Saturday, December 16, 2023

Ian Rankin - A heart full of headstones


Friday afternoon, @Koblenz train station going for yet another last minute trip (people still following me on these are probably just nuts). Anyway, have to fill up an hour thus, no brainer, I head to the nearest Lidl (a month of being stuck with overpriced groceries in Luxembourg makes it look like some sort of shopping haven). Still time left after the Lidl raid so following the everlasting books' scent, I end up in front of the English fictional section of the train's book store where Ian Rankin's latest bestseller is featuring itself:

- This writer rings a bell (probably in my Goodreads to-read list) and there is also the looming risk of being stuck with the finnegans wake for the foreseeable future, I quickly convince myself to buy it.

The Lidl groceries saw to it that I would have a decent dinner for the next couple of evenings, the book served its purpose for  a few more of those. Would I eat every evening from Lidl though? By no means. Why? Let me give you an analogy with the 'Stoner' which I started straight after finishing the above: I tell to myself that 'I am 50 pages into it and the action that has been taking place could maybe fit in one of the last pages of Rankin's novel, which makes it somewhat of a gourmet, doesn't it?' 
Of course, is it fair to expect something different from a whodunit? No, it's not, but I buy books and not a Netflix subscription so the experience shouldn't be the same as the streamed series? Or we all know these very successful books that end up becoming a movie, but what about books which are, effectively, written as movies? That's not exactly gourmet, is it? 

Anyway, I still gave it four Goodreads stars: it just covered my needs plus it vividly reminded me of my UK times (Lidl's canned fish salad would had got the same, despite my dinners being cheese and turkey sandwiches even there) so I guess I recommend this? I think so, but better cleanse yourself with a solid classic and some bio kefir afterwards. 

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