Monthly Archives: April 2009

Review: City of the Sun

By David Levien

Posted on 28 April 2009 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

Well written, but uninspiring

By a weird co-incidence, I watched "Ocean’s 13" the night before this book found its way to the top of my reading pile. Levien also wrote the screenplay for that film, which I enjoyed enormously, and I was looking forwards to a similar mix of complex plot and light touch dialogue in the book, but sadly I was to be disappointed.

Basically this is a book about a grim and serious subject – the kidnapping of children by organised peadophiles – and as a result it demands a rather grim and serious treatment. At the end there is hope for the boy’s parents and the detective, but therwise this is an unleavened slog which does not make you feel good about the world.

That said, the book is quite well written, and held my attention with its steady pace and well-drawn characters. I expect that readers who prefer their crime novels straight, rather than with Hiaasen-like comic twists, will enjoy it more than I did.

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Categories: Reviews. Content Types: Book, Crime / mystery, and Fiction.
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Legislative Stupidity

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Posted on 7 April 2009 by Andrew - Please share: All Addthis servicesTweet thisFacebook thisLink thisYam thisShare on Google

I feel compelled to write this post to highlight a stupid law which rather than constraining terrorists hands them victory.

In July 2008 my wife and I attended the Northampton Balloon Festival. An enjoyable time was had by all, notwithstanding a complete absence of balloons, occasioned by the British weather.

One of the highlights was a successful attempt on the world record for the greatest number of performers singing “Y.M.C.A”! This shot captures the scene:

OK, it’s not “Afghan Girl” or “Migrant Mother”, but I liked it, capturing a British Bobby policing his community exactly as required.

This photograph is legal. Had I taken it after February 16th 2009 I would have committed a crime. The stupidity of that law hands victory to the terrorists.

Andrew

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Posted in Personal News, Photography, Thoughts on the World | Leave a comment