Category: Books
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Michael Connelly, Raymond Chandler and The Little Sister
I love the crime fiction of Michael Connelly. And his favourite writer also happens to be a favourite of mine: Raymond Chandler. Both Connelly and Chandler set their novels in Los Angeles, where they moved as adults. Chandler (1888-1959) was born in Chicago. He was educated at Dulwich College in…
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The only Bertie Wooster story told by Jeeves
Calling all PG Wodehouse fans, here is a story narrated by the butler Jeeves and not by his master, Bertie Wooster. That makes it highly unusual. “Bertie Changes His Mind is the only story in the whole Wooster cycle which is related by Jeeves,” wrote Geoffrey Jaggard in Wooster’s World.…
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The power of belief and habit
It seems writers who talk about the power of positive thinking, the power of affirmation, the law of attraction and creative visualization are right, after all. Faith and belief can help overcome bad habits and transform lives. So says Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit. The New…
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Lifelong creativity and PD James’ tips for writers
God bless PD James! At the age of 93, she wants to write one more detective novel. Amazing. Let’s hope it will feature Adam Dalglish, the Scotland Yard detective who has been her hero since her very first novel, Cover Her Face, published in 1962. Last seen in The Private…
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Those were the days
Google is on a history jag. Yesterday’s Google Doodle featured Shakuntala Devi, the Human Computer. Today it’s the turn of Raymond Loewy, who designed cars, locomotives, the logos of Shell and Exxon, the Lucky Strike package and the Air Force One livery. Reading about his long life — he died…
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Fox and Rebus: Right good Rankin
I just finished reading Standing In Another Man’s Grave. It’s the most interesting book Ian Rankin has written in recent years.John Rebus makes a comeback in this whodunnit and faces Malcolm Fox, the hero of Rankin’s two previous books, whose job is to nail dirty cops.That’s what makes it so…
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Lee Kuan Yew on America
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, is celebrating his 90th birthday today. I like to read his books and speeches because he can be so perceptive. In his latest book, One Man’s View of the World, he rightly praises America for its resilience and dynamism.
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Elmore Leonard: Out of sight, not out of mind
One of my favourite crime writers died this week. Elmore Leonard died on August 20 after suffering a stroke. He was 87.
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EB White on writing
Today is the birthday of EB White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985), reminds the Writer’s Almanac. Earlier this month, I posted an entry quoting the writer William Zinsser’s homage to White in his book, On Writing Well. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr and EB White…
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Unleashing the subconscious and overcoming the writer’s block
I have been reading Can I Change Your Mind? The Craft and Art of Persuasive Writing by Lindsay Camp, a copywriter. He writes about the need for “unleashing the subconscious”. He writes: “I want to expand a bit on the role played by the non-rational mind in making writing come…
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