22 September 2013

Elizabeth Peters. The Last Camel Died at Noon (1991)

     Elizabeth Peters. The Last Camel Died at Noon (1991) I gave up about half way through this interminable Victorian pastiche of sex, sand, and stars. Amelia Peabody and her husband go on a dig, and various kinds of skulduggery ensue. The arch references to their sex life grate after a while; Amelia seems to keeping score. Their parenting is far too modern. And so on. Altogether too clever by half, but not clever enough: Peters wants to write in the Victorian manner, but too many modernisms creep in and spoil the effect. It’s damn hard to maintain a century-old style. * (2007)
By Wolf Kirchmeir at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

The Sentinel (A. C. Clarke, 1983)

  Arthur C. Clarke. The Sentinel . (1983) Collection of short stories, including the one that sparked 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke provides...

  • John Cunningham. The Tin Star (Collier’s, December 4, 1947)
    John Cunningham.  The Tin Star (Collier’s, December 4, 1947) The short story adapted for High Noon . As often happens, the movie retains v...
  • Remembrance Day
        Today we remember those whom we sent into war on our behalf, and who gave everything they had. They gave their lives. I want to think ab...
  • Interior Monologue
    I heard the phrase recently. Can’t recall exactly when. It was uttered on a radio program, but I can’t recall what the program was about. Pr...