tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post4209858802358199073..comments2024-02-22T17:59:50.213-05:00Comments on in so many words...: Monday Review: APPLEBY'S END (1945) by Michael InnesYvettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-78346068624520337062016-08-11T13:34:03.535-04:002016-08-11T13:34:03.535-04:00I listen to Innes on Audible too. Debating whether...I listen to Innes on Audible too. Debating whether to get yet another Innes book on my Audible account. My favorite is still my very first Innes: THE SECRET VANGUARD. Second favorite: THE CASE OF THE JOURNEYING BOY (though Appleby is not in this one) and my third fave is: APPLEBY'S END, OPERATION PAX and SHEIKS AND ADDERS. Not to mention, AN AWKWARD LIE and THE OPEN HOUSE. Oh, and FROM LONDON FAR (no Appleby here either). Actually mix these up and I'll take whatever order they turn up in. :) <br /><br />You are fortunate indeed to have had a reply from Innes. I'm a new convert to his work - only began reading him a couple of years ago. <br /><br />I do like the Innes books where his imagination seems to run amok. :) I wonder if those books couldn't be termed 'magical realism' as books of this sort are categorized now. But then, of course, Innes defies categorization.<br /><br />Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Always appreciated. Especially from a fellow of one of my favorite authors.<br /><br />Why don't you do a Michael Innes Facebook page? That would be easier than an out and out group and you might get fans to drop by that way. (If there isn't a page already, that is.)<br />Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-25419876087971520002016-08-07T14:09:01.651-04:002016-08-07T14:09:01.651-04:00Nice to discover some other admirers of Innes. I&...Nice to discover some other admirers of Innes. I've been reading him, over and over, for nearly fifty years, recently listening to him on Audible, and so far appear to be more obsessed with his work than anyone else. Consider Appleby's End his masterpiece, in fact a great classic in humor, as I told him when I wrote him (around 1980). He graciously replied with a postcard. <br /><br />I divide his crime books into four more or less equal groups....his best, his second best, those which are competent but not terribly interesting, and several hardly worth reading at all. Have tried to establish a yahoo group but have not got any response. <br /><br />Since I have read many of them multiple, times, would only be able to discuss them with someone (nearly) as obsessed as myself! motherofmikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03412979100967973575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-86545397632770902102011-02-09T23:04:27.882-05:002011-02-09T23:04:27.882-05:00This is the Innes book I enjoyed the most. Loved t...This is the Innes book I enjoyed the most. Loved the Raven family in all its eccentricities.neerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01986509319841061021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-73981144675263045742011-02-07T19:42:59.484-05:002011-02-07T19:42:59.484-05:00Les: That's one of the Innes books I mean to g...Les: That's one of the Innes books I mean to get my hands on. By the way, I tried the Innes you recommended, the one set in Scotland: LAMENT FOR A MAKER, I think. It was not my cup of tea, unfortunately. I struggled through it hoping for the best but was disappointed. Mostly in myself for not being able to appreciate it. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-76516877892149972832011-02-07T19:16:43.429-05:002011-02-07T19:16:43.429-05:00I agree with your assessment of Appleby's End ...I agree with your assessment of Appleby's End - it's a delightful entry in the series, but hardly the one a new reader should try first. There's a marvelous surrealist touch to much of Innes's writing. If you want to try a non-Appleby book, try "The Journeying Boy," which is a fine mystery AND thriller combined.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-38283372835994594452011-02-07T15:41:54.790-05:002011-02-07T15:41:54.790-05:00Well, here's how I look at it: Innes' book...Well, here's how I look at it: Innes' books divide the men from the boys. (Or, in our case, the girls from the women - ha!) You have to keep going, find something in the story or the characters that speak to you and eventually you'll be pulled in. Now this doesn't apply to all his books, so don't mean to discourage anyone. :)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3185294584889963228.post-38097446760417584442011-02-07T15:29:36.956-05:002011-02-07T15:29:36.956-05:00I love Michael Innes. You're right though, he...I love Michael Innes. You're right though, he does seem to assume that the reader is a lot smarter than what I seem to be. He has several books that start out with all sorts of literary or informational stuff and if the reader is not determined to keep going, I could see him losing some folks. But he's always worth it. Great fun and I do think he writes with tongue firmly in cheek and a twinkle in his eye.Bev Hankinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01127476456755776574noreply@blogger.com