IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Winged with Death - John Baker

At the start of this novel, our narrator Ramon Bolio, previously known as Frederick Boyle tells us that he is starting to write his autobiography.  He begins at the age of eighteen, when in 1972 he jumped ship in Uruguay and then embarked on his early adult life in Montevideo.  Soon, he meets and is taken in by Julio who immediately renames him as Ramon Bolio.  1972 is his new beginning in a country where he does not speak the language and neither does he know it well; it's a country on the brink of dictatorship and with an active resistance movement.  It's a country where people go missing, are tortured and are killed.

His autobiography is not a straightforward chapter by chapter chronological account of his life either; it is cut through with matters of the present day, as if Ramon is chatting with the reader as he goes along.  And if the past environment was not bad enough, his present day is also not running smoothly.  His writing is interrupted by his younger brother Stephen who is fretting because his step-daughter Hannah has gone missing.  Ramon rushes into reassurance mode as Hannah has done this before.  But it's not too long before the police are called in.  With Stephen and his wife not being the brightest, and also suffering the loss of Hannah, Ramon serves as their protector and advocate during proceedings.

Back in Montevideo, Ramon discovers the tango and he works to become a Milonguero, a master of the dance.  Throughout the novel, references to what a good tango should be serve as metaphors for life and in particular, how Ramon's life is shaped over the years, based on his experiences in Uruguay.  As a narrator, there is an initial eerie feel to Ramon, a sense of not really knowing him as he recalls being a cocky young man who also seems to have been prepared to be swept up by those he encountered.  It is not clear what he has learned and what is the core of him.  There is also a sense of detachment, as if Ramon, in his writing, is actually a spider on the wall, looking down on his life and directing the prose.

I tend to avoid the genre wars and to avoid the mention of "literary", but for me, this novel was more of the literary in nature, but with a mystery in one strand of the story.  It is rich with the description of life in a country rife with resistance and revolution, and it evokes the immense tension of the situation.  It pursues both the directly visceral and the intellectual (sometimes venturing into the realms of philosophy) in its prose.  Here are a couple of quotes to give you a feel for the novel:

• 'I don't want a child,' she said.  'It's the end.  Motherhood is measuring your days in fluids - tears, blood, milk, spew and piss.

• The dress was black and elegant with a long full skirt, Empire line, made of soft chiffon with strappy lacing in the back, and Florencia was a lump in it.

It is simply too hard - call it impossible - to say what this novel achieves without giving the plot away.  Essentially, it is a story of finding manhood in a country at risk, in a culture at risk, when life could prove to be all too short and the experience of life matters more than at any other time or place.  In Ramon: what makes the man?  And what did he learn of life?  He certainly learned the tango and how it reflects on life, but how does his inner core direct him in later life?  Obviously, you would have to read the novel to find out.

John Baker has written a good evocative and also provocative novel with Winged with Death.

Winged with Death by John Baker (Flambard Press) is available now.

This review has also appeared onEurocrime.

Guest Blog: John Baker, author of Winged with Death

Winged with Death - Virtual Tour 

I was struck by something Elizabeth Baines said the other day. When speaking about the writing process she said, always be prepared to put back things you've cut. 

This is something I've never thought about before. I've cut lots of passages, sometimes whole chapters from my own manuscripts. During the editing stage I've removed thematic elements from a novel, and from time to time, single characters or families, including all references to them made by other voices in the narrative. Obliterated them. 

When you cut something from a narrative you don't expect to have to put it back. You imagine you have made an irrevocable decision. For some reason the narrative is flawed, slowed, obscured by this passage, so the passage has to be cut. 

But I have, in the past, replaced cut sections of a novel. I didn't learn Elizabeth's lesson to always be prepared to put back things you've cut, but, of course, I'm not going to forget it now. It's a good thing to remember. 

I was prepared to do it in the instance, because a novel is a huge project and one of the things that is very difficult about a huge project is managing to keep it all in your head at the same time. It is likely that you will be doing some quite close work during the editing stage and your concentration, of necessity is focussed on one or more aspects of the narrative that for some reason is unsatisfactory. This is the most likely stage when something will be cut. And the cut takes place because it would seem to solve a problem. 

