The Downside of Up

Is that when you're really high up, most other things are down. Even things that would normally be up. And, having just finished (for the seventh time, third for the series) Dorothy Dunnett's Checkmate, I am roughly astral. It has taken its place on my shelf next to Tolkien. Save Tolkien, I have never read a more devastating, lovely ending, and I have never seen so much tension built so skillfully, and relieved with such a shattering release. If the next month of books get poor reviews, take them with a grain of salt: I'm still descending.

Eternal Optimism of the Open Mind

Anybody who thinks that you can give the FDA complete control over what you can put in your mouth, and not set up a bidding war in the food industry as a consequence, is a person who probably has a very sunny disposition, and who is routinely surprised at what people do to him. Every morning is a new day.

--Doug Wilson, Blog and Mablog
www.dougwils.com
"Surly Almost"

"Looking Like a Virgin on the Lip of a Volcano..."

The Trials of Rumpole by John Mortimer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Just another great read from Mortimer: though not on par with Wodehouse, he often has simply delightful turns of phrase: "but in the courtroom he has the confidence of a rather reclusive hare looking into the headlights of an oncoming car," or "she engaged in an extremely dangerous diet consisting of organic vegetation and ice water." He reminds me, in a way, of an almost Chestertonian figure: fat, jolly (usually), delights in food and alcohol, cigars and poetry, witty and could politely peel you like a banana in an argument. Highly recommended.



View all my reviews