ones previously inhabited by giants. Apparently they do not like it when you try and mess with their bones.

The Gambling Ghosts
A young lad learns that hard way it is best not to gamble with ghosts gathering in a graveyard if you want to hang onto your soul. He is transformed from a lay-about lad to an upstanding citizen in the course of one game.

The Man who walked widdershins round the Kirk
A man disappears into the spirit world by walking the wrong way (anti clockwise) round a church. Everyone panics but all is resolved in the end... by him walking the other way round.

The Tale the Crofter Told
This is a really touching story about a crofter and his wife who keep hearing a child crying at night. Also, the cows don't seem to be giving as much milk as they used to. Once the crofter's wife gets on the case they discover a sad, young lass with a small child wandering the fields. The child is real enough but the woman disappears once she has left her child with the crofter's wife.

The Grateful Old Cailleach
A story that shows it really does pay to be kind to your fellow man... and woman. A happy go lucky farmer cares for an old lady. In turn she makes sure he stays safe on the roads when it matters most.

The Wild Ride in the Tilt Cart
A lad hitches a ride in a cart and gets a bumpy ride. He gets out just in time. Turns out that the driver is a local man who was too careless and went over a cliff... and still does every night.

The Man who helped to carry the Coffin
Two friends, Jamie and Andrew have their own reasons for longing to spend time on land or sea. Jamie gets his bounty from the sea and Andrew likes to keep his feet on solid ground. They agree to disagree and remain good friends. One night Andrew has a premonition and his worst fears are confirmed as he helps a ghostly party of sailors bury their friend.

The Walking Boundary Stone
The fun thing about this one is that the stone actually does not wander... just the river along it!
Nevertheless it becomes the cause for an argument between two friends. One moves it one way and then the other moves it again. The Stone has a mind of its own and does what is right but the friends are initially blind to this fact. Fortunately the friends realise their mistake and all ends well.

The Lady's Loaf-field
A lady makes her husband promise to provide bread and food for the poor on the estate but greed gets the better of the man. She then decides to let him know what she feels about that even from beyond the grave.

The Holy Relic of Bannockburn
A chaplain wishes to keep a local relic safe but the relic has other ideas!

The Old Laird and his Dogs
A monument by the grave of an old Laird makes an unexpected move. 
An old Laird has two doting dogs, a good son, a sweet grandson and a bad see for a nephew. First the son dies (allegedly) and the old laird follows him shortly afterwards, as do the dogs. The laird is buried with his dogs carved in stone by his side. The nephew now thinks he can get at the family fortune and thinks up a cunning plan to get the little grandson out of the way. But it seems the dead have other ideas.

The Man o' the Clan
This story seems to indicate that you can take the Scot away from his land but you cannot take the Scot out of the Scotsman. A lad goes back after many generations have lived in America only to discover the family roots are still very close to the surface of the land.

The Ghost that didn't want to be a Ghost

A ghost is letting the side down by being miserable about being a ghost. He gets a choice of what type of ghost he wants to come back as and goes on a few trial job-experiences before making his final choice.

The Lads who met the Highwayman
Two lads get held up on their way back from a fair. Serves them right for walking round the glens in the dark in stead of spending money on a hotel to stay the night. Fortunately for the lads the highwayman has been holding up people for a long time but seems to have a problem hanging on to their money once he takes it from them.

How Tammas MacIvar MacMurdo MacLennen met his match
Tammas is not afraid of anything. Nonetheless, the old kings of Scotland give him a bit of a fright. The sight of lots of giant men clad in war clothes tends to throw one off I guess.

The House that lacked a Bogle
Apparently a house without a ghost is valued less in Scotland so the inhabitants try all the tricks in the book to temp ghosts away for other houses. to no avail. Then the son issues an unfortunate invitation walking past a graveyard. Now they have a ghost.. a noisy one at that!

The Young Irish Lad from the Hiring Fair
A young lad decides to seek his fortune abroad. He goes to a fair and gets hired to a cunning crofter. The crofter works him hard but the crofter's wife is a bit more of a kind soul and they get on well. The lad works hard but misses his homeland. He asks for fair pay when he wants to leave but the stingy crofter denies him. He then comes back to haunt the crofter.... or does he?


Title:Gaelic Ghosts, Tales of the Supernatural from Scotland
Author: Sorche Nic Leodhas
188 pages
The Bodley Head Ltd
ISBN #0-370-01074-4


Books to be read: 144

Back into the swing of things

It seems that lately I have just not been finding the time to read. Not even in the evening in bed!! But.... now that work has begun again in earnest with the first full week of this year I am slowly starting to get back to normal and am picking up my reading again. 
I still have a ghost story one to finish off and am already thinking about what to read next. Not sure yet what I am in the mood for. I think a quick read is in order but who knows hat will happen between now and finishing the final 40 pages of my book.