Saturday Review
on Aug 18 in Uncategorized by DanA (possibly) regular look at what sort of stuff i’ve been consuming this week.
Blog: Jerry Chicken
Jerry Chicken is in his early fifties, a father of two teenage girls, and an exceptionally talented and humorous writer. Generally I am a little wary of bloggers who live near me. I am a sociophobe at heart and I worry that I’ll end up bumping into them in person. It’s one thing to maintain a sleek debonaire persona like mine on the internet, but another to try and keep it up in the pick ‘n mix department of Woolworths.
For Jerry (or Gary as he is actually called) I make an exception. He may only live a hop skip and a jump up the motorway from me, but to avoid his blog just because of his close proximity would be a crying shame. I will just have to never go into Leeds again that’s all (just as I avoid going to Manchester because of Steve).
Gary blogs about a range of topics, but my favorites are his anecdotes of his youth. These are magnificently woven stories which are so well written I don’t even notice I am reading them; they just seem to transplant themselves into my brain. He is one of the few bloggers I can tolerate a really lengthy post from (a hypocritical admission from a man who regularly hits the twelve thousand words mark on his own blog, but still).
He is very prolific, seldom letting a day go by without an entry. And the consistent high quality of his subject matter and writing is incredible. He’s also a talented painter and, by the sounds of it, a rather canny businessman. In short, if you are not reading Jerry Chicken, you should be.
Posts of particular merit:
Many thanks to Island Girl who’s blogroll led me to Jerry Chicken in the first place.
Book: Rebel, by Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell is best known for his Sharp books, set in the napoleonic war. I’ve never actually read any of those, but I’ve seen the TV series (it still counts). I have read a couple of books in his Grail Quest trilogy however, and found its setting of the hundred years’ war fascinating. The book Rebel is the first of a quartet set during the American civil war. He seems to like his wars does Mr Cornwell.
Rebel fits firmly into Cornwell’s usual formula. The protagonist is an officer who doesn’t quite belong into the army he is fighting for. There is a roguish streetwise sergeant sidekick, a bumbling and incompetent superior officer, and of course the mandatory bloody great big war.
Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Rebel moves across the pages most agreeably. But I have been spoilt for historical novels by George MacDonald Fraser’s excellent Flashman series. Rebel’s Starbuck seems a little bland when compared to the magnificently amoral Harry Flashman. In addition I didn’t come away from the book actually feeling like I’d learned anything. Sure the book was packed full names, locations and strategies of the battle of Bull Run (the first major conflict of the American civil war); but to be honest I’m not convinced much of it will stick. Perhaps it is a little unfair to blame Cornwell for my own intellectual failings however.
You can find Rebel on sale at Tescos for £3.50. Or at least you could when I bought it.
Related posts:
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You’re welcome.
Everyone loves Gary.
He’s a cruel man, but I like him.
Sharpe…. Seam Bean… Sigh…
Seam? Who the hell is Seam?! This is what I get for reading at 4am…
Once again, Dan, you are my guiding light. Both reviews are very well written and you have enticed me to seek out both JerryChicken and the book.
Have fun!
Dan
Not at all Dan, I liked your comment, it made me giggle. No, nothing to do with it, don’t worry. :)
Aw shucks, I tries me best – thank you for the kind words.
Early fifties, am I buggery, I’m, well, ok 51 next month, bollacks, early 50′s it is then.
Next week I trek to the Edinburgh Fringe so if I can get the wireless network working in the hotel it’ll be a slightly different sort of blog, almost a review sort of blog as I attempt to see as many “turns” as I can each day.
We’ll see
Thanks again.
Where do you download some blue ray movie trailers in HD ?`~: