Mr. Quidder, JK Rowling got repeatedly turned down too.
Publishers, especially large ones, are very conservative and risk averse. Self-publishing does remove them as strict gatekeepers, but it's very hard to make any money writing (don't let Mr. T fool you, there are thousands of struggling writers for every mid-list author, and hundreds of them for every A-list author).
There are probably 100,000 pro or semi-pro writers in the UK. Probably 1000 of them make a good living, i.e. over £50,000 a year?
Probably 100, at most, make £250,000 a year or more: so just 1 in 1000 writers makes very serious dosh.
Probably 10 make a million a year, or more. And are just stupidly rich.
So other than JK and yourself, who are the other 8 ;-)
Probably Robert Harris, Neil Gaiman, the Tolkien Estate, among others mentioned.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
I thought you were a northerner, Eagles?
Foe me, lunch is unequivocally midday and tea 4pm onwards. Dinner describes the size of a meal (large),and is not fixed to any time of the day. E.g. what do you call the big midday meal at Christmas?
I am indeed the most Northener and English PBer, but Christmas Day is a rare day and in our household we generally have our main Christmas dinner around 4pm, which is closer to dinner than lunch
A fairly devout Muslim friend of mine said his daughter had given up chocolate for Lent. Lots of blurred edges in the modern world.
It doesn't matter what you call it, the modern determinant is whether you eat at a table, or on a sofa.
Because of my diabetes and other ailments, all my life I've had fairly set meal times, so perhaps I'm set in my ways.
My mother insists I always all food is consumed either int the dining room or in the big kitchen.
That said, I've spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning talking to God on the great white telephone following a nasty bug/virus.
I was thinking more of the Muslim vs Christian dichotomy, though of course Issa is a prophet in Islam.
My Diabetic patients often go skewiff in Ramadan, no matter what the Imam says, they often still fast.
Fasting in the high northern latitudes in the summer is no small matter. However, many a diabetic only has high sugar levels, not the fluctuating type. So fasting can actually help !
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
I thought you were a northerner, Eagles?
Foe me, lunch is unequivocally midday and tea 4pm onwards. Dinner describes the size of a meal (large),and is not fixed to any time of the day. E.g. what do you call the big midday meal at Christmas?
I am indeed the most Northener and English PBer, but Christmas Day is a rare day and in our household we generally have our main Christmas dinner around 4pm, which is closer to dinner than lunch
Claim for possibly even more northern, living about four miles from gretna... Dinner was always the 12 noon meal. School dinner at dinner time, supervised by dinner ladies... Evening meal definitely Tea.
Northern? Since New Year, I have visited, by rail:
Berwick Carlisle Newcastle Sunderland South Shields South Hylton Scarborough Blackpool Preston Colne Clitheroe Hull York Selby Rose Grove (Burnley) Southport Liverpool Ormskirk Wigan Newton-le-Willows Warrington Chester Manchester Rose Hill (Marple) Leeds Bradford Saltaire Ilkley Knottingley Skipton Guiseley Huddersfield Sheffield Doncaster Wakefield Cleethorpes Lincoln
@SeanT saw one of your books in a bookshop in Kendal this weekend. Took great pleasure telling my girlfriend that 'the author posts on that politics website I go on'. I'm pretty sure she was impressed.
"yes honey, I'm sure he does"
I think it would have been more impressed to tell that that bloke who used to be PM is a regular reader...
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
I thought you were a northerner, Eagles?
Foe me, lunch is unequivocally midday and tea 4pm onwards. Dinner describes the size of a meal (large),and is not fixed to any time of the day. E.g. what do you call the big midday meal at Christmas?
I am indeed the most Northener and English PBer, but Christmas Day is a rare day and in our household we generally have our main Christmas dinner around 4pm, which is closer to dinner than lunch
A fairly devout Muslim friend of mine said his daughter had given up chocolate for Lent. Lots of blurred edges in the modern world.
It doesn't matter what you call it, the modern determinant is whether you eat at a table, or on a sofa.
Because of my diabetes and other ailments, all my life I've had fairly set meal times, so perhaps I'm set in my ways.
My mother insists I always all food is consumed either int the dining room or in the big kitchen.
That said, I've spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning talking to God on the great white telephone following a nasty bug/virus.
I was thinking more of the Muslim vs Christian dichotomy, though of course Issa is a prophet in Islam.
My Diabetic patients often go skewiff in Ramadan, no matter what the Imam says, they often still fast.
Fasting in the high northern latitudes in the summer is no small matter. However, many a diabetic only has high sugar levels, not the fluctuating type. So fasting can actually help !
@SeanT saw one of your books in a bookshop in Kendal this weekend. Took great pleasure telling my girlfriend that 'the author posts on that politics website I go on'. I'm pretty sure she was impressed.
"yes honey, I'm sure he does"
I think it would have been more impressed to tell that that bloke who used to be PM is a regular reader...
Only above the line, I would think.
Below the line before he became PM.
Even after, I seemed to remember on a number of occasions wise crack from the comments got a public airing. I presume somebody in Team Dave had been alerted to them.
Or someone on PB who was close to Team Cameron used to send them the gags he thought were very funny :innocent face:
Mr. Quidder, JK Rowling got repeatedly turned down too.
Publishers, especially large ones, are very conservative and risk averse. Self-publishing does remove them as strict gatekeepers, but it's very hard to make any money writing (don't let Mr. T fool you, there are thousands of struggling writers for every mid-list author, and hundreds of them for every A-list author).
There are probably 100,000 pro or semi-pro writers in the UK. Probably 1000 of them make a good living, i.e. over £50,000 a year?
Probably 100, at most, make £250,000 a year or more: so just 1 in 1000 writers makes very serious dosh.
Probably 10 make a million a year, or more. And are just stupidly rich.
So other than JK and yourself, who are the other 8 ;-)
Probably Robert Harris, Neil Gaiman, the Tolkien Estate, among others mentioned.
Bernard Cornwell?
I don't think he'd quite reach £1m a year, though he might have done back in the 90's when he sometimes published three novels a year and Sharpe was on TV.
Mr. Meeks, Sir Edric, the protagonist, is a vain, selfish, mostly drunk, fornicating self-absorbed cad, who is also quite racist against elves.
Surprisingly, only one review disliked his antics, most of them really liked him.
It was also interesting to focus on writing a character full of vices and trying to add a virtue, rather than going from the other direction (his virtues are being quick-witted and genuinely liking horses).
His racism towards elves doesn't stop him from lusting after them, however.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
I'm so jealous of your lack of reading! When you get around to reading Dickens you're in for a treat. Lesbian Princesses aren't everything you know. (I'm prepared to engage in some test mind you)
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
You'd only have a bit of a knob if you stick your todger in cheese grater !!!
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
They're lucky that Tolkein didn't call it "The Twin Towers". That would have been problematic!
Mr. F, I've always said The Witcher is very good indeed (not read any of them but have sunk many hours into The Witcher 3. Will get the DLC at some point, which is very rare for me).
I see you reread R Scott Bakker and liked it this time around. Maybe I should give it another go - I actually read the whole initial trilogy, but outside of a few details all i can remember is it seemed to have a high opinion of its own cleverness and every single character was annoying.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
They're lucky that Tolkein didn't call it "The Twin Towers". That would have been problematic!
If it had been up to him he might not have called it anything, given it was supposed to be one big book in six parts, not a trilogy.
Mr. Omnium, then buy Kingdom Asunder and see what you think
As for lack of reading: you're quite right. I still haven't read a single line of Plutarch or Appian.
I have already - one of your works anyway. I thought it was ok - decent writing. However it was a sea of hooks and not a single one got me. My thoughts were that you should choose your hook.
I've only read a little Plutarch, and I wasn't even aware of any works by Appian (No way!).
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
They're lucky that Tolkein didn't call it "The Twin Towers". That would have been problematic!
If it had been up to him he might not have called it anything, given it was supposed to be one big book in six parts, not a trilogy.
This is true. If they'd split it into six parts they could have made even more money, though from what I remember, the last movie covers a lot more than the last two books.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
I'm so jealous of your lack of reading! When you get around to reading Dickens you're in for a treat. Lesbian Princesses aren't everything you know. (I'm prepared to engage in some test mind you)
I studied Hard Times facts facts facts who is Gradgrind in today's political world ?
Mr. F, I've always said The Witcher is very good indeed (not read any of them but have sunk many hours into The Witcher 3. Will get the DLC at some point, which is very rare for me).
Most elves are indeed complete bastards in that world. But, so are most humans.
It's a great series, with some excellent humour, especially if you like reading about genocide, racial hatred, bubonic plague, vivisection, and an impending ice age that will kill 90% of the world's population.
Mr. F, I've always said The Witcher is very good indeed (not read any of them but have sunk many hours into The Witcher 3. Will get the DLC at some point, which is very rare for me).
In the last two years, 99% of my video game playing time has been either Hitman or the new Zelda. I suspect that Witcher 3 would also have captured my attention :-)
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
Ahem, briefly: Mr. kle4, there is some of that. The first time I read it, that really annoyed me, angered almost. The second time I was surprised by liking it rather more but (not unlike Dickens) there could be a lot cut out. Too many words.
Mr. Omnium, well, all my books are quite different (most especially Sir Edric and the rest, but there's still a great shift from Bane of Souls to Kingdom Asunder). Could always try a sample, see if it takes your fancy. Or not, as you like.
Anyway, now I must be off before I go entirely blind.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
They're lucky that Tolkein didn't call it "The Twin Towers". That would have been problematic!
If it had been up to him he might not have called it anything, given it was supposed to be one big book in six parts, not a trilogy.
This is true. If they'd split it into six parts they could have made even more money, though from what I remember, the last movie covers a lot more than the last two books.
It did, most of the lot with Shelob took place in the second book.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
I'm so jealous of your lack of reading! When you get around to reading Dickens you're in for a treat. Lesbian Princesses aren't everything you know. (I'm prepared to engage in some test mind you)
I studied Hard Times facts facts facts who is Gradgrind in today's political world ?
I love that question, and I think it's best unanswered.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
To get back to how this started, surely the problem was that Dickens was indeed paid by the word. Many of his stories were overwordy as they were published in monthly magazines. Hence also pointless plot twists as sales dropped and new interest needed. I think Dostoyevsky suffered the same problem.
Mr. Omnium, perhaps. I've only read David Copperfield, of Dickens' works. I thought it very engaging, but he did have a tendency to use three sentences when a single word might suffice.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
The funniest critical review of the Lord of the Rings films denounced them for portraying tobacco use.
There was that story some in America wanted The Two Towers banned because it was felt to be insensitive for a film with that title to be released a year after 9/11
They're lucky that Tolkein didn't call it "The Twin Towers". That would have been problematic!
If it had been up to him he might not have called it anything, given it was supposed to be one big book in six parts, not a trilogy.
This is true. If they'd split it into six parts they could have made even more money, though from what I remember, the last movie covers a lot more than the last two books.
It did, most of the lot with Shelob took place in the second book.
Yes, though do you mean book 3/4 of the 6? I know why they did it, but I did think it was a shame that they didn't have the bit at the end in the Shire when things aren't so nice (rather than just the vision Frodo has with the elves).
Yes, though do you mean book 3/4 of the 6? I know why they did it, but I did think it was a shame that they didn't have the bit at the end in the Shire when things aren't so nice (rather than just the vision Frodo has with the elves).
Yup, that's what I meant.
I thought Lord of The Rings was unfilmable and would be a cinematic disaster, but I was delighted to have been proven so wrong.
I would have liked to have seen that, as much as say the Tom Bombadil stuff at the start.
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
If it makes you feel better, I have just enjoyed vegetarian toad in the hole, washed down with tapwater, with fox jr.
Linda McCartney may have broken up the worlds greatest ever band, but she does make a good sausage.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
To get back to how this started, surely the problem was that Dickens was indeed paid by the word. Many of his stories were overwordy as they were published in monthly magazines. Hence also pointless plot twists as sales dropped and new interest needed. I think Dostoyevsky suffered the same problem.
The greatest book of all was written that way, 'Le Comte de Monte Cristo'
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
For once I have to agree 100% with you.
My wife's (& my) Christmas present from our son and his family is a Champagne tea at Claridges. That's scheduled for mid-afternoon.
Incidentally, do I have wear a tie?
Sadly not.
The distressing term "smart casual" is the norm.
I was actually planning to do so. I have a large selection from the days when I had to wear one. However, I'm obliged for the opinions. Does anyone know if there's a bus-stop nearby?
There are no buses on Brook Street (thankfully, it has horrible enough traffic).
Depending where you're coming from, walk from Bond Street or Green Park - or there's a bus stop near Berkeley Square.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
To get back to how this started, surely the problem was that Dickens was indeed paid by the word. Many of his stories were overwordy as they were published in monthly magazines. Hence also pointless plot twists as sales dropped and new interest needed. I think Dostoyevsky suffered the same problem.
The greatest book of all was written that way, 'Le Comte de Monte Cristo'
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
Quite right, Mr. Jessup, of course you realise that most of these recent conversations, and the ones that you propose, fall foul of the B2/Apocalypse guidelines for the site.
Anyway, leaving aside that Elves are complete bastards but cats keep them away from homes, are you still on for lunch/drinkies/high tea/supper/dinner on the weekend of 27/28 May? You choose the time slot and I will fit around you (I have a weekend ticket).
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
Quite right, Mr. Jessup, of course you realise that most of these recent conversations, and the ones that you propose, fall foul of the B2/Apocalypse guidelines for the site.
Anyway, leaving aside that Elves are complete bastards but cats keep them away from homes, are you still on for lunch/drinkies/high tea/supper/dinner on the weekend of 27/28 May? You choose the time slot and I will fit around you (I have a weekend ticket).
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
I wouldn't use quite your wording, Mr Llama, about Dickens but entirely share the sentiment. I find Dickens entirely unreadable. The same with EM Forster.
Vanity Fair, on the other hand, is an absolute gem!
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
I wouldn't use quite your wording, Mr Llama, about Dickens but entirely share the sentiment. I find Dickens entirely unreadable. The same with EM Forster.
Vanity Fair, on the other hand, is an absolute gem!
Great Expectations wasn't as good as I thought it'd be...
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
To get back to how this started, surely the problem was that Dickens was indeed paid by the word. Many of his stories were overwordy as they were published in monthly magazines. Hence also pointless plot twists as sales dropped and new interest needed. I think Dostoyevsky suffered the same problem.
As indeed did did Dumas, who was also writing episodes for a magazine but in French of course. When I first retired, properly, one of the things that I did was to seriously re-read the Count of Monte-Cristo and try and work-out where the episodes began and ended. It was a fun exercise.
I didn't hear him threatening him with punishment. He shouldn't have gone bat shit crazy towards his elder....but still.
For me is the mindset of the guy giving it to the bookshop owner,he's nuts,just hope he's not living down my street and he's got a majority of muslims backing this.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
To get back to how this started, surely the problem was that Dickens was indeed paid by the word. Many of his stories were overwordy as they were published in monthly magazines. Hence also pointless plot twists as sales dropped and new interest needed. I think Dostoyevsky suffered the same problem.
As indeed did did Dumas, who was also writing episodes for a magazine but in French of course. When I first retired, properly, one of the things that I did was to seriously re-read the Count of Monte-Cristo and try and work-out where the episodes began and ended. It was a fun exercise.
That's a great achievement for Dumas though - imagine writing such a great work, having to chop it up into chunks, and having to translate it into French!
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
I thought you were a northerner, Eagles?
Foe me, lunch is unequivocally midday and tea 4pm onwards. Dinner describes the size of a meal (large),and is not fixed to any time of the day. E.g. what do you call the big midday meal at Christmas?
I am indeed the most Northener and English PBer, but Christmas Day is a rare day and in our household we generally have our main Christmas dinner around 4pm, which is closer to dinner than lunch
A fairly devout Muslim friend of mine said his daughter had given up chocolate for Lent. Lots of blurred edges in the modern world.
It doesn't matter what you call it, the modern determinant is whether you eat at a table, or on a sofa.
Because of my diabetes and other ailments, all my life I've had fairly set meal times, so perhaps I'm set in my ways.
My mother insists I always all food is consumed either int the dining room or in the big kitchen.
That said, I've spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning talking to God on the great white telephone following a nasty bug/virus.
I was thinking more of the Muslim vs Christian dichotomy, though of course Issa is a prophet in Islam.
My Diabetic patients often go skewiff in Ramadan, no matter what the Imam says, they often still fast.
