My Life in Books is an occasional feature on Random Things Through My Letterbox
I've asked authors to share with us a list of the books that are important to them and have made a lasting impression on their life.
Please join me in welcoming crime author Daniel Pembrey to Random Things today. I read and reviewed Daniel's book The Harbour Master here on Random Things a few weeks ago.
Daniel says; the books below mark out not only the stages
of my life but also the building blocks towards writing my own novel. The Harbour Master is now out with No
Exit Press, available at a special introductory price on Kindle here, until Tuesday 8th
November, and also in print edition from 10th November. The DailyMail has just reviewed it
For more information visit www.danielpembrey.com
Follow him on Twitter @DPemb
Find his Author page on Facebook
Follow him on Twitter @DPemb
Find his Author page on Facebook
My Life in Books ~ Daniel Pembrey
Sons and Lovers by D H Lawrence I
hail from a small village near Sherwood Forest. My school, Nottingham High
School, was previously attended by D.H. Lawrence. I vividly recall Mr Matthews,
my English teacher, reading D.H. Lawrence in the dialect of the mining country
that Lawrence grew up in. Sons and Lovers
(1913) is his first great novel – heavily auto-biographical – and for me
his best.
Black and Blue by Ian Rankin Next
I went to Edinburgh University, where I studied Social and Economic History, so
I had an appreciation for Ian Rankin’s use of the Scottish capital early on. Black and Blue (1997) takes a more
panoramic view of Scottish society. It won a CWA Gold Dagger, and its use of
multiple narrative strands would become a key inspiration for the structure of
my Harbour Master series.
Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings by Jonathan Raban I’ve
always been a fan of travel writing and indeed, I’d consider my own work to be
a blend of travel writing and crime fiction. Travel writing doesn’t come much
better than Passage to Juneau: A
Sea and Its Meanings (1999),
which recounts a personal voyage by Jonathan Raban along the ‘inside passage’
from Seattle, where both he and I were living when this book was published. Passage to Juneau works on multiple
levels – retracing Captain Vancouver’s historical voyage, and the author’s navigation
of midlife challenges … He broke off the journey to visit his dying father in
England (all described in the book), which had an added poignancy because I
gave the book to my father when he visited me in Seattle. Dad enjoyed it enormously
too.
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connolly does not feature Michael
Connelly’s famous Harry Bosch detective character, however it does tell one of
the most engaging stories I’ve read. In fact I was so wowed by the story
telling that I spent two weeks writing a synopsis of it, trying to understand why
it works so well. Like all true art, it defies rational anaylsis beyond a
certain point. I had the good fortune to interview Michael Connelly recently in London
Double Barrel by Nicolas Freeling And finally, when I began living in
Amsterdam a few years ago, I looked for the kind of crime fiction that I love
to read, set there – namely, the maverick, highly effective cop as exemplified
by John Rebus or Harry Bosch, only operating in the Dutch capital. I didn’t find
that, but I did find Nicolas Freeling’s Van
der Valk, written in the ‘60s. Freeling had a major influence on me as a
British author writing a Dutch character, and Double-Barrel (1964) is a masterly examination of small town Holland, packing an ending deserving of the title. For more
about Freeling and Double-Barrel,
please come along to a Dutch Detectives Book Club event at UCL (Central London)
on 30th November: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dutch-detectives-book-club-tickets-28552161283.
It would be great to see you there!
Daniel Pembrey ~ November 2016
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