Dunster ebook

by John Mortimer

Sir John Clifford Mortimer CBE QC FRSL (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was an English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter, and author

Sir John Clifford Mortimer CBE QC FRSL (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was an English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter, and author. Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, the only child of Kathleen May (née Smith) and (Herbert) Clifford Mortimer (1884–1961), a divorce and probate barrister who became blind in 1936 when he hit his head on the door frame of a London taxi but still pursued his career. Clifford's loss of sight was not acknowledged openly by the family.

If I hadn’t expected to find the house burnt down, utterly destroyed, I thought it would be empty, my wife and child gone and a note left on the kitchen table.

If I hadn’t expected to find the house burnt down, utterly destroyed, I thought it would be empty, my wife and child gone and a note left on the kitchen table h had her homework spread out and there was no sign of a note anywhere. The place was warm and inviting and smelt gently of stew. Beth said, ‘You’re late. She was peeling potatoes, with an apron tied over her jeans, wearing one of my shirts with the sleeves rolled up.

For newcomers to his work that may sound unpromising; those who know him of old will know to expect better. As always, he is very entertaining and readable. Mortimer's humour comes from his detached and amused attitude, very sympathetic up to a point but more than a little superior, humane and involved certainly but distinctly above it all too.

But his old school chum, Dick Dunster, has a way of breaking into Philip’s life over and over again, and whenever Dunster appears, trouble - very BIG trouble - is never far behin. .

John Mortimer Стр. 97 She seemed as beautiful as on the first day I met her, perhaps.

A brilliant new novel from the author of the bestselling Paradise Postponed and the Rumpole stories. Philip Progmire's friend and nemesis, Dick Dunster, who has already sabotaged Philip's career and his marriage, now threatens his job by making a documentary that accuses Philip's boss of wartime atrocities.

by. Mortimer, John, 1923-2009.

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Dunster John Mortimer Metin Parçacığı görünümü - 1993. John Mortimer is the author of many books including twelve volumes of Rumpole stories, as well as the bestselling "Summer's Lease" & "Paradise Postponed"

Dunster John Mortimer Metin Parçacığı görünümü - 1993. Dunster John Mortimer Metin Parçacığı görünümü - 1994. Dunster John Mortimer Metin Parçacığı görünümü - 1992. Tümünü görüntüle . Sık kullanılan terimler ve kelime öbekleri. John Mortimer is the author of many books including twelve volumes of Rumpole stories, as well as the bestselling "Summer's Lease" & "Paradise Postponed". He lives with his wife & youngest daughter in the house in Buckinghamshire that his father built.

Zodama

Great novel, but not as wonderful as the Rumpole stories ....

Survivors

This review may contain “spoilers.”

Mr. Mortimer has written another very sharp novel. It combines all the human elements we expect to see from this experienced author in a suspenseful, believable work. The ultimate compliments one can give, “It’s hard to put down,” and “I can’t wait to read more,” apply. In summary, the novel is completely successful, well written, acute, uncompromising and a very satisfying read.

I will not describe the plot. It's important to note I felt antipathy and anger at times, which also says Mr. Mortimer’s efforts succeeded. My emotions are testimony and credits to his skill, I would not have them if he had been less convincing. There is only a single, possibly likeable female character, and she plays an almost minor role. The remainder are snobbish, condescending, immature, class-conscious bullies who ultimately deserve their due. I hope my biased character description conveys the skillful, high quality writing. The author’s timing and development is nicely paced; he has a phenomenal, precise ear for cultural dialogue; there is finely tuned and appropriately uncomfortable suspense; the plot is somewhat simple but not routine. I found Dunster very well written.

Other reviewers discuss the trial. We watch as the book inevitably leads us to this central resolution. The author carefully and definitively presents a consolidated view of British justice. Rumpole graduates will be satisfied.

