The French Letter
Viewing comments for Chapter 74 "Demons"A Novel
23 total reviews
Comment from JudyE
So now we have a second French letter!
I was really battling to find anything to report in this episode. :) I did think the following might be improved by deleting 'who' and 'is' --
'In order to sell the painting, an auction house has to establish who its rightful owner is.'
And in the list of characters:
Francoise Gaudin - Alain's an intellectually disabled sister. - delete 'an'
Gaston Arnoux - Owner of an art gallery in Paris, recently assassinated by Charles Asserted to be leader of an ISIS network - period after 'Charles'
Are you getting plenty of rain in your part of the world? It's very wet over here.
Cheers
Judy
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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So now we have a second French letter!
I was really battling to find anything to report in this episode. :) I did think the following might be improved by deleting 'who' and 'is' --
'In order to sell the painting, an auction house has to establish who its rightful owner is.'
And in the list of characters:
Francoise Gaudin - Alain's an intellectually disabled sister. - delete 'an'
Gaston Arnoux - Owner of an art gallery in Paris, recently assassinated by Charles Asserted to be leader of an ISIS network - period after 'Charles'
Are you getting plenty of rain in your part of the world? It's very wet over here.
Cheers
Judy
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks very much for your time in reviewing this, Judy, and for the sixth star. I'm beginning to tie a few loose ends up before the final chapters. I appreciate your positive comments and careful proofreading. I've made the changes you kindly suggested.
We've had better rainfall this month but still not really enough to break the drought. Dig down a few inches and all is still dry. I'm up in Queensland at the moment to welcome my daughter back from New York. She's recently bought a house near Brisbane, so I anticipate being able to escape the winter blues occasionally! All the best, Tony
Comment from royowen
Despite the rambunctiousness of Alain, Charles was amazingly restrained, I don't think I could have been. But he does seem to have some intestinal honest stored within him. The letter exposed some flaws in the Colonel's character that put Alain's mother in some danger. Well done Tony, well done, blessings, Roy
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Despite the rambunctiousness of Alain, Charles was amazingly restrained, I don't think I could have been. But he does seem to have some intestinal honest stored within him. The letter exposed some flaws in the Colonel's character that put Alain's mother in some danger. Well done Tony, well done, blessings, Roy
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks very much for your time in reviewing this, Roy. I'm beginning to tie a few loose ends up before the final chapters. I appreciate your positive comments. All the best, Tony
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Well done
Comment from Mastery
Hi, tony. I have been away vacationing and missed some chapters. sorry about that.
It is a good chapter but I really think this book is becoming a whole new novel unto itself. Perhaps you had better seriously consider making it and labeling it "French letter Volume Two."
Suggestion: ""Nonetheless," I said, swiftly changing the subject." (You do not need the adverb)
Good job, my friend. Bob
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Hi, tony. I have been away vacationing and missed some chapters. sorry about that.
It is a good chapter but I really think this book is becoming a whole new novel unto itself. Perhaps you had better seriously consider making it and labeling it "French letter Volume Two."
Suggestion: ""Nonetheless," I said, swiftly changing the subject." (You do not need the adverb)
Good job, my friend. Bob
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks for your review, Bob, and for catching the redundant adverb, now removed. I. too, am away from home at the moment, enjoying a bit of sunshine in Queensland, where my daughter recently bought a house.
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Enjoy Tony. : ) Bob
Comment from Sankey
Glad we finally get to find out about this letter that has been floating around.Lots of disgust and expletive expression from Alain through all this. No spags as far as I could see.
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Glad we finally get to find out about this letter that has been floating around.Lots of disgust and expletive expression from Alain through all this. No spags as far as I could see.
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks very much for your time in reviewing this, Geoffrey. I'm beginning to tie a few loose ends up before the final chapters. I appreciate your positive comments. Alain is a fairly unsavoury character. I may tone down his language during the final edit, but it seems to be the sort of thing he would say. All the best, Tony
Comment from Tootsie55
Look what I still have! This was very detailed and heavy going for sure. I presume you saw my reference in my "Geoffossary" in my book to "Tolouse Lautrec getting lost on a hike" ie losing his track hehe. No spags.
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Look what I still have! This was very detailed and heavy going for sure. I presume you saw my reference in my "Geoffossary" in my book to "Tolouse Lautrec getting lost on a hike" ie losing his track hehe. No spags.
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Very many thanks for this review and for the sixth star. No, I missed that reference to Toulouse Lautrec. I shall have to go back and reread. I'm always up for a good pun!
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There are a few puns in that Geoffossary mate. End of Little Dog Book.
