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| Intelligently written and a superb insightThis book is a must read for anyone interested in the premiership of Tony Blair. Having recently completed Peter Mandelson's own epic, it was refreshing to see this account which retrospectively is a strong supporter of much of what the so called 'Prince of Darkness' was claiming.
Many people despise Tony Blair but I simply cannot agree with those who claim he was a bad Prime Minister. The biggest election swing in history does not happen by mistake and I'm sure many people who knock Blair will happily stroll into improved hospitals and send their children to revolutionised mainstream schools. I am not fighting an election for Blair here, I am just saying that too many people think he is the devil incarnate for taking us to a war which most of the House of Commons voted for and which any other Prime Minister would take us into. For some reason Thatcher was a hero for battering down an already crippled Argentinian army over a piece of farm land which was totally irrelevant to our country's interests. At the end of the day, all the evidence suggests (and boy we have seen all the enquiries) that Blair was only making a judgement based upon evidence he had received from professionals. The argument that Blair misled parliament is simply not true. Blair was misled, not Parliament. Another thing, Blair was actually much closer and more akin to the Bill Clinton than George W. Bush.
If you actually read the book, which most of its critics probably will not as their reviews are posted as the book is released (unless they can read it in about 5 minutes) then you will actually find a very truthful account presented in a writing style that shows considerable flair and ingenuity. Blair has the power, even in writing, of making you feel like you are in a personal conversation. There are no vacuous statements but the entire book is written in both a common and intellectual manner to be understood by all, not a learned elite which is the target audience for most political memoirs.
Blair's ego is sometimes over played upon although his admission of confidence in itself is a modest virtue and although he was insistent he should be in place of Gordon Brown, I don't think any sane person can argue against that.
So Blair was a fantastic Prime Minister and I think in our current climate with scandals here, failures there, and incompetence everywhere I think this country is missing him. Brown and Cameron have all had the chance, and saint Obama, to reverse the middle eastern exploits of the 2000's but none have taken that initiative. It just so happens that the PM often becomes the scapegoat of many misinformed individuals who should really put their blame elsewhere. Blair is a family man and has a justified moral compass which runs throughout the book. Incredibly, the book speaks of much praise for GB although the press overlook this for the rare quotations of his 'maddening' behaviour.
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The Fry Chronicles
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COFFEE AND SANDWICHESIf you like hearing about coffee and sandwiches this book is for you. There is lots of coffee consumed and a whole host of open sandwiches are scoffed by Mikael, one of the main characters. He seems to eat nothing else. Apart from that, the book is one long crashing bore from start to finish. Nothing actually happens for 187 pages, even the eponymous heroine makes few appearances. We do get a lot of very dull stuff about some implausible investigative Swedish magazine (the very words want to make you nod off), and a reporter, the sandwich eating Mikael, who for reasons not really explained has got on the wrong end of a libel judgement and is packed off to open prison.
The central plot is an unlikely rambling tale about some Swedish magnate who wants the Sandwich Scoffer to look into an old family mystery. It's been on his mind for 40 years and now seems a good time to do something about it. We then have to endure a lengthy and torturous trail through and endless list of weirdo family members, all of whom seem to hate the rest of the family. I know how they feel. There is a nasty detour involving the Girl with the Dragon Etc and a sadistical lawyer. The plot groans towards its denouement where we come across, yes you've guessed it, a rather nasty serial killer. In the style of the best James Bond villains, he inexplicably makes a stupid mistake which results in his downfall.
The only positive thing I can say is that I finished it. I was rather hoping for a twist that would make it all worthwhile, but was sadly disappointed. At least I don't have to read the two sequels. Horrible stuff.
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A bit of a rehashOK, let's start with what I love about this book: It's beautifully written, it has amazing photos of the food, it's presented immaculately and the recipes cater for most tastes.
The biggest plus point for me is the fact that the recipes seems so well tried and tested. I am a big Nigella fan and have all her books and I can honestly say that I have never, ever been let down by one of her recipes. As with all Nigella's books, the recipes in Kitchen are easy to follow, with accurate quantities, extremely helpful hints and encouraging chit-chat along the way.
Since getting the book last week I decided to try some of the recipes from it: Tarragon chicken, smoked haddock my mother's way, speedy scaloppine with rapid roastini, chocolate chip bread pudding, maple pecan bundt cake and blondies. These all turned out well (even if they didn't look as good as the pictures) and I would cook them again.
The book is 500 pages long and has 190 recipes, accompanied by some really beautiful photos. Nigella's writing style (friendly-chit-chat-by-the-stove) is one of the best things about this book, and I read it through once, before I started cooking from it. This was a hopeful start before I went back through it to earmark the recipes I wanted to try. And this is where I started to feel disappointed (and also where I duck for cover).......
I had a touch of deja vu: the layout, the type of recipes included (comfort, quick, children's, baking, cocktails) and also the type of ingredients used (chilli sauce, pasta, spices, rice, mirin). In fact I would say this book has a predominantly south east Asian and Italian bent. There's nothing wrong with this, other than it all seems very over-familiar and done several times before in her previous books. Yes, on one hand this could be a good thing because you know what you're going to get. But I was hoping for something a bit more "Wow". Dare I say it, but to me, Kitchen seems a little bland. Apart from the six recipes that I tried over the past few days (see above) there weren't many more that I really fancied trying. I went through it a few times, hoping for more inspiration and also hoping to add more post-it notes reminding me of the recipes I want to try. I found a handful at best which was very disappointing.
It's almost like some sort of "Best of Nigella". It's got a bit of all her previous books thrown in and packaged very glossily. For this reason alone I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't already own a Nigella cookbook and wants to try her style of cooking. But for me it is just a rehash. A tired format that I suppose I have just become bored with. I don't think it's her best work and I don't think I will be using it as much as her other books.
I say this very reluctantly, but for me, Kitchen is an uninspiring regurgitation that looks very pretty but is mundanely average.
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An unexpected delightI brought this book based on the other great reviews and I wasn't disappointed. This novel is like nothing I've ever read before and I enjoyed it immensely. The characters are vibrant, real and colourful and their personalities leap off the page. The plot was unusual and absorbing and went along at the perfect pace. By turn moving, funny, thought-provoking and heart-warming, I read this book in great big chunks and finished it in record time! I even spent a whole day indoors reading this because I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
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