Just Finished Reading: People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield (FP: 2020) [419pp] 

London, 1888. It was almost a dream come true. Susannah had secured her future with her marriage to up-and-coming young surgeon Thomas Lancaster. If only the clouds on the horizon would clear, she could be happy. But the honeymoon in Brighton is well and truly over. The new household is cold if not actively hostile to her presence and her new husband is no longer the loving man she married so recently. His mood has begun to change, sometimes aloof and at others frighteningly violent. But worse, much worse, are his unexplained absences he calls 'work'. But seeing clients should not involve staying away for days on end, nor coming home covered in blood not his own. Then there are the stories in the press, stories of women being murdered in the streets of Whitechapel, women mutilated in depraved ways. Slowly, reluctantly, Susannah begins to wonder, begins to suspect – could her mercurial husband be 'Jack the Ripper'? 

As soon as I saw the location and the date, I immediately knew what this novel was about, even before reading the rest of the blurb. The year 1888 is famous for the short spate of gruesome murders that have fascinated generations since then. This was a nice twist on that story that revolved around the wife of the potential mass killer and has an equally nice explanation of why the killing stopped. I'm sure that more than one woman living in London at that time suspected a husband, brother or father of the crimes that horrified and entranced the city at the time. Of course, it has been long suspected that 'Jack' had some medical training, so it made sense for the novels prime suspect (of Susannah rather than the police who honestly didn't have a clue who he was!) should be someone who was, in fact, being trained to cut people open. The sense of time and place was very strong here and very well done. I liked the way that Susannah became obsessed with the newspaper reports surrounding the murders and investigations which, no doubt, came from actual reports (although it doesn't say so in my paperback copy they certainly 'feel' authentic). As always, I have to highlight the characterisation throughout the book, which was very good especially Susannah who I liked a lot (although this was tarnished somewhat late on as we learnt more about her past). Other characters, even her horrible husband, were very well drawn and totally believable with their own credible backgrounds and motivations. Not a single eyebrow was raised in question throughout the novel. But... 

Despite being very well written from beginning to end I did have a few problems with this novel. It suffered from what I'm calling First Novel Syndrome (FNS). I can well understand the fear that an author's first novel will also be their last and, because of that, they want to get everything that they've imagined in there – be it plot, characters, observations and so on. If they're not going to get another chance to shine, then its ALL going in. That's the major problem I had here. There were several sub-plots and flashbacks that added little or nothing to the overall narrative except (probably) that they were part of the original imagining. A case in point is Susannah's journaling during the murders where she imagined the deaths of each victim in order to help her 'understand' what was happening – despite knowing nothing more than the press reports she read each day. Considering that the rest of the novel was purely from her PoV this was both jarring and honestly pointless. Another more minor niggle was when she was explaining something to a major sub-character which was almost word for word what we had already been reading in the novel. An 'explanation' that took 2-3 pages could very easily have been completed in 2-3 lines. That, I think, was just an example of bad/insufficient editing but still...  

Overall, this was a good (and often very good) read. If the editing had been a bit more aggressive and the 'side quests' removed or much reduced, it could have been a very good book indeed. I certainly haven't been put off reading her subsequent work as hopefully she's calmed down a bit and no longer feels the need to include all of her ideas along with the kitchen sink. Better than reasonable but could have been much better.

[Highest page count of the year so far: 419pp][+13pp]

Happy Birthday: Sir Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset.

Eavis was born in Pilton, Somerset, on 17 October 1935, and grew up at Worthy Farm in the village. His father was a dairy farmer and a Methodist local preacher, and his mother a school teacher. Eavis was educated at Wells Cathedral School, followed by the Thames Nautical Training College in Greenhithe, Kent, after which he joined the Union-Castle Line, part of the British Merchant Navy, as a trainee midshipman. His plan was to spend twenty years at sea, and return with a pension to help subsidise the income from the family farm.

After his father died when Eavis was 19, he inherited the family farm of 150 acres and 60 cows. He worked at Mendip Colliery at Nettlebridge or New Rock colliery at Stratton-on-the-Fosse on the Somerset Coalfield for a couple of years to help supplement the income from the farm.

Eavis and his first wife, Ruth, had three daughters, but divorced in 1964.[3] He married Jean Hayball, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Emily. Jean died of cancer in 1999, and Eavis has since married his third wife, Liz. In common with his parents and second wife, Eavis remains a practising Methodist, although he has also stated that he is "not really bothered" about the existence of God. He is a teetotaler and does not smoke.

