tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post4554074047344421036..comments2024-03-28T20:46:22.875+00:00Comments on Clothes In Books: Black Spectacles or Green Capsule?Clothes In Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-84028623403344107652016-09-10T11:42:53.595+01:002016-09-10T11:42:53.595+01:00Oh very much so. I did like this one very much, mo...Oh very much so. I did like this one very much, more than some of his others.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-36287873499031434682016-09-10T06:44:32.512+01:002016-09-10T06:44:32.512+01:00I will consider this one after I give the ones I h...I will consider this one after I give the ones I have a try. I use to be attracted to a book no matter what if the description said country house mystery, but I have found that there is great variability in such books.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-23558966594152070912016-08-20T22:57:25.669+01:002016-08-20T22:57:25.669+01:00Thanks Prashant - I think you should. I suspect yo...Thanks Prashant - I think you should. I suspect you would like him, and there are plenty to choose from.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-75869595032308787882016-08-20T22:56:54.865+01:002016-08-20T22:56:54.865+01:00I hadn't heard of the case, and couldn't m...I hadn't heard of the case, and couldn't make up my mind if Carr had invented it, I decided not to check till after I'd finished the book. I was surprised it was real for the reason you suggest - it does rather defy belief!<br />And yes this is such a good clever plot, you really don't know where he's going to go with it. I love the lip-reading.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-56440908548249342002016-08-20T19:34:41.450+01:002016-08-20T19:34:41.450+01:00Fine review, Moira. Tempted to read Dickson Carr. ...Fine review, Moira. Tempted to read Dickson Carr. Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-52668134598771245152016-08-20T19:28:39.197+01:002016-08-20T19:28:39.197+01:00I remember this as being a particularly tricky and...I remember this as being a particularly tricky and complicated plot, where you spend a great deal of time scratching you head and thinking 'No, hang on...no wait...but it couldn't possibly...' Like you, I sort of expected the Pompeii setting to have some sort of direct relevance to the plot. Now I think that it was there simply to give the novel a bit of expansiveness, because once it gets back to England it feels very claustrophobic.<br /><br />It is beautifully constructed, with clues and twists and turns and bamboozling the reader in a very fair way. It's not realistic, but it's not realistic in the way that Japanese Noh Theatre or Jacobean Revenge tragedies are not realistic. Like you say, you don't go to Carr for that. Once you start reading, you're entering the writer's world, and as long as it is internally consistent it doesn't matter how close it comes to 'real life'. Mind you, when you look at the real-life Christiana Edmunds case referenced in the book, you do start to wonder what words like 'realistic' actually mean!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-26559502598834375152016-08-19T22:56:12.352+01:002016-08-19T22:56:12.352+01:00Oh well you're not going to get away without r...Oh well you're not going to get away without reading it are you!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-14624219428225940202016-08-19T22:29:21.269+01:002016-08-19T22:29:21.269+01:00One from you The Judas WindowOne from you The Judas Windowcol2910https://www.blogger.com/profile/06422138069939709043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-5257372128315182212016-08-19T21:53:23.066+01:002016-08-19T21:53:23.066+01:00Right, nicely explained. And I agree, Green Decemb...Right, nicely explained. And I agree, Green December is a fabulous title - I would buy a book based on that... Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-55880401725980479452016-08-19T21:52:37.352+01:002016-08-19T21:52:37.352+01:00... but you'll have to read something by him s...... but you'll have to read something by him sometime. Nothing in the tubs?Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-79730008401314064672016-08-19T21:52:17.765+01:002016-08-19T21:52:17.765+01:00Yes, I always think he gives guaranteed enjoyment ...Yes, I always think he gives guaranteed enjoyment - this was one of his really good ones, in my view, but even his lesser efforts are always of interest.Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-82178154371902380072016-08-19T21:51:27.366+01:002016-08-19T21:51:27.366+01:00Oh yes, I totally agree. It was impossible! I like...Oh yes, I totally agree. It was impossible! I liked the reliability of the special lightbulb... Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-70658421590948717372016-08-19T17:02:55.170+01:002016-08-19T17:02:55.170+01:00Thanks for the mention and link. Moira. My take on...Thanks for the mention and link. Moira. My take on the practice of changing titles when a book is published over here (and vice versa) is all about marketing. US publishers wanted to attract the mystery crowd. Prosaic titles like <i>The Black Spectacles</i> don't immediately make a reader and prospective buyer think "Aha! a mystery novel." But <i>The Problem of the Green Capsule</i> will do the job nicely. There are other instances when the title is too tied to a culture or is too strange like <i>Vegetable Duck</i> and needs to be changed. Then there is the case when a title is viewed as too literary and obscure that a publisher does the opposite and creates a boring obviously mystery related title. Rue Morgue Press liked to do that often as when they changed <i>Green December Fills the Graveyard</i> (one of my all time favorite mystery titles) to the boring but more obvious <i>Murder at Shots Hall.</i>J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-25521679854694349162016-08-19T16:57:07.999+01:002016-08-19T16:57:07.999+01:00Not tempted to be honest. I just don't think I...Not tempted to be honest. I just don't think I'm a massive fan of books this old or your country house mystery.col2910https://www.blogger.com/profile/06422138069939709043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-73469834822352388752016-08-19T16:15:09.143+01:002016-08-19T16:15:09.143+01:00It does have me written all over it - I admit it, ...It does have me written all over it - I admit it, I whopped with joy at the resolution, the sheer audacity of it just made me smile like an idiot! I know what you mean about the culprit being theoretically easy to spot, but since it was clearly quite impossible for them to have done it ... and so I fell into Carr's trap, as usual!Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-77091676239097527472016-08-19T12:21:23.343+01:002016-08-19T12:21:23.343+01:00I really like Carr's writing style, Moira, and...I really like Carr's writing style, Moira, and you've captured it nicely, here. He did have a way, didn't he, of making points about what witnesses think they see. I've noted that in other books he wrote, too. And there's something about the country house and small town settings. Glad you enjoyed this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-38982010867919849352016-08-19T11:33:03.085+01:002016-08-19T11:33:03.085+01:00Don't know how I forgot your review Sergio - h...Don't know how I forgot your review Sergio - have now added it to the list above. This book could be designed for you couldn't it!Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6129427507761315524.post-35329118814820234612016-08-19T11:08:40.231+01:002016-08-19T11:08:40.231+01:00Love this book Moira, one of his best. I raved abo...Love this book Moira, one of his best. I raved about it at Fedora (shameless plug department) under its UK title: https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/the-black-spectacles-1939-by-john-dickson-carr/Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com