Dornford Yates (1885–1960)

Pretty good adventure thriller. Almost feels like a YA book even though its characters are a bit older. Not great writing, i found it hard to understand the geography of certain situations, the descriptions were a bit muddled at times.
Not much in the way of characterization but what little we do get is quite odd which was entertaining :lol. Our POV character is ordinary enough to connect with but there's also a retired military intelligence officer who acts as the Holmes to our protagonists Watson.
Some might consider the ending to be a bit anti-climactic but i liked it. I would have liked it more if i could picture everything clearly but there was that problem with the writing i mentioned earlier.
Its not that there isn't a dramatic rush at the end its just not what you might be expecting.

Overall, some morally questionable english derring-do, fast paced and not without its charm.… (mais)

Classic thriller-writer Dornford Yates does comedy, and he can. This collection of stories, soufflé-light, concerns a small mob of the brightest and youngest of those bright young things we've all heard so much about from the roaring 'twenties. They're Varsity types with their gals: witty, beautiful, full of the joys. The language, too, is beautiful, full as it is of literary allusion and echoes of the classics, Biblical cadences and the slang of the public school. Think Jeeves, Stalky, Brideshead revisited with laughs.

If, in these days, our people could only be bothered to express themselves thus, Life, I think, would be a finer thing. I loved Jonah & Co., especially, actually, in the less obviously comical moments, such as a lyrical, moving description of the stained glass at Chartres; but even I would acknowledge that yes, you do sorta kinda have to be in the mood, like, innit.… (mais)

This was my first Jim Thompson, and I have to admit I found it difficult. As a member of the 21st century, and a British citizen, the 1950s USA demotic, especially concerning the minutiae of running a private cinema, was at times for me opaque to the point of impenetrable. The story is told in the form of a monologue by the central character, and although every page positively reeks with the seedy atmosphere of his existence, many of his actions and motives had to be deduced from clues I had a habit of missing. I enjoyed guessing, though, and mostly I guess I guessed right, as I did manage to hold on and reach the end of the story mostly knowing (or thinking I knew) what had gone on. What's more, all of the above notwithstanding, it was still gripping enough to inspire me to have another go sometime soon.… (mais)