After reading aforesaid book, I loaned it to a neighbor who handed it back soon after, practically spitting: "I hated it!"
I was not surprised. I think Grimes has very idiosyncratic appeal. She is whimsical. Romantically whimsical, despite the ugly things that happen to people in the course of her books. Some people prefer Ian Rankin and don't get Reginald Hill. That is OK. I don't care if some people hate her books, just as long as she keeps writing them for her devotees, like moi.
Yes, I noticed that Carol Anne was reading fashion magazines Yet Again, and that reference to Wiggins' disgusting charcoal drink, and that there were kids and dogs yes again and that Melrose had a star turn and complained of Aunt Agatha Yet Again. Grimes repeating herself is not annoying--she is soothing. Those are all old friends, including Aunt Agatha, after all. If they don't change, that is not a minus. Everything else in life is changing, but we can sit down to a mystery by Martha Grimes and experience the familiar, and bask in the care she lavishes on characters we like every bit as much as she must do.
I wonder if it was Mungo's antics with the kittens that put my neighbor off?
1 comment:
Does your neighbor generally like Grimes?
I would be writing letters of protest if Melrose didn't have a star turn! (aunt agatha could fall off a cliff and I wouldn't care too much, though.) hee hee. I think it's funny that we both read this around the same time (over a month ago!) and both ended up blogging about it within a day of each other.
I know Grimes is repeating herself to a certain degree, but I also think she's taking steps to make the stories more lively again - the compressed timeline helps, as does her disregard for the typical format of these books. (especially this last one! Unresolved, much? But I loved it!)
I like how things are changing -- that world isn't as static as it once felt to me.
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