You may not want a reminder of Christmas yet, but this week I am running posts on a few items that would make great presents. I featured a wonderful Moomins book which contributes to good causes, and is a perfect stocking filler.
Then there was a Kate’s excellent Vintage Mystery Book Box Subscription.
And today we have 100 books and 99 authors. But don’t worry, in a very compact form…
There’s The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards, and The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler – both are books that resonate very strongly with this blog, and will do so with many of my readers.
detection. He wrote about his book The Golden Age of Murder – which would also make a great Xmas gift – on Clothes in Books back in 2015. That book is a history of the books, the authors, and the Detection Club, and my verdict was ‘it is a fabulous achievement. I would be pretty much guaranteed to like any book about Golden Age crime fiction, but this is a spectacularly good one.’
The new book, published this summer, does what it says on the cover – it tells the story of Golden Age crime by looking at some of the most noted books. Of course many of the same authors are featured in this one, but it covers quite different ground, approaches the history in a very clever and unusual way, and I strongly recommend it.
When I first heard about the book, and its concept, I was very much looking forward to it, and assumed that I would know and have read the vast majority of Martin’s choices, but that was far from the case (see some stats below). So please don’t make the mistake of thinking he is covering familiar ground – there is a lot to discover even for a dedicated GA crime fan such as myself.
Martin did a blogtour post here at Clothes in Books to mark the publication of this book back in July – well worth reading, and tells you more about the book.
re-discovering forgotten authors. He did a wonderful weekly column in the Independent newspaper on the subject (and a small book was published a few years ago based on that). He has taken some of the authors he researched then, and expanded the entries, and added some new ones, and the result is a compulsive and highly entertaining book, perfect for those of us who love to read the novels that were popular in (particularly) the first two-thirds of the 20th century – though his remit is wider than that.
He also has some general chapters on topics such a The Forgotten Queens of Suspense, and The Forgotten Booker Authors (a subject I wrote about a few years ago).
Obsessed as I am with lost authors, I have read a lot of those he mentions (see stats below) – I am very proud of this. I don’t always agree with his verdicts, but then that is part of the joy of reading this book. I could write much more about it, but I actually think those who will love this book know who they are, and don’t need persuading. It is wonderful stuff.
As a final bit of geekery, I just sat down and did some checking and counting. I have read works by around two-thirds of Fowler’s lost authors, and about twenty of them have featured on the blog. (Though here at Clothes in Books, and for swathes of my readers, the likes of Margery Allingham, Gladys Mitchell and John Dickson Carr are considered far from lost or forgotten). And I have a few more suggestions for him: recent blogfind Elinor Glyn, also J Meade Falkner (The Nebuly Coat is a masterpiece), and WJ Locke. I have many more in mind if he ever runs out of forgotten authors.
I reckon I have read 55 of Martin’s 100 great books (and have read at least one book, even if not the one mentioned, by 76 of the authors), and of course he has made me add many more to my list, so expect that number to rise. Around 35 of the authors he features have made appearances on Clothes in Books, though only around 18 of his actual book choices (expect that number to rise too.)
I thought I’d look to see how many books/authors appear in both books: I can tell you that there is a fair bit of crossover, but by this time my head was spinning with comparisons, so I didn’t actually achieve a proper count…
The two pictures from Flickr show important Norwegian chaps in their book-filled workrooms (one is a lawyer, as is Martin) – and while to the best of my knowledge they doesn’t resemble either of today’s authors, there was somehow a look of those great and kind gentlemen who search out lost books for the benefit of the rest of us, so I thought they would make one-off avatars for them… I hope they don't mind.
Edwards and Fowler – it sounds like a crime-fighting team that one of them could make a series out of.
Then there was a Kate’s excellent Vintage Mystery Book Box Subscription.
And today we have 100 books and 99 authors. But don’t worry, in a very compact form…
There’s The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards, and The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler – both are books that resonate very strongly with this blog, and will do so with many of my readers.
