Rebeki finds refuge in reading in 2017

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Rebeki finds refuge in reading in 2017

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1Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2016, 11:06 am

I first joined Club Read in 2011, but my participation since then has been a bit inconsistent. Some years I've kept a thread going for a full year, other years it's tailed off a few months in. Last year I knew from the outset that I wouldn't have time for a thread, and it is only in the last few weeks that I've started lurking on LT again, ready to be an active Club Read member again in 2017.

As for many, 2016 wasn't a particularly good year for me. I have been upset by political developments at home and abroad to an extent that has surprised me, and I have found it painful and alienating. A lot of comfort reading went on in the summer!

At the same time, I lost a very good friend to illness a few weeks ago. One of the many things I will miss is our conversations about books and what we were reading. He was a very intelligent and interesting person and I'm sorry he will no longer be lending me books or recommending them to me.

I seem to be starting the year and this thread on a gloomy note, but the last few weeks have made appreciate how much joy I get from reading, so I'm determined to ignore the news as much as I'm able and to immerse myself in some great books.

As such, I have no goals other than to keep reading, maintain this thread and, just maybe, reduce my TBR pile. I had thought being off LT would stop me buying so many books, but that has proved not to be the case!

I wish everyone a happy year of reading in 2017!

2Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2016, 5:09 am

2016 summary

Last year wasn't a classic reading year for me - too many Enid Blyton rereads - but it was the year my son was able to enjoy listening to chapter books for the first time, and we had great fun discovering Tove Jansson's Moomin stories together. We're looking forward to carrying on with the series in 2017.

My favourite reads came towards the start and close of the year and were both set in Habsburg Central Europe: respectively, Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig and They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy, the first in his Transylvania Trilogy, which I plan to complete in 2017. On a lighter note, and closer to home, Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym was also a favourite read.

3Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 31, 2017, 4:09 am

Books read in 2017

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith (TBR, bought in 2014)
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie (library book, reading group)
They Were Found Wanting by Miklós Bánffy (TBR, bought in 2011)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (TBR, bought in 2016)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (borrowed from a friend)

Péplum by Amélie Nothomb (TBR, bought in 2008, in French)
Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson (read with my son)
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (library book, reading group)
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh (library book)
When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson (TBR, bought in 2013)

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (TBR, birthday present 2014)
They Were Divided by Miklós Bánffy (TBR, bought in 2011)
The BFG by Roald Dahl (read with my son)
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (from my husband's shelves, reading group)

Le Dieu du carnage by Yasmina Reza (TBR, bought in 2016, in French)
Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen (library book)
Who Will Comfort Toffle? by Tove Jansson (bought in 2017, read with my son)
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (TBR, Christmas present 2015)
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (read with my son)

The Worst Witch Strikes Again by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)
Stork Mountain by Miroslav Penkov (bought in 2017)
Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (re-read, reading group)
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood (re-read)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (re-read, read with my son)

A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)
The Burning of the World: A Memoir of 1914 by Béla Zombory-Moldován (TBR, birthday present 2016)
Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym (TBR, bought in 2013)
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (TBR, bought in 2016)
The Worst Witch All at Sea by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami (library book)
Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson (read with my son)
The Worst Witch Saves The Day by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham (bought in 2017)
The Worst Witch to the Rescue by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (TBR, birthday present 2014)
The Diamond Mystery (The Whodunit Detective Agency) by Martin Widmark
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (TBR, Christmas present 2016)
The Wine of Solitude by Irène Némirovsky (borrowed from a fellow reading group member)
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith (TBR, bought in 2016)

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (read with my son)
Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939 by Virginia Nicholson (TBR, Christmas present 2013)
Autumn by Ali Smith (bought in 2017)
Spectacles by Sue Perkins (library book)
Not Working by Lisa Owens (bought in 2017)

The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star by Jill Murphy (read with my son, library book)
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl (read with my son)
Every Day is Mother's Day by Hilary Mantel (TBR, Christmas present 2013)
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown (read with my son, borrowed)
La serveuse était nouvelle by Dominique Fabre (bought in 2017, in French)

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (TBR, birthday present 2016)
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood (re-read)
Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes (reading group)
More About Paddington by Michael Bond (read with my son)
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin (TBR, bought in 2011)

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (library book, reading group)
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante (TBR, Christmas present 2016)



Currently reading:
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Vacant Possession by Hilary Mantel


Books acquired in 2017 (fewer than last year, I hope!)

Regarde les lumières, mon amour by Annie Ernaux (bought February 2017)
Photos volées by Dominique Fabre (bought February 2017)
Pétronille by Amélie Nothomb (bought February 2017)
Le Voyage d'hiver by Amélie Nothomb (bought February 2017)
Le Crime du comte Neville by Amélie Nothomb (bought February 2017)
'Art' by Yasmina Reza (bought February 2017)
L'Arbre du pays Toraja by Philippe Claudel (bought February 2017)
La serveuse était nouvelle by Dominique Fabre (bought February 2017, read November 2017)
Who Will Comfort Toffle? by Tove Jansson (bought April 2017, read April 2017)
Stork Mountain by Miroslav Penkov (bought May 2017, read May/June 2017)
Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham (bought July 2017, read August 2017)
Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym (birthday present)
Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa (birthday present)
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge (bought August 2017)
Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume (bought August 2017)
Swing Time by Zadie Smith (bought August 2017)
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (bought August 2017)
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler (bought September 2017)
Autumn by Ali Smith (bought September 2017, read October 2017)
Not Working by Lisa Owens (bought September 2017)
Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou (bought September 2017)
Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston (bought October 2017)
Fair Play by Tove Jansson (bought November 2017)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (bought November 2017)
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (bought December 2017)
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins (bought December 2017)
Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith (bought December 2017)
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (Christmas present)
Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel (Christmas present)

4.Monkey.
Déc 26, 2016, 5:39 am

Welcome to the new year! :)
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but I totally get you on the upset & comfort reading. Sept/Oct were real slow mos for me, but once the election happened and it was truly real, I fell hard into my books - 13 finished so far for Nov/Dec, and two more will be soon. :D I hope books are able to help us all retain our sanity in these trying times ahead!

5Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2016, 6:41 am

>4 .Monkey.: Hi .Monkey, and thanks!

Yes, I had a similar experience. The US election and finding out my friend could no longer be helped happened in the same week, at which point I thought, "All the things I was afraid of have now happened. Sod it, I may as well read." And my reading has definitely picked up since!

6RidgewayGirl
Déc 26, 2016, 9:26 am

I'm glad you're back for another year, Rebecca! How fun a five year old is - mine are now all teenaged, but those years of all cuddling up together and reading aloud are remembered fondly. If you get stuck for book selections, my son especially loved the Series of Unfortunate Events which not only increased his vocabulary, but were easy to read aloud - not all books are.

7Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2016, 11:36 am

>6 RidgewayGirl: Hi Kay, and thanks for the recommendation!

I have to say, reading aloud with my son is one of my favourite parts of parenting. While it's fun to read favourites from my childhood, it's exciting to discover new (to me) children's authors and books, and the fact that I have a boy will broaden my horizons, I'm sure.

8The_Hibernator
Jan 1, 2017, 9:07 pm

9rachbxl
Jan 2, 2017, 3:02 am

5 already! Reading with them is fun, isn’t it? I feel very sorry that despite my best efforts I haven't managed to turn any of my stepchildren on to reading, but my own daughter (3 next month) is a real little bookworm.

I'm sorry about your friend; that must be tough. And I'm with you on the international events front. I didn't read much at all over the summer; I just moped.

I'm glad you have a thread this year.

10Rebeki
Jan 2, 2017, 5:11 am

>8 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Happy New Year to you too, and to all around these parts!

>9 rachbxl: Thanks, Rachel, I'm pleased to be back! I'm determined that this year there'll be less moping and more time spent on the things that make me happy, such as reading.

And, in my mind, your daughter is still a baby, but I'm delighted to hear she's following in your footsteps!

11avaland
Jan 2, 2017, 5:44 am

Rebeki, I'm sorry to hear you lost a dear friend last year; I also lost a dear friend on October 25th after only a five week illness. And that, with the election, and I job I was slow to shed, just dragged me like a heavy bag through the end of the year. So, yes, here's to a better year of reading in 2017!

12dchaikin
Jan 2, 2017, 10:05 am

It's really nice to have you back here active again. Sorry about all of 2016, especially for losing your friend.

Around my computer at home are piles of children's books I need to discard - some 60 of them, most acquired about the time my oldest was 5 (she's 12 now) Wish I could send them all your way. I miss those days when we would sit and read together out loud before bedtime.

Wish you a wonderful 2017.

13Rebeki
Jan 2, 2017, 2:50 pm

>11 avaland: Hi Lois, and thank you. I'm very sorry to hear about your friend too. It's astonishing the number of people I've come across who, world events aside, had a rotten year last year. It's difficult to feel hopeful, but, yes, may we enjoy some good books, at least!

>12 dchaikin: Hi Dan, it's good to be back and a very Happy New Year to you too! I know I'll be sad when reading aloud becomes a thing of the past. I hope you and your daughter still get to enjoy bookish conversations.

14labfs39
Jan 2, 2017, 3:15 pm

I'm glad you are facing 2017 with renewed book passion. I am trying to do the same.

Reading to my daughter was a highlight for me too. She was read to every night for years (she says 10, which I think is an exaggeration, but how wonderful that all the hours made such a positive impression). We still read aloud on occasion, although she's 12 now and a fabulous reader in her own right. My sister had a baby in October, and I sent her lots of our books, but first my daughter and I had to go through and put aside our favorites. There were surprisingly many that touched one or both of us. She even had favorite board books. I hope that your read-aloud time continues even through his own developing skills. One note, it was a long commute to my daughter's school every day, and we learned to love audiobooks. Since we listened together, it was almost like a read aloud. Perhaps you might enjoy it as well?

15arubabookwoman
Jan 2, 2017, 7:19 pm

I was very lax in my participation in Club Read last year, and I hope to do better this year. I will be following your thread.

I'm so sorry to hear about the death of your friend, and agree that 2016 was a bad year for many.

16Rebeki
Modifié : Jan 5, 2017, 8:57 am

>14 labfs39: Hi Lisa, I've read somewhere that it's good to continue reading aloud to your child beyond the age at which they are able to read by themselves, so I'm going to attempt to do that, provided my son lets me! Not that we're anywhere near that point, thankfully... How lovely that your daughter shares your love of reading.

Audio books are a good idea and a great way to "read" together. School is just a 12-minute scooter ride/walk away for us, but we take a long train journey a few times a year and I do sometimes wonder whether I'm annoying my fellow passengers by reading aloud!

>15 arubabookwoman: Hi Deborah, it's good to see you here. I also hope to be better at keeping up with the Club Read threads this year, not least my own! I hope 2017 will be more positive for us all.

17Rebeki
Jan 5, 2017, 7:58 am

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith

I usually read something light over the festive period and this time I turned to the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series for the ultimate in comfort reading. In this 13th instalment, Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti have a house built, Fanwell gets into trouble, Mma Potokwani’s position at the orphan farm is in jeopardy and Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi meet their hero.

