tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post5098474841124288204..comments2024-03-18T11:01:42.459-05:00Comments on Pretty Sinister Books: The Kentish Manor Murders – Julian SymonsJ F Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-5412362287449886752014-04-24T01:45:50.820-05:002014-04-24T01:45:50.820-05:00I remember being very disappointed with this when ...I remember being very disappointed with this when I read it. Everything good about "A Three Pipe Problem" goes missing. I suspect that Symons started with something that would make sense for the character and then let the plot drift. <br /><br />Detective story writing seems to be one of those things which get harder as you get older. I always thought that was because even unrealistic puzzle stories need some idea of the society in which they're set, and when you get to the point where you just don't understand young people these days, it gets hard to write plausibly. But plotting is probably also something that comes easier to a young mind. I remember an obituary of Peter Dickinson mentioning that he concentrated on fantasy in his last years, because, he said, the "carpentry" (I think that was his expression) involved in writing a mystery had got too tiring.nigel.holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00387290866972027637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-58937233748939833262014-04-23T13:02:38.818-05:002014-04-23T13:02:38.818-05:00John, I'm with you - 'If I come across any...John, I'm with you - 'If I come across any mention of drug dealing in a book blurb I avoid the book altogether.' Yup. Don't you hate it when you want a book to be one thing and it turns out to be another? Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-29490169116002094392014-04-23T12:15:05.539-05:002014-04-23T12:15:05.539-05:00I know I should take the position that it is the *...I know I should take the position that it is the *character* who is voicing all these objectionable statements, but it's hard not to ascribe the comments to the author himself when they pop up with such frequency. Maybe I was just in a crappy mood when I read this book. I wanted it to be a retro puzzle style detective novel and it turned into a globetrotting -- or rather Northern Europe trotting -- thriller with a lot of run-of-the-mill incidents.<br /><br />Also... Drug dealing villains so popular in late 70s and early 80s pop fiction bore the hell out of me these days. If I come across any mention of drug dealing in a book blurb I avoid the book altogether. No mention of it on the outside of the book so the inclusion of this thriller trope caught me off guard when it turned up in the story.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-29732286216769793282014-04-23T02:18:24.565-05:002014-04-23T02:18:24.565-05:00I remember liking THREE PIPE PROBLEM quite a bit a...I remember liking THREE PIPE PROBLEM quite a bit and have been meaning to review it for ages so perhaps now I finally will (always glad to follow, meekly, in your footsteps John). This one sounds very problematic though and I suspect I would have the same issues with it that you do, though I suppose it's that usual problem of trying to discern the author's intention from distastefel elements - are they meant to be taken that way or is the author unable to see the wood for the trees? It all seems a bit weird given that Symons was nothing if not a liberal thinker - but of course Haynes is not ... Really interesting and a terrific review - I really do want to read more Symons as it has been ages and feel it is somehow my duty (he does get slagged off something rotten these days on the blogosphere but, it seems to me, never really for the right reasons, unlike you here)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com