The Eighty Minute Hour / Brian Aldiss

The Eighty Minute Hour
by Brian Aldiss

science fiction

copyright 1975
read, in part, April 2014

rated 4: bad but could be read

According to an author's note, this book was written, paragraph by paragraph, while on tour with another author. It shows. The book is a series of vignettes. After fifty-plus pages, a series of unrelated vignettes.

Okay, I can see how they could relate. So far, I can see no reason why I should be interested in the way that the stands of story could be linked.

According to the back-cover blurb, this is "a genuine space-opera".

What it misses, is a genuine space opera plot. In fact -- and I admit that page 56 is still early in the 284 page book -- what it misses is any plot at all.

Space opera is whizz bang adventure, heroes fighting insuperable odds and winning, science advancing in leaps and bounds... The Eighty Minute Hour offers boring discussion, dislikeable characters doing pointless things and science already gone mad.

There is nothing to capture my interest. No character that I want to follow. Vague hints but no clear conflict that I would like to see resolved.

Not space opera. Just random vignettes from an author with a negative view of the world. An author who thinks that unpleasant is funny.

What happens next ?

I'm not interested.

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Beyond the Hanging Wall / Sara Douglass

Beyond the Hanging Wall
by Sara Douglass

prequel to ??
fantasy

copyright 1996
read in April 2014

rated 6: read to pass the time

Read that rating as positive: read to pass the time -- and expect to enjoy the reading. It's an enjoyable book. Just... nothing special.

Likeable characters, interesting plot, not too much suspense. This looks dangerous... Will they survive... Yes, they survived. I was caught up in what was happening. I enjoyed the successes. I knew that there would be no failures.

No real suspense. Just an enjoyable book. Romantic fantasy, chick lit, fun.

I like to review with no bias, so I avoid other web commentaries. When I have finished this review -- I really need to check up on that "prequel ??"...

The cover says, " A gripping prequel to the Darkglass Mountain trilogy ". Really ? Inside, this book is grouped with the Axis trilogy. I know that I have met the characters in another book... I vaguely remember the first Darkglass book -- and I can't imagine a link. So... It's a prequel but I can't say to which other books.

No matter ! All by itself, I enjoyed the Hanging Wall.

A straightforward story, to be read to be enjoyed. And if you recognise the characters -- from whatever other series -- then that's a bonus :-)

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The Eyre Affair / Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
Thursday Next (1)

humour, steam punk science fiction

copyright 2001
read in April 2014

rated 9: really, really good

I read and reviewed the eighth Thursday Next book, The Woman Who Died a Lot. Enjoyed it so much that I looked for the start of the series... And enjoyed it just as much. Perhaps even more !

Book eight had a whole host of "familiar" characters, characters with whom I was not at all familiar :-)  It made no difference, they were introduced well enough for a first-time reader.

In this first book, it's fun to meet "new" characters -- and to realise that I already know a little bit about them !

Better yet, if a character is "nice" then they really are nice. They may be funny, or apparently weak, or even downright peculiar -- but they all do their dependable best. Within the limits of their limitations.

I think I compared Fforde with Wodehouse ? Absolutely !

Thursday Next is beginning her rise to fame and fortune. She fights for literary justice -- and wins. With, as the blurb tells us, time to figure out who really wrote Shakespeare's plays... Time paradox ? Forget it !

The basis of the plot is literary. Jane Eyre, in fact... in case you have not already guessed. And a sign off how much I enjoyed this book: I have a newly developed ambition to read Jane Eyre !

I read it. I enjoyed it. I need to read more Thursday Next.

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Coffee / Dolce & Salato

Coffee / Dolce & Salato
South Fremantle

Rated 8: well worth it

We turned onto Duoro Road, heading for South Beach thinking, there's a cafe there. Passed another cafe and thought, that looks interesting...

And it was :-)

We had coffee and -- because of the time of day -- lunch. There were cakes, which looked nice, and gelato, which was tempting. First, though, lunch.

Pizza by the slice. A rectangle each of vegetarian and not vegetarian... Were they labeled ? Didn't see labels. But one was vegetarian and the other had very fine slices of salty sausage.

Each rectangle was marked into four "slices". Marked rather than cut -- we had to tear the slices apart with our hands. Greasy, too -- and the paper serviettes were so small and thin as to be almost useless.

The pizzas were delicious. On the vegetarian, some of the vegetables could even be identified by taste. On the meat pizza, the only standout flavours were the salty (and slightly spicy) sausage and something which I tentatively identified as basil. (I'm not great on " name that flavour".)

There were three or four friendly people waiting to serve, no waiting. Ethnic was the theme, though that may just be South Fremantle :-)

This cafe is one of a small chain of three. I do prefer one-off cafes but this cafe did not "feel" like a franchise. It felt friendly and unique. Modern plastic but comfortable.

The large shop next door (was it ex-Woolworths ? ) was closed, well and truly gone. That must affect Dolce. I hope it affects it by allowing more customers to park and eat !

We enjoyed our lunch. Oh, and the coffee was good, too.

And Dolce & Salato translates as, Sweet & Savoury. Clear and correct :-)

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Coffee / Salt by the Sea

Coffee / Salt by the Sea, North Fremantle

April 2014

Rated 6: somewhere to get coffee

We were heading off for a day's geocaching -- and the GPS would not turn on... So the mood was gloomy. We decided to stop, have coffee, take stock of our options.