Later, however, sometimes quite a short time later, I may easily discover that the cut has created a bigger problem than the one it solved, and in fact it would have been better not to cut but to trim a little, or to shift emphasis. 

That's why a cut is only ever done with half a heart. A passage is removed from the narrative, but, in my case at least, never burned or buried or shredded. It's just dumped in folder labelled 'cuts'. And left there to languish, sometimes for ever. 

As we've seen, these cuts sometimes make a comeback, they're reinstated, they were falsely accused. In the past I've thought that they may be incorporated elsewhere, into another novel, into a short story, etc. etc. But this is rarely the case. Because they have been been created as part of a bespoke project, they don't fit elsewhere, they always stick out as if they were of a slightly different hue, or like an overcoat made specifically for a man with short arms, they always appear a little odd out of context. 

Sometimes I find a use for them in my blog, This works because they can often stand alone, and readers have commented, indicating that these out-takes seem to have an internal integrity. It is often not necessary to include reference to where they came from or why they are orphaned in the world. They have a way of letting us know.

Today is John Baker's Day

Today, I am pleased to welcome John Baker as he flies in on his virtual tour to promote his current novel, Winged with Death.  The next post is John's and the following one contains my thoughts on his novel, for which I wish him every success.

On Arvon and its writer successes...

OK, I shall come out of the closet.  I am a veteran of writing courses with the Arvon Foundation and Ty Newydd in Wales (former home of Lloyd George): three with the former and one with the latter, both highly recommended (although it heavily depends on who is tutoring).  I once wanted to write a novel and gave it 100% for quite some time, but the earnest urgency eventually evaporated and I learnt that I prefer to write small pieces.  Factual stuff.  Hence the blog, I suppose.

But I did meet a few along the way who have realised their dreams.  In the crime fiction world this includes Elena Forbes and Linda Regan.  Today, I was pleasantly surprised to hear again from Ben Kane, who will have his second novel published by Preface at the start of June.  His first, The Forgotten Legion was published about a year ago and his second, The Silver Eagle is what's coming next in June.  Both novels might be described as Roman epics and all things Roman make an obsession for Ben.  (I have invited Ben to guest blog here near the time of publication of his second novel.)

I have strong recollections of a week spent at The Hurst in Shropshire, former home of John Osbourne now owned by the Arvon Foundation.  What struck me most about Ben was his sheer determination to get his stories into the public domain and his love of writing.  Proof in the pudding can be seen by the fact that novel number two is out a year after the first and that the first garnered 4.5 stars across 21 reviews on Amazon UK.

For such output, it should be noted that Ben is not a full time writer: he also works as a vet in the west country.

How great it is to have rubbed shoulders - or, more likely perhaps, shared Arvon kitchen duties - with such folk.  I truly admire their successes and wish them well.

Ref: Ben's new site and the site dedicated to his first novel.

Coming up...

Another little foray into the LBF and its Remainder Section tomorrow.  (With pics.)

Then on Wednesday, John Baker is guest posting along with my thoughts on his latest novel Winged with Death.

Blurb from It's a Crime...

Yes, another poor quality shot - perhaps I ought to take lessons - but here's the back of Chris Ewan's latest: The Good Thief's Guide to Paris, from Long Barn Books in the UK.  A comment I made on his first novel, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam appears last, before some brief biography on Chris.  (It's the bit with too much light on it.)

"The beauty of it is that it's the start of a series."

Itsacrime.typepad.com

What a pleasant surprise that was!

And do check out The Good Thief's Guides.  Paris even includes a lock-picking tutorial at the back.

Some tins for Dorte

To ensure that Dorte never runs out of tins for her "Bait in the Box" quizes, here is my contribution of two:

First a very British tin.  It's one that holds "curiously strong mints" at Marks and Spencer.

Secondly, from the Netherlands, a tin that holds cocoa.  I loved this tin when I saw it in the Albert Heijn supermarket in Amsterdam last year.  I think it's quite beautiful and should be on display in my kitchen as opposed to in the cupboard.

