The Queue
Body of Lies is off to an inauspicious start. The first three blurbs on the back cover are from the detestable Seymour Hersh, the laughable Chris Matthews, & the wretched George Tenet, but those do not constitute the inauspicious start to which I am referring, as their creation & selection might well be outside Ignatius's control. No, I'm referring to Ignatius's snarky asides. Interspersed throughout the narrative, alongside the plot developments & character sketches, are slights & digs that might just as well have been lifted from a MoveOn.org or Kerry/Edwards '04 press release. I expect neither a novelist nor a novel to be without personal politics, but I also think it not unreasonable to expect a novel to have a more sophisticated & nuanced understanding of the world than the infamous "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" advert. The decision to continue or to abandon Body of Lies will be made in the next twenty to thirty pages; there are too many great books I'll never read to waste my time reading rubbish of which I am constantly suspicious.

Recently
H. Rider Haggard, King Solomon's Mines
Eric Powell, The Goon: Rough Stuff (Volume 0), Nothin' But Misery (Vol. 1), & My Murderous Childhood (and Other Grievous Yarns) (Vol. 2)
Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus (Vol. 5) & Red Rackham's Treasure (Vol. 12)

Currently
David Ignatius, Body of Lies

Presently
Len Deighton, City of Gold
Eric Powell, The Goon: Heaps of Ruination (Vol. 3) & Virtue and the Grim Consequences Thereof (Vol. 4)
Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Rudyard Kipling, The Man who would be King and Other Stories

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Spinal Tap, "Stonehenge" from This is Spinal Tap (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I woke up this morning to the B.B.C. World Service sounding in my ears & "Stonehenge" sounding in my brain. Not a bad way to start the day.

Mittwoch, 29 Februar
Icon for Hire, "Make a Move" via iTunes, (free) Discovery Download of the Week (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I'm a sucker for poppy rock bands fronted by distaff singers. I'm not proud of this, but I won't deny it.