Catching up..

[carolynwhite2]

--- In HPFGU-Catalogue at yahoogroups.com, "dungrollin" 
<spotthedungbeetle at h...> wrote:
> Carolyn:
> > BTW, for anyone suffering Fforde withdrawal pangs, I do heavily 
> > recommend 'Aberystwth Mon Amour' and 'Last Tango in Aberystwth' 
by 
> Malcom Pryce (in that reading order). 
> 
> Dot:
> Is the sequel as good as the first one?
> Ever read any Connie Willis? I quite enjoyed "To Say Nothing of the 
> Dog."

Carolyn:
Alas no, I don't know Connie Willis, will investigate on Amazon. I am 
in dire need of reading material for the long hikes across London 
every day.

If anything this sequel is better, but essential to have read the 
first one to get all the jokes. Like Fforde, it's kinda difficult to 
pick a bit out because it builds and builds in the same dead pan send 
up mode, but here's a snip from one of the gossip opening rounds. 

[To non-Brits, you have to imagine all this in the sing-song Welsh 
accent; think Dylan Thomas and all the stories you ever heard about 
Dai the tank engine.].

'The bell dinged and the lady in the red scarf started.
'Well, anyway, Mrs Benyon was just saying that it's not her first one 
that Mrs Jenkins was talking about. It's the elder one - she's got 
two, hasn't she? - the youngest one is still in Penwiddig, isn't it? 
And the eldest is out at Talybont married to the chap whose father 
ran the garage that was knocked down, anyway it wasn't him it was his 
brother whose two boys were in the same class as the daughter of the 
one from the woman who lives above the bakers in Llanfarian - '

There were cries of 'Logic! Logic!' from the blue corner and after a 
quick conference among the judges the charge was upheld. The woman in 
the red scarf picked herself up off the canvas and came out 
fighting: 'Anyway, it was her niece what made the jam for the "bring 
and buy" after her husband came back from the mines with emphysema - '

There was a roar of delight from one section of the crowd and the 
other section looked stony-faced. Two ladies in front of me turned to 
each other and swapped disapproving nods. Another lady in front of 
them turned round and said, 'It wasn't emphysema at all - it was 
nothing to do with aureoles as such - '
'I heard it was viral,' said another spectator, 'but they weren't 
quite sure what.'
'You'd think she'd test her weak spot with mumps or measles or 
something first, wouldn't you!'
'Or maybe sciatica, that's always a good one, that is.'
'You watch!' the first one scoffed, 'Mrs Jenkins will trump her now 
with pneumoconiosis.'

Oh, it's brilliant, and even quite moving at the end. And the things 
that are alleged about Univ College Lampeter...did you you know they 
did Embalming Studies, and get their own cadaver to experiment on at 
the beginning of term?

::snort::

[Further notes for non-Brits - all Welsh towns with more than three 
people are university colleges..they tend to be very, very odd].


> Dot:
> Thanks very much, I hope it will go well too (though I've just 
> noticed some missing tables in the appendix and am starting to 
> worry). Lunch sounds splendid - I'll be panicking on Monday, in 
> Reading for the viva on Tuesday, and probably hungover for much of 
> Wednesday, but should be lounging around South Ken Thursday and 
> Friday if you're free then.
> 
> Dot
> Glad that Ginger's cousin is ok (and belatedly thanking her for all 
> her hard work), but otherwise gobsmacked by the scale of the 
> disaster.

Carolyn:
Thursday might be good, or Friday. I'll email you offlist to fix up.

Also horrified at what is happening in New Orleans, not least the 
incredible delay in getting those poor people out, although I see 
they have at last got around to a massive airlift. It's playing 
terribly across the news media worldwide. See:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4211320.stm

Carolyn