tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post6808609926533119108..comments2024-03-11T01:39:11.362-04:00Comments on At the Scene of the Crime: Trial by StupidityPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-28708565694934209842011-12-11T07:55:07.963-05:002011-12-11T07:55:07.963-05:00@Puzzle Doctor
I actually wasted a week of my life...@Puzzle Doctor<br />I actually wasted a week of my life reading the series. My brain nearly melted, but I can mock it much more effectively now. I have to entirely disagree with you. Not only is the writing some of the worst I've ever come across (Meyer seems to have opened the dictionary, found the word "chagrin", and decided it sounded literary), I must emphatically argue that Bella is *not* a stronger female character than Hermione Granger-- she's a dreadful one. She's whining, possessive, manipulative, etc. and worst of all is a transparent wish-fulfillment figure for the author herself. My biggest problem is that when she can't be with her boyfriend, she actually endangers her life to see him, even jumping of a cliff!!! What kind of message does that send to young girls???<br /><br />Now we return to our regularly-scheduled programming...<br /><br />I just hope it doesn't put you off Berkeley in general. He's really an author worth reading-- this is just one strange exception.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-76386951172978657502011-12-11T04:33:55.744-05:002011-12-11T04:33:55.744-05:00Not wishing to defend the Twilight series, but, as...Not wishing to defend the Twilight series, but, as a teacher at a girls' school, I can positively say that for the target audience, the books certainly hit the spot. I wouldn't go near them, obviously, and have only witnessed the films due to my good lady wife's mild obsession, but if they get people reading, so much the better. Although I do agree that Bella is a dreadful role model, at least she's a stronger female character than Hermione "Exposition" Granger.<br /><br />Ahem, in an attempt to get back on topic, great review. I will avoid this book like the plague.Puzzle Doctorhttp://classicmystery.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-89509458639286512432011-12-09T05:43:26.866-05:002011-12-09T05:43:26.866-05:00@John
Thanks for the recommendation. What's th...@John<br />Thanks for the recommendation. What's this? The library has the book? I've placed a hold now.<br /><br />@The Passing Tramp<br />I was not able to find that older version, but I found the remake all right.<br /><br />@TomCat<br />Believe me, the comparison pained me. Berkeley had more intelligence in his left toe than Stephanie Meyer has altogether. But the stupidity of their heroines in terms of romantic interest is identical. There's being in love, then there's being Lina Aysgarth. After a point, you don't even care anymore-- just let her get herself killed, you think to yourself. She deserves it!Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-23700170724611206012011-12-09T02:43:09.419-05:002011-12-09T02:43:09.419-05:00I have not read this book, but I shuddered at the ...I have not read this book, but I shuddered at the comparison with <i>Twilight</i>. It's hard to believe that a writer like Anthony Berkeley could pen a GAD equivalent of <i>that</i>.<br /><br />As for good inverted mysteries, I recommend you start watching <i>Columbo</i> (especially episodes like "Try and Catch Me" and "Any Old Port in a Storm").TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-43517243184467971202011-12-08T10:41:32.801-05:002011-12-08T10:41:32.801-05:00I agree with John on Forester.
"Malice Afore...I agree with John on Forester.<br /><br />"Malice Aforethought" was one of the very early "Mystery" series films on PBS in the U.S. (like thirty years ago) and there was also the more recent adaptation, as John mentions.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-32831601795710438492011-12-08T10:37:49.140-05:002011-12-08T10:37:49.140-05:00You should try C.S. Forester's inverted crime ...You should try C.S. Forester's inverted crime novels. They are among my favorites. Particularly PAYMENT DEFERRED which was published in 1926 several years before Berkley was getting credit for having invented the genre in novel form.<br /><br />The most recent adapatation for UK TV (and later shown on the US PBS program "Masterpiece") of MALICE AFORETHOUGHT was very well done, though I'm not sure if it is 100% faithful. It should be on DVD since everything that shows up on PBS is released on DVD.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-36596671145517202282011-12-08T09:50:40.633-05:002011-12-08T09:50:40.633-05:00@Christopher
"Suspicion" is a film I'...@Christopher<br />"Suspicion" is a film I've yet to see, but isn't it obvious what the studio's changed ending is? You have Cary Grant playing a psychotic murderer? I don't think they'd let that happen...<br /><br />@Sextonblake<br />I stopped shouting those words at her after the little idiot destroyed evidence. After she did that, she was on her own. I particularly hated the way she behaved towards the "other" man, acting as though she was entitled to his affections and putting him through suffering he never deserved. Truly, she deserved what she got.<br /><br />@The Passing Tramp<br />I personally lost all sympathy after she chucks everything to go to Johnny. I actually thought Berkeley was going for a supremely dark and brilliant twist with that plot thread, but was disappointed by the resolution. It ends up being quite a silly book.<br /><br />MALICE AFORETHOUGHT certainly seems the more popular of the two! There was even a recent film adaptation, was there not?Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-52145549190131280922011-12-08T05:15:04.106-05:002011-12-08T05:15:04.106-05:00Like I said on the GAD group, I agree totally with...Like I said on the GAD group, I agree totally with this assessment. You just lose all sympathy with Lina at a certain point. <br /><br />I don't know what Cox was really trying to do with Lina. I got the impression Cox was enjoying portraying the agonies of an incredibly stupid and dense woman (Sextonblake's black comedy), but a lot of critics have read this book as if it's a nerve-wracking, serious tale of suspense. It's really not.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see what you make of Malice Aforethought. I think it's definitely the better of the two, although even it is a bit overrated, perhaps. There's a very high level of facetiousness in Cox's books, which I think is fine in the Berkeleys but detracts somewhat from the Iles.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-29909404676134637912011-12-08T01:58:20.260-05:002011-12-08T01:58:20.260-05:00I have to agree with all of this. I read the book ...I have to agree with all of this. I read the book many years ago, and by the end I was practically screaming 'GO TO THE POLICE!' at the heroine. It's interesting to compare this with GASLIGHT, where you actually sympathise with the heroine. Lina is so thoroughly stupid that the book moves from melodrama and almost into black comedy (I remember a sketch on a radio comedy where a just married wife is told by her husband "Don't go into the spare bedroom, the guest bedroom, the study, the library, the kitchen, the attic...etc, etc". The wife replies "Of course not, dear. By the way, what ever did happen to your 27 previous wives?"Sextonblakenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-499247432649483938.post-50753255387958364982011-12-08T01:56:25.144-05:002011-12-08T01:56:25.144-05:00Thanks for the heads up. I loved Malice Aforethou...Thanks for the heads up. I loved Malice Aforethought, and I've been looking for this book for a while now. Have you seen Suspicion? The studio forced Hitchcock to change the ending, but the last minute is so rushed it's almost laughable.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03343947041898057102noreply@blogger.com