Friday 4 May 2012

Books in…

It's been a bit of a book drought this week - don't know what's come over me. However, three have turned up at the end of the week to keep me entertained.

I've finally got round to buying a copy of David Crystal's The Stories of English - I don't suppose there's much that's totally new to me, but he always tells a good story. I was quite surprised that it's only 500 pages of a normal paperback book - I was expecting a much bigger book.

The new Capuchin Classics edition of Nancy Mitford's Pigeon Pie. Very much the second-best Mitford (after Jessica) but fascinating and entertaining nonetheless.

Finally, a graphic novel that may or may not be any good: McCulloch, Doran and Villarrubia's Gone to Amerikay, which traces the history of the various Irish emigrations to the US, from Famine to Celtic Tiger plutocrat. The artwork is a beautiful pastiche of melodramatic pulp and the plot looks fairly decent too. I shall have to run it past my Irish-American cousins.

Meanwhile, here's a top tip for law students. If you have an exam in a few minutes, don't waste time by stopping a random person - for example a lecturer in English and Cultural Studies - to quiz him about laws relating to the use of emergency services sirens at night. When he tries his best while explaining that he's not a lawyer, do not aggressively imply that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Maybe he doesn't - but you started the conversation. Next time, do some revision.

No comments: