Darkschunt Monday, November 26, 2007
Alexander McCall Smith and Elizabeth Blackadder
A new author that I discovered this year is Alexander McCall Smith. I particularly enjoy those books of his that are set in the rainy, genteel city of Edinburgh, Scotland and feature Isabel Dalhousie, philosopher and amaetur sleuth - the Sunday Philosopher's Club, Friends, Lovers, Chocolate and The Right Attitude to Rain. There's something gentle about how his stories unfold, slowly and subtly, patiently letting each detail unfold in its own time until you see the whole rich painting in its entirety. Smith has been compared to Agatha Christie - or at least, his famous heroine Precious Ramotswe has been called the Miss Marple of Botswana. Now, I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan and I just feel no one can compare to Christie and her calibre. Her characters, her plot, her mysteries are just in a whole other league from almost any writer I know. Smith's books, though, are quite enjoyable in their own right - hey, they had me picking up book after book of his in the library - they have to be good!
The interesting thing about Smith's Edinburgh books is that, upon my first reading of The Sunday Philosopher's Club, I wondered "when was this book written?" It feels as if Smith could have written his books around the later years of Christie's time. It makes me wonder about what Edinburgh is like now and if it is really as delightfully old-fashion and a throwback to the past as it seems in Smith's books.
Another thing I like about Smith's Dalhousie books is that he tends to feature a lot of Scottish art and poetry in the books. Dalhousie is a huge Scottish art fan and collects paintings and visits galleries. It's so interesting reading about the art in his books. The Scottish artist Elizabeth Blackadder features quite a bit in his books. I just had to go online and look up the artists in his books after reading them. And I feel that the way he describes the paintings in his books could equally be suited to describing the way his books are like - you look at the painting/read the book and the longer or more frequently you do so, you would notice the subtle details that make themselves known, one by one, slowly coming all together to form the big picture. There are subplots that you can read between the lines. It's all very gentle - that's the word I keep coming up with for his Edinburgh books.
Dream, Flowers and Cats by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Two Cats On a Kelim by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Tulips by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Smith is actually more well-known for his books set in Botswana that feature the aforementioned Precious Ramotswe, practical and no-nonsense female detective extraordinaire. They're pretty popular because I've only been able to get my hands on one of the books so far in the library, they're always out on loan. Probably, I'll talk more about Precious later on when I've actually read more of the books.
To find out more about Elizabeth Blackadder, visit the Wikipedia page on her.
To find out more about Alexander McCall Smith, visit his Random House website.
The interesting thing about Smith's Edinburgh books is that, upon my first reading of The Sunday Philosopher's Club, I wondered "when was this book written?" It feels as if Smith could have written his books around the later years of Christie's time. It makes me wonder about what Edinburgh is like now and if it is really as delightfully old-fashion and a throwback to the past as it seems in Smith's books.
Another thing I like about Smith's Dalhousie books is that he tends to feature a lot of Scottish art and poetry in the books. Dalhousie is a huge Scottish art fan and collects paintings and visits galleries. It's so interesting reading about the art in his books. The Scottish artist Elizabeth Blackadder features quite a bit in his books. I just had to go online and look up the artists in his books after reading them. And I feel that the way he describes the paintings in his books could equally be suited to describing the way his books are like - you look at the painting/read the book and the longer or more frequently you do so, you would notice the subtle details that make themselves known, one by one, slowly coming all together to form the big picture. There are subplots that you can read between the lines. It's all very gentle - that's the word I keep coming up with for his Edinburgh books.
Dream, Flowers and Cats by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Two Cats On a Kelim by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Tulips by Elizabeth Blackadder.
Smith is actually more well-known for his books set in Botswana that feature the aforementioned Precious Ramotswe, practical and no-nonsense female detective extraordinaire. They're pretty popular because I've only been able to get my hands on one of the books so far in the library, they're always out on loan. Probably, I'll talk more about Precious later on when I've actually read more of the books.
To find out more about Elizabeth Blackadder, visit the Wikipedia page on her.
To find out more about Alexander McCall Smith, visit his Random House website.
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