-
Continue reading →: The Vourdalak
France 2024 This is a very watchable adaptation of one of the earliest vampire novels, The Family of the Vourdalak, written by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, cousin of Leo; a gothic novella written in French. Stoker’s Dracula was first published in 1897. Polidori’s The Vampyre, acknowledged by many as the first…
-
Continue reading →: The Lyngen AlpsThe temperature dropped 19 degrees from the morning I hiked Kjølen mountain to the following day. I took advantage of a lapse in the heavy rain to let Roja have some exercise, though I was less enthusiastic myself. This is one of the advantages of having a dog. I’m sure…
-
Continue reading →: I Wake Up Screaming by Steve Fisher
Though a major success for Fisher on its initial publication in 1941, this dark piece of crime fiction has lapsed to be out of print for many years. Quite inexplicably also that a publisher hasn’t stepped in for a reissue, as it has something of a cult status. It has…
-
Continue reading →: Kjølen and associated DumplingsIt was the last day of this particular, hopefully last, heatwave. The forecast was for today to be the warmest day, up at 29C in Tromso town, but up at Sørskaret, 200 metres above sea level, it felt a bit cooler, maybe because in the morning there was a strong…
-
Continue reading →: Higher ground to get out of the heatAfter a week on the island of Vannøy I left this afternoon to get a bit higher up and sit out the end of this particular heatwave. Temperatures and humidity this afternoon are very high for this part of the world, 27C, and forecast to be at their height tomorrow,…
-
Continue reading →: One for the annals..In pictures, with a short documentary. A superb day. Susannabakk-kolen and Laneskollen from the south of Vannøy and across a few kilometres.. with a short movie from the highest point..
-
Continue reading →: The Blue Fox by Sjón
translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb The Blue Fox consists of two different, but connected, narrative strands. The book opens in 1883 with the Reverend Baldur hunting the elusive blue fox, a rare and valuable prey. Their contest, his for a valuable pelt, hers for her life, takes on…
-
Continue reading →: The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns
I’m a big fan of Comyns and having read everything of hers that is in print, I am now on a mission to seek out and read those that are not, such as this. I managed to find a secondhand copy at a reasonable price, I don’t think the bookstore…
-
Continue reading →: The High Life on the Island of VannøyI had a couple of day on the beach at Sandsletta but as the weekend approached it was getting busier with Norwegians in their motorhomes coming from Tromso, just an hour away. Also, I had exhausted the walking possible from that part of the island. The island has some excellent…
-
Continue reading →: The Gospel Singer by Harry Crews
These days Crews’s influence on storytelling is more widely acknowledged than when he was alive. It may seem surprising for a middle aged white man whose work is fraught with racism and a masculinity so toxic it sometime bypasses misogyny and goes straight into violence. During his life (1935-2012) Crews…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 