Bill Marshall 🇸🇮 🏴
@spiderbill.bsky.social
Scot now living in Slovenia. #ScotsAbroad Semi-retired internet consultant, chess player and administrator, landscape photographer, guitarist, Dorothy Dunnett commentator.
http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk
http://www.dorothydunnett.co.uk
Good plan. I've done talks on Marthe and on Jerott so did intensive dives on them, as well as on particular scenes. I've also had a long-in-preparation one on Adam Blacklock which has been fascinating. Her mind was so deep, yet she wrote intensively and hardly ever revised anything.
November 12, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Good plan. I've done talks on Marthe and on Jerott so did intensive dives on them, as well as on particular scenes. I've also had a long-in-preparation one on Adam Blacklock which has been fascinating. Her mind was so deep, yet she wrote intensively and hardly ever revised anything.
And despite that there was still the humour at times. Marthe as Maria, and Lymond insulting Onophrion's cooking to draw him out in the cisterns.
November 12, 2025 at 6:51 PM
And despite that there was still the humour at times. Marthe as Maria, and Lymond insulting Onophrion's cooking to draw him out in the cisterns.
I always worry about speed readers - there is just much to miss even for slow deep readers - and hope they reread. After nearly 30 years I still find things I've missed the true importance of and subtle references - even after giving talks that needed deep analysis. She was a genius.
November 12, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I always worry about speed readers - there is just much to miss even for slow deep readers - and hope they reread. After nearly 30 years I still find things I've missed the true importance of and subtle references - even after giving talks that needed deep analysis. She was a genius.
It is. First time I was very busy and couldnt read as intensively as usual, but I knew she had moved up another gear. 2nd read I was astonished how incredibly well crafted it was. So many threads, so cohesive. It could so easily have felt overdone but she never lost the balance.
November 12, 2025 at 6:36 PM
It is. First time I was very busy and couldnt read as intensively as usual, but I knew she had moved up another gear. 2nd read I was astonished how incredibly well crafted it was. So many threads, so cohesive. It could so easily have felt overdone but she never lost the balance.
And yet many of them will tell you it's their favourite afterwards.
November 12, 2025 at 6:29 PM
And yet many of them will tell you it's their favourite afterwards.
Its become something of a Golden Rule - beware reading Dunnett on public transport! You'll miss your stop, little old ladies will ask "first time?", and people will return the book you threw down the carriage and tell you to keep reading!
November 12, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Its become something of a Golden Rule - beware reading Dunnett on public transport! You'll miss your stop, little old ladies will ask "first time?", and people will return the book you threw down the carriage and tell you to keep reading!
I have to ask - how much did the rest of the series entrance you? Pawn in Frankincense and Checkmate regularly blow people away.
November 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I have to ask - how much did the rest of the series entrance you? Pawn in Frankincense and Checkmate regularly blow people away.
Oh yes. As I've said many times, Dorothy's works are not books to be read, they are worlds to step into, to see and hear and feel, her characters become your best friends who you know better than your own family. They are unsurpassed.
November 12, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Oh yes. As I've said many times, Dorothy's works are not books to be read, they are worlds to step into, to see and hear and feel, her characters become your best friends who you know better than your own family. They are unsurpassed.
I vote me make them all honourary Scots!
Anyway, most of them speak better English than a lot of Brits - kinda comes with the territory as a Dunnett reader!
Hope you all had a great day.
Anyway, most of them speak better English than a lot of Brits - kinda comes with the territory as a Dunnett reader!
Hope you all had a great day.
November 10, 2025 at 11:13 PM
I vote me make them all honourary Scots!
Anyway, most of them speak better English than a lot of Brits - kinda comes with the territory as a Dunnett reader!
Hope you all had a great day.
Anyway, most of them speak better English than a lot of Brits - kinda comes with the territory as a Dunnett reader!
Hope you all had a great day.
😄
Dont have any current that I know of but historically I have a straight choice between William Marshall, the noblest knight of them all, and Billy Marshall, king of the tinkers. Tough one. 😉
Dont have any current that I know of but historically I have a straight choice between William Marshall, the noblest knight of them all, and Billy Marshall, king of the tinkers. Tough one. 😉
November 10, 2025 at 9:34 PM
😄
Dont have any current that I know of but historically I have a straight choice between William Marshall, the noblest knight of them all, and Billy Marshall, king of the tinkers. Tough one. 😉
Dont have any current that I know of but historically I have a straight choice between William Marshall, the noblest knight of them all, and Billy Marshall, king of the tinkers. Tough one. 😉
Crossed my mind too. I mean how many people are called Ant? Had to look him up, thus ruining my anti-celebrity search profile.
