“Yesterday Will Make you Cry” by Chester Himes (published by Penguin Books)
Doing time with Chester Himes
As this 1952 novel opens, Jimmy Monroe, convict number 57232, is spending his first night in a prison dormitory serving “twenty to twenty-five” for robbing “just some people”. In real life, Chester Himes was convicted of armed robbery at the age of 19 in 1928 and sentenced to the maximum 20 to 25 years hard labour in Ohio State Penitentiary. Spot the connection…
“Luckier Than Most” by David Tomlinson (published by Dean Street Press)
Tragedies, triumphs of a life off and on stage and screen
It’s a bit of a relief to read in British actor David Tomlinson’s autobiography his recognition that he was known for “my dimwitted upper-class twit performances” – a relief because if you had asked us here at The Budapest Times to describe Tomlinson, we ...
"The Hohenzollerns and the Nazis: A History of Collaboration" by Stephan Malinowski (published by Allen Lane)
Expedience to fore as ex-royals jostle to return
Your family – your dynastic family – the Hohenzollerns, has reigned in Brandenburg-Prussia from 1415 to 1918 and in imperial Germany from 1871 to 1918. But Kaiser Wilhelm II leads the country into the First World War in 1914, and defeat in November 1918. ...
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"Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan' by Richard Overy (published by Allen Lane)
Other factors at play besides atomic bombs
History’s simple telling is that the United States unleashed the two most lethal weapons of World War Two or any other war against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to quickly force a surrender by a stubborn enemy and save thousands of American ...
“Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Love, A People’s History” by Richard Houghton (published by Spenwood Books)
Good times, bad times but overwhelmingly good
Tim SImons was on Led Zeppelin’s crew at City Hall in Salisbury, UK, on December 20, 1971, and he got chatting to drummer John Bonham at the post-concert meal. “I know it’s a bit cheeky but any chance of a lift home?” he wondered. ...
"The Other Side of the Moon. The Life of David Niven” by Sheridan Morley (published by Dean Street Press)
Darker reality behind the bonhomie
The title of Sheridan Morley’s biography alludes to David Niven’s own book "The Moon’s a Balloon” in 1971, one of the best-selling autobiographies ever written by an actor, notching up more than five million copies worldwide. When a man’s life has already been covered ...
“The Incomparable Rex. Rex Harrison: The Last of the High Comedians” by Patrick Garland (published by Dean Street Press)
Star of stage and screen was truly obnoxious
Perhaps we were wrong to expect a conventional biography of actor Rex Harrison, because Patrick Garland’s book isn’t quite like that. The author eschews what might be regarded as the standard openings, either – “Reginald Carey ’Rex’ Harrison was born in Huyton, Lancashire, England, ...
“Odd Man Out: James Mason” by Sheridan Morley (published by Dean Street Press)
Diffident actor made life more difficult for himself
Sheridan Morley’s book takes its title from James Mason’s 1947 film “Odd Man Out”, which was one of the most highly regarded of the 115 or so in which the British actor appeared between 1935 and 1985, and that proved to be his breakthrough ...
"Robert Shaw: The Price of Success”by John French (published by Dean Street Press)
Building a career and then destroying it
Actor Robert Shaw took his craft seriously, when he thought it was worthy, starting on stage in Shakespearean plays and graduating to film roles. So might it pain him if he were to discover from the Great Beyond that two of his best silver-screen ...
“The Picnic, An Escape to Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain” by Matthew Longo (published by The Bodley Head)
Eat, drink and be free
Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of the newly reunified Germany, described the Pan-European Picnic near Hungarian city Sopron on August 19, 1989 as where the “first stone was removed from the Berlin Wall”. For Assistant Professor Matthew Longo it was “the initial tug by which the ...
“The Siege: The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama” by Ben Macintyre (published by Viking)
Inside the action for a rip-roaring read
Only the very toughest of soldiers with supreme physical fitness and mental toughness can join the British Army’s elite and ultra-secretive Special Air Service unit. One test is a 64-kilometre hike over unfamiliar mountain terrain carrying a 25-kilogram pack and a weapon. Three candidates ...
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“Born on the Fourth of July” by Ron Kovic (published by Canongate)
52 years in a wheelchair, so far
The Vietnam War was an American disaster. Iggy Pop, who performed in Budapest last year, avoided it by acting crazy at his draft hearing. Creedence Clearwater Revival sang about the “Fortunate Son”s of senators who were assigned at home instead of fighting in the ...
“Greyhound” by C.S. Forester (published by Penguin Books)
Dogged by death in the deep
C.S. Forester died in 1966 and he is not forgotten in The Budapest Times office, where we have a nice little collection of 18 of his books. But they don’t include “Greyhound”, and in fact we were a bit puzzled when it was published ...
“A Promenade in Parc Munkácsy” by Alexander York (published by Austin Macauley)
Colourful characters twist and turn in crime caper
Debut novelist Alexander York has seemingly gone for filmic atmosphere rather than minor style issues such as crossing the “t”s and dotting the “i”s, and Hungarians can be along for the scenic ride as the action sets out from England and passes numerous Magyarország ...
Most commented articles Books
“A Promenade in Parc Munkácsy” by Alexander York (published by Austin Macauley)
Colourful characters twist and turn in crime caper
Debut novelist Alexander York has seemingly gone for filmic atmosphere rather than minor style issues such as crossing the “t”s and dotting the “i”s, and Hungarians can be along for the scenic ride as the action sets out from England and passes numerous Magyarország ...
“Greyhound” by C.S. Forester (published by Penguin Books)
Dogged by death in the deep
C.S. Forester died in 1966 and he is not forgotten in The Budapest Times office, where we have a nice little collection of 18 of his books. But they don’t include “Greyhound”, and in fact we were a bit puzzled when it was published ...
“Mr Hire’s Engagement” by Georges Simenon (published by Penguin Books)
When the mob is baying for blood
In its slim 152 pages, this early Simenon from 1933 manages to cover mob violence sparked by the insidious influence of unfounded rumours, social prejudice against someone who doesn’t conform to the norm, exhibitionism and voyeurism, and a good dash of sexual titillation. All ...
