tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post5121954912057537634..comments2024-03-28T10:31:55.774-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: "Wimsey-and-Pee": Nicolas Freeling on Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham and the Golden Age of Detective FictionThe Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-44114463441615727412014-09-26T20:07:33.972-07:002014-09-26T20:07:33.972-07:00Or too unreadable! ;)Or too unreadable! ;)The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-34376549289631381412014-09-23T23:31:21.864-07:002014-09-23T23:31:21.864-07:00dfordoom: Searching around the web, my favourite e...dfordoom: Searching around the web, my favourite excuse for Freeling's relatively modest sales came from a fan who was writing a gushing post about the writer---"He was simply too sophisticated for the average reader"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-81686917961664835072014-09-23T02:10:49.976-07:002014-09-23T02:10:49.976-07:00"They are all unreadable"
Which is code...<em>"They are all unreadable"</em><br /><br />Which is code for, "Each of their books sold a hundred times as many copies as my entire output and it's just not fair because I'm a Serious Writer."dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-79921692376377114762014-09-22T17:26:58.789-07:002014-09-22T17:26:58.789-07:00I'm looking around the place. I found Double ...I'm looking around the place. I found Double Barrel, but I can't do that because Moira at Clothes in Books just did it. Will keep GBB in mind!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-53959817707061280582014-09-22T16:14:26.448-07:002014-09-22T16:14:26.448-07:00Curtis, if you intend to read one Freeling book, I...Curtis, if you intend to read one Freeling book, I recommend Gun Before Butter.karabekirushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12007472970720410225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-23614683556396026442014-09-22T10:10:00.253-07:002014-09-22T10:10:00.253-07:00How about the snide shot at bourgeois "lendin...How about the snide shot at bourgeois "lending-library public"? Actually I think from its publication Tiger was a crime book that often was praised by people who pronounced they didn't normally like crime fiction. Then there was the shot at Christie ("the darling of Hungarian students learning English"), another writer Symons admired. Christie is, of course, reread and loved, like Sayers. Freeling frequently misses the mark with his poisoned arrows, but perhaps writing this piece worked off some bile! I agree it is an odd piece, and it seems to have been written without reference to the person he was supposed to be honoring.<br /><br />All that said, I'm going to be reading some Freeling fiction soon. Found my copy of Double Barrel too, I knew I had it somewhere!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-3038880765571425942014-09-22T10:02:58.321-07:002014-09-22T10:02:58.321-07:00In 1992 I was under thirty and I read Wodehouse, s...In 1992 I was under thirty and I read Wodehouse, so the answer to Freeling's question would be, well, yes! His notion that Wodehouse was dying certainly seems incorrect. I don't know anything about Freeling's personality, but this article make a lot of rather arrogant and erroneous assumptions, it seems to me.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-3043562638275089242014-09-22T10:00:03.659-07:002014-09-22T10:00:03.659-07:00Yes, next time someone tells me I am tough on cert...Yes, next time someone tells me I am tough on certain crime writers, I'm just going to say, well, at least I'm no Freeling! Of course, it's always easier to be tough on dead writers, isn't it? They can't fight back.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-28897866052282654482014-09-22T09:57:53.815-07:002014-09-22T09:57:53.815-07:00His view of Tiger in the Smoke certainly goes agai...His view of Tiger in the Smoke certainly goes against the grain! Even some people who make ostentatious announcements of their disdain for classic British crime fiction pronounce they like Tiger.<br /><br />I'm planning a blog piece on Freeling this month, if I can fit it in.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-23078030052405975772014-09-22T05:14:56.759-07:002014-09-22T05:14:56.759-07:00Very interesting Curt, and very surprising. An odd...Very interesting Curt, and very surprising. An odd piece to write in tribute to Symons, and surely not many people would agree with his verdict on Tiger in the Smoke. His description of it is a travesty. Clothes In Bookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14680610242823846662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-86682956192075429072014-09-22T04:49:09.038-07:002014-09-22T04:49:09.038-07:00I neglected to include the author of that article,...I neglected to include the author of that article, William A. S. Sarjeant.Deadmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05012725254441170657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-71319045598576123212014-09-22T02:54:29.839-07:002014-09-22T02:54:29.839-07:00“does anyone under sixty read Wodehouse?”
Though ...“does anyone under sixty read Wodehouse?”<br /><br />Though influenced, perhaps, by my reading the Psmith novels to them at an early age, both my sons (17 & 14) enjoy Wodehouse.<br />PGW (and Bertie Wooster), of course, loved reading detective fiction; see “P.G. Wodehouse as Reader of Crime Stories” in <i>The Mystery Fancier</i> 9. 4 (September/October, 1987), pp. 7-19.Deadmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05012725254441170657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-75624290021104395442014-09-22T00:07:10.217-07:002014-09-22T00:07:10.217-07:00I actually think I had this book at one point, or ...I actually think I had this book at one point, or at least borrowed it from the library, but it was too long ago - Freeling really lets rip, doesn't he? I was actually just thinking of trying him again - however, based on the quotes you include here, I'm not sure I would agree with a single one of his comments. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-38343838395091788692014-09-21T23:26:19.402-07:002014-09-21T23:26:19.402-07:00There is a certain irony in that Freeling attacks ...There is a certain irony in that Freeling attacks TIGER for being so conventional and old-fashioned, when the modern view is that it is important for the way that it 'transcends' the thriller/detective story. Allingham always seemed more interested in social comment and character, and the idea that TIGER represents some sort of boringly ordinary book does suggest that Freeling wasn't reading it too carefully. Without being too petty (I hope) Freeling aslways feels to me very like a second-string Simenon. The fact that we still remember him in any way comes down to the TV series from the 70s. Certainly, none of the non-Van der Valk books that he wrote really caught the public fancyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-17640523343200838502014-09-21T20:30:24.089-07:002014-09-21T20:30:24.089-07:00Freeling makes a rather broad statement there, doe...Freeling makes a rather broad statement there, doesn't he? Apparently he read every one of them, eh? I'm planning to look at one by him next month, we'll see!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-6779676549395769582014-09-21T20:22:06.359-07:002014-09-21T20:22:06.359-07:00They are all unreadable
One of my guilty little s...<i>They are all unreadable</i><br /><br />One of my guilty little secrets is that I find <i>Freeling</i> unreadable. I fought my way through <i>Because of the Cats</i>, but I've been completely defeated by the other three novels of his I've tried.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com