He hated the picure..

"Will hastily tidied the room, sat in the window seat, and stared thoughtfully at the one piece of art in his house, a reproduction of Alphonse de Neuville's Defence of Rorke's Drift that he'd won from Tommy Hanson at piquet the previous Saturday. He hated the picture, not least because it reminded him of South Africa, and only took it because Hanson had nothing else in his house worth a damn."

Alphonse de Neuville Defence of Rorke's Drift

It is hardly surprising that the painting reminds Will of his last military action in South Africa, which is described in the first chapter, Massacre on the Groot Hoek River. It gives us a good visual depiction of what Will must have experienced, although on a larger scale.

Here  is a link the wikipedia entry for Rorke's Drift.

This is the link to a specialised site, which focuses on the Battle and the recipients of the Victoria Cross. As the site says, the highest number of VCs awarded to a regiment for one action.

Another site specialising in battles, lots of visuals

The events of Rorke's Drift were depicted in the film  Zulu, starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. Here are some interesting links:


Wiki Entry for the film.


10 things you didn't know about the film - an article from The Telegraph.

The Untold Story of the film - an article from The Independent





Here's a scene from the film:

Why not watch the whole film? Is it any wonder that Will had continuous nightmares after his own experience?

Catch up with reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This site,Shmoop.com, is really useful if you want to catch up with what we've been reading. It has a character list and a chapter by chapter  ( or letter by letter in this case) summary of The Perks.

The book is really quite easy to read so I recommend you maybe look at the character list and first part of the summary (not all of it - spoiler!)then start reading the book.

It also has a fun video clip talking about what being a wallflower means.

You could also catch up by watching the start of the film.

Hope to see you on the 27th

The Sun is God Character List - Chapters 3 - 6

In Herbertshöhe

capital of German colonial administration of German New Guinea

Hauptman Klaus Kessler - senior military officer, responsible for intelligence reports back to Berlin

Siwa - Will's servant girl

Governor Hahl -  Governor of German New Guinea

Doctor Bremmer - performs the autopsy on Max Lutzow

"Queen" Emma Forsayth -  owner of Kabakon island, and extensive plantations in the region

James Forsayth - Queen Emma's deceased husband

Doctor Parkinson - Queen Emma's plantation manager and aide de camp

Miss Bessie Pullen-Burry - Queen Emma's guest, writer of impressions and places

Evans - described as Queen Emma's maitre d'hotel

Clark - Australian pilot who ferries messages and cargoes around the local islands

The Sun is God Character List - Chapters 1 & 2

Groot Hoek River

Will Prior - a military policeman in the Boer War

Lieutenant Rigby - another military policeman

Harry Douglas - army doctor

Sergeant Black - originally from Yorkshire, he mans the Maxim gun at camp Z

Lieutenant Ashcroft - in charge of Camp Z

Albright - the officer Will picks for his duel

Lieutenant Blakely -  Will chooses him as his second in the duel

Lord Donnybrook - Albright's second

General Kitchener - Chief of Staff in 2nd Boer War

Happy New Reading

It was a pleasure to see so many friendly faces at the first 2015 meeting of The Saturday Readers. And yes, I know we meet on Wednesdays...

After catching up with each other and welcoming some new  members we got down to business. Armed with our usual set of requirements looked at various crime writers, desperate to find someone who writes good crime novels in about 300 words. We've upped the limit a bit from last time, I think we're gaining confidence in how much is reasonable to read over our next four sessions. Choosing wasn't too stressful this time, and based on a member's recommendation we've chosen to read The Sun is God by Adrian McKinty.

This is the link to Adrian McKinty's blog

Here is the link to the Goodreads page 

Here is the link to the Amazon page

Below is the summary from Amazon:

It is 1906 and Will Prior is in self-imposed exile on a remote South Pacific island, working a small, and failing, plantation. He should never have told anyone about his previous existence as a military foot policeman in the Boer War, but a man needs friends, even if they are as stuffy and, well, German, as Hauptmann Kessler, the local government representative.

So it is that Kessler approaches Will one hot afternoon, with a request for his help with a problem on a neighbouring island, inhabited by a reclusive, cultish group of European 'cocovores', who believe that sun worship and eating only coconuts will bring them eternal life. Unfortunately, one of their number has died in suspicious circumstances, and Kessler has been tasked with uncovering the real reason for his demise. So along with a 'lady traveller', Bessie Pullen-Burry, who is foisted on them by the archipelago's eccentric owner, they travel to the island of Kabakon, to find out what is really going on.

Serpent's Tail cover

See you on 11th February  -  Happy Reading!

Exciting News

I am very pleased to welcome a new group to the blog: the Seniors and Young Adults Reading Group.

We shall be meeting on Friday afternoons, at around 6.30. At our first meeting, held on the 19th December 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' was chosen as our first reading project.

The aim is to read the first 5 chapters for our next meeting, on 16th January at 6.30.

Here is the Wiki page for the book.

And this is the trailer for the film adaptation.

Ok, so let's read the first 5, don't worry if you don't read them before the 16th. Just enjoy the story and come to the meeting anyway!

You can contact me here if you have any questions or comments you want to make.

HBO Book Adaptation

HBO adapted the first book in the No 1 series. It could be interesting to watch some and see if they complement your reading and interpretation of characters and place. 

Here is a trailer to the HBO series

This clip is called Author's Diary, there's one for each episode. Useful summary and some insights before watching the full episode.

Here is episode 2 -  The Big Bonanza

Watch the writer and actors talking about Botswana:

This is a short "making of" clip

Unfortunately I haven't found the pilot episode...yet

All credit to HBO!