Six Degrees of Separation #3: Saturday 7th June 2014
Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries is about twelve men who meet in order to discuss a recent spate of unsolved crimes.
Sherlock Holmes is the ultimate crime sleuth. I worked my way through Conan Doyle’s stories about a year after I moved to London and experienced a real thrill when I read about places he wrote about, particularly the south London locations. (‘Kennington Road? I know where that is!’)
The Room of Lost Things by Stella Duffy is a poignant story about life in south London. A Loughborough Junction dry cleaners to be exact. This dry cleaners is under the railway tracks…
Kate Colquhoun’s Mr Brigg’s Hat is a page turning historical true crime story set on a great Victorian invention: the train.
Isabel’s Skin by Richard Benson is a fascinatingly odd Victorian historical novel about a scientist who experiments with the heroine’s skin…
(read my review here)
Under the Skin by Michael Faber is another novel that includes creepy modifications to humans.
(Read my review here)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is an uncomfortable story that raises many ethical issues about the human body.
Quite a depressing end to this month’s list!
Find out more about the Six Degrees of Separation meme here.
This was my first month giving this a go and I’m already amazed at the different directions people are heading to – I’m working my way through Agatha Christies the way you are with Sherlock Holmes :)!
It’s great when you get caught up in an older series of books that don’t try and do anything special other than tell a good story! I might look into Agatha Christie next…
Yes, you got quite dark and creepy this month! Under the Skin made a big impression on me when I read it – there are certain scenes I still remember in detail even 10 years later. I’m interested to see whether they do a good job with the movie. Never Let Me Go was fantastic – I went through a massive Ishiguro phase at one time and really enjoyed this one.
Interesting selection. Having read Isobel’s Skin I can see how well this fits in.