It’s hard to write an in-depth review of these books, but suffice it to say, I enjoyed The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection as much as its predecessors. The characters now feel like old friends, and, as always, I loved the gentle pace at which the plot unfolds, forcing you, the reader, to slow down too. There is a warmth that radiates from this series that no doubt has much to do with the author’s obvious love and respect for Botswana. A fun and satisfying start to the year.

18labfs39
Jan 7, 2017, 7:46 am

>16 Rebeki: I've read the same research. Once my daughter was reading on her own, we also had "family reading time," where all three of us would sit down together and read at the same time. I figured it was good modeling, plus it kept her company while she did school reading.

You can get a splitter for your audio device and both listen at the same time, which is practically the same as reading aloud. Your son might be a little young still, but we found the Redwall books to be especially fun audiobooks. Brian Jacques narrates and they have a full cast of readers, including musicians! Not all authors are good readers, but Jacques is excellent, and the plots swashbuckling.

19Rebeki
Jan 10, 2017, 4:54 am

>18 labfs39: Ah, "family reading time" sounds great. I hope that we'll be able to have that some day. I have at least trained my son to know that on days when we don't need to be anywhere at a particular time, I need to start the day with some quiet time for coffee and reading in bed!

The Redwall books (which I'd never heard of) do look a lot of fun. Thanks for the recommendation!

20labfs39
Jan 14, 2017, 9:32 pm

>19 Rebeki: Oooh, coffee and reading in bed. Sounds idyllic. Does he join you? Or does he keep himself busy while you relax?

21Rebeki
Jan 19, 2017, 5:26 am

>20 labfs39: He plays or watches a TV programme, but he will be welcome to join me when he's capable of staying still for longer than 30 seconds!

22Rebeki
Modifié : Jan 19, 2017, 5:51 am

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie

I seem to have got off to an uncharacteristically light start to the year, but this reading group choice was quite welcome at a time when I'm also reading the lengthier and more involved They Were Found Wanting.

I think all of us had hoped that this would be a novel rather than short stories. Nevertheless, three of the stories are quite long and Christie's writing is such that you are immediately "in" the story, as opposed to needing a few pages to "get into" it. It also helps that the detectives and their working methods - Poirot features in five of the six stories and Miss Marple in the other one - are so familiar. I do love Poirot.

I read all the Agatha Christies I could lay my hands on between the ages of about 10 and 18, but have never really thought to pick one up in my adult life. As an older reader, I was able to discern the humour more clearly and appreciate Christie's use of language more. I think she is at her best though when writing a full-length novel and there were a few weak points in the stories.

My husband has quite a collection of her books, but there are so many other things I want to read that I can't really imagine (re)reading any in the near future, enjoyable as these stories were.

23RidgewayGirl
Jan 20, 2017, 9:42 am

Regarding good audiobooks for children - the Junie B., First Grader series is surprisingly excellent in audiobook format. The reader is amazing and makes the books a huge amount of fun to listen to - even for adults.

24Rebeki
Jan 23, 2017, 8:42 am

>23 RidgewayGirl: Thanks for the tip. They do look fun!

25Rebeki
Jan 23, 2017, 8:45 am

They Were Found Wanting by Miklós Bánffy

This is the second volume of what is known as The Transylvanian Trilogy or, as the author referred to it, The Writing on the Wall. I started the first volume, They Were Counted, last year, ahead of a long weekend in Budapest, and, for no good reason, it took me almost three months to finish it. I was determined to get through this second volume a little more quickly!

The trilogy begins in 1905 and deals with Hungary in the run-up to the First World War and the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. Much of the action is seen through the eyes of Count Balint Abady, a young nobleman with good intentions and integrity, but also his share of naivety, who finds himself elected a member of parliament. To a lesser extent the books also focus on Balint’s cousin, László Gyerőffy, whose social position is more precarious and who is prone to self-destructive tendencies.

In terms of providing a portrait of the Kingdom of Hungary – from the aristocracy, with their balls, hunts and love affairs to the situation of the Romanian-speaking peasantry in Balint’s ancestral home region of Transylvania – the books are reminiscent of Tolstoy, although a little more soap-operaish at times and, dare I say it, a bit more fun. Given that Bánffy, like his chief protagonist, was a politician, they are also more overtly political.

Politics features more heavily in They Were Found Wanting than the first volume, as it becomes clear in the last years of the 1900s that Europe is heading towards turmoil – clear to the reader, at least. The majority of Hungarian politicians, some of whom wish to have greater independence from Vienna and some of whom wish to preserve the Dual Monarchy as it is, are oblivious to the bigger picture, with their insular approach and obsession with nationalistic policies that are mere trivialities in the face of impending war. Had I read this book back when I bought it in 2011, this political short-sightedness would have seemed more alien. As it is, even if it was impossible for me to keep track of who led what party or supported which aim, the political chaos was easily recognisable.

“Light relief” comes in the form of Balint’s passionate relationship with the unhappily married Adrienne and László’s short-lived affairs, as well as the descriptions of the Transylvanian countryside, in which the author’s love of his lost homeland shines through. This volume ends on a gloomy note and, while I’m sure things can only get worse, I’m looking forward to seeing how the story is wrapped up in They Were Divided.

26SassyLassy
Jan 24, 2017, 11:24 am

>25 Rebeki: Books about a time and place I've always wanted to know more about that sound really interesting -- great review. I was happy to see they are still available.

27dchaikin
Jan 24, 2017, 9:52 pm

Great review of They Were Found Wanting.

28Rebeki
Modifié : Jan 25, 2017, 2:18 pm

>26 SassyLassy:, >27 dchaikin: Thanks!

