Satire – Page 13 – Cannonball Read 17

Espionage: First as Farce, Then As Tragedy

The Tailor of Panama by John Le Carré

January 18, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

I have yet to read Graham Greene’s famous spy satire Our Man in Havana, but I’m familiar with the premise and am well aware that John Le Carré is aping it here. He’s having a blast splattering colored paint on the immaculately white walls of British imperialism. Until he remembers that these characters have stories, hearts and lives too. That’s what makes The Tailor of Panama so fascinating. Transparently a satire of western intelligence work, Le Carré also paints vivid portraits of characters whose lives are impacted by […]

I would like a copy of the ‘Buggre Alle This’ Bible.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

January 10, 2019 by narfna Leave a Comment

This is one of those books that are good when you first read them, but get better as you get older. A lot of satire is probably like that, especially comic satire. I thought this book was funny in 2009, but now parts of it made me laugh so hard I was crying. Plus, I did the audio this time, and it made it even better. Martin Jarvis has a nice sense of comic timing, and his voice characterization is great, particularly for Crowley and Aziraphale. (The […]

“A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.”

November 30, 2018 by narfna 2 Comments

The press comes to Ankh-Morpork. Chaos, of course, ensues. William de Worde, a ne’er do well noble who is ashamed of his noble heritage, has until now made his living by painstakingly collecting news and sending off a sort of newsletter to foreign peoples of import who are willing to pay him for it. Then some dwarfs roll into Ankh-Morpork with something called a printing press, and suddenly, what if they printed a bunch of them and sold them for like, fifty cents? And maybe […]

What can I say about Between the Bridge and the River that has not been said before?

November 27, 2018 by BlackRaven 7 Comments

And with a close of this book I made the last Bingo book before the deadline! #cbr10bingo is now complete! What can I say about Between the Bridge and the River that has not been said before? I purposely did not read anything about this book before reading it. Sadly, now I wish I had found this book before the book club discussion. I would have a few things to say. Therefore, I am just going to give my impression of the book (as we probably […]

2nd Bingo!

November 15, 2018 by Ale 3 Comments

In preparation for the upcoming new Amazon series, I decided to reread “Good Omens.” It’s probably been about a decade since I picked this up the first time, and while there were many parts that I thoroughly re-enjoyed, there were other parts that let me down. And not because it’s bad, but just because we’re getting farther and farther away from many of the contemporary nuances and details that were hilarious in the 2000s. Sadly, as time marches on, much of the ironic nuance in […]

“Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It’s lying, only for a better class of people.”

October 23, 2018 by narfna Leave a Comment

“It was funny how people were people everywhere you went, even if the people concerned weren’t the people the people who made up the phrase ‘people are people everywhere’ had traditionally thought of as people.” I keep going back and forth over whether this should get the fifth star, and that back and forth is what’s keeping it at four (for now), but this is my favorite of these books since Hogfather. I very well may change my mind at any time and increase the […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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