Miscellaneous
Memoirs of Vidocq: Master of Crime - Francois Eugene Vidocq ($9.86/$18.00, copyright 2003, 365 pages, Trade Paperback)
I first came across a reference to this book several months ago and, thanks to the Internet, I was able to get a copy pretty quickly. Vidocq was a reformed criminal who became a police spy, eventually becoming head of the Sûreté , and finally a private investigator. It's filled with all sorts of adventures and is set during the late 1700's in France. How much is fact, how much fiction? Who knows? What is known is the influence Vidocq had on modern policing and the crime novel. Hugo, Balzac and Dumas pere knew Vidocq. His memoirs provided the inspiration for some of their greatest novels and characters including Hugo’s Javert and Jean Valjean and Balzac’s Vautrin. Moreover, Poe’s Dupin (Murders in the Rue Morgue) was modeled on Vidocq, and Conan Doyle referenced the great French detective in his Sherlock Holmes stories. All that being said, I found the book disappointing. Vidocq used several different ghost-writers so the narrative is disjointed and the First-person approach becomes annoying. It was OK.
London - Edward Rutherfurd ($.50/$7.99, copyright 1997, 1124 pages, Paperback)
Back in the mid '70's, I came across Rutherfurd's "Sarum" - his fictional recreation of the history of England. It was over 1,000 pages but it was so interesting that I couldn't put it down. I came across "London" at a Library sale back in May and have put it down a few times since then but I've always gone back. This is the story of the evolution of the city. It begins before the time of the Roman occupation, when the Celts ruled the land, and ends in 1997. London grows from an abandoned outpost, to a medieval marketplace, to the metropolis it is today. Rutherfurd - much like James Michener - uses several families as the center of his novel, and we follow along as their descendants, from generation to generation, evolve with the city itself. They are all clearly defined and he fits the characters perfectly with each era. It's a long book and, in my opinion, there's some sections that could be trimmed. Still, I enjoyed it.
Next up is August. I'm guessing that there won't be much of a change in the weather pattern.There are a few books on the table but there's always new ones that pop up. Until then ..
Keep reading.
Back in the mid '70's, I came across Rutherfurd's "Sarum" - his fictional recreation of the history of England. It was over 1,000 pages but it was so interesting that I couldn't put it down. I came across "London" at a Library sale back in May and have put it down a few times since then but I've always gone back. This is the story of the evolution of the city. It begins before the time of the Roman occupation, when the Celts ruled the land, and ends in 1997. London grows from an abandoned outpost, to a medieval marketplace, to the metropolis it is today. Rutherfurd - much like James Michener - uses several families as the center of his novel, and we follow along as their descendants, from generation to generation, evolve with the city itself. They are all clearly defined and he fits the characters perfectly with each era. It's a long book and, in my opinion, there's some sections that could be trimmed. Still, I enjoyed it.
Next up is August. I'm guessing that there won't be much of a change in the weather pattern.There are a few books on the table but there's always new ones that pop up. Until then ..
Keep reading.