SassyLassy I think you would like these books - they have a very 19th century feel! I also have Bánffy's non-fiction work The Phoenix Land, which I may get to later this year.

Dan, once I've finished this series, I plan to get on with 2, 3 and 4 of the Neapolitan Novels!

29Rebeki
Modifié : Jan 25, 2017, 2:24 pm

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

After all the buzz around this book last year, I knew I’d succumb eventually. As it happened, I found a copy of it misplaced amongst the cookery books in my local Oxfam charity shop (which seems even more inappropriate now I’ve read it) at the end of December and decided it needed rescuing!

For anyone who doesn’t know, this Korean novel, winner of the Man Booker International Prize, concerns a woman, Yeong-hye, who, following a disturbing dream, is compelled to give up meat and animal products, and the effects this decision and her subsequent behaviour have on her family members.

This short novel is split into three sections, originally separate but related short stories, each of which depicts Yeong-hye’s transformation from a different character’s point of view: her unlikeable husband, Mr Cheong, her unnamed brother-in-law, and her sister, In-hye. The first section left me indignant at Yeong-hye’s treatment by her husband and father and the second oddly sympathetic to her brother-in-law’s artistic visions and compulsions, while In-hye’s story moved me the most and was the most relatable.

Initially, I wondered whether this novel was set in another era, such were the patriarchal attitudes expressed by Yeong-hye’s father and husband and the reaction to her vegetarianism – it is apparent that the change in her is far more dramatic than a switch to a vegetarian diet, but even the latter appeared shocking to her family. By contrast, In-hye’s husband does not express these attitudes and yet it is clear that In-hye, too, has suffered from the expectations of her in her role as daughter, wife and mother.

This book is like no other I’ve read and I enjoyed the poetic yet highly readable writing, even if the scenes described were sometimes upsetting. I felt frustrated at times that I had no real access to Yeong-hye’s thoughts and motivations, since her story was told from others’ points of view, but I suppose that was impossible, given her condition, and perhaps my frustration mirrored her sister’s. In spite of the glimpses into her childhood that went some way to explaining Yeong-hye’s actions, this distance stopped me fully connecting with, and therefore loving, this novel, but it is one I can’t stop thinking about and probably won’t for some time to come.

30dchaikin
Jan 25, 2017, 6:42 pm

Reading summaries and reviews of The Vegetarian, I've mostly thought - sounds well done, but not for me. But your review makes me want to read it.

31Rebeki
Jan 26, 2017, 5:42 am

>30 dchaikin: It's funny, because I'm not entirely sure it's for me in that I can't imagine ever wanting to reread it, yet I'm really glad that I have read it.

32labfs39
Modifié : Fév 4, 2017, 5:58 pm

Although I have not read The Vegetarian, I did enjoy immensely the article by Tim Parks called Raw and Cooked published in the NYRB. I'm fascinated by translation and how a translator decides whether to translate for meaning, for tone, for style, or word for word translation of the original. The article does bring up an interesting point: How can we award a translated book a Prize, if we don't know how much of the lyricism (or lack thereof) is the work of the translator and how much the author?

33Rebeki
Fév 6, 2017, 6:34 am

>32 labfs39: That's an interesting article, Lisa. I'd seen you'd posted it on Rachel's thread (I think), but decided not to look at it until I'd read The Vegetarian.

When reading translations from a European language, I'm quite sensitive to "odd" English, but it's true that, knowing nothing about Korean, or, indeed, Korea, I sailed through this book without really noticing anything about the translation.

However, the examples Parks gives are awkward/strange, even if I didn't notice them at the time. So, yes, perhaps being totally unfamiliar with a culture does blind me to translation issues...

As for your question, that's a tough one. In my experience as a (non-literary) translator, I know that translations can often improve on the original, but I would hope that in literature the standard of the original and the translation would be equally high and the author and translator equally deserving of praise in their respective capacities.

34Rebeki
Fév 6, 2017, 8:28 am

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Considering I’m not fond of short stories, it’s funny that the last two novels I’ve read, both of which I’ve really enjoyed, have consisted of interconnecting short stories. Whereas The Vegetarian focused on one key storyline from the perspective of three different characters, the chapters of Olive Kitteridge look at the lives of various residents of the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. Nevertheless, the eponymous Olive, a retired maths teacher, features in many of them and is at least mentioned in passing in the others. In spite of her flaws – among them, her ungraciousness and quickness to form unfavourable judgments of others – it was impossible not to love this character, who is not quite at ease in her own skin, but is strong, goodhearted and ready to offer support to those who need it. Even as she snaps at her gentle, easygoing husband, Henry, or further alienates her only son, Christopher, I couldn’t help but sympathise and understand where she was coming from.

I had thought before starting this book that, like Henry Kitteridge, it would be a gentle read, but instead, like Olive, it packed a punch. The people of Crosby are perfectly ordinary and yet many of them are damaged in some way, having suffered a loss, whether through bereavement, abandonment or disillusionment, and must quietly continue to go about their lives. Some of the chapters, such as Pharmacy, Incoming Tide, A Different Road and Tulips, made me feel a sadness that was almost physical. However, throughout the book there is hope as well as despair, and some comical touches, mainly thanks to the inimitable Olive (I love the scene where she is going through her new daughter-in-law’s drawers). There is also a warmth and authenticity to Strout’s writing that make Olive Kitteridge, though matter-of-factly devastating, a joy to read.

35NanaCC
Fév 6, 2017, 6:05 pm

>34 Rebeki: I also really enjoyed Olive Kitteridge, and I am not usually a short story fan. I'm curious about My Name is Lucy Barton. I have it on my wishlist, and may get to it sometime this year.

