We started off the evening by watching a 5 min video with Alexander McCall Smith introducing some of the places he had used in Pimlico, for the setting of the book. (Visit the link on youtube to see the clip that we watched.)
We then talked about Alexander McCall Smith, his background, the books he's written and noted that he is an extremely busy man with wide interests and that his books are filled with facts, trivia, and information about so many different things. His writing and book themes vary and we each have our own favourites among the books that we have read. Some of us met him in 2005. Hopefully, he comes back this way some day for we would love to hear him speak about his work again.
Ant read out an author-interview from the telegraph website, (also found in 1st link below ). Corduroy Mansions was originally released online, through the Telegraph Website where readers were also able to interact with each other and the author, through the discussion board on the website.
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| Old picture taken with McCall Smith back in 2005 ... how time flies! |
So who was our favourite character in this book?
Freddy de la Hay, of course!! ☺
We also enjoyed reading about the lives of the other characters for they were quirky and most entertaining. Some of us have already started to look for the rest of the books in the series just to find out what happens next. Possibilities could be endless!
Discussion tonight also involved .... Oh how on earth could they push that priceless painting through the door(?) .... what a waste(!) , ..... William and Marcia, their relationship, ....... did he hold his own when with her(?) ....., Barbara Ragg and Hugh, .... what could the thing be that Hugh didn't want to talk about(?) ..... Eddie's behavior in the alley, ..... Freddy de la Hay ...... and more ...... including Alexander McCall Smith and The Really Terrible Orchestra ..... Belgian Shoes and Colonic Irrigation (!!)...... Pictures were passed around of La Poule Au Pot, the French restaurant in the book, and we even had a look at the menu. There was more to discuss but time went by too quickly and all too soon it was time to go.
Meanwhile, here are some interesting links:
And some pictures we found to go with the relevant pages in the book:
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| Isadora Duncan p182 (who died when her scarf got trapped in the wheel of the car) |
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| The Taking of Christ (p215 ... the lost Caravaggio found in Scotland. There is a wonderful book called The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr which tells the story about how it was eventually found.) |
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| Poussin - self portrait p285 |
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| Poussin's landscape with man killed by snake p296 - man is lying by the side of the road at the bottom of the painting. |
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| The French Restaurant where some of the characters met in the book. See link to website above for La Poule Au Pot |
1 comment:
Absolutely wonderful!
Keep it coming!
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