We stopped at Salt by the Sea, at North Fremantle.

Salt is a bar, next to a restaurant. The restaurant was closed, too early in the morning, we would have selected the less formal bar, anyway.

Our standard choice is, "coffee and cake". There was no sign of cake. Not very clear where to order, either. We asked a waitress.

Sorry, no cake, we'll bring you something, we were told. "Something" turned out to be several small danish pastries. Quite nice but nothing special.

We enjoyed our view of the beach as we ate, drank and installed a geocaching app to a smartphone.

Salt is a family-friendly bar and cafe for the in-crowd. A sign, "Order here" -- or a visible person to take orders -- would be helpful for those who are less in touch with the cafe.

No need to go out of your way. But if you are passing -- a pleasant enough place for a coffee and cake by the beach.

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Coffee / Zig Zag Cafe, Kalamunda

Coffee / Zig Zag Cafe, Kalamunda

April 2014

Rating 9: really, really good

We were in The Hills for a run, a geocache and lunch. Easter Sunday, so all was very quiet...

Except for Jorgensen Park, where plenty of people were enjoying the beautiful weather and plenty of dogs were just enjoying. Not crowded in the park, just pleasantly peopled with plenty of space in between.

Jorgensen Park was, as ever, confusing. With the overgrown greens and the tracks wandering through the rough, the old golf course is a maze. I took the easy route and followed the Bibbulmun Track.

The Bibb has been upgraded since our last visit, with gravel-and-plank steps down the side of the first hill. I jogged down, rested, jogged more slowly up again. "Quick return from Albany?" asked the young woman whom I had passed in both directions.

Geocaching was less successful. One where locals had built a cubby, the last log was a dnf, I didn't even bother to look. Another supposed to be near a log near some rocks, too many logs, too many scratchy bushes, I gave it five minutes then gave it up. The third was well placed and still there -- success at last !

And then to lunch, in nearby Kalamunda.

We circle the shopping centre and spotted one closed cafe and one open but crowded. Then we found the Zig Zag Cafe.

Zig Zag is part of the Kalamunda Visitor Centre. Or part of their precinct, though that's a rather pretentious word for a very pleasant area. The Centre itself was open, a Museum was closed, I didn't register what the other buildings were. All we wanted was the cafe.

A small, pleasant, modern building. Open to the fine weather, with the ability to open even more. A hand written sign that the cafe would close at noon... This was, after all, Easter Sunday !

Rather than push our luck -- with the cafe due to close in twenty minutes -- we ordered a very light lunch: muffin, fruit toast, coffee.

The muffin was spinach and feta with just a hint of cayenne. Nicely warmed, a little dry, it needed the pat of butter. Delicious ! The toast was fruity, lightly toasted, butter went well but was not essential. Coffee was served in a generous-sized cup.

There were, perhaps, a dozen other customers in the cafe. Two of them we had seen before: we had driven past them as they rode a tandem bicycle up the hill... An excellent outing, we thought, to ride up the hill, eat lunch at the Zig Zag Cafe then ride home again. Excellent except for the riding, anyway.

We walked back to our car and drive on, to Zanthorrea Nursery.

All we had eaten was muffin and toast. All we had drunk was coffee. We were there in beautiful weather, on a very quiet and peaceful day. That said:

We enjoyed our lunch at the Zig Zag Cafe in Kalamunda. We ate food with standard names but better than average quality... It may even have been hand-made for the cafe.

Highly recommended !

And the waiter can't help it if he reminded us of Larry from the Three Stooges.

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Frommer's Switzerland / Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince.

Frommer's Switzerland
by Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince

travel

copyright 2010 (14th edition)

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

It's possibly better than "read to pass the time". Maybe "well worth reading" -- if you like to read a book rather than browse the web. For me, though, this book is just one of several sources.

Several good and bad points:

The book provides a list of hotels grouped by cost. Good... there are opinions. I trust the opinion in one reliable book far more than the hundreds of internet ratings provided by gruntled and disgruntled people who may or may not know something. Bad... its a very short list.

For a moment I thought that we were booked to stay in a hotel with two gay nightclubs. Good... Frommer caters for a range of travellers. When I checked, though, our hotel is just a bit further down the street.

Good... there are overviews of various areas and cities. Excellent... there are clear pointers to the "tourist value" of the various areas of the city. I have read several websites which said, for example, "Stay in the Old Town because..." then did not clearly describe the boundaries of the Old Town. Frommer is clearer.

Good... Lists of where to eat and what to visit. But websites provide similar information with full colour pictures.

Good... The book covers all of Switzerland. Bad... It is impossible to cover all of Switzerland in one book... We will spend two days in a major city that is well covered. Then we will spend a week in an area where the only mention is, that one village has mineral springs.

When we travelled to Canada -- in the days before the internet -- we had a Frommer (or equivalent) for Canada. I tore out 90% of the pages -- pages covering areas that we were not going to visit -- and left them at home. And still we carried more than we used.

For me, a travel guide book should be borrowed not bought. Read the descriptive sections, to get a broad understanding of your destination. Use the book as just one source of possible places to stay, to eat and to visit. Make a note of places that catch your fancy... Then return the book to its owner.

Treat other sources -- books and websites -- the same way. Good for pre-reading, good for ideas. Then go on your holiday -- with a lot of ideas of what you would like to do and see -- and be prepared to change your mind as you discover what your destination actually had to offer !

And enjoy your holiday, your way :-)

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