There is much more to this than character development. It can be considered an allegory. The author presents difficult choices, none of them easy. It invariably comes down to, “How would I behave under those circumstances?” And what about “truth”? In fact, what is true? Mr. Mortimer leaves us wondering. Perfect.

I highly recommend Dunster, and easily assign five stars. It is timeless, appropriately frustrating, an excellent work, compelling, stimulating and finally satisfying, a very fine read.

Jek

John Mortimer is a lawyer, and he writes this story in the persona of an accountant. For newcomers to his work that may sound unpromising; those who know him of old will know to expect better. As always, he is very entertaining and readable. As always, his mind is sharp and his eye for people and situations is ironic. He is not precisely a witty writer in the sense of turning out memorable sayings or sentences, although his style is polished and professional and his touch is light. Mortimer's humour comes from his detached and amused attitude, very sympathetic up to a point but more than a little superior, humane and involved certainly but distinctly above it all too. He is the product of a privileged upbringing and has a very obvious taste for the `better' things in life, but his inclinations are leftish, with the derisive view of conservative thinking that is not uncommon among his particular school of English intellectuals.

This is a very English book by a very English writer. It dates from 1992, by which time he already had a major corpus of novels and plays behind him, notably of course the celebrated Rumpole series about the un-stellar humdrum lawyer memorably played in a television series by Leo McKern. His fascination with English legal processes has never left him, and obviously he writes about them with an insider's knowledge. Lawsuits and trials are a very reliable form of drama and entertainment, and I found that my own sense of expectancy and interest rose when we get to that part in the latter stages of the story. It's an easy hit in a way, but when handled by a gifted professional the formula never fails. There is certainly an element of suspense as we wait to hear the verdict, but the real touch of Mortimer is in his portrayal of the bullying and bloody-minded judge with his little-concealed bias towards the great and the good followed by his completely fair and balanced summing-up, fair and balanced not because the judge is either of those things still less because English justice is some shining lawcourt on a hill, but simply because the judge has his eye on the Appeal Court.

The dull man's final quiet triumph over the flash man is typical Mortimer as well - it comes about through luck and it could easily have gone the other way. There might be a moral in it, but equally there might not. I'm quite sure the author wants to leave us guessing about that. He is quite clearly on the side of the dull man, but it is very questionable whether the outcome represents any kind of justice. All very readable, and with a convincing feel about it in the way the English behave, especially to each other, and an amusing and realistic depiction of life at Oxford in the early chapters. Mortimer is not a heavyweight in the sense that Waugh is that, but I personally like him a lot better. 5 stars? Why not?

Ricep

The character development in this book is superb. You may start out liking the Dunster character, but just wait. A story about an accountant? No way! Don't be put off by that. At the heart of the story is an incident in WWII. All the folk in a small Italian town enter a church and are blown to bits. How/why did it happen? The writing is brilliant. The ending is sweet. Why aren't there more reviews of this book? I hope that lack doesn't mean there have been few readers. This is a book practically all readers will enjoy.

Shadowredeemer

I've lost count of the number of times I've read this novel which I think is Mortimer's best along with "Summer's Lease".

Character rather than plot was always his forte and this book is filled with memorable characters, such as the crafty former army office, Jaunty Blair, the eponymous investigative journalist, Dunster, and various minor players.

The story is set in London in the 1980s when the narrator - a self-effacing accountant called Philip Progmire who works for a commercial television network and spends his spare time in amateur dramatics - has to cope with the fallout from a real drama, a war crime in Italy carried out almost half a century earlier.

Did the narrator's upper class boss whom he loves - Sir Crispin Bellhanger, KCB, DSO, MC and so on - carry out a massacre of civilians in a church as Dunster claims?

Unraveling this mystery takes us through familiar territory - Oxford, unfashionable London suburbs, unheated country cottages, gaudy Soho clubs, lawyer's drinking establishments and ends up in a courtroom where Mortimer can ridicule and admire the law at the same time.

Despite the gloomy subject matter, the book is light comedy at its best.