36valkyrdeath
Fév 6, 2017, 9:08 pm

The Vegetarian sounds so intriguing every time I hear someone mention it, but I still can't decide if I want to actually read it or not. I imagine I will end up getting to it.

>34 Rebeki: I've recently bumped this Olive Kitteridge up my to read list and you've made me think I'm going to enjoy it. Good reviews all round!

37Simone2
Modifié : Fév 7, 2017, 7:31 am

>34 Rebeki: Did you also read My Name is Lucy Barton? And if so, what did you think of it? I loved it and your review makes me think I also would like Olive Kitteridge, but I have read mixed reviews about it and I found Amy and Isabelle very disappointing. So I am still doubting, but would not mind being persuaded.

38Rebeki
Fév 7, 2017, 11:57 am

>35 NanaCC:, >37 Simone2: Hi Colleen and Barbara. I read My Name is Lucy Barton last year and enjoyed it, but I preferred Olive Kitteridge. It seemed more substantial, somehow, and, as I said in my review, I fell in love with the title character. I really like Strout's effortless, natural writing style, which was evident in both books.

I haven't read anything else by her, but what did you dislike about Amy and Isabelle, Barbara? That might tell me whether it's worth persuading you to try Olive Kitteridge ;)

>36 valkyrdeath: Hi Gary, somehow I felt I couldn't not read The Vegetarian and I'm glad I did. That said, I've now passed it on to a friend. It's not a story I need to read twice.

I hope you do enjoy Olive Kitteridge. I wouldn't like to have raised your expectations unreasonably!

39Simone2
Fév 8, 2017, 3:33 am

>38 Rebeki: Amy and Isabelle did not make any lasting impression on me, while Lucy Barton stuck with me for a time after finishing the book. Your description of Olive makes me think that she is a real character as well!

40Rebeki
Fév 9, 2017, 5:56 am

>39 Simone2: Olive Kitteridge, the book and the character, definitely made an impression on me, so I'd say it's worth your time!

41Rebeki
Modifié : Fév 9, 2017, 11:21 am

Péplum by Amélie Nothomb

I am a fan of Amélie Nothomb and tend to stock up on books by her when I’m in a French-speaking country. This book was the last of several I’d purchased in 2008 and I was determined to read it before starting on my more recent acquisitions. It had languished on my shelves for 8½ years because the plot description sounded too science fiction for my tastes: in 1995, a novelist, A.N. (of course), goes into hospital for a minor operation and awakes to find herself transported into the future, to the year 2580, to be precise.

After a conversation with a friend in which she contends that the preservation of Pompeii is too perfect a gift to archaeologists to have occurred without some kind of intervention, A.N. is deemed a danger by the 26th-century powers that be. Consequently, she is removed from her own time and imprisoned under the watch of Celsius, a scientist who claims to be responsible for the eruption of Vesuvius and Pompeii’s ensuing preservation in ash just one year earlier, in 2579. The book is essentially one long conversation between A.N. and Celsius, as she tries to puzzle out how this can have happened and what has taken place in the intervening six centuries, while pleading to be allowed to return to 1995.

I’m sure anyone with a real interest in science fiction could pick holes in that aspect, but the importance, I think, was in the exchange, or clash, of ideas between the idealistic A.N., horrified at what has become of the world, and the humourless, rigid Celsius, who, thanks to her prodding, eventually opens up and reveals some kind of human feeling. Amusingly enough, the subject of literature and A.N.’s own work comes up and she is self-deprecating, conceding to Celsius that she is more of a ‘dialoguiste’ than a novelist. I’m not sure I’d say that, but lively conversational to and fro is definitely a strength of hers. As such, I ended up enjoying this book so much more than I was expecting.

42Rebeki
Modifié : Fév 9, 2017, 11:20 am

Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson

This was one of our Christmas presents to our son and the first chapter book he and I have completed this year.

Any Moomin fan will know that Moomins hibernate during the winter (how I wish I could do the same), but one year Moomintroll awakes early to find that the sun has disappeared and that Moominvalley is covered with strange white stuff. Everyone else, except Little My, is still asleep, but Moomintroll makes a new friend in Too-ticky, who lives in the Moomin family’s bathing house during winter, and soon meets all kinds of strange creatures, who have come to seek shelter from the Great Cold.

At first Moomintroll struggles to cope with the unfamiliar weather and a house full of strangers, and is annoyed by a rather overzealous and insensitive Hemulen, but, with Too-ticky’s gentle support, he gradually comes to terms with the new circumstances.

My son and I really enjoyed this book and, in my case, learning that the character of Too-ticky was based on Jansson’s partner, the artist Tuulikki Pietilä, added an extra layer of interest.

43arubabookwoman
Fév 12, 2017, 8:08 pm

I loved Olive Kitteridge, but like Barbara did not care for Amy and Isabelle. I've been on the fence about Lucy Barton, but it sounds like both you and Barbara liked it.

44Rebeki
Fév 14, 2017, 10:39 am

>43 arubabookwoman: I certainly think it's worth your giving it a try, Deborah. It's short, in any case!

45Simone2
Fév 14, 2017, 12:44 pm

46Rebeki
Modifié : Fév 21, 2017, 6:38 am

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

For whatever reason, the library was unable to get hold of the book our reading group had selected for February, but it did have numerous copies of A Farewell to Arms. I was happy enough to read it – I’ve read a few other books by Hemingway – but not exactly enthusiastic about starting it. I don’t generally enjoy reading about warfare, nor am I sure I like books actively billed as “love stories”. All that said, I’m really pleased to have been prompted to read A Farewell to Arms.