In June 1970, Eavis and his second wife Jean visited the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. Inspired by seeing the performance of Led Zeppelin, Eavis hosted the Pilton Pop Folk & Blues Festival in 1970. The following year a free festival, Glastonbury Fayre, was organised by Andrew Kerr and associates. It later developed into Glastonbury Festival.

[I was at Glastonbury in 2000 with some friends. It was definitely an *experience* and I enjoyed some very good music - the tent & the toilets not so much!!]

SaLT @ 21 

It was 21 years ago today that I finally gave into the gentle pressure from my friends to get a Blog up and running. Over two decades later most of my friends Blogs have gone inactive but I'm still here. I never thought that I'd last this long, not even close. At first, it was just something new to explore and a way, by and large, of posting comments on other people's Blogs until they inevitably asked: "Where is YOUR Blog?" 

The style and content have changed over the years – evolved more than anything as I thought some things worked while other things didn't. Although I certainly like 'hits' and especially comments I've never really felt the need to 'chase' either. I try, as much as possible, to be true to myself and post what I like, what I find interesting or what is energising me on a day to day, month to month basis. If other people like my content so much the better, but I've long been less inclined to follow trends than to cut my own path – however unpopular that sometimes is! 

A shout out to those who have been 'with' this Blog since the early days. I appreciate that greatly. It's nice to know that people (not always like minded!) have decided to stick around as I seek my little truths over the years. A welcome and hello to my more recent regulars. I hope that you're here for the long haul as I'm really not planning on going anywhere any time soon (I hope!). A quiet nod to my lurkers and an appreciation of the times you surface to leave a comment when I post something particularly profound or just funny. 

I don't know how long 21 years is in Internet Years, but it's a fair stretch. I'm not sure if I can manage ANOTHER 21 (not at MY age) but I'm willing to go for another 5-10 if the Universe is OK with that. We'll see... I do hope that you continue enjoying the ride. I'm pretty sure that I'll have something that will interest, amuse (or annoy!) you from time to time so.... Forwards!  

Just Finished Reading: The Good Ancestor – How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World by Roman Krznaric (FP: 2020) [245pp] 

According to the author, short term thinking will kill us all. He's not far wrong. Certainly, in the West, few politicians or governments think much beyond the next election or the one after that – 8-10 years at most. They certainly wouldn't want to start something that only comes to fruition years later if there's a possibility that the opposition party might be in power to take the credit. Likewise, business tends to think of quarterly profit forecasts and shareholder meetings. Why would they possibly put something in train that might not turn a handsome profit in 3 months rather than 3 decades? Short term thinking is reasonably adept at dealing with immediate problems and the unexpected out-of-the-blue disasters, but it's also very good at laying the groundwork for perpetuating or even creating the very conditions from which disasters emerge. 

So, what's stopping us from long term (or at least longer term) thinking? Part of the problem is that, generally, we're not very good at it. Planning 5 years out seems long term to many and planning further out seems pointless especially if circumstances are prone to regular and rapid change. Then, of course, there is little incentive for either governments or business to plan for decades or even generations ahead. They would be criticised for 'blue sky thinking' and wasting money. Yet, at the same time, there are calls to fix some fundamental problems that cannot be resolved in 5, 10 or even 20 years. We KNOW that ongoing climate change is going to cause MAJOR problems – and is already doing so – but little if anything is being done about it by people or organisations with the power, ability and money to actually accomplish things because of short-term thinking. If any solution is predicted to take more than a few elections or shareholder reviews to bed in... forget it. 

The author proposes a range of options to help us (and those in power) to think about things beyond what we can see right in front of our eyes. My favourite, and probably most practical, is Cathedral Thinking. Our ancestors built cathedrals and other structures that still have the power to amaze us hundreds if not thousands of years after they were completed. What many fail to take into account is that many of these structures took generations to complete with their construction being handed on to the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original designers/builders to complete. We seem to have lost that focus, that projection into the future, that OUR ancestors seem to have. It might be a very good idea to rediscover it. 

Although I found the author to be somewhat over optimistic and some of the ideas presented to be rather wishy-washy and vague, I thought that his heart was in the right place (and not just in his chest). Despite all of our technology and imagination we, as a culture, seem to have lost the ability to think big and project ourselves into the DEEP future rather than 5 minutes down the road. Short term thinking will not save us from many of the problems – which have honestly been building for decades or longer – we KNOW are coming our way. This book, flawed as I think it is, is a small step looking to correct that. Worth a read. Reasonable. 

