Reading matters

While I reserve the right to write enormous quantities of absolute crap (the current manuscript is about to end in the next few days, in first draft form, at about page 380 or 390) I have decided to stop reading drivel.

And for this reason... and in order also to save cash... I shall henceforth limit myself to one paperback per week. It has been getting increasingly difficult to find storytelling that leaves me satisfied when I've finished the book.

I am taking this as an opportunity to take an interest in the writing sometimes termed 'Nordic noir', making a start with Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy. I know, I am coming to Larsson late in the day, given that there are already one or maybe even two motion picture adaptations. But these are films I doubt whether I shall watch. The trailer I saw recently was so dominated by murkily tenebrous night scenes that severe eye strain threatened. It seems that only few cinema directors are prepared to stage scenes of intrigue and dark dealings in daylight or even bright sunlight. I seem to recall French thrillers,like Chabrol's À Double Tour and  René Clément's Plein Soleil, as being sun-drenched exceptions.