Martin Edwards
is an old friend of the blog – he is a crime writer himself, but also an expert in, particularly, Golden Agedetection. He wrote about his book The Golden Age of Murder – which would also make a great Xmas gift – on Clothes in Books back in 2015. That book is a history of the books, the authors, and the Detection Club, and my verdict was ‘it is a fabulous achievement. I would be pretty much guaranteed to like any book about Golden Age crime fiction, but this is a spectacularly good one.’The new book, published this summer, does what it says on the cover – it tells the story of Golden Age crime by looking at some of the most noted books. Of course many of the same authors are featured in this one, but it covers quite different ground, approaches the history in a very clever and unusual way, and I strongly recommend it.
When I first heard about the book, and its concept, I was very much looking forward to it, and assumed that I would know and have read the vast majority of Martin’s choices, but that was far from the case (see some stats below). So please don’t make the mistake of thinking he is covering familiar ground – there is a lot to discover even for a dedicated GA crime fan such as myself.
Martin did a blogtour post here at Clothes in Books to mark the publication of this book back in July – well worth reading, and tells you more about the book.
Christopher Fowler
also writes crime books – he is famed for his Bryant and May series – but he also has a sideline in re-discovering forgotten authors. He did a wonderful weekly column in the Independent newspaper on the subject (and a small book was published a few years ago based on that). He has taken some of the authors he researched then, and expanded the entries, and added some new ones, and the result is a compulsive and highly entertaining book, perfect for those of us who love to read the novels that were popular in (particularly) the first two-thirds of the 20th century – though his remit is wider than that. He also has some general chapters on topics such a The Forgotten Queens of Suspense, and The Forgotten Booker Authors (a subject I wrote about a few years ago).
Obsessed as I am with lost authors, I have read a lot of those he mentions (see stats below) – I am very proud of this. I don’t always agree with his verdicts, but then that is part of the joy of reading this book. I could write much more about it, but I actually think those who will love this book know who they are, and don’t need persuading. It is wonderful stuff.
As a final bit of geekery, I just sat down and did some checking and counting. I have read works by around two-thirds of Fowler’s lost authors, and about twenty of them have featured on the blog. (Though here at Clothes in Books, and for swathes of my readers, the likes of Margery Allingham, Gladys Mitchell and John Dickson Carr are considered far from lost or forgotten). And I have a few more suggestions for him: recent blogfind Elinor Glyn, also J Meade Falkner (The Nebuly Coat is a masterpiece), and WJ Locke. I have many more in mind if he ever runs out of forgotten authors.
I reckon I have read 55 of Martin’s 100 great books (and have read at least one book, even if not the one mentioned, by 76 of the authors), and of course he has made me add many more to my list, so expect that number to rise. Around 35 of the authors he features have made appearances on Clothes in Books, though only around 18 of his actual book choices (expect that number to rise too.)
I thought I’d look to see how many books/authors appear in both books: I can tell you that there is a fair bit of crossover, but by this time my head was spinning with comparisons, so I didn’t actually achieve a proper count…
The two pictures from Flickr show important Norwegian chaps in their book-filled workrooms (one is a lawyer, as is Martin) – and while to the best of my knowledge they doesn’t resemble either of today’s authors, there was somehow a look of those great and kind gentlemen who search out lost books for the benefit of the rest of us, so I thought they would make one-off avatars for them… I hope they don't mind.
Edwards and Fowler – it sounds like a crime-fighting team that one of them could make a series out of.
Lovely idea, Moira! Martin Edwards is so talented, both as a writer and an editor, so I couldn't agree more with your suggestion. And Christopher Fowler's great, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margot! Real book-lovers' books, both of them.
DeleteTwo great books and another two good ideas for bookish Christmas presents.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate, and I think many of our crime fiction fan friends will be hoping to get one or both of them.
DeleteI got the Edwards book shortly after it came out! (Too long to wait for Xmas, I fear). One of the things that I love about this book is that he can write authoritatively and enthusiastically about many different styles of crime novel. In the past, stuff like Julian Symons BLOODY MURDER was good but very partisan, and there were great swathes of stuff that he obviously didn't care for. This book is the WHOLE story.
ReplyDeleteThe Forgotten Authors thing is always contentious, but there are a lot of authors whose books are not entirely forgotten, but exist in a kind of limbo. Nevil Shute is one of those who were massive during their lifetime but somehow end up out of step with the times. He's almost forgotten in his adopted country of Australia, but he's not entirely vanished elsewhere. On the other hand I would have considered that Freeman Wills Croft was one of those authors who were never going to be rediscovered, and yet he's suddenly found an audience again!
ggary
Yes, Martin writes so well, and that's an excellent point that he is very balanced, fair-minded.
