Pat Chauncey has posted an update that suggests both she and Strike are still smoking, which poses an interesting if slightly meta question. In what time frame are the characters speaking from? The existence of Anomie would suggest they are operating from a frame at or about the time of Ink Black Heart. This would also explain the existence of the now ancient Wolfgang.
Like I said, sharing a cheeky cig on the doorstep earlier, you can quote Catullus all you like at me, but Spike sums up our day Boss. Also, you forgot your flask for the night shift. Sending a fresh pot over in an Uber now. pic.twitter.com/6mZzdXrhjo
— Pat Chauncey (@SuperkingPatC) August 15, 2022
Roddy Fforbes has disappointed. While we could infer that he was British and upper or upper-middle class from his brief mentions in the book, he has now become a full pastiche of Bertie Wooster. If the creators of this account have access to The Ink Black Heart, then I cannot believe that Roddy is written like this:
Put me in mind of our old school song!
Quare, quare vinum malum?
Gustibus sicit Jago pila sacci!
Cakers! Tenent lineam,
Domi, in schola et descendit pub.
Bebe! Bebe! Bebe de altus nulla novem!
Scoriam aliis hominibus relinque!— Roddy Fforbes (@RoddyFforbes) August 21, 2022
Anomie remains as mysterious as ever, posting four pictures. Firstly images of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and the Yorkshire Dales from early British Rail advertising. Then an image of the underground from the Ladybird book The Story of the Railways (1961) and the cover of a humorous modern Ladybird book for adults The Rock Star using original period illustrations.
Brian Mathers is continuing his sickly sweet posts followed by blood curdling threats, sure to end up swiftly in the “nutter drawer”.
… and also come in handy when you have a massacre in mind, eh, Strike? (2/2)
— Mr & Mrs Brian Mathers (@MrMrsBrianMath1) August 16, 2022
Nick,
Great finds all. There’s a lot to unpack here, no doubt about that. That’s why this comment is going to be a bit of a disappointment. All that Anomie’s posts of those vintage book covers has done is to send my mind back to a time in elementary school where I run across a Ladybug beginning reader’s edition of “Dracula”. I’d urge people to move on to the actual Stoker novel itself. However, if you want a good way to get your kids interested in actual literature, then I strongly recommend you try and hunt down a copy of any of those old Ladybugs. They’re the perfect gateway for young minds towards a genuine interest in further literary exploration. That’s how it was for me, anyway.
As for the choice of book covers, the most obvious guess is that Michael’s Mount and the Yorkshire Dales will be a part of Strike 6’s settings. The Rock Star parody, meanwhile, seems an obvious nod to Jony Rokeby. It could Rowling’s way of letting us know to expect Daddy Dead Beat to make his big appearance in this next installment.
I, too, am wondering about the timeline. Izzy Chiswell tweeted out 11th birthday greetings to Flopsy which, if it’s supposed to be 2022 would make her an infant of 1 back in 2012, so not old enough to be running around in the yard with Rattenbury. OTOH, Ciara says Cambridge is “a distant memory.” She claimed to be planning to model for at least another year back in CC, meaning the earliest she could have matriculated would be 2011, which would have given her (assuming a 3 year program of study) a 2014 graduation date. Hardly a distant memory; the ink would barely be dry on her diploma.
Look again. Look closer. Look not at the words.
Is it a rebus ? .. 1/ Isle ? 2/ ? 3/ Time 4/ Bach = back ?
Is it Cornwall, Yorkshire, London and…the 4th pic has me stumped. Unless it’s a reference to Strike sometimes being compared in appearance to Beethoven?
Or in the 4tb pic are we actually supposed to look at the words? In which case the rock star = Johnny Rokeby