A snapshot of my reading week in quotes…
….With relatively few exceptions, they [Golden Age crime writers] came from well-to-do families, and were educated at public school; many went to Oxford or Cambridge. . . .
….Theirs was, in many ways, a small and elitist world, and this helps to explain why classic crime novels often include phonetic renditions of the dialogue of working-class people which make modern readers cringe. Some of the attitudes evident and implicit in the books of highly educated authors, for instance as regards Jewish and gay people, would be unacceptable in fiction written in the twenty-first century. It is worth remembering that theirs was not only a tiny world, but also a very different one from ours, and one of the pleasures of reading classic crime is that it affords an insight into the Britain of the past, a country in some respects scarcely recognisable today.
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….It had to finish like this. Sooner or later he had been bound to discover what was concealed from other beings – that there was no real distinction between the living and the dead. It’s only because of the coarseness of our perception that we imagine the dead elsewhere, in some other world. Not a bit of it. The dead are with us here, mixed up in our lives and meddling with them…. They speak to us with shadowy mouths; they write with hands of smoke. Ordinary people, of course, don’t notice. They’re too preoccupied with their own affairs. To perceive these things you’ve got to have been incompletely born and thus only half involved in this noisy, colourful, flamboyant world…
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….When we reached the crest of the steep winding brae leading into it, the smoke from the straw chimneys was the only visible sign of life. Otherwise one might have imagined that some terrible scourge had made an end to all the inhabitants and no one had come near the clachan since from a superstitious dread.
….Green hill rising behind green hill – they raised in me a brooding, inherent melancholy. I felt this place had lived through everything, had seen everything, that it was saturated with memories and legends. I thought of it submerged under the sea, of the ocean receding farther and farther from it; of glaciers creeping down the mountains, forming the glens and ravines; of the mountains as spent volcanoes covered by the impenetrable Caledonian forest. And now there was nothing more for it to know and it was waiting for the clap of doom.
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….“There is so much lying going on around that I could scream. All my friends, all my acquaintances, people whom earlier I never would have thought of as liars, are now uttering falsehoods at every turn. They cannot help but lie; they cannot help but add to their own lies, their own flourishes to the well-known falsehoods. And they all do so from an agonising need that everything be just as they so fiercely desire.”
Ivan Bunin quoted in Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths
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….“No one’s going to harm a hair on my precious uncle’s head. He’s safe enough. He’ll always be safe – safe and smug and prosperous and full of platitudes. He’s just a stodgy John Bull, that’s what he is, without an ounce of imagination or vision.” She paused, then, her agreeable husky voice deepening, she said venomously, “I loathe the sight of you, you bloody little bourgeois detective.”
….She swept away from him in a swirl of expensive, model drapery. Hercule Poirot remained, his eyes very wide open, his eyebrows raised, and his hand thoughtfully caressing his moustaches. The epithet ‘bourgeois’ was, he admitted, well applied to him. His outlook on life was essentially bourgeois and always had been. But the employment of it as an epithet of contempt by the exquisitely turned out Jane Olivera gave him, as he expressed it to himself, furiously to think.
The classic crime book sounds quite wonderful, I love this passage here. The golden age mysteries really were from another world and what I love so much about them is being transported there, just for a while. It’s true that attitudes have changed and that’s a good thing – I think it’s important that we are reminded of these dreadful prejudices from time to time, to recognise how far we have come as a society and realise how far we still need to go, in some cases. The Russian Revolution continues to be fairly angst-ridden, I see – but then I suppose revolutions are not exactly jaunty affairs. Unlike our dear Poirot – thank goodness for some light relief, FF! 😀
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It’s fab – not only does he discuss the 100 novels, but he mentions zillions more – it could become a lifetime’s work! And he talks a lot of sense – he doesn’t get all highfalutin about it, but he clearly knows his stuff inside out. Yes, one of the things I enjoy about classic crime, or any kind of classic fiction in fact, is being taken back in time. It always makes me feel a bit happier about where we are know in terms if attitudes and so on, even though there’s still a lot of work to do. Haha! I’m thinking someone has to write a comedy set during the RR – everyone seems to take it far too seriously. Go on! (And I’d rather be Trotsky than Lenin – better hair!) 😉
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Oh, FF – you know I have this habit of following up your suggestions! I recorded a song when you suggested the PorterGirl characters go to an open mic night, I blogged Finnegans Wake and both Poirot parodies are down to you! You just know I’m going to be thinking about this and will have devised a Carry On Trotsky-type affair by Christmas… 😉
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Hehehe! The power, the power!!! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist! (I totally refuse to take the blame for Finnegan though! I warned you…) By that time, I should be well able to be your expert adviser on any historical aspects… 😉
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I’m thinking about it already… it could potentially be quite funny, in a dark sort of way. You will absolutely have to be my historical adviser as you probably know more about the revolution than anyone else alive. When it eventually gets turned into a musical (as it undoubtedly will) I will split the profits with you as a sign of my appreciation 😀
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Ah! The idea of Trotsky singing a comic song has given me some much-needed delight! Of course, you’ll need to do it quick because you know I only retain information for a max of two weeks – it’s why the world is always such a constant source of surprise to me… 😉
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*Abandons everything and immediately starts work on Lenin – The Musical*
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*starts growing a beard for debut role as Trotsky the Singing Revolutionary* This is going to be bigger than Les Mis!
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Andrew Lloyd Webber will be weeping into his cornflakes when this opens in the West End! His career is over, I tell you!! 😀
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Maybe we could give him a bit part to compensate – he could be Rasputin!
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He’s certainly got the looks for the part… good plan! I feel Brian Blessed should be in it, too.
