The Lotus-eater's Book Reviews

Wise Children
Angela Carter
Rating
It's Angela Carter's last book, significant in that she wrote it during the last stages of the disease which eventually killed her. Families, illegitimate children, the theatre and Willy Shakespeare are just some of the ingredients in this bawdy, sparkling and pithily written book. I could have given it five stars if it weren't for the fact that Carter's short stories somehow always trump her novels.

Classic Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories
Various
Rating
This collection comprises standard Victorian fare - definitely classics. My favourites included Dickens' 'To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt', Le Fanu's 'Narrative of a Ghost of a Hand' (one of the strangest I've come across) and 'A Ghostly Manifestation', a clergyman's supernatural experiences in India. Special mention must go to Edith Nesbit's 'Man-Size in Marble'.

The Black Veil & Other Tales of Supernatural Sleuths
Various
Rating
Some really good stories share the pages with a few indifferent supernatural detective stories. I especially liked the Carnacki stories and Arthur Machen's 'The Red Hand'. Vintage sleuthing at its best. I'll definitely look for more works by Machen and Hodgson.

The Temple of Death
A.C. & R.H. Benson
Rating
I totally disagree with the editor of this collection that R.H. Benson's works are more religious in tone than A.C. Benson's. I find it the opposite. I sometimes had to resist flipping through the pages for almost every story written by A.C. Benson as they were all so predictable. I found some of the stories laughable. But I was surprised that there were only 7 stories of R.H. Benson included - but they were all good and I even cried when I read one of them... No, it wasn't a ghost story but a Catholic weepie. And I was delightfully chilled by his 'The Traveller'. Excellent and effective.

The Vesuvius Club
Mark Gatiss
Rating
Someone said I'd love the new rogue of British literature, Lucifer Box, after I confessed my liking for the classic Flashman Papers series. I get the point that Lucifer must love himself, but I'd prefer it if he didn't always make me feel so impatient with him. I think I'm going to read the second book some other time...

The Bloody Chamber
Angela Carter
Rating
I'm reading this again after almost 10 years... The thing that many reviewers forget is Carter's humour. She's so funny at times that you have to laugh in a crowded train. If you have never picked up a book by this fearless authoress, this would be a good starting point. I promise you, you will love her works.

The Somnambulist
Jonathan Barnes
Rating
Although the plot withered out before the end, I found it very hard to put down this book. I think I have grasped the reason behind the readability of this book. Barnes' strength lies in his quirky characters, not his ambitious but poorly constructed plot. If you're not given to reading books with many loose ends, don't bother with this one.

On Royalty
Jeremy Paxman
Rating
I do enjoy my Paxman every once in a while. The subtitle explains it all: "A very polite inquiry into some strangely related families".