Fasting in the high northern latitudes in the summer is no small matter. However, many a diabetic only has high sugar levels, not the fluctuating type. So fasting can actually help !
It does play havoc with pill and insulin regimes!
Obviously, not for those on insulin. Metformin ? 5 hour gap ?
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
If it makes you feel better, I have just enjoyed vegetarian toad in the hole, washed down with tapwater, with fox jr.
Linda McCartney may have broken up the worlds greatest ever band, but she does make a good sausage.
Yes. Where I lived we got the two ITV signals: the London one and the one for the south of England. So an interesting juxtaposition of news was available: Brixton riots and council corruption in Haringey; farmer Giles wins Hampshire best beef herd for second year running.
Mr. Omnium, obviously, quality always helps, but I think you're underestimating how much marketing, word-of-mouth and plain luck play a role. Take The Master of Izindi. I'd guess nobody here except me has ever heard of it, but it's an enjoyable story with an Arabian Nights feel. Almost certainly better than Fifty Shades, yet almost infinitely less known.
You're quite right about the big factors - luck is probably the biggest too.
I haven't heard of 'The Master of Izindi', but you set a low bar if it only needs to beat a novel that, although I've not read it, I sort of know will be poor. Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express.
Mr. Ominum, Kingdom Asunder is better than Bleak House, though not as long. The Sir Edric Books are also better than Bleak House. Over to you to get those express deliveries working.
And yet they're not. I have read some of our famous correspondent's (MD's) work and I'm certain that Mr Dickens doesn't have anything just yet to fear from him in a competitive sense.
Mr. Ominum, you said "Tell me of a book is better than Bleak House and I'll get it delivered to me by express." I have. You may prefer Bleak House to a book that you haven't read but that is your problem not mine.
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
I wouldn't use quite your wording, Mr Llama, about Dickens but entirely share the sentiment. I find Dickens entirely unreadable. The same with EM Forster.
Vanity Fair, on the other hand, is an absolute gem!
The same goes for movies for me sometimes. I do not know how many times I have seen Total Recall [ the one with Arnie ]. I don't think I have ever seen it from start to finish, but many times in parts. I know every scene. I think the acting is rubbish - including Sharon Stone's. Yet I watch it. Also the one [ I think it's called Capricorn One about a fictitious "Martian" landing in a desert ]. Absolute garbage. I know the plot. But I will watch next time I find it flicking channels.
I bet I will do the same with the Martian. Only watched it twice though, so far. That is not a bad movie.
I didn't hear him threatening him with punishment. He shouldn't have gone bat shit crazy towards his elder....but still.
For me is the mindset of the guy giving it to the bookshop owner,he's nuts,just hope he's not living down my street and he's got a majority of muslims backing this.
Frightening future.
Its purely a function of criminal lunacy and violent nutters expanding their behaviour until they find boundaries.
It is our fault for letting them behave like this.
You may or may not agree with the philosophy expounded, but
Yes. Where I lived we got the two ITV signals: the London one and the one for the south of England. So an interesting juxtaposition of news was available: Brixton riots and council corruption in Haringey; farmer Giles wins Hampshire best beef herd for second year running.
I used to love watching regional ITV news whenever I went out of London. It was innocent! I suppose the 5 minute BBC local news must be similar today also.
Sometimes I feel that most PBers have a very different lifestyle from my own ...
The wide variety of backgrounds on PB is a great strength and much to be commended.
Oh, indeed. I look forward to offsetting the stories of posh hotels and the finest restaurants with my reviews of the best wild campsites along the Thames and the best one-pot recipes with spam.
Wild camping is surprisingly popular on both sides of the river from Battersea to Rotherhithe and a boon for those whose resources may not extend to conventional "holiday solutions".
If you don't agree with that, you're bloody uncivilised savages
*Supper* never dinner
No! I can accept regional differences in the terms - which, as far as I'm concerned, stem from the SIZE of the meal taken at the respective times of day (in the north it was always more common top have your big meal - your dinner - in the middle of the day than it was in the south. Dinner is a big meal, not a time specific one - hence school dinners/packed lunches). But supper is something easy if you're a bit peckish before you go to bed - maybe some cheese on toast, or a cheeky round of pancakes. You might be wearing your pyjamas. If you've gone out for it, it's fish and chips and you'll probably bring it home to eat it. It is in no way a synonym for your main evening meal.
