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The Observer
'The pong of ripe Limburger lingers impressively'
Daily Express
'an incredible adventure...it is a story which stretches the
imagination...rich, rather English and completely nutty'
imagination...rich, rather English and completely nutty'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a pleasing aroma,
This review is from: Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue and Cheese (Paperback)
Reading this was a departure from my usual fare, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! A great rip-roaring adventure, dipping deep into the past, full of mystery, a good heap of fact and fiction and great use of English language. I liked the odd-ball mix of using cheese with exciting events in Greece and Turkey, never could you think it could be funny, not laugh out loud, but a more gentler humourous style. You don't have to be a history scholar to enjoy this, in fact it helps if you aren't, so long as you have an interest in any of the above and great writing; the pace of going back and forward in time was fast but easy to live with, you'll enjoy this too!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Witty, charming, engaging and full of cheese,
By Rivercassini "Rivercassini" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue and Cheese (Hardcover)
Edward Trencom's Nose, debut novel from the popular history writer Giles Milton, is funny, witty in a neo-Wodeshousian sort of way and full of delightfully engaging characters. The Trencom family have been the acknowledged masters of cheese for 10 generations, running their London cheese shop since before the Great Fire of London and passing it down from father to son for over 300 years. Each eldest son also inherits a remarkable nose, a large aquiline nose with a prominent bridge and an extraordinary talent for smelling cheese, which Milton exploits too capacity. Weight-watching cheese-lovers should avoid this book or the numerous evocative, aromatic scenes describing the finest cheeses from around the world will have you diving to the fridge for more than one too many wee morsels.
This is a novel fashioned with style and elegance. An elaborate plot structure is interwoven with an account of Greco-Turkish conflict and delicately balanced with a narrow group of amusing, if somewhat one-dimensional, characters. The plot develops as Edward, the current owner of Trencom's Cheese Shop and possessor of the finest nose in generations, discovers a package of family papers in the cellar. His discoveries, together with the machinations of friends and foes, start him off an a path of adventure - adventure that is in 1960s middle class sub-urban style - which eventually both exposes and ties him to the fate of his forebearers. And here we come to the weakness of the novel: the way in which Edward's adventures play out is utterly, utterly ludicrous and the farcical denouement is deeply unrevelatory - a brave and not wholly unsuccessful attempt, one suspects, to match the well conceived plot to the mindset of its average players. Yet the overall result is unsatisfying. Make no mistake, this is a good and fun book to read, with lots of laughs and lots of cheese throughout, but the ending just doesn't quite live up to expectation. Read the book for the pleasure of the journey, but don't expect to enjoy the party when you reach your destination.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stick to history,
By
This review is from: Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue and Cheese (Hardcover)
This is Miltons first novel, and his first foray into fiction. It comes on the back of some truly superb historical books which have him ranking among the best of the popular historians today. It was inevitable that he would try his hand at fiction.
The main problem is, I have read this book cover to cover, and I really find it hard to specify if there was actually a plot. It follows Edward Trencom, proprietor of Trencoms cheese shop, who receives a cryptic warning that his life is in danger, something confirmed by the mysterious chap following him. This revelation prompts him to start his own researches into his family history. He finds that 9 generations, from the venerable Humphrey Trencom have all died in Greece, with some clandestine struggle against the Ottoman empire. We are treated to following Trencom through rather drab life. It charts his private life with 'Mrs Cheese', his researches, and his shop. There is far too much depth given to the variety of cheeses, with pages devoted to some fairly obscure dairy products. This is interspersed with the exploits of his forbears, and their deaths abroad in the service of the Greeks. We sense a slow change in Trencom, which seems to be genetically related to his ancestors. They all seemed to suffer a loss of smell (not good for the man with the keenest nose in Britain), and each generation the shop seems to incur some incident which threatens its closure. We sense it is inevitable, given these portents, and history, that Trencom will follow in those footsteps and join the mysterious struggle. And to be honest, that's about it. It is supposed to be funny, with the such things like Trencoms witticisms at the cheese tasting dinner, but they never really raise more than a curl of the lip. The supposed humour never really materialises and we are treated to a rather dreary and over-long novel that could certainly have been condensed. I went into reading this with a true desire to like it. I loved his other works, and felt sure his writing would win the day here. The book is a disjointed mess and would never have been published if he hadn't already built up a loyal readership. The ending is not satisfying and I feel rather let down to be honest.
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