If I were Ant from A&D I'd be running a PR campaign to show I'm not the other one!
If I were Ant from A&D I'd be running a PR campaign to show I'm not the other one!
November 10, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Crossed my mind too. I mean how many people are called Ant? Had to look him up, thus ruining my anti-celebrity search profile.
If I were Ant from A&D I'd be running a PR campaign to show I'm not the other one!
If I were Ant from A&D I'd be running a PR campaign to show I'm not the other one!
How the hell do they "fix" it without headers? Thats a nightmare that's going to rerun again and again.
November 10, 2025 at 7:06 PM
How the hell do they "fix" it without headers? Thats a nightmare that's going to rerun again and again.
Similar, slightly earlier. I'd already got fed up with the dumbing down, but once the heavy bias kicked in during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum i stopped watching it, and the occasional clips of Brexit and BoJo interviews seen on social media confirmed the decision.
November 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Similar, slightly earlier. I'd already got fed up with the dumbing down, but once the heavy bias kicked in during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum i stopped watching it, and the occasional clips of Brexit and BoJo interviews seen on social media confirmed the decision.
The idea that the Farage-loving, Scotland-hating BBC, which was filled full of tories by Cameron, is somehow left-leaning is so far from reality that Kafka could be writing the scripts. But then all politics has become surreal, with most spouting the opposite of the truth on every matter.
November 9, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The idea that the Farage-loving, Scotland-hating BBC, which was filled full of tories by Cameron, is somehow left-leaning is so far from reality that Kafka could be writing the scripts. But then all politics has become surreal, with most spouting the opposite of the truth on every matter.
Rather depends on the country. As a teenager my 6ft made me the 2nd tallest in my class. Then the average Scot was 5'7". (UK now 5'9") But I'd be merely average in the Netherlands now. My 5'11" partner was thought very tall in Scotland but she is just a little above average living in Amsterdam.
November 9, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Rather depends on the country. As a teenager my 6ft made me the 2nd tallest in my class. Then the average Scot was 5'7". (UK now 5'9") But I'd be merely average in the Netherlands now. My 5'11" partner was thought very tall in Scotland but she is just a little above average living in Amsterdam.
Not a bad way to spend the day; though there are a few candidates for worst part! I'm guessing Lymond's discovery of Philippa at the Hotel des Spheres but there's a number of others.
Finished my first read of Checkmate on my birthday - getting on for 30 years ago. "My dear, look up" still gets me.
Finished my first read of Checkmate on my birthday - getting on for 30 years ago. "My dear, look up" still gets me.
November 8, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Not a bad way to spend the day; though there are a few candidates for worst part! I'm guessing Lymond's discovery of Philippa at the Hotel des Spheres but there's a number of others.
Finished my first read of Checkmate on my birthday - getting on for 30 years ago. "My dear, look up" still gets me.
Finished my first read of Checkmate on my birthday - getting on for 30 years ago. "My dear, look up" still gets me.
As usual - the woman is either totally pure or hopelessly compromised and must be sacrificed to save the vitue of the men.
November 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
As usual - the woman is either totally pure or hopelessly compromised and must be sacrificed to save the vitue of the men.
Definite hints of Burke and Hare by the sound of it.
November 8, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Definite hints of Burke and Hare by the sound of it.
Very enlightening, thanks.
November 7, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Very enlightening, thanks.
Interesting, thanks. Would that just be the religious sybolism or would it also be the case with more secular material?
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Interesting, thanks. Would that just be the religious sybolism or would it also be the case with more secular material?
One of your SF themed paintings would be a great album cover for them.
November 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
One of your SF themed paintings would be a great album cover for them.
Yes, I've sometimes wondered how exclusive that knowledge was kept, was it only known to the elite or did it trickle down to the more educated middle levels?
November 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Yes, I've sometimes wondered how exclusive that knowledge was kept, was it only known to the elite or did it trickle down to the more educated middle levels?
Now if I were still a bookseller with a useful staff discount I would probably order that just for the added knowledge. Despite it being a field I seldom have time to consider.
November 7, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Now if I were still a bookseller with a useful staff discount I would probably order that just for the added knowledge. Despite it being a field I seldom have time to consider.