The narrator, Frederic Henry, is an American serving in the Italian Army as an ambulance driver in the First World War. In the town of Gorizia, recently captured from the Austrians, Henry meets a British nurse named Catherine Barkley and, somewhat to his surprise, falls in love with her. After Henry is wounded, he is sent to a hospital in Milan, to which Barkley is also posted, and the love affair develops.

While I didn’t always believe in the character of Catherine Barkley, I believed in the intensity of the relationship between her and Frederic Henry. However, most interesting to me was reading about army life, not the actual fighting but the camaraderie, daily routines and the Italians’ attitude to the war. There is much bravery on display, but Henry’s fellow soldiers harbour no illusions about the glory of war. Later in the book, just as I was starting to get bored with a long description of a chaotic retreat, an episode occurs that also leaves Henry disillusioned, and from that point on the book got that little bit more gripping.

Of course, it’s Hemingway’s writing that really makes it: sparse and matter of fact but frequently poetic, and all the more devastating for its apparent simplicity. I particularly enjoyed the dialogue sections, especially between the soldiers. On a more flippant note, I boggled at the alcohol consumed by Henry and his comrades. Reading this book, I couldn’t decide whether it was making me crave a drink or putting me off altogether!

47valkyrdeath
Fév 21, 2017, 8:13 pm

>46 Rebeki: I've never read any Hemingway at all. His macho reputation has always put me off. I really should try reading something of his for myself though rather than relying on reputation. I did add The Old Man and the Sea to my list recently, but I might consider this too.

48Rebeki
Fév 23, 2017, 5:17 am

>47 valkyrdeath: I suppose I'm "fortunate" in that I first read Hemingway before I knew about his reputation, and at a time when I'd been in Germany for a few months and reading only German books, so it was a luxury to read in English. In that case, it was The Sun Also Rises, which I remember enjoying. I found For Whom the Bell Tolls a bit of a slog, but really liked the non-fiction A Moveable Feast. I have to say, as a woman, I haven't really found anything in his writing (so far) to put me off reading more by him.

49Rebeki
Fév 23, 2017, 6:35 am

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

After watching a programme last autumn on the books shortlisted for 2016 Man Booker Prize, I’d decided this book probably wasn’t for me, but then I picked it up in a bookshop and was hooked by the first paragraph. I’m not sure what it says about me, but I am drawn to books about strange young women who perceive themselves as outsiders in some way – my favourite novel is The Bell Jar – so I felt I had to give Eileen a go, in spite of the lukewarm reviews I’d seen.

It’s fair to say I probably enjoyed this book more than most. Many reviews emphasise the eponymous heroine’s repellence or repulsiveness and, yes, she does have some unappealing habits and personality traits, but no one is more repulsed by Eileen than she herself. More than anything, I felt great sympathy for her and occasionally I wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being so self-conscious and paranoid. Starved of love and affection by her alcoholic father and now deceased mother, Eileen views the world with hostility. Every day she leaves the squalor of her home for the dreariness of her job as a secretary in the equally depressing but more ordered surroundings of a young offenders institution. She dreams of escaping to New York to start a new life, but it is not until the arrival of Rebecca, a glamorous new staff member and, Eileen hopes, her first real friend that this dream – of necessity – becomes a reality.

What I appreciated most about Eileen was Moshfegh’s writing and the noirish atmosphere it created, along with the intriguing title character. I was less sure about the pacing and the plot event that brings the novel to a climax. Moshfegh spends a lot of time setting the scene and creating suspense, but the incident that drives Eileen to leave her home town seemed rather unexpected and sudden to me and I would have liked more insight into Rebecca’s motivations, since it is she who forces Eileen’s hand. It would also have been nice to see a bit more of the two women’s developing “friendship”. On the other hand, I enjoyed the depiction of Eileen’s father and, as awful as he is, I found something touching about their relationship.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and compelling read, even with its flaws, and I would definitely read more by Ottessa Moshfegh.

50dchaikin
Fév 23, 2017, 7:55 am

Enjoyed your review of A Farewell to Arms. I would like to read it someday and I'm a little leas afraid of it after reading your review.

And glad Eileen worked for you.

51Rebeki
Fév 23, 2017, 12:32 pm

>50 dchaikin: Oh good. I was a bit daunted, thinking it would be as difficult to get through as For Whom the Bell Tolls, but thankfully that wasn't the case!

52RidgewayGirl
Fév 23, 2017, 7:57 pm

I'm happy to find someone else who liked Eileen as much as I did. I found it to be absolutely classic noir, with the twist of the female protagonist.

53Rebeki
Fév 25, 2017, 5:17 am

>52 RidgewayGirl: Likewise! I've never read anything by Patricia Highsmith - this needs to be rectified - but it had me thinking in places of the film of Carol.

54Rebeki
Mar 8, 2017, 2:37 am

When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson

This humorous but not unserious novel had been sitting on my shelves for nearly 3½ years, but I’d wanted to read it since it first came out in 2007.

‘Celebrity’ rabbi, commentator and author Claudia Rubin is keen to present hers as the perfect family and is looking forward to her elder son’s wedding as another opportunity to showcase this perfection. Unfortunately for her, the groom has done a runner and, as the rest of the family convenes for a crisis meeting, it becomes clear, to the reader at least, that it is not just the social humiliation Claudia fears but financial ruin. To keep the family afloat, her forthcoming book must be a success and nothing, therefore, can be allowed to sully her reputation. While Claudia works hard to woo congregation members and journalists alike with her hospitality and charm, however, her previously loyal husband Norman, sheepishly-returned eldest son Leo and neurotic elder daughter Frances are grappling with secrets that threaten to undermine all her efforts.