Comment from estory
At last the authenticity of the painting and the ownership is documented in the letter. Alain is rich. And it appears he will be mollified in taking care of Kayla which will allow Charles and Helen to go off to Pakistan to deal with the drug smugglers and terrorists. I like the personality of Alain; his emotional Gallic disdain for Charles, and the last word: in my country, we seal deals with a kiss." Well you have set the stage for the next adventure. estory
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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At last the authenticity of the painting and the ownership is documented in the letter. Alain is rich. And it appears he will be mollified in taking care of Kayla which will allow Charles and Helen to go off to Pakistan to deal with the drug smugglers and terrorists. I like the personality of Alain; his emotional Gallic disdain for Charles, and the last word: in my country, we seal deals with a kiss." Well you have set the stage for the next adventure. estory
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks very much for your time in reviewing this, estory. I'm beginning to tie a few loose ends up before the final chapters. I appreciate your comments about Alain. I'm hoping that the contrast between Charles and him will add a bit of interest. All the best, Tony
Comment from Ulla
Hi Tony. This is getting interesting. Interesting indeed. So now we know the content of the letter which shows proof of ownership of the painting. Yet, Alain doesn't trust Charles but Helen, yes. Hmm. Fine writing and Looking forward to the continuation. All best. Ulla:))
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Hi Tony. This is getting interesting. Interesting indeed. So now we know the content of the letter which shows proof of ownership of the painting. Yet, Alain doesn't trust Charles but Helen, yes. Hmm. Fine writing and Looking forward to the continuation. All best. Ulla:))
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks very much for your time in reviewing this, Ulla. I'm beginning to tie a few loose ends up before the final chapters. I appreciate your positive comments. All the best, Tony
Comment from Pantygynt
While the story moves on apace here, the really interesting part for me, analysing your writing as we are supposed to do, was the actual letter. To write in two different styles, and have one of them come over as very Gallic, I would imagine would be quite hard to do, but you manage it in this letter.
Outside the letter though I must pick you up on this sentence:
'The bastard wasn't even wearing a French letter.'
No Frenchman would ever use that term for a condom. I researched the phrase and its slang equivalents in both English and French. The straight translation of 'condom' is 'le preservatif' but the nearest French euivalent of our 'French Letter' is 'la capote Anglaise' (the English raincoat'), sometimes abbreviated to 'la capote'. It seems every language mocks another country when referring to what I believe our American friends call a 'rubber'. Is that because it might have the the effect of eraing their mistakes?
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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While the story moves on apace here, the really interesting part for me, analysing your writing as we are supposed to do, was the actual letter. To write in two different styles, and have one of them come over as very Gallic, I would imagine would be quite hard to do, but you manage it in this letter.
Outside the letter though I must pick you up on this sentence:
'The bastard wasn't even wearing a French letter.'
No Frenchman would ever use that term for a condom. I researched the phrase and its slang equivalents in both English and French. The straight translation of 'condom' is 'le preservatif' but the nearest French euivalent of our 'French Letter' is 'la capote Anglaise' (the English raincoat'), sometimes abbreviated to 'la capote'. It seems every language mocks another country when referring to what I believe our American friends call a 'rubber'. Is that because it might have the the effect of eraing their mistakes?
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Thanks, Jim, for picking that up. I have my eye too firmly set on the title of the book - which I may end up changing anyway. For the moment, I've amended Alain's words to read ""The bastard wasn't even wearing une capote Anglaise." When he saw my puzzled expression, he added, " ... what you English call a French letter."
I've fallen foul of that American expression on occasions! We also used to cause some amusement when filing a route plan in America. Our pronunciation 'root', as opposed to their 'rout', caused a few eyebrows to be raised!
Comment from the13thpoet
Hello Tony, that was a good continuation of the story. I'm glad I didn't have to wait long to find out what that letter said. That Alain is quite a character, that's for sure. I look forward to seeing what else comes out his mouth.
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Hello Tony, that was a good continuation of the story. I'm glad I didn't have to wait long to find out what that letter said. That Alain is quite a character, that's for sure. I look forward to seeing what else comes out his mouth.
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Very many thanks for taking the time to review this chapter. Appreciated. Glad you are enjoying Alain's characterisation.
Comment from Jannypan (Jan)
This was an interesting chapter, Tony. You did a great job with the action scenes, the dialogue, and the introduction of the actual letter. I enjoyed reading it. Things seem to be getting tied up about The French Letter. Thanks for sharing. Jan
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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This was an interesting chapter, Tony. You did a great job with the action scenes, the dialogue, and the introduction of the actual letter. I enjoyed reading it. Things seem to be getting tied up about The French Letter. Thanks for sharing. Jan
Comment Written 10-Jul-2019
reply by the author on 20-Jul-2019
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Very many thanks for your comments, Jan. I'm beginning to tie up a few loose ends before the final chapters. All the best, Tony