tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post7307720672430400623..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Down Among the Dead Men TomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-3952658136945750932016-04-24T11:38:03.782+02:002016-04-24T11:38:03.782+02:00"I guess Bellairs took joy in letting Littlej..."I guess Bellairs took joy in letting Littlejohn stroll across the landscape, while he talks to the locals, explores caverns and interviewing the people connected to the case without anything really happening."<br /><br />Boy does that describe Death in the Night Watches, except there even the local color isn't very colorful. But I have a more positive review coming up soon!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-51229778619869460082013-08-06T09:32:54.762+02:002013-08-06T09:32:54.762+02:00I have come across his books but never picked one ...I have come across his books but never picked one up - am now not sue that I will , but thanks for all the info chaps!Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-61974032854619596412013-08-05T19:05:13.717+02:002013-08-05T19:05:13.717+02:00I've read four and that was enough for me. The...I've read four and that was enough for me. The books I read were mostly from his early career (1942-1947) and one from 1949. My impression was he was trying emulate Henry Fielding with all those rousing pub scenes, the bawdy jokes, the fascination with "rough customers" and coarse language. He's more interested in working class and less sophisicated characters than most of his British writer contemporaries and that makes his books memorable to me. It's hard to tell if he was a burgeoning satirist but by the time he got to THE CASE OF THE FAMISHED PARSON it seemed that he was more interested in Gothic and bizzarre aspects of crime and less on satirizing rural British life. His skill is an ability to create a fully realized character and capture the entire life in a few sharply detailed paragraphs. In THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED and HE'D RATHER BE DEAD (the first two I read) he tends to do this a lot at the expense of the detective story plot. And that's also Bellairs' major flaw -- he tells you everything and rarely shows. J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-25965446064633046072013-08-05T00:06:02.320+02:002013-08-05T00:06:02.320+02:00It is true, some collectors are primarily concerne...It is true, some collectors are primarily concerned with the jacket art (and rarity)!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-58831874180495780772013-08-04T12:13:21.002+02:002013-08-04T12:13:21.002+02:00Maybe Bellairs is still sought out by collectors o...Maybe Bellairs is still sought out by collectors on account of the attractive cover art of many of his novels. A whole row of Inspector Littlejohn hardbacks would look nifty on your shelves. Hm, I'm beginning to detect a theme here. ;) TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-17389966715538094412013-08-03T23:25:23.265+02:002013-08-03T23:25:23.265+02:00"It's like a Gladys Mitchell tale that go..."It's like a Gladys Mitchell tale that got its soul ripped out of it."<br /><br />That's an apt description. Some of Bellair'a stuff got good reviews in the 1940s, but the one I read was rather dreadful. It had the form of a detective novel without having any really meaningful detection and was very generic otherwise.<br /><br />But he's popular with collectors so I keep thinking there must be something there!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.com