tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post6778652057177932312..comments2024-03-29T09:22:57.031+00:00Comments on Declan Burke: That’s Entertainment?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-15486894780350118302011-10-10T03:09:36.607+01:002011-10-10T03:09:36.607+01:00I started Bloodland today. Its first chapter is a ...I started <i>Bloodland</i> today. Its first chapter is a brilliant as anything I can remember reading. If the rest of the book is as good, this is a high-water mark in crime fiction that will be remembered for years and, yes, worthy of consideration alongside novels of any kind.<br />======================<br />Detectives Beyond Borders<br />"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<br /> <a href="http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/</a>Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-23581313161059187812011-10-03T07:54:35.252+01:002011-10-03T07:54:35.252+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.pixymagichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01190649164739045330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-43818638993386353842011-10-03T03:39:31.090+01:002011-10-03T03:39:31.090+01:00I think engaging is a better word than entertainin...I think engaging is a better word than entertaining. We can be engaged at many levels, and crime fiction sometimes comes in at the very highest.<br /><br />On an aside, I am glad I read this post for a very off topic reason. I had missed that the Irish Times reviewer was Anna Carey. Anna was a vital member of a great books forum that I'm still part of. Despite my inability to manage the Irish phone system, I somehow managed to meet her and a friend of hers for dinner at a sushi place in Dublin, the first and only time I went somewhere where the sushi rolled around on a little track and you pulled it off as you pleased. I then literally had to run across Dublin to see Lady Windemere's Fan. I'm sure she thought I was a very odd duck, but she was quite a nice person and I'm glad her writing career is going places.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-27600921659799572812011-10-03T01:01:46.001+01:002011-10-03T01:01:46.001+01:00Declan, the following is from Pete Dexter's re...Declan, the following is from Pete Dexter's review of Jim Harrison's new novel, The Great Leader, in today's NY Times Book Review: Entertaining the brain "is one of the two possible reasons to write, or for that matter read. To enlighten and to entertain: what else is there? And while good books -- even so-so books -- serve both functions, if you ever have to choose one over the other, keep in mind that a book that entertains without enlightening can still be a guilty pleasure, but a book that enlightens without entertaining is algebra."Fred Leonhardtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-27818397874504113122011-10-02T19:51:59.935+01:002011-10-02T19:51:59.935+01:00I think that Dana is talking about entertainments ...I think that Dana is talking about entertainments that are like cotton candy-you know, empty calories. For me, an entertaining and satisfying book is one that touches me, makes me laugh, and bends my mind a little-or a lot. I admit to liking cotton candy once in a great while, but it isn't very good for me, and sends me running to books that are described here. I've ordered the Flann O'brien book; that's what I like about this site-it stretches my reading. And entertains me, too.lil Glucksternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288522126331817172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-84182505247094629252011-10-02T15:43:27.039+01:002011-10-02T15:43:27.039+01:00Entertainment and thought are not mutually exclusi...Entertainment and thought are not mutually exclusive. In fact, most entertainment requires a certain amount of thought. Mindless "entertainment" is boring, which is basically the opposite of entertaining.<br /><br />At least it does for me. Maybe that's why I'm so far out of the mainstream when it comes to what entertains me.<br /><br />Okay, so maybe I wasn't the best person to comment.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.com