Showing 1 - 10 of 19
Ravens' feast
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 27/12/2018
» This reviewer's understanding of historical novels is that the authors do historical research on their topic, using actual figures and imaginary ones where need-be, to write essentially factual and hopefully interesting stories. But not all historical novelists follow this form. Some are more concerned about their own largely fictitious story than the actual events behind it.
Tongue-in-cheek
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 19/01/2018
» It has been a while a since I smiled while reading a book. My sense of humour is good and I don't hold back my laughter at something that tickles my funny bone. I find Thai double-entendres most amusing. This reviewer wishes books were funny. Those called hilarious by critics simply aren't.
A Cold War thriller
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 26/01/2017
» The time was when visiting the USSR was difficult and leaving it impossible. Lenin and Stalin had built the ideal state and close contact with the outside world would only contaminate it. Until Hitler offered a deal they couldn't refuse -- to slice up Poland between them.
The War on drugs
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/05/2016
» Drugs are a trillion-dollar business and the so-called War on Drugs is under-financed. So much is paid to the powers that be to turn a blind eye that those who fight the good fight deserve the credit they get when busting a drug ring.
Loving non-humans
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 25/04/2016
» The close relationship between humans and lower forms of animals was noted millennia before Charles Darwin found a primordial connection. The relationship broadened in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book.
Hey presto
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 15/02/2016
» In every category there's a person or group recognised as the best in their field of endeavour. Not all people agree with the judges' choice. Arguments invariably ensue over, "This award or prize goes to …..", "Are they blind or deaf? W, Y, Z was better than X by a long shot."
Guilty or innocent?
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 28/09/2015
» Chicago's Gillian Flynn is the literary flavour of the decade. This reviewer didn't read Gone Girl, the novel that made her famous, but I saw the screen adaptation and was impressed by the story's twists and turns. A wife disappearing, but in fact having "kidnapped" herself. The plot required a sizeable suspension of disbelief, yet cleverly done.
Painful memories
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/06/2015
» We have all been in embarrassing situations, usually of our own making, and can't forget it. Fewer have been humiliated. Fewer still shamed. For those who have been, it was surely a truly traumatic experience.
Court martial case
Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 09/03/2015
» Military court martials tend to be short, their verdicts swiftly carried out. Unlike civilian courts, lawyers don't come up with reasons to delay or overturn sentences. The Code of Military Justice is more clear-cut, less filled with loopholes.