With a light touch, Mendelson has created great characters and had me really feeling (and resenting on their behalf) the stifling hold Claudia exerts over her husband, four children and extended family, with image placed above personal happiness. I was rooting for Norman, Frances and even the hopeless Leo, irritated by younger daughter Em, repelled by younger son Sim and maddened by Frances’s husband Jonathan. My feelings about Claudia were more complicated – I admired, was annoyed and sympathised with her by turns.

Mendelson keeps things interesting by switching perspective between Claudia, Norman, Leo and Frances and, for me, there was nothing predictable about the plot: in particular, Norman’s secret was more interesting than the one I’d anticipated and Frances’s story with a secondary character didn’t develop as I’d imagined.

I also enjoyed the immersion in Anglo-Jewish life – a handy glossary of terms is provided, which I made heavy use of in the first few chapters – and found myself able to identify with Norman’s chip on the shoulder and suspicion of “Aryan blondes” and Leo’s nervousness about skinheads and resentment of a rather entitled work colleague.

Overall, an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

55Rebeki
Mar 31, 2017, 6:34 am

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

A re-read of The Age of Innocence a few years ago made me want to read everything of Edith Wharton’s I could find. As is the way of things, it’s taken me three years to get round to reading my next book by someone I was confident was a “new” favourite author. The House of Mirth didn’t disappoint.

The beautiful and charming Miss Lily Bart moves with ease within New York high society, but, at 29 and with no money but a modest allowance to her name, her position is a precarious one. The obvious solution is to marry “well” and, in this, no obstacles stand in her way but those of Lily’s own making. Torn between her love of luxury and desire for status and the feeling that there is something more and better to life than the shallowness and hypocrisy of those she surrounds herself with, Lily is in danger of satisfying neither hunger.

Lily is far more accessible a heroine than Ellen Olenska and in spite, or perhaps because of, her imperfections, I enjoyed being inside her head. As with The Age of Innocence, Wharton made me laugh with her descriptions of the attitudes and social mores of the Gilded Age aristocracy – the struggle to decide where to eat lunch in Monte Carlo (hint: the food itself is not a consideration) was a favourite moment of mine – but, to a modern reader, it is also shocking how badly one can behave and get away it provided one is married and allows appearances to be maintained, a double standard that will come to haunt the unmarried Lily.

Alongside the witty and elegant writing, this was a book bursting with well-drawn characters. The energetic and straight-talking divorcée Carry Fisher was one of my favourites, as was the goodhearted Gerty Farish. About Lawrence Selden I have mixed feelings, although I was moved by his friendship with Lily and finished the book with tears in my eyes.

In summary, this is probably the best book I’ve read so far this year and I plan not to leave it another three years before reading more by Edith Wharton!

56Rebeki
Avr 10, 2017, 11:53 am

They Were Divided by Miklós Bánffy

At 326 pages, this final book of The Transylvanian Trilogy is by far the shortest, yet I must have been reading it off and on for six weeks. This was, I think, partly because I was sad to end my involvement with Count Abady, his beloved Adrienne, his troubled cousin László and other characters I had come to know, but also because I knew that everything was leading inexorably to the First World War.

As such, there is less frivolity and far more politics in They Were Divided. I had to let the details wash over me to a certain extent, but grasped that while Hungarian politicians were caught up in petty party-political squabbling and grandstanding, events were taking a worrying turn in the Balkans and the Habsburg Empire was finding itself in a position of increasing weakness. As before, I found it slightly painful to read about the political shortsightedness: “It was nothing more than the almost universal belief of Hungarian politicians that their voices could only be heard inside their own country. Their whole conception of politics was based on this, and nobody for a moment believed that their actions and words were watched or heard by anyone abroad...” Yes, that sounds familiar.

I would like to read this trilogy again one day with a greater understanding of the political context. For instance, I think of Franz Ferdinand only in terms of his assassination, but it was interesting to read that, from Bánffy’s perspective at least, he had some unwise ideas about the future of the Habsburg Empire and was, apparently, rabidly anti-Hungarian and pro-Slav, which, the author notes, is ironic given his fate and the fact that the book ends with young Hungarians cheerily marching off to avenge his death (heartbreaking).

In the mean time, I have Bánffy’s memoir The Phoenix Land on my shelves, as well as Comrade Baron: A Journey Through the Vanishing World of the Transylvanian Aristocracy by Jaap Scholten to be getting on with – at some point!

57Rebeki
Avr 23, 2017, 2:16 am

The BFG by Roald Dahl

I hadn’t read this Roald Dahl as a child, so it was a real pleasure to discover it at the same time as my son (actually, he was somewhat more knowledgeable than me, his teacher having read some of it to the class at school).

For anyone who doesn’t know, this is the story of eight-year-old orphan Sophie, who is carried off to Giant Country one night by a giant. Fortunately for her, he’s the Big Friendly Giant or BFG and, unlike his larger, more terrifying, and frankly repulsive peers, eats only snozzcumbers, not children.

My son and I really enjoyed reading about Sophie and the BFG’s plans to foil the nasty giants, involving the Queen of England no less, and loved the creative use of language. Great fun!

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

In a moment of nostalgia, I started recording the new TV adaptation of Jill Murphy’s books set in a boarding school for witches, which I remember borrowing from the class library at primary school. Happily, my son agreed to watch the series with me and seems to be enjoying the episodes, even if he’s a bit young to understand what’s going on all the time.

He was also keen to try the books, so we borrowed this first book from the library. In it, we are introduced to the hapless Mildred Hubble, a pupil at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, who just can’t help causing trouble. It proved to be just as engaging to me now and perfect for reading aloud to my son, who was able to follow the book better than TV series.

