2008-09-05 You can't help loving it - but...

If you've got this far and avoided the Yankee plot-spoilers, you will have gained the impression that Horace is getting old, tired and a bit repetitive. I can't disagree with that. But just as Hard Times is not good Dickens, not-good Dickens is streets better than no Dickens - and so it is with Rumpole and his terrorist. There are more loose ends than you'd find in a tin of Heinz spaghetti, more improbabilities than in the Heart of Gold, but it still keeps you turning the pages feverishly until the all-too-soon end. It takes 90 minutes to read if you're a slow reader. So what? Read it again!