Author Interview... Christopher Fowler... Heir To The Christie Throne...?

Those of you that regularly read the BLM blog will know I've recently become a fan of Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May series of detective novels.

Revolving around the Peculiar Crimes Unit based above Mornington Crescent tube station in one of London's coolest districts, (any of you who've been there will know what Camden is all about...) the Bryant & May series consists, to date, of a dozen novels. I've only read the first four myself, and, frankly, I'm hooked.

I took the liberty of dropping the author, Christopher Fowler, an email and within a very short time he replied! (One of the great things about being a fan of authors rather than film/tv stars, is that they return your emails...).

I've recently finished Seventy Seven Clocks, third, chronologically in the series and the fourth I've read myself. I'm not going to beat around the bush, this is the best crime/murder mystery/thriller fiction book I've read in recent years. Christopher Fowler demonstrates the skills that Agatha Christie did seventy years ago, only better for my money. He has a touch of comedic genius I've rarely found in a Christie novel and he has attention to local detail that makes anyone who has lived a London life, really feel London. 

As well as the famed detective pair, he has produced a large and varied body of work through his career, working in the film industry extensively, in radio and also prolifically in periodical and newspaper publications. 

So... having got Christopher Fowler's attention, I was able to ask him a few questions... 

BLM:  Hi Christopher, welcome to Book Lovers Melbourne, I'll start off with something obvious, what do you read for pleasure?

CF: A mix of new novels (crime, non-fiction, mainstream fiction) and forgotten authors. I run a weekly column called ‘Invisible Ink’, about missing writers, in the Independent on Sunday. Right now I’m enjoying Pamela Branch’s wonderful farcical crime novels, now forgotten.

BLM: Having found yourself producing a very successful series in Bryant & May, do you find them having an impact on your other work? 

CF: I try to keep my other work entirely separate, but stand-alone novels (which I always produced before B&M) fight for shelf-space whereas a well-reviewed series will get stocked. But the two are very different. I have a thriller out later this year called ‘The Sand Men’, set in the Middle East which is far, in every sense, from the London novels.

BLM: Do you take inspiration from any real people in your life for any of your main characters?

CF: I’m notorious for using my friends’ traits, but I combine them with characters I’ve seen in films or read about. I also add current villains or heroes from London’s news. I like topicality, although it tends to place a time limit on your books.

BLM: For a reader who’s yet to step outside of the world of Bryant & May, where would be the best place to start exploring your other work? 

CF: My personal favourites are first, ‘Paperboy’ and its sequel ‘Film Freak’, then ‘Calabash’, ‘Pyschoville’ and ‘Spanky’. 

BLM: You refer to yourself as a ‘movie obsessive’… Do you prefer movies over books?

CF: No, but I have very different agendas. I watch mostly world cinema, with only a very few Hollywood films thrown in. I love Spanish cinema right now, so I suppose my taste in films is as abstruse as my book choices.

BLM: Are you Bryant? Or May? Or both/neither? 

CF: I’m May. My deceased business partner is Bryant (so much so that I put a photograph of him in one of the novels, and he was the model for my graphic novel version ‘The Casebook of Bryant & May’). 

BLM: There has been some great cover art to the B&M novels. How much control do you have over the cover art? 

CF: Quite a bit. The first, ‘Full Dark House’, was glorious but the artist promptly retired, so the second one was a disaster. Then we were lucky enough to find David Frankland for the rest of the series, but now he’s just retired as well! I’m devastated, but I think we may have found someone to take on the style. The covers of the US editions are very different and not to my taste, but they sell well! Hopefully we’ll change them. Before the B&M books I used a barking mad German photographer called Jay Eff, who got us all arrested – but that’s another story.

BLM: Which book do you wish you’d written? ‘

CF: Gormenghast’ by Mervyn Peake. It’s a nightmarish novel for anyone who dislikes descriptive passages, but I learn from it all the time.

BLM: Your love of London comes across vividly in your novels. If you could only direct a tourist to three places in London, which would they be?

CF: Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the only part of London that isn’t being wrecked at the moment. The South Bank for its buzz and energy, although its past is being fast obliterated, and Regent’s Park, a prime example of the Englishness of London’s open spaces. London is still the greenest city in Europe. 

