Dalziel & Pascoe Expanded

A little more on Reginald Hill and the Dalziel & Pascoe novels --

Hill's first novel in the series is A Clubbable Woman, which I've recently ordered. The second in the series is An Advancement of Learning, the book I reviewed in the previous post. In 2002, I found Dialogues of the Dead and went back to find any other novels in the series that the library had to offer. I had read a D & P novel earlier and recognized the characters, but Dialogues of the Dead was much longer and much more involved; it provided the deep hook.

I checked out all of the series that the library had ( Pictures of Perfection, Recalled to Life, The Wood Beyond, On Beulah Height, Arms and the Women) and read and enjoyed them all, but now I'd like to fill in the gaps among the older novels. Some are being re-published, but others I can get through Alibris.

Even as I made my way through the above novels, I awaited Hill's new novels and kept up with all of them - Death's Jest-Book, Good Morning Midnight, and Death Comes for the Fat Man. Have not yet read the most recent, A Cure for All Diseases, but look forward to it. The only ones I've read since beginning this blog are Death Comes for the Fat Man and An Advancement of Learning, so they are the only 2 I've reviewed.

Hill's inclusion of allusions, and there are plenty of them in the later works, range from historic to literary to contemporary topics and works. I especially love these allusions, many I recognize at a glance (which is always fun), but sometimes I only know that it is an echo of something I've read or heard and must do some research to pin it down (also fun).

The combination of humor and the horrific is also well done. The relationship between Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe is often testy, full of irony and tongue in cheek satire that makes me smile, and occasionally, laugh out loud. Pascoe is a strong character in his own right, but is an excellent foil for the often crude and always curmudgeonly Dalziel. The minor characters are also well-developed and interesting in their own right, never cardboard totems - and in some novels, Hill gives them the lead. Edgar Wield the gay sergeant whose appearance is always commented on (unattractive, to put it mildly) is by far the most lovable and interesting.

Hill is one of the best crime/mystery/detective fiction authors around. If you haven't given him a try, now might be the time.

Southern Grotesque and Twisted Physics

Lisa's recent posts about Flannery O'Connor have renewed my interest. I think I'll add an O'Connor biography to my growing biography list. Here is another O'Connor quote I've had tucked away:

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them." Pure Flannery!

Maggie's comment on the last post about O'Relatives was funny...until I started thinking about what some of my McRelatives might think of me!

I'm still reading the last of the nonfiction from January and enjoying both books.

Jennifer Oullette's The Physics of the Buffyverse is as much fun as I had hoped, and I'm about half way through. While physics has never been my strong point (that is an understatement of epic proportions), Oullette's combination of everyday language and Whedonist connections makes me pay more attention. She covers interesting aspects of science and the Buffyverse

Some of the topics she discusses include:

porphyria - symptoms of the inherited disease include sensitivity to light and "reddish" mouths. Severe cases may involve disfigurement and "the teeth and gums may become so taut the teeth protrude like fangs." I've read about this before, but interestingly, the show intended Vampirism to be a progressive disease.

invisibility gun - while this idea may not be feasible, Oullette relates "cloaking' schemes" that "rely on the camouflage principle" are an accomplished fact. Susumu Tachi, a real scientist, invented an "invisibility cloak" using computer generated images, and at the University of Pennsylvania, "researchers figured out how to use plasmon coatings as a cloaking device to render solid objects invisible--or nearly so--to an observer.''

centrifugal force - "in reality such a force doesn't exist," explains Oullette, but centripetal force is certainly useful.

Using episodes from Buffy and Angel, The Physics of the Buffyverse puts real science in an interesting format.

BTW - Cocktail Party Physics is the name of her blog.