P.S. A LITERARY QUESTION
By the way, have any of you dear friends on the Quadblog read any Patricia Cornwell? I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks!
Monday, May 15, 2006
About Me
- Name: Shiloh Guy
- Location: Shafter, California, United States
Wheaton College '74, Wheaton Grad School '77, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School '81. I have been married to Mia for nine years. We both lost our first spouses to cancer. We have a wonderfully blended family of seven kids from 29 to 15-year-old twins. Aaron, Caleb, John, Ben, Elizabeth, Anna, and Mary. I am the planting pastor of New Hope Community Church in Shafter. We're just now getting started.
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10 Comments:
No takers on the Patricia Cornwell? Sorry, I can't help. I have read several Bernard Cornwell, however. He's written the Richard Sharpe historical fiction series. The best novel I have read in the last few years is Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger. You won’t be disappointed.
Dear YB of Yak,
Tell me a little bit about Peace Like a River. Is it historical fiction? Just fiction? I'll see if I can find it on my next trip to Barnes & Noble. Thanks!
I've read all of Bernard Cornwell EXCEPT the Sharpe series. I'm trying to figure out if they need to be read in historical order or if they should be read in the order in which he wrote them. Any advice on that?
The truth is, I read my first Patricia Cornwell novel this week and I was about to do a review for you guys but you remember what happened last time I reviewed a book! I'm gunshy!
Peace Like a River is a novel. It is not a Christian novel and I’m not sure if Leif Enger is a Christian, but he must have been raised in the church. The story is one of miracles, faith and sacrifice and reading it is like listening to Garrison Keillor only deeper and richer.
Have you read Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom? It’s a pretty decent read about the Danish conquest of Britain, Alfred the Great and other historical events, most of which were new to me. I must have slept through that particular history class.
I don’t think it is really necessary to read the Sharpe books in order, but he often refers to previous adventures so it helps.
Have you all checked out Garrison Keillor's blog?
AND
Did I tell you all to get 'God and Mr. Gomez"(Jack Smith LA Times editorials) at amazon?(out of print but available.)
Two other favorites, 'Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver and 'I Know This Much Is True'by Wally Lamb.(By the way to preserve my dignity, I must relay that I read these years before they were on Queen Oprah's book club.)
I guess I'll take yb of Yak's advice, my next read 'Peace Like A River.' Thank
SYSyou
Dear YB of Yak,
Thanks for your input.
I have literally read ALL of Bernard Cornwell except Sharpe. This current trilogy is fantastic. Early British history is generally unknown, including among the Brits. He's done us a great service. It's amazingly accurate in historical events even to details. I'm anxiously awaiting the finale. It's hard for me to decide which of his books I liked the best. I loved the Arthur Trilogy. Best Arthurian stuff I ever read. I also thought Stonehenge was terrific. The Civil War series is very good. He's considered one of the world's experts on the American Civil War. Not bad for a Brit!
And thanks for the tip on the Sharpe's series. Still have one question...but WHICH order? He bounces around in history going to earlier events and later events. Do you think I should read them in the order he wrote them then?
I'm currently reading Eco's The Name of the Rose. Honestly, I'm having trouble getting into it so far. When does it get good?
Years ago when The Name of the Rose was the must-read book I decided to give it a try. I never even made it through the first chapter.
My sugestion is to read the Sharpe books in the order they were written. In the first books Cornwell provides lots of detail about life in the army in that era.
Dear YB of Yak,
Again, thanks for the advice on the Sharpe series.
I thought you were the one who recommended The Name of the Rose. Now that I think about it, I think it was OG. Or was it your brother? Whomever it was, misspelled Eco's name and got corrected!
I'm excited to get going on the Sharpe books!
Okay, here’s the deal. The Sharpe books are good reads and I know you are a Cornwell fan, but if the hero you want is a swashbuckling, sidestepping, womanizing, cheating, shameless adventurer then George McDonald Fraser’s Flashman Papers are for you. Richard Shape is a choir boy compared to this Victorian era soldier. Flashman can usually be found racing away from danger and into amorous adventure. He is the bad boy of historical fiction. It doesn’t matter a hoot where you start this series. I think I started with Flashman at the Charge or Flashman in the Great Game, I don’t remember. Be careful, you may not be able to read just one.
Dear YB of Yak,
Thanks. I found the Flashman Papers at my local B & N yesterday. But first, I must get through at least 100 pages of The Name of the Rose before giving up on it. The sad thing is, I found another Eco novel on the discount shelf and bought that too. Rats!
'Twas I who heralded Eco, though it was someone else who misspelled his name. I must confess a penchant for the arcane, especially when translated into English from another language.
Can't tell you how many times I have read through Dumas' series - I love those Musketeers! Too bad those Frenchies have fallen so far from their glory days.
I still love Fenimore Cooper, and imagine Natty "Hawkeye" Bumpo as the plain frontiersman he was intended to be, not a pretty-boy Daniel Day-Lewis.
I read a lot of Patty Cornwell, but her formula got tiresome.
If you like 24's Jack Bauer, try Vince Flynn's series about Mitch Rapp a truly take-no-prisoners CIA operative who gets the job done.
And for sheer satirical hilarity, I recommend Carl Hiaasen. If only every State had an ex-governor like Skink!
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