BLM: ‘Invisible Ink’ is one of your projects that I came across that sounds fascinating to a avid book fossicker. Can you tell our readers more about it? 

CF: It’s about the popular books that were influential and often hugely successful, but vanished from bookshelves. Adopting false identities, switching genders, losing fortunes, descending into alcoholism, discovering new careers, getting censored, going mad or reinventing themselves, the missing authors have stories to tell which are as surprising than anything they wrote. One dated a porn star, one became the subject of a sex scandal, one was involved with a murderer, and one turned out to be Winston Churchill. Some chose their own fates, some were simply unlucky, but most should be remembered and revered by book lovers. Now, thanks to dedicated publishers, collectors and new technology, many of the books which were lost for so long can be rediscovered.

BLM: Was there ever a moment in time when we might have ended up reading about the adventures of Tate & Lyle rather than Bryant & May?

CF: Good God no! The history of Tate is the story of sugar and therefore of the slave trade. The sugar company amassed a huge art collection from its trade and founded – you guessed it – the Tate Gallery. So Britain’s art owes its existence to slavery.

BLM: In an unlimited budget movie series version of Bryant & May who would play the leads? 

CF: My old pal Jude Law would make a suitably aged-up Mr May (it’s an energetic role, after all). Bryant was down for Derek Jacobi – now I’d probably go for Toby Jones.

BLM: What is your personal favourite bookshop in London? 

CL: Foyles, without question. I’ve been going there since I was five. Its staff are wonderful.

Thanks for your time Christopher, for the latest on Christopher's work, and for a great blog, click here!

The Penguin Blog Highlights Josephine Tey....

I don't often directly link articles from other sites on here, (though, yes, I do on our Facebook version...) but I felt this one, from legendary publishers, Penguin, deserved a plug.

Have you ever come across Josephine Tey? I have to be honest and say I hadn't, but I saw this article and she's definitely now on my reading list!!

Penguin Publishing Blog, Josephine Tey....

You can't go past Penguin for a little classic crime, thriller of mystery.....

A Rare Book Expert Does Lunch...

I was lucky enough to lunch this week with Stuart Kells, author of "Rare", and bibliophile extraordinaire! Stuart soon has a new book on the market that tells us all about the Penguin publishing phenomenon. 

Keep your eyes peeled, this will be a best seller!!

12 Books Boys Own...Apparently...

So, they say all white men own these, but I only have 13 out of the whole lot in my 2500 or so book collection.

How about you?.....

Books All White Men Own....

Book Review: A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway....

A Moveable Feast (1964)
Published by: Scribner
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Acquired from: Shakespeare And Company Paris
BLM Rating 10 / 10

As you may remember from this earlier post, my BLM colleague, Baju, recently returned from a trip to Paris, where, I'm pleased to say, she kindly bought me a gift. No big surprise it was a book, and very appropriately, from my favourite bookshop in the world, (and now hers) Shakespeare & Company.

Even more appropriate was the book itself, Hemingway's Moveable Feast. You might be surprised to find out I've never read any Hemingway! Well, this was the place to start without a doubt!

A lover of Paris and a lover of literature can't fail to fall for this book. It instantly transports the reader to Paris in the 20's, a world of Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds, Ezra Pound and Ford Madox Ford. 

There's little wonder Woody Allen tried to represent just such a journey in his 2011 movie Midnight In Paris it's worth a look for sure, but Hemingway's final, posthumously released work does a far better job.

In summary, and in a pathetic attempt to mimic Hemingway's own style...

An author of renown wrote his final book. It was good. My friend bought it for me in Paris, to make me think of Paris.
It did. I am grateful.

Stevie at BLM

A Literary Tour Of Paris....

Over Easter this year, I was lucky enough to go on a literary tour through the streets of Paris with Paris tour guide company Localers. 

We turned back a few pages in history and revisited some of the literary VIPs who left their mark on Paris: The Romantics of the 19th century, The Lost Generation between the wars, and The Beat Generation of the 1950s and 60s. 
Here are some of the highlights...

We started from the Passage Richelieu at the Louvre, where Hemingway & Fitzgerald went to check the penis sizes of statues. True story. It's in "The Moveable Feast" ...  "Go over to the Louvre and look at the people in the statues and then go home and look at yourself in the mirror in profile".. Seriously.