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Trickier, since he has to be a good guy surely, and there aren’t many of them in the original…. though maybe Stalin was loads of fun when he wasn’t killing people…
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I will write Stalin as a deeply misunderstood character who only started killing people when his dreams of becoming a ballet dancer were dashed by a childhood accident. In private, he still practices his routines, hoping one day the stage might call him back…
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Hahaha! Ooh, tell me he wears a tutu when he’s alone…
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Oh of course he does. I can see it now… Brian Blessed on a semi-darkened stage as Stalin… tutu in place… spotlight falls across his mournful face as he begins to sing a sad song about what might have been, if only he could have followed his dreams…
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Hahaha! You’re almost making me feel sorry for him now…
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Argh!! Now I can see it in my head, I have to write it. After the next book, though, so I won’t be able to do it properly until Christmas. Stand by for another FF-inspired masterpiece! 😀
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Haha! I shall be waiting patiently… 😀
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😉
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Getting to the Agatha Christie was comforting…
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Haha! It has been a week full of tragedy, murder and war, I fear. Great fun!
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Not tempted by “She was no more”, and I’ve read the Christie and the Morrison, the Russian Revolution isn’t exactly a light summer read, so it’ll have to be the Classic Crime.
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Oh, it must be the quote I picked, because I’m almost sure you’d enjoy She Who Was No More – I’ll see if I can tempt you when I review it… 🙂
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I hope you’re enjoying The Story of Classic Crime…, FictionFan. What a great resource that is. And One, Two… is a really solid example of Christie’s work. There’s an interesting sense, at least to me, of atmosphere. You can feel the unease as war is in the background. She doesn’t mention the war really directly, but it was published in 1940, and I’ve always felt that it seeped into her writing.
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It’s great, Margot – I can see I’m going to have to read lots of the books. Just as well so many of them are being reissued these days! You’re so right about the Christie – I felt it was quite a political book in its way, and really showed the uncertainty as to how the world was going to turn out. Actually I felt it read as very relevant again to the current political situation too, mainly because she doesn’t go into specific details – just lets that air of unease sit in the background…
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Definitely by The Story of Classic Crime, though I might be appalled at some of the viewpoints.
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Yes, that’s always the problem with classic crime, or any classic fiction really. Usually I can make allowances, but sometimes it can be just too much…
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Very tempted, ha ha ha, by the first book and the last, specially. I love all that we learn about those Golden Era mystery writers. And then you illustrate the point you brought from it with the Christie’s quote, perfect.
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The first book is killing my TBR – I think I’m going to have to turn it into some kind of challenge next year. And yes, you’re right, though that was pure luck – haha! I wish I had planned it now! But Christie definitely sheds quite a lot of light on society just as the war was beginning in this one…
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You do have a talent for picking the most cheery of quotes from the Russian Revolution, don’t you? Rather a nice bunch of books, am tempted by them all. As for Portergirl’s Carry on Trotsky… that sounds like a brilliant idea!
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Haha! I admit it – I deliberately look for bits that remind me of what’s going on in the world now – not that it’s hard, sadly. Yes, a particularly good bunch this week – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed them all. Teehee! She’s so easy – just pop an idea in her head and off she goes… 😉
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Hello lovely, I recommended your blog on my most recent post! https://thebeautyofreading.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/the-blogger-recognition-award/ 🙂 x
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Aw, thank you! 😀 I’ll pop over to your post shortly…
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How do you find so much to read? I mean, really?
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Haha! I probably spend nearly as much time reading about books as I do actually reading them. Blog reviews, NetGalley, Amazon… one day I may write a post about it! 🙂
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You should do that…
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But people might think I’m weird… 😉
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I am not going there…
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Haha! Probably wise… 😉
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[…] Source: Bookish selfie… […]
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Hmm your first paragraph is a good reminder to all readers to take everything we read with a ‘grain of salt’. But this is why reading different time periods is so important! It teaches us to not repeat the mistakes of our past 🙂
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Absolutely! Although often when I’m reading I find myself thinking that we actually ARE repeating those mistakes! It’s a great book, though, but it’s doing horrific things to my TBR… 😉
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Oh yes, especially these days. Yikes!
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Lord have mercy!! More added to my NEVER ENDING TBR
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Hahaha! Then my work is done! Why should I suffer alone… 😉
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The quotation from She Was No More was intriguing! I haven’t heard of that one!
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It’s a good book – the quote’s actually a bit misleading. It’s actually more of a psychological crime novel than a horror story, though it does have horror elements in it. Review soonish – I’m so behind!
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I am very tempted by The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, in fact in the last 5 seconds I’ve convinced myself I need a copy despite getting very distracted by the thought of Stalin in a tutu!
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Haha! It’s a disturbing image, isn’t it? I have a horrible feeling this comedy could turn into a horror story… 😉 You would love the Story of Classic Crime! I might be going to challenge myself to read all 100…
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Tempted by the Agatha Christie. I have never read anything by the author. This one sounds great. I had first skimmed through the second last book. The title and cover had put me off but that excerpt is powerful. It made me go back and take a closer look at the book.
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Oh, you should try an Agatha Christie! I’d recommend Murder on the Nile or And Then There Were None as good ones to start with. The Russian book is actually very interesting – it tells the history, but it’s really more about the propaganda art that came out of it. Review soonish – I’m so behind!
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Agatha Christie of course!
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Excellent choice! Of course! 😀
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[…] The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards, because Fiction Fan featured this in her Bookish Selfie post last week. I’ve been steadfastly resisting the British Library Crime Classics series as I […]
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