Category: Literature

Dulcibella

This oil, Fetching Water, by Martyn Mackerill depicts an event in Erskine Childers’ 1903 classic, The Riddle of the Sands.

Kiss Me Hardy

The Needles are almost in sight after my long voyage with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. I am on the 20th and final (complete) book: Blue at the Mizzen.

The Secret Sin

When I was at Pratt’s yesterday, where the staff are always called George or Georgina, I was reminded of Saki’s short story: The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope.

Three Times

“In the Church of England, marriage banns must be read three times . . . before a marriage can take place. These readings occur in the parish church of each person getting married and also in the church where the marriage will be solemnised, if it’s a different location.” (AI)

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Lunch with M

You may remember General Raymond E Lee from a recent post: the General’s Moustache. Well I have now got his London Journal which consists of his letters to his wife (and young daughter) living in America while he was serving as Military Attaché in London, 1940-1941.

Arsène Lupin

It’s very muddling. Auguste Dupin and Arsène Lupin are both French gentlemen thieves (like Raffles and perhaps Simon Templar) created by Edgar Allen Poe and Maurice Leblanc respectively. Lupin has possibilities and there are plenty of short stories and novels, if I get hooked. Meanwhile, let’s start with the beginning of the first chapter of… Continue reading Arsène Lupin

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The General’s Moustache

General Raymond E Lee is largely forgotten so just the man to be re-discovered. He doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry, an omission that should be rectified. He was US Military Attaché in London in WW II. I have ordered his London Journal.

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Burn, Sink or Destroy

John Bayley, Charlton Heston and William Waldegrave have something in common. They are all contributors to Patrick O’Brian – Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography. That gives a hint about the range of PO’Bs readers. The Hundred Days (1998), is the penultimate novel in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Here is how it opens.

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Categorised as Literature