Image credit: http://medias.photodeck.com/50ab13b2-0b69-11e1-abad-ebb4c6f90b2c/TS011431_xlarge.jpg

Climbing over the Pont des Arts, we stopped for a while at the Institut de France. Only the French can be SO passionate about their language and culture ... 5 académies including the Académie française founded in 1635 - the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language... Les immortels include Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Balzac, Descartes, Marcel Proust and Jules Verne. France did produce a huge number of literary greats, didn't they?!!

 Image credit: http://michellegable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/PontDesArts.jpg

We then walked along the historic Rue de Seine, past its galleries and antiques into Rue des Beaux Arts and stopped at L'Hotel. Nestled in the heart of the Left Bank, amidst the cultural riches, bohemian soul and high fashion of St Germain-des-Prés, this was Oscar Wilde's last home and later the heart of Parisian society in the swinging sixties. It is now a 5 star hotel and restaurant. Once the world of the La bohème, this area is now home to Bobo's - the bourgeois bohemian...

Image credit: http://cdn1.buuteeq.com/upload/18234/le-bar-2.jpg.1340x450_0_150_6978.jpg

At the end of this road is the Ecole des Beaux Arts, one of the most influential art schools in Paris. On the entrance wall is a long standing graffiti of a cat. Apparently they could not quite decide to remove it since it was created by a famous street artist!! Our lovely guide Marie, treated us to some Ladurée melt-in-your-mouth macarons on Rue Bonaparte. 

Image credit: http://newsweek-paris-france.tumblr.com/image/22183966881

A Hemingway and 1920s Paris fan would never walk past Hotel d’Angleterre... This is where Hemingway and his first wife, Elizabeth Hadley Richardson, stayed when they first arrived in the city. 

Image credit: http://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/4000000/3160000/3160000/3159995/3159995_36_b.jpg

The Café de Flore on Boulevard Saint-Germain is not too far from here... Opened in 1885, its classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors has changed little since World War II. 

Image credit: https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3074/2930969060_21ae9166df.jpg

Like its main rival, Les Deux Magots, it hosted many of the French intellectuals during the post-war years... 

Image credit: https://slm-assets0.secondlife.com/assets/2399810/lightbox/SO%20Les%20Deux%20Magots.jpg?1288122892

Nearby also is Café Procope, opened in 1686 and the oldest restaurant of Paris in continuous operation. Regulars here included Voltaire, Napoleon, Balzac, Hugo and Benjamin Franklin. 

Image credit: http://www.procope.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-procope5.jpg

We had our best lunch in Paris at Le Comptoir at carrefour de l'Odéon nearby. 

Image credit: https://www.kiwicollection.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/le-comptoir-du-relais.jpg

Between Le Comptoir and Les Editeurs opposite, there is a tree that had books hanging off it as street art! How cool is that?!! 

Image credit: http://kitchenscoop.com/images/uploads/Paris-evening-lrg.jpg

Image credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--0zU5w_2QPM/T6J9B_mY5qI/AAAAAAAALAI/KHfujGMxkkw/s1600/IMG_0326.jpg

The rue de l'Odéon is where Sylvia Beach opened the original Shakespeare & Co and published James Joyce's Ulysses. 

Image credit: http://www.johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=41971

We then strolled through the university town - past the Sorbonne & Collège de France. 

Image credit: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b2/0a/b4/b20ab4eb8732e0a6ad0ccf6dbb155895.jpg

In the middle of all these colleges and schools, there is also the magnificent Panthéon - originally a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, now a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. Hugo, Dumas, Voltaire, Rousseau, Braille and the Curies all rest here. Restoration work is ongoing to clean it up and apparently they use apricot scrub to clean the stones!!

Image credit: http://expressoparis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Le-Panthéon1.jpg

For Harry Potter fans, the Musée de Cluny has the Tapestry of the Lady and the Unicorn series - shown hanging on the walls of the Gryffindor Common Room in the films. 

Image credit: http://www.historyofpainters.com/unicorn.JPG

This medieval museum also includes the ruins of Gallo-Roman thermal baths, believed to have been built in the 3rd century. The layers of history in Paris are simply fascinating!

