Archive for December 2009
“Cut Out The Poetry, Watson”
Posted by: danhartland on: December 30, 2009
Sherlock Holmes was in a melancholy and philosophic mood that morning. The Retired Colourman is in a way an anticlimactic end to a year’s worth of reading (and some thoughts on the project taken as a whole will no doubt follow). At the Guardian books blog, Darragh McManus has put the boot into Doyle by [...]
Christmas In Michael Gray’s Heart
Posted by: danhartland on: December 29, 2009
- In: bob dylan
- 2 Comments
Those who pay attention to the sidebars will notice Bob Dylan’s Christmas In The Heart firmly ensconced in the December playlist. When I took this with us to Whinfell Forest earlier in the month, Anna took some convincing – isn’t his voice totally cracked? But after a few listens she began to appreciate its warmth, [...]
“Heaven Make Me Free Of It”: Doran and Tennant’s Hamlet
Posted by: danhartland on: December 27, 2009
- In: television | theatre
- 5 Comments
I had a ticket to see David Tennant’s Hamlet at Stratford. Work commitments and the vagaries of the British rail network meant I had to leave my seat vacant, though – so hurrah for the BBC, who on Boxing Day aired a 3 hour film version of Gregory Doran’s production. ‘Film version’ over-emphasises the concessions [...]
The Compliments of the Season
Posted by: danhartland on: December 24, 2009
- In: Books | sherlock holmes
- 1 Comment
“This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southem China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history. There have [...]
“My Business Is That Of Every Other Good Citizen”
Posted by: danhartland on: December 23, 2009
- In: Books | sherlock holmes
- 2 Comments
Sherlock Holmes had been bending for a long time over a low-power microscope. The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place was the last Holmes story Arthur Conan Doyle wrote (in a twist of the curious collection process, the final story in many editions of the Casebook is the Retired Colourman – which we come to next [...]
Away from 71 At 71
Posted by: thestoryandthetruth on: December 21, 2009
- In: life
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Our week in Whinfell Forest, Cumbria, was a much-needed break for us, as we’ve had a busy few months. And we returned to number 71! It was also an early Christmas for us – we exchanged presents, walked in powdery white snow, watched lots of DVDs and listened to seasonal tunes. We were able to [...]
Even A Pawn May Checkmate A King: ‘In Great Waters’
Posted by: danhartland on: December 18, 2009
- In: Books | science fiction
- 2 Comments
“I thought you meant to begin by umanning me,” admits Henry, the bastard half-breed protagonist of Kit Whitfield’s second novel, In Great Waters. He is speaking to Anne, a legitimate half-breed who is third in line to the throne of England. It’s a curious construction Henry uses: not only are neither he nor Anne entirely [...]
“Keeping Beasts In A Cage”
Posted by: danhartland on: December 16, 2009
- In: Books | sherlock holmes
- 2 Comments
When one considers that Mr. Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty-three years, and that during seventeen of these I was allowed to cooperate with him and to keep notes of his doings, it will be clear that I have a mass of material at my command. The Veiled Lodger begs the question of [...]
Escaping The Shops…
Posted by: thestoryandthetruth on: December 14, 2009
- In: life
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We’re off to the original Number 71 for a pre-Christmas break. Hooray! Don’t misbehave while we’re gone…
Paul McAuley’s “The Quiet War” [2008]
Posted by: danhartland on: December 12, 2009
- In: Books | science fiction
- 9 Comments
There’s a scene towards the end of Paul McAuley’s Clarke Award-nominated novel, The Quiet War, in which two ‘gene wizards’ – scientists who manipulate the genome to adapt life to unusual or artificial environments – discuss the source of their inspiration. “We carry a standard of beauty from Earth,” explains Arvenus, the ‘Outer’ who led [...]
71 is the number of an apartment we return to regularly in Whinfell Forest, Cumbria. We like it there.
‘We’ are Anna French and Dan Hartland. The Story and the Truth is a sort of inadequate catch-all term for what goes on here: we tend to talk about novels, history, food and fashion, politics and music, but there may also be photographs of soft toys and musicians. Stick around and see.
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Words We Like
The Weird, ed. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
An astounding work of collecting-as-art, this compendium of 800,000 weird words is easily one of the most consistent genre anthologies I have read. Heterodox yet focused, it is fated to be the canonical text of weird fiction studies for some time to come - and deservedly so. The first-rank stories here - and there are many, not a few - are not excellent weird fiction. They are simply some of the best 20th century writing available in any mode. Not without its faults - but that is, ahem, the nature of the beast. Essential.
Sounds We Like
Sonik Kicks, by Paul Weller
I haven't paid much attention to Weller - an artist who hangs heavy in my musical tutelage - since 2000's Heliocentric, an album of diverse interests which felt like a shot of crisp elegance in that year of Steps and 'N Sync. The records that followed it - particularly Illumination - were enough, however, to make those achievements a distant memory. There have been rumblings of a renaissance - 22 Dreams got great reviews - but only the sounds of Sonik Kicks have brought me back. Energetic, fierce and, best of all, creative, this sounds like a record from a much younger man. Weller has a lesson or two in him yet.
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