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@julianworker
Book Review : Inspector Imanishi Investigates
This book about the investigations of Inspector Imanishi takes place in Japan in the year 1960, so is not only a murder / mystery story but also provides an insight into Japanese culture just 15 years after the end of World War II. More than most murder / mystery stories Inspector Imanishi eats a lot of varieties of food in many types of restaurant. His investigations cover most of Honshu island…
Book Review : The Long Journey Home by Michael Gilbert
Once again, browsing in a second-hand bookshop produces an absolute belter of a book. I’d never read a book by Michael Gilbert before, but there it was on the shelf. I have an affliction where I can’t visit a bookshop and NOT buy a book, so I bought The Long Journey Home. Admittedly, the protagonist of the book, John Benedict, is a self-made millionnaire who is absurdly fit, but even so the…
Book Review: Chain of Darkness by Kenneth Cook
This book is an interesting idea. There are two strands to the story. The first strand is about the murderer and his attempts to evade the police, the second strand is about a reporter for a TV broadcaster covering the police hunt for the murderer. The book was first published in 1962 and is set in Australia. The murderer is a brutal character and kills people with something approaching…
Solo Travel : Milan railways
Milan was the starting point for my train travel in Northern Italy. The central station was completed in 1931 and has a mix of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and Modernist styles. There’s an underground station here that can connect the traveller with most of the sights. The Milan underground comprises five lines: M1 (red line), M2 (green line), M3 (yellow line), M4(blue line) and M5 (lilac line).…
Book Review: Monsignor Quixote by Graham Quixote
Father Quixote is a catholic priest in the small town of El Toboso. He is kind to the visiting Bishop of Motopo, plying him with many drinks to ensure the bishop’s brief soujourn in the area is a happy one. Father Quixote is surprised to receive a letter through the post a few weeks later indicating he’s been promoted to the level of a Monsignor as recommended by the Bishop of Motopo. Recently,…
Solo Travel : Milan Airports
Linate airport station is at the end of the M4 line in Milan. Malpensa is around 40 minutes away from the central station on an overland train, but there is a Malpensa Express that might be quicker. When I caught the train from Malpensa I jumped on the first train heading to the Central Station, but I should tell you research is required as not all trains go to central. There are many other…
Book Review : Hocus Bogus
This is an absurd book for which there’s been a lot of praise, both for the writer and the translator. I think the author was very pleased with himself for writing this book. I don’t believe it’s as hilarious as some people make out in their reviews. As I understand it, Romain Gary is the only person to win the Prix Goncourt twice, the second time writing under the pseudonym Emile Ajar. Once it…
Book Review : An English Murder by Cyril Hare
I was browsing in a second-hand bookshop looking for the work of another writer when I came across this wonderful book, by an author I’d never heard of before, Cyril Hare. A day later and I’ve read the book and I’m looking for other titles by Cyril Hare to read. An English Murder is set in a country house at Christmas where there’s a family gathering – it does sound formulaic but it really…
Book Review : The Nazi Ghost Train
In early September 1944, the Nazis in Belgium were in a hurry as allied forces were close to Brussels. They wanted to move airmen, resistance fighters, and captured spies from the Belgian prison of Saint-Gilles eastwards to labour and concentration camps. The first part of the book covers the stories of how the airmen were shot down in western Europe and the second part how those airmen were…
Book Review: The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago
In 1551, Solomon the elephant is given as a wedding present by King Dom Joao III to a Hapsburg archduke in Vienna. The elephant has to walk of course and the journey begins with Solomon and his entourage heading towards Valladolid in Spain on the first leg of the journey. The text mimics the slow plodding journey of the entourage as the words stretch across the whole page from top to bottom with…
Book Review: The Yellow Sofa
This is a wonderful book that improves as it goes on. This is the first book written by Eça de Queirós that I have read, simply because I’ve never seen a book of his in a bookshop in Vancouver. I bought this one in Lisbon at the bookshop at the Timeout Market. Alves is a successful businessman with a beautiful wife,Ludovina, and good friends with his business partner, Macheda. However, that…
Book Review: Berlin Game
This is such a wonderful book. I first read this work about forty years ago and I watched the TV series starring Ian Holm and Mel Martin (I think). In other words, I know the ending but even so this is such a wonderful story. I read all the Len Deighton books before I read any of John Le Carre’s work. I think Deighton and Le Carre are equally good. Bernard Samson is lower down the spying pole…
Book Review: The Bookshop of Secrets
This is a well-researched work of fiction that describes the wheeling and dealing of the spy communities in Salazar’s Portugal during the early years of WWII. The Windsors did visit at the time indicated, the Germans were looking for Wolfram in Portugal, and Ian Fleming was working for British intelligence in Estoril and around. I’m not sure I like the lead character, Lara, too much. She has an…
Book Review: A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
I was browsing in the English language section of a bookshop in Faro, Portugal, and saw some books by the 2025 Nobel Laureate for Literature. I’d never read any of his books before and so I followed my normal rule and chose the thinnest book. I was also remembering my recent experience with the first book I’d read by the 2024 Nobel Laureate for Literature. This is a superb book full of lyrical…
Travel - Wales - Ffestiniog Railway
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Travel - Wales - Welsh Highland Railway
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Book Review: Don Quixote
In 1605, Cervantes completed the first book of Don Quixote. In 1615, he completed the whole book. Don Quixote is the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, a tragic figure who is clearly insane even before he starts out on his journey as a knight errant looking for adventures on his horse Rocinante and accompanied by Sancho Panza who rides his own donkey. The most famous scene is at the start when…