ANOTHER BOOK REVIEW

I have been reading a lot lately by this author. I really like his style. He is a good example of why I read fiction. I find his character developments interesting and his style both amusing and soothing. Yes that’s right soothing! Just before sleep and after prayer there is something so nice in letting these thoughts swirl around my head.Let me give you an example:

 “ O Lord,” he whispered,” who judges all men and to whom alone the secrets of the heart are known; forgive my human failings, my manifold acts of wickedness. Open my heart to love. Turn thy healing gaze to me. Forgive me for that which I have not done which I ought to have done.”

It was a hotch-potch of half-remembered phrases, taken out of context and patched together, but as he spoke them, uttered each one, he felt their transformative power. He saw a man beside a shore. He saw children at the feet of the man. What he saw was love and compassion; he was sure of that, utterly sure.

             (from The World According to Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith.) I should add that I haven't found anything preachy in this book or the others by the author I have read but more that they speak about life and people in a musing sort of way.

 I started reading The  No.1  Ladies’ Detective Agency series Set in Botswana these books are refreshing for their positive slant on Africa. Indeed the author states this as one of his reasons for writing them.Later I  read  The World According to Bertie from his  44 Scotland Street Series Both series have much to commend them and I am looking forward to dipping into his two other series.

As a postscript, there is a movie based on the first novel in The  No.1  Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I haven’t watched it but it looks as if you can watch it online here. Anyway here is a preview of it.