Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge’s name was good upon ’Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead …
Tag: Doug
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/24/thats-dickens-with-a-c-and-a-k-the-well-known-english-author-3/
Dec 20 2023
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
Holly Golightly knew how to make an impression. That’s the first impression that Truman Capote wants his readers to come away with. Years after Capote’s unnamed first-person narrator last saw Holly, he drops everything to go see a bar owner who called him out of the blue after not being in contact for quite a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/20/breakfast-at-tiffanys-by-truman-capote/
Dec 01 2023
Die Känguru-Comics 2 written by Marc-Uwe Kling
and illustrated by Bernd Kissel, subtitled “Du würdest es eh nicht glauben” — You Wouldn’t Believe it Anyway This second volume of the kangaroo comics concludes the hardback publication of the odd couple’s 2020–23 run in Germany’s leading intellectual weekly newspaper. There are some nice touches in the two volumes: the first is dedicated “For …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/12/01/die-kanguru-comics-2-written-by-marc-uwe-kling/
Nov 26 2023
Underground Empire by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman
Right up front I should say that Henry Farrell, one of the authors of Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy, is a friend from graduate school. Part of me read this book the way one would read a draft of a friend’s project — not that Henry has ever wanted or needed my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/26/underground-empire-by-henry-farrell-and-abraham-newman/
Nov 12 2023
Memories of Starobielsk by Jozef Czapski
Here is how I last introduced a book by Jozef Czapski: World War II in Europe began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in the early days of September 1, 1939. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Less than three weeks later, the Nazis and the Soviets had conquered all of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/12/memories-of-starobielsk-by-jozef-czapski/
Nov 11 2023
The Portable Door by Tom Holt
I hope The Portable Door is a cracking good movie — it’s an Australian feature released in early 2023 — because the premise is terrific. Young graduate Paul Carpenter lands a job at the venerable London firm of J.W. Wells & Co., though even after the job interview he’s not entirely clear what it is that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/11/the-portable-door-by-tom-holt/
Nov 05 2023
Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz
Two things about Eve Babitz and Eve’s Hollywood after she’s gotten done with her dedication that’s eight pages and more names than I cared to count, along with dedicating the book to freeways, sour cream, the girl with the coke, and the color green, plus “the one whose wife would get furious if I so …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/11/05/eves-hollywood-by-eve-babitz/
Oct 29 2023
What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
All three Rivers of London novellas that have been published to date — The Furthest Station, The October Man, and now What Abigail Did That Summer — have left me wanting more, which is a fine recommendation for books that are meant as light, if occasionally spooky, entertainment. The stories all take place in and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/29/what-abigail-did-that-summer-by-ben-aaronovitch/
Oct 28 2023
The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff
Reader, I was invested. Possibly even enthralled. At one point, I thought “Matt Ruff, if you XXXXX, I am throwing this book right out of the train window, and possibly Lovecraft Country too as soon as I get home and put my hands on my copy.” Not because the event would have been cheap or …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/28/the-destroyer-of-worlds-by-matt-ruff/
Oct 14 2023
Mitsou by Colette
A funny thing happens when you hide a lieutenant, or indeed two, in your wardrobe. Mitsou is a performer in a Paris revue during the Great War, and the novella that bears her name opens backstage between acts, with the old stage manager trying to keep the young performers out of too much mischief and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/14/mitsou-by-colette/