Image credit: http://www.history.com/images/media/slideshow/paris-landmarks/roman-baths.jpg

After talking so much about 1920s Paris, we simply couldn't end it without some jazz! 
Le Caveau des Oubliettes and the La Guillotine pub, tucked away in Rue Galande in the Latin Quarter, are the place to go for jazz and blues. 

Image credit: http://esphoto500x500.mnstatic.com/le-caveau-des-oubliettes-pub-y-club-de-jazz_115151.jpg

If you are in the mood for some classical music instead, head on to the Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre - the oldest church in Paris - which regularly hosts classical concerts. 

Image credit: http://www.oeuvre-orient.fr/wp-content/uploads/eglisedesaintjulienlepauvre.jpg

In the Square René-Viviani–Montebello beside the church is also Paris' oldest tree, planted in the early 1600s!!!

Image credit: http://theboldsoul.lisataylorhuff.com/.a/6a00d8341c82c653ef017ee8b4f216970d-pi

Finally - there it is! Shakespeare & Company... Nestled in a small stone courtyard just across the Seine from the Notre Dame Cathedral. It could hardly be in a better location. 
Out front, bookstands surround an ornate drinking fountain. Inside, an extensive stock of second-hand books.
 If there's a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here...   

 Image credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Shakespeare_and_Company_(July_2007).jpg/400px-Shakespeare_and_Company_(July_2007).jpg

Armchair Traveller? 8 Books About.... LONDON...

There's an armchair traveller in all of us, even those who do plenty of the real thing.

So inspired by my co-BLM author's recent trip to Paris, (to soon be documented right here...) I thought I'd put together a list of a few titles which feature my particular favourite world city, Old London Town!

1: LONDON by Edward Rutherfurd
Of course one of my favourite books, by one of my favourite authors, so no surprise to see this gem on the top of the pile. Not only a series of great interconnected stories but a lovely potted history of the great city too. Rutherford has done his magic on a number of world cities but this is, for me, the best.

2: LONDON The Wicked City by Fergus Linnane
Giving us a glimpse through a thousand years of vice in England's capital, this is the tourist's guide to all things debauched, be they Roman legionaries, medieval traders, 18th century rakes or Victorian hypocrites, sex and the city have always gone hand in hand, sometimes open, sometimes hidden, always available!

3: LONDON The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
If London could choose it's biographer then Peter Ackroyd would perhaps be the best choice. From the time of Caesar to the present, he takes his reader through a chronology of her life. Thames-like in breadth and import to the great city, the book meanders on with the irresistible purpose of it's lifeblood river. My favourite London history by a city mile.

4: CITY OF CITIES The Birth Of Modern London by Stephen Inwood
Focusing on the late Victorian period to the pre-Great War years, this book demonstrates the way London coped with a unique period of population explosion and technological development that shaped much of the way we experience life in modern cities today. Mass transportation, mass production and mass marketing, changing London and the world, forever.

5: LONDINIUM London In The Roman Empire by John Morris
Like Rome, London really began with a bridge. Positioned at the lowest crossing place on the Thames, the Romans created a centre of government that, over time grew to be one of Rome's most prosperous regional capitals, but it was to ultimately be abandoned by the mother that gave birth to it, left to fend for itself in a world gone dark.

6: LONDON A Life In Maps by Peter Whitfield
This beautiful British Library publication serves a dual purpose, being both an excellent book in it's own right, but also being a very useful accompaniement to reading other books about London. Surprisingly to our modern sensibilities, nobody thought to map London until 500 years ago! For 1500 years I guess one used local knowledge and good luck to get around! 

7: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY London Entertained 1830-1950 by Gavin Weightman 
One of the great things about London books is there are always a wealth of titles that deal with very specific, sometimes quirky bits of the city's life. This is one of them. A history of popular entertainment from stage and screen, this is a delightfully English, delightfully London piece of entertainment in itself.

8: LONDON The Illustrated History by Cathy Ross & John Clark
Produced by The Museum of London, this is a great concise presentation of the history of the English capital, wonderfully illustrated with both maps and images. If you can't get to the Museum of London, which you should try to do, this book will serve as an excellent substitute.