DeleteForgotten Authors are endlessly fascinating to me - Neville Shute indeed, he was a very interesting writer. Oh, and Nigel Balchin too, he must be due a revival. Am just thinking this out as I write now, but I wonder if it easier for women writers (often much more unjustly neglected or not taken seriously in the past) to come back now, because of small specialist publishers like Persephone, and the large number of women bloggers who write largely about women...
Yes, I can remember back in the '90s reading reprints of classic crime and thriller stuff by publishers like Virago. It was sometimes easier reprinting something if you had a 'hook' to justify it--forgotten female authors rather than simply forgotten authors. The recent swathe of crime reprints seem to based on the idea of classic versus modern crime novels. For a long time it was all serial killers and gloomy, haunted detectives, when it's obvious from the popularity of deliberately retro series like DEATH IN PARADISE that there is still a big market for the classic crime novel. It's just taken a long time for publishers to catch on.
DeleteBalchin is definitely worth revival, but he made the mistake of not sticking to one genre, which has made it harder for him to be remarketed. Things like THE SMALL BACK ROOM are basically straight novels, but can be sold as period thrillers, but some of his less well known stuff isn't really classifiable. For some reason it's easier to resell 'genre'. It's a little like the way that 'cult' TV like THE AVENGERS or THE SAINT sells as DVDs in much greater quantities than ordinary TV. Recently I was looking back on some TV shows done by Edward Woodward, who was one of my favourite actors. It's easy to find his thriller shows like CALLAN or THE EQUALISER, but a short-lived, very popular series called THE BASS PLAYER AND THE BLONDE has only recently turned up on DVD because it falls between several different stools, being a musical/comedy/drama.
ggary
Don't remember ever hearing of the Bass Player... but someone did give me a DVD of Callan for my birthday, fond memories that brought.
DeleteI think Julian Fellowes, post-Gosford when he had some film clout I suppose, made a film of a Balchin book: Separate Lies, based on A Way Through the Woods. He did a good job. It's a very good book I think. Many of them would make good films...
Moira: I enjoyed reading Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James but have not read many other books about crime fiction. I am tempted to read Martin's book.
ReplyDeleteI have been wondering if it is the second photo which is of a lawyer?
I liked the PD James book too: and I am sure you would enjoy either of Martin's books.
DeleteNo the first one is the lawyer, I matched him to Martin! He is called Carl Lundh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lundh
The second one is a librarian and bibliographer called Hjelmar Pettersen.
Did you think the tidier office meant the lawyer...? I think I would guess that way round if I had no more info!
No lawyer would predict it is the office of another lawyer based on neatness. It took me 35 years to get a reasonably neat office. The struggle is constant.
DeleteThe first office did not seem well set up, by the location of the chairs, for interviews.
A-ha. I see. He was a barrister, and worked on land issues, maybe that is relevant ;), maybe not so many grieving widows, guilty parties, busybody cops etc - which we like to find in our books on lawyers...
DeleteProbably more you than me, in both cases. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteMm, you might even find the forgotten authors interesting... but I'm not expecting to convince you!
DeleteGreat recommendations. And apart from the main 100 classics in Martin Edward's book there were loads of other fascinating books and writers mentioned. It really covers a lot of ground and very enjoyably too.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you pointed that out - I wanted to say that, but felt I was going on too much. And yes, he by no means confines himself to the 100 books...
DeleteI have purchased The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books already, and unfortunately don't know anyone who would appreciate it as a gift. Is Christopher Fowler's book about Forgotten Authors newish, or has it been out a while? I have read some of the articles online.
ReplyDeleteThis particular book, Forgotten Authors, has only been out a short time, though he did do a previous similar book, though much shorter and less thorough. The person I know who would most like to receive either of these books is undoubtedly me! And I have them. But I think I know a few people who might appreciate one or other of them...
DeleteRe the Fowler book, I must have been confused by the previous book. And the new one seems not to be published here yet, so I will wait.
DeleteI think you'll enjoy it when it comes Tracy, he covers a lot of crime/thriller/spy authors, and also some sci-fi - the only area where I didn't know the authors so much...
Delete