Monday, June 25, 2007

Humble Apologies to Erskine Childers

I apologise profusely to the late Erskine Childers for stating that his one and only novel The Riddle of the Sands is set in Egypt.

This charming and classic novel, published in 1903 is set, not in the sands of the desert but among the sandbanks off the coast of Holland, Germany and Denmark. It's a book about boats - what on earth made me think it was about camels! In my defense let me state that the copy I have has the classic orange and white vintage Penguin cover - not the one I've linked to which has a picture of a boat on the front. (Bit of a clue that)

I started it on Sunday and am progressing well. It's a wonderfully seductive read and I could barely put it down yesterday. I shall go back to it later - I'm not allowing myself to pick it up until I've done all the things I need to get done today otherwise nothing will get done and I'll just sit and read all day. Not that there is anything wrong with sitting reading, but I do have some stuff that needs to get done today. See I do have willpower!

I have finished the new John Connolly novel, called The Unquiet. I think the title is very apt. It's a most disquieting and unsettling book. Very good, but very bleak. Karen, I'll do you a review of it this week, once I've mulled it over a little.

The Luna Moth Shawl progresses slowly, not helped by a few technical problems. It's not a very good idea to knit lace when your mind is still somewhere on a boat on a sandbank off Holland. I told you that book was compelling, didn't I?

Just a quick post today as I still have to paint a corner of the living room before I can go back to the seductive charms of the Dulcibella.

Just a few things I've been meaning to say. Thanks to Maxine for the book. I'm looking forward to it - looks very interesting. Jill in Pennsylvania - glad we got you knitting again - can't wait to hear how your sweater turns out. Did you get your ribbing problem sorted?

1 comment:

Karen (Euro Crime) said...

yes please to a review of The Unquiet. I'm a bit behind with this series.