Recent content by Mats Flemstrom

I cannot think of ANY good reason to "take" a book, a story, a play or a poem in school. The ones that I was "taught" simply made sure I would never read them or that author again ( e.g. "Great Expectations" in gr.9 ). 45 years later I cannot enjoy Dickens. Encouraging reading is great - a...

In the past I've had large terrestrial gardens, growing everything from soup to nuts. Now, living in an apartment, my garden is in containers on a balcony. At first, this seemed a huge handicap - it's not. True, I cannot produce in quantity, but that is really the only limitation. On the plus...

After watching/listening to Imogen Heap perform "Just for Now" on YouTube some weeks back, she has become my favourite current act. Inventiveness, musicality, voice, arrangements, strong lyrics - she has it all. She has finished recording her "second" album which will soon be released; I, for...

I have begun reading "Ulysses" by James Joyce. I've haven't read Joyce since high school. It intrigued me a bit, this rep of being a "hard read". So, while still at the first 100 pages, I haven't found it (hard part). Will it come at the end, when Molly speaks? I don't know. Anyone care to...

So, why popular? Not only is "Holden" seen as "poor rich kid" but as someone people (all "phony" ) sympathize with - WHY IS THAT?

I read CITR in high school and thought it was unusual to see "...k" in print. When I re-read it as an adult I "met" Holden as a holier-than-thou, whining, sneering person who I would not spend a minute being condesceded by. How did he manage to be seen as a sympathetic character? Is he not a...

There are 4 writers in the original list that I haven't tried but will now; listing Per Waloo & Maj Sjowal in the opening sentence assures me I will not go wrong. Thanks, Mats

Try Donna Leon's Brunetti series or Per Waloo & Maj Sjowal's Martin Beck series; both very good.

An excellent writer, who I only discovered last year, Magdalen Nabb, not only wrote superbly but has a lifestory as interesting as her books'. She was living in England, a single parent trained as a potter, when she ups and moves to Florence (not speaking Italian) with her son. Here, she...