Just Finished Reading: Investigations of a Dog by Franz Kafka (FP: 1931) [57pp] 

Back in my 20's I got it into my head that I 'should' read "The Classics" if I wanted to call myself a reader despite, at the time, reading almost purely Science-Fiction. One of those authors I tried, having heard SO much about him elsewhere, was Kafka. So, I tried several of his most famous works and DNF'd all of them. 

That experience certainly gave me pause when a Kafka short work was the next booklet in my Penguin Modern Classic boxset. The tale (pun intended!) followed the efforts of a young dog investigating the world trying to build on the canine philosophy he'd picked up along the way. Unsurprisingly, he failed to get anywhere and at the end of the story nothing had been resolved and no notable progress had been made. I don't know if this was the highlight that most people's thinking is flawed or if the author was trying to say that philosophical progress is impossible (or at least VERY difficult). Try as I might I couldn't really see what the point of the narrative was – unless that WAS the point? The problem with the dog's thought process is that there was no attempt to prove or disprove anything, so any suppositions floated in the air without any foundations. Then, on top of these original ideas even more ideas where added – all without any substance. No wonder no progress was, or could, be made. Again, maybe THAT was the point? 

Thankfully this was a very short work. If it had been a novel, it'd definitely have been my 3rd DNF of the year. Needless to say, I am still not encouraged to try Kafka in a longer format. Life, I think, is just too short for that. Not recommended. 

Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann 

Sublime... I LOVE the piano SO much. Its definitely my favourite musical instrument. 

Happy Birthday: Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is an English retired broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ, and comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show Tiswas from 1974 to 1981 and the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from its inception in 1998 until 2014.

Tarrant's career began in 1972 when he was hired by the television broadcaster ATV. He presented ATV Today, a current affairs programme serving the Midlands area of England, until 1982. Tarrant rose to prominence after becoming a co-host on Tiswas, the children's television show broadcast on Saturday mornings from 1974 to 1981. Tarrant was a member of the Four Bucketeers group, whose single "Bucket of Water Song" reached No. 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. In January 1982, along with Bob Carolgees, John Gorman, Randolph Sutherland and Lenny Henry, Tarrant launched a late-night show, O.T.T. ("Over the Top"), thought of as an "adult" version of Tiswas, which despite being short-lived, was popular among adults. His co-host Sally James presented the concurrent and final series of Tiswas alone.

Tarrant was a Capital Radio host from 1984 to 2004, presenting the early-morning show Capital Breakfast. The show was highly popular, increasing Capital Radio's audience share in London. Tarrant presented the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? from 1998 to 2014, while also providing audio recordings for some console games, and a tabletop game made by Tiger Electronics based on the show. He recorded a total of 592 episodes across 30 series, in which five contestants won the top cash prize of £1 million. In 2012, Tarrant began a travel documentary series, Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railways, with locations including the Congo-Ocean Railway, the Ghan across Australia and the Konkan Railway in India.

Tarrant's other television credits include Tarrant on TV, a programme that shows clips featuring a number of unusual television programmes from around the world, and Tarrant Lets the Kids Loose, a programme which gives three- to six-year-olds the chance to fulfil their greatest ambitions in the adult world. He also hosted several other game shows, including It's Not What You Know and The Colour of Money, The Main Event 1993. Tarrant was appointed an OBE in 2004 for his charity work, in particular his campaigning on behalf of disadvantaged children. In 2006, he was ranked number 38 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars. Tarrant announced his retirement in December 2024, after 52 years in television.

[Tiswas was a BIG part of my late teens and was one of the things that got me out of bed on a Saturday morning. Absolute anarchic FUN.]

This year's Flu shot.... Done! An early one this year and a different system too. Not the usual conveyer belt approach but instead I 'registered' with reception and then was called after about 2-3 minutes. Walked to the room with the nurse, had my shot (after confirming my ID), asked about the COVID shot I'd heard about and was told that I was "too young". COVID shots are only for the over-75's and those with compromised immune systems. Out and popped to my local supermarket for a few things and back in the house before my actual appointment time. EXCELLENT! 

