2006-03-11

threemonkeys: (getoffyourass)
2006-03-11 12:12 pm

How much is that?

I went to the Maungareki fair this morning. I don't get to many fairs or markets in a year, but I think it worth the effort to support the local one. In any case I like to wander around the stalls seeing what largely useless stuff people are trying to sell. Apart, that is, from home-made jams and preserves which usually catch my attention. But for this time I had a particular aim in mind. I was certain that the local troop would have Girl Guide biscuits on sale - having already run out of chocolate minis (I am so so bad). I wasn't disappointed and purchased a couple of packets from their stall. I was particularly impressed that the mother of the young Guide who sold me the biscuits coached her through the calculation of the total and the change. After last time that gave me a good feeling.
threemonkeys: (Waxlion)
2006-03-11 08:47 pm

Decline and Fall

I seem to have lost interest in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series (by Alexander McCall Smith). When it first came along I was a bit reticent because of the odour of (post) colonial patronising. But when I read the first book, I was captivated by the charming but strong characters and the loving portrayal of Botswana. At first look, they seem simple tales, but peppered throughout are asides and what appear to be throwaway comments which when taken as a whole give a deeper understanding of the characters and the land. It is a deceptively simple but actually very skilled writing style.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies is, I think, the sixth in the series and the fourth I have read. It has all the attributes of the other books and yet I couldn't engage with it at all. In fact there has been a steady drop off in my interest with each book. And yet I think the writing is as good as ever and the characters seem to be progressing through their stories. But I am bored with it. So much for my analytical ability - I have no real reason to offer. I feel that I should be able to offer some reason but I can't. I can say that the odour of colonial patronising still lingers. But that isn't the reason. Harrumph.