Lastly, on the topic of Dutch cocoa and things foody, I believe it was Clarissa Dickson Wright of Two Fat Ladies fame who praised the Dutch for the quality of their cocoa.  Apparently, it's the only thing they're good for in the culinary world.  Or was, anyway.   Because I'd like to bring her up to date.

Today's telly chefs, when making something involving vanilla and not scraping out a pod or two, they are always at pains to tell us that we should avoid essence and go for a good extract.

You will often see a bottle of this on their shelves.

It's from Leeuwarden.  In the Netherlands.

And my apologies that the pics are wobbly.  When depressing the button on the camera, I also have a tendency to drop my whole hand.

BAFTA Television Awards 2009

Well, the night started well with Wallander picking up a BAFTA for drama series.  "This is bloody marvellous" said Kenneth Branagh.  Too right, because it had been up against the ever popular Dr Who and Spooks, as well as Shameless.  He went on to note the achievement as it was the first outing for the series.  Let's hope for lots more of it, because it's really well made.

Later in the evening the award for drama serial - presumably defined as a one-off three parter or similar, as opposed to long term series for the above award - went to Criminal Justice.  I saw this too and thought it superb.  If you haven't seen it and it's not repeated soon, do get the DVD.

Proving we all love a cop show, The Bill overcame competition from Eastenders, Emmerdale and Casualty to win for Continuing Drama Series (read "soap").

Andrew Marr took to the stage with Kirsty Wark for the presentation of the news award and in his introduction he mentioned that serious and accurate news has never been more important.  Again too right.  The press have just outed themselves over the McBride Smeargate affair as having been complicit with the spin-bullying of Labour over the years and a tendency to take on trust and not investigate.  The BBC is now well-perceived as being politicised.  What a shame seriousness and accuracy have been playing second fiddle for so long.  The award was won by News at 10 (ITN) for its coverage of the Chinese earthquake and the footage showed why.

In a lighter moment, coming on stage to present the award for comedy programme, Rob Brydon seemed legitimately surprised and humoured to have Tom Jones's Sex Bomb song as the accompanying music.  That one went to Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse.

When the award for features went to The Choir: Boys Don't Sing, the camera swept around to Sir Alan Sugar who looked quite disappointed that The Apprentice had not won it.

Alas, another favourite of mine, Outnumbered did not win for sitcom.  This went to The IT Crowd, which I've never seen, but think I might like from the clips shown.  Outnumbered was in the running again later for the only award subject to the public vote.  It lost again to Skins.  Here, the camera panned again to the three child actors sitting together, and the face and posture of the little girl said she'd finally had it by that stage. But I believe there will be many more opportunities for them to win in the future.

For comedy performance, Outnumbered's Claire Skinner lost out to David Mitchell, as did Gavin and Stacey's Rob Brydon.  The competition was very tough.

A special award was given to the BBC's Jane Tranter who has made sure that the BBC has brought some excellent programming over the years, in drama and comedy.  She defied the critics to ensure that Dr Who was brought back to our screens, updated, and we saw the return of family programming.

I don't think I was the only one who was disappointed when June Brown did not get the actress award, but I also think she should have been up for it many years ago when she did the first, and then, ground-breaking monologue on Eastenders.  This time round, I believe it was reported that ratings had suffered, but I believe that's more a reflection of today.  The award went to Anna Maxwell Martin for Poppy Shakespeare.

When it came to actor, the award went to someone I'd not heard of: Stephen Dillane for The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall (something I've not seen).  But of the other three on the shortlist it will come as no surprise to anyone who regularly reads this blog that I think Ken Stott is one of our best actors in the UK and he thoroughly deserved to be there.  Jason Isaacs was also there and he's another I rate highly.  I will now have to see The Curse of Steptoe.  Lastly, Ben Wishaw was there for Criminal Justice and he turned in a remarkable performance in that.  I think this one was probably the tightest category.

Finally on the night, fellowships were awarded to Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, presented by Helen Mirren.  It has to be one of warmest received fellowships I've ever seen.  They had a standing ovation and took to the stage to the sound of "Here come the girls."  Even Jonathan Ross looked a bit glassy-eyed.