Sort of related to the whole dinner/lunch/tea thing.
When does the afternoon end and the evening start?
Now this is an interesting question, and in no way as emotionally loaded as the lunch/dinner/tea one. I'd say in the winter it starts at dusk, and in the summer at about 6 o'clock.
Comments
Besides, if need be I can always just remind them of my evil white maleness
Berwick
Carlisle
Newcastle
Sunderland
South Shields
South Hylton
Scarborough
Blackpool
Preston
Colne
Clitheroe
Hull
York
Selby
Rose Grove (Burnley)
Southport
Liverpool
Ormskirk
Wigan
Newton-le-Willows
Warrington
Chester
Manchester
Rose Hill (Marple)
Leeds
Bradford
Saltaire
Ilkley
Knottingley
Skipton
Guiseley
Huddersfield
Sheffield
Doncaster
Wakefield
Cleethorpes
Lincoln
Sadly, I go back to work on Wednesday....
*withdrawal symptoms*
"his [Sir Edric's] virtues are being quick-witted and genuinely liking horses"
Oi! He is also a pipe smoker, the world would be a better place if more people still smoked pipes. He is also nice to dogs, well quite nice to Dog.
There was also a displeasing absence of lesbian princesses.
Edited extra bit: Mr. Llama, the pipe is nice. I saw a trailer for XCOM 2 the other day, just by chance, and the warnings at the start said it included blood, violence, and tobacco use.
....
Why didn't Cameron use my brilliant line about Blair supporting Brown being like Banquo's ghost campaigning for MacBeth?
http://thaddeusthesixth.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/guest-post-why-elves-are-total-bastards.html
Personally, I sooner stick my todger in a cheese-grater covered with oven cleaning fluid than wade through the turgid guff of Dickens once again.
Each to their own, but it is not right to make promises that you are not prepared to keep. Makes one look a bit of a knob.
As for lack of reading: you're quite right. I still haven't read a single line of Plutarch or Appian.
https://twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/status/843484042142060544
I've only read a little Plutarch, and I wasn't even aware of any works by Appian (No way!).
It's a great series, with some excellent humour, especially if you like reading about genocide, racial hatred, bubonic plague, vivisection, and an impending ice age that will kill 90% of the world's population.
Mr. Omnium, well, all my books are quite different (most especially Sir Edric and the rest, but there's still a great shift from Bane of Souls to Kingdom Asunder). Could always try a sample, see if it takes your fancy. Or not, as you like.
Anyway, now I must be off before I go entirely blind.
I thought Lord of The Rings was unfilmable and would be a cinematic disaster, but I was delighted to have been proven so wrong.
I would have liked to have seen that, as much as say the Tom Bombadil stuff at the start.
Linda McCartney may have broken up the worlds greatest ever band, but she does make a good sausage.
Depending where you're coming from, walk from Bond Street or Green Park - or there's a bus stop near Berkeley Square.
Anyway, leaving aside that Elves are complete bastards but cats keep them away from homes, are you still on for lunch/drinkies/high tea/supper/dinner on the weekend of 27/28 May? You choose the time slot and I will fit around you (I have a weekend ticket).
Vanity Fair, on the other hand, is an absolute gem!
Frightening future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPa1RFAivy4
But that sort of thing is a little deep for a random opinion poll.
More likely to be background moron-scatter.
Good night all .....
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"Have you ever been decapitated" will get 2%.
I bet I will do the same with the Martian. Only watched it twice though, so far. That is not a bad movie.
It is our fault for letting them behave like this.
You may or may not agree with the philosophy expounded, but
http://www.magma.ca/~yeti/troopers.html
makes you think, doesn't it?
Supper is a light meal, not the main evening meal that is dinner.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/19/jeremy-corbyn-labour-threat-party-election-support
For the record, I am 100% with MD on this one - dinner is at dinnertime and tea is at teatime.
Clearly on this basis there is no such thing as a free lunch.
When does the afternoon end and the evening start?
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-19/merkel-abe-call-for-swift-eu-japan-deal-to-stem-trade-barriers
So 4 years in - how many more to go?