BEIJING WHINGE

The power of television is such that I once heard an interview in which Ringo Starr claimed he was asked what he did before he was the voice of Thomas The Tank Engine.

His answer "I was in a group".

John Laurie played Hamlet, Richard III and Macbeth at the Old Vic and Stratford as well as appearing in his friend Lawrence Olivier's three Shakespearian films, but is only known today for his portrayal of Private Frazier in the television series Dad's Army.

I was therefore not surprised to see that my copy of Henning Mankell's The Man from Beijing has a small sticker on it which said "author of the Wallander series" and a photograph of Kenneth Branagh playing Wallander in the BBC television series.

I am mildly irritated that someone thought that Henning Mankell's name [surely in a large enough font] was not enough to sell this book. The thought of some poor employee, or a robotic machine, attaching these stickers to the books I find fairly bizarre.

The book, well so far, despite absence of Kurt Wallander and Kenneth Branagh, I can say that am enjoying reading The Man from Beijing.