Best joke of the night was Graham Norton's, on introducing Andrew Marr.  He said that Marr had been placed in seat G20.  Or was it perhaps another of Norton's, where he noted that those in the audience had delivered twelve months of hard work, but in Jonathan Ross's case it was nine.

Worst outfit of the night must go to the pregnant Tess Daley.  Hideous.  But hers was not the only unflattering dress in the crowds.  I'm sure tomorrow's papers will have an analysis, perhaps try the Daily Mail and Liz Jones.  (They have something up already and it's by a "Daily Mail Reporter", not Liz Jones.  And they disagree with me over Tess Daley's dress.  They must have forgotten their specs.)

All in all, it was a good night for crime drama.  And in the world of TV, crime does not have its own special category.

The Apprentice: series 5; episode 5

This week was the test of the contents of the marketing mix: in this case product development, promo, advertising and marketing.  It involved producing the theme, the packaging and the on-screen advertising for the product, as well as developing its unique selling point.  All involved creative thought.  Here, Sir Alan introduced a child-friendly but healthy cereal for the teams to play with.  And play they did...

Someone seems to have taken away Philip's happy pills and the effect was both material and monstrous.  OK, so he threw himself into the task with plenty of suggestions, but then he would not take any criticism and threw a "terrible twos' tantrum" whenever it came, acting like a megalomaniac and eventually proving to be the wire brush to Lorraine's sensitive skin.  War simmered and eventually raged.

London Book Fair 2009

On Wednesday, I was very pleased to meet up with Karen from Eurocrime and Maxine from Petrona at the London Book Fair.  Could this become an annual event and could other friendly blog voices add to the triumvirate in future years?  I hope so.

I've already talked about our encounter with the Espresso machine in an earlier post so this one is more general.  The first thing to note is that the final day is quieter, much quieter.  The only benefit to this is that it's easier to find a seat to sit, eat, drink and talk.  There are also fewer queues when it comes to collecting a drink.  The downsides include some stands having already lost their human participants, or they've run out of catalogues or started to pack up.

I had arrived some time before the meeting arrangements so I managed a short tour over 15 minutes, before grabbing a table at our meeting point.  After a good hour or so of chat, we headed out to navigate the stands.  Maxine had done exactly the same as me and listed the names and stand locations.  But then came the pantomime performance.  I think it was twice that I stood by a stand, diary in hand, saying "Well, we're here by X so Y should be very close."  To which I had the reply "It's right behind you."  I hadn't even spotted the genie coming out of the lamp.   This year's LBF looked as big as last year's, but I found it harder to navigate.  I blame the shorter timeframe.

The ladies who were front of house at the Panmacmillan stand were very friendly.    I even walked away with a rather chunky diet book - more on that later.  I wonder if it will prove to be this year's trend.  It has made its way across the pond from the US.  As the economy continues to enter an even frostier mode, if it was titled "Dieting in the Frugal Years" I think it might have a better chance.  But who knows?

On passing a Swedish book stand, we admired the covers on the chidren's books.  I spotted a Henning Mankell book for children that was indeed in English.  Until then, I had not realised that Mankell had written for children.

We spent a bit of time at the Quercus stand, a publisher very much appreciated by both Maxine and Karen for their engagement in crime in translation.  I'll be making a start with Quercus when I read Esther Verhoef's Close-up, which is coming up soon and I also have a copy of Prue Leith's The Choral Society, for when I feel like a departure from crime.

Quite late in the afternoon the IPG stand was still very busy, with a lot of activity within its inner hub, even though some of the independent publishers had already departed.  I hope the activity was a sign of good things for them.

One thing's for sure, although it was the last day and quieter, there was no discernible reduction in the effort put in by publishers and others in the trade.  The set up, in terms of size and nature of stands was about the same as last year.  If anything, I think the IPG utilised a larger floorspace this year.

Acceptance of book bloggers was greatly improved this year, with far less suspicion encountered.  This was also reflected in an experience I had earlier today.  I am slow to do all the "following" I'd ideally like on Twitter and I discovered that The Bookseller had clicked to follow me before I could reach to them.  I think the phenomenon of Twitter in the world of books and publishing is worthy of investigation one day; but for now, I have the survey of book bloggers to analyse...