Just Finished Reading: Femme Fatale by Guy de Maupassant [56pp] 

This booklet contained four tales by the father of the modern short story. The longest (titled) concerned the struggle of an unsure young man, the son of a senator, who is struggling to cope with his relationship with his girlfriend. Although he's obsessed with her he also, at times, really doesn't like her very much especially when she has a mind of her own. The final straw comes when she insists on spending the evening in the company of some lesbian friends that he disapproves of. I thought this was very well written (and VERY French!) and very modern in its portrayal of various sexualities (again this was 19th century FRANCE so...). Strong characterisation and plotting, very 'cinematic' without being melodramatic. Nicely done. 

The other solid story – despite being pretty predictable from the start – was Hautot & Son where a farmer's son finds out from his father as he's dying that he has been having a relationship with a woman in a nearby town since his wife died. After getting over the shock the son decides to hand over an inheritance only to discover he has a half-brother. Again, this was very nicely done with pathos and humanity. It was a very obvious plot but no less readable or enjoyable because of that. 

The other two stories, Cockcrow and Laid to Rest were much shorter and although well written didn't have the same impact/punch as the larger tales. Overall though I enjoyed the introduction to this author (which I had only heard of previously) and will be looking for something more substantial from him in the future. 

Translated from the French by Sian Miles  

Just Finished Reading: The Forever War – America's Unending Conflict With Itself by Nick Bryant (FP: 2024) [326pp] 

The one word that kept coming up time and again during Trump's first Presidency was "unprecedented". If I had a penny for every time I heard it mentioned, well, I'd have a LOT of pennies. To be honest the only other President that came to mind in comparison was Nixon but only in part – the 'enemies list' and the dodgy political manoeuvres - and I thought that American journalists presumably knew more about American political history than I did, so... unprecedented it was. Except that they were, according to the author (who is a BBC journalist) simply wrong. 

Since its mythologised Founding, America has had its fair share of racist Presidents, imperial Presidents and countless corrupt politicians of all shades and levels. It's also had its fair share of incompetence – including staggering incompetence – along with concentration camps, sex scandals, blatant nepotism, military adventures (manufactured or otherwise), policy being influenced by super-rich oligarchs, restrictions of the Press and Free Speech, fear mongering about the 'Left' and the "Communist threat" to bring out the vote and, naturally, voter suppression and other devious anti-democratic activity. All of this isn't just a recent phenomenon though. You'll find elements of all of this, sometimes on its own and sometimes in various combinations from the very start. So... unprecedented? Not so much it seems. 

As usual I'll be open about my ignorance of much of American history. I've read a number of books on the subject (though I need to read a few good general histories to get a decent foundation before I focus in on separate events, topics or people) but nowhere near enough to even have a rough understanding of things. This quite fascinating book has given me a LOT of pointers, and I fully intend to chase some rabbits down their holes in the forthcoming year or two. I have been toying with looking at the Dark Side of American History for a while now and I think this will be a good foundational text to work up from. I knew, or knew of, some of the events/people the author referenced but only really at a superficial level. It looks like if I dig just a little deeper, a little further into the facade and beyond the propaganda created image the world is familiar with it looks like I'm going to find something quite interesting. I'm looking forward to the quest! 

This was definitely a very different slant and a very different look at American political history which, as is often the case, needed a well-informed outsider to identify some of the strangeness and the faults in the system that insiders take for granted as just 'the way we do things here'. A definite recommended read for anyone who wonders why the USA is the way it is and why things seem (and are) so messed up right now.   

Happy Birthday: Simon Scarrow (born 3 October 1962) is a British writer. Scarrow completed a master's degree at the University of East Anglia after working at the Inland Revenue, and then went into teaching as a lecturer, firstly at East Norfolk Sixth Form College, then at City College Norwich.

He is best known for his Eagles of the Empire series of Roman military fiction set in the territories of the Roman Empire, covering the second invasion of Britain and the subsequent prolonged campaign undertaken by the rump of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. As of 2025, there are 23 books in the series; the latest, Tyrant of Rome, was published in 2025.

He has written another series, Revolution, focussing on Wellington and Napoleon, the first title of which, Young Bloods, was published in 2006. The second volume, The Generals, was published on 31 May 2007 and the third volume, Fire and Sword, in January 2009. The fourth and final novel of the series was published in June 2010 and is called The Fields of Death. He began publishing a new series in 2011, entitled Gladiator.

In 2021, Scarrow authored an audiovisual walking tour for the Roman Colosseum entitled Blood and Sand on the BARDEUM mobile app.