I’m pleased this series of books is being brought to people’s attention again after the phenomenal success of the later Harry Potter series. J. K. Rowling must surely have drawn some inspiration from The Worst Witch, even if the world she creates is ultimately darker and more complex. I’m also pleased that my son is captivated by a series of books and a TV programme in which virtually all the characters are female. Obviously girls and women have frequently been exposed to stories in which the reverse is true, but I think it’s encouraging nonetheless.

58Rebeki
Mai 2, 2017, 6:54 am

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I’d suggested this book for my reading group two years ago, but when its turn finally came last month, I was apprehensive about reading it. The way I feel about the world right now, I wasn’t in the mood for a dystopian novel. Against my expectations, however, I found it oddly hopeful.

Guy Montag is a fireman, but not the kind that puts out fires. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden in his world, a world where people are protected from complex or contradictory ideas and discouraged from thinking too much, for it will only make them unhappy. Entertainment comes in the form of wall-to-wall interactive television, to which Guy’s wife Millicent is addicted, referring to the characters rather sinisterly as “the family”. Recreation for her is driving her car really fast; in this world walking, let alone strolling, is suspicious and dangerous. People go about with “seashells” in their ears, tiny radios feeding their brains with only the information the authorities want them to have, while subway passengers are subjected to a constant stream of advertising jingles.

At first Guy Montag appears to be a perfectly ordinary and compliant member of society, but an encounter with a young neighbour and his unease around the Mechanical Hound, a monstrous robotic creature that exists to snuff out dissenters reveal to us that all is not quite as it seems.

Bradbury’s language is wonderfully vivid and poetic, yet this was also a quick and suspenseful read, with the plot moving apace and compelling me to keep reading. It is easy to see parallels with today’s world: the distractions of reality TV and celebrity gossip, the phenomenon of fake news and the way in which technology can cause us to live ever faster and become disconnected from the world around us. It was also interesting to read in Bradbury’s introduction and afterword that the novel was inspired in part by his love of libraries and the importance of their role in a civilised society. Fahrenheit 451 shows us a world in which most people had ceased to read long before it became “necessary” to ban books. With libraries facing cuts and closures, it feels that we could be headed in that terrifying direction.

It wasn’t a comfortable experience reading this book at the present time, but I found that the ending moved me and offered hope.

59labfs39
Mai 5, 2017, 3:07 pm

>33 Rebeki: I didn't realize you were a translator, Rebeki. I find it a fascinating subject, perhaps because I enjoy reading translated fiction. I am constantly wondering what I am missing and what is changed from the original. For instance, I just finished reading Fear by Gabriel Chevallier and translated by Imrie Malcolm. While reading, I would occasionally get bumped out of my reading groove by British slang which sounded so odd coming from a poilu. I would have enjoyed hearing the equivalent French expressions, even if it meant more footnotes. If only I could read everything in the original, I wouldn't be subsumed with questions of translation!

>34 Rebeki: I don't care for short stories, but read Olive Kitteridge because it is set in Maine (my home state). Although the tone of the book rang true for me (I think she and I know some of the same Mainers!), I still didn't enjoy it. As I wrote in my review "My lack of enthusiasm stems partly from an inability to be drawn into the lives of quiet desperation that seem to plague everyone over the age of fifty. Is there anyone in Crosby, Maine who has not had a late mid-life crisis? And is there anyone in Crosby who has a normal, emotionally healthy mother?"

>42 Rebeki: Have you read Tove Jannson's novel for adults, The Summer Book? I loved it and found it a nice escape from the dystopian present. Perhaps for when you need a break? And although the wonderful Farenheit 451 does leave one with a glimmer of hope, it's not exactly cheery reading. What do you like to read for pick-me-ups? I'm always looking for anecdotes to my usual depressing reads.

60dchaikin
Mai 5, 2017, 9:19 pm

>54 Rebeki: I'm impressed how well you conveyed such a complicated plot...thought it was worth commenting on anyway.

Enjoyed catching up here. And enjoyed revisiting Fahrenheit 451 through your review, which took me right back to book and my experience reading it in high school. : )

61Rebeki
Modifié : Mai 23, 2017, 7:26 am

There seems to have been so much going on lately that I haven't managed to update my thread. I have been reading, although not especially quickly...

Lisa and Dan, thank you for visiting my thread and apologies for appearing to ignore you!

>59 labfs39: Ah, slang and particularly idiomatic language can be jarring in a translation and I think I prefer the flavour of the original to be kept. If I'm reading something set in another culture, I don't want the characters to be speaking in an unmistakably British way!

How nice to be from Maine! I found the setting of Olive Kitteridge very appealing and it definitely left me wanting to visit that part of the US. I don't think it's the perfect book, but it resonated with me, in part for very personal reasons: the good friend I lost last year had read it in hospital a few months before he died and had lent it to me one of the last times I saw him. It was quite moving, and sometimes a little heartbreaking, to read it after him, so I guess you could say that coloured my response to it!

I have The Summer Book on my shelves and hope to read it this year. I tried last year, but I was in the middle of a reading slump and couldn't concentrate on much.

Hmmm, in terms of a pick-me-up, I like Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series or one of Barbara Pym's novels. Essentially, a book that offers some sort of cosiness and in which the characters seem to lead simpler, less cluttered lives.

>60 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan! I'm pleased you think I've conveyed anything of the plot - that part of a review is always the hardest for me!
It's interesting that Fahrenheit 451 seems to be a high-school staple in the US but little known here. I think it should be far more widely read in the UK.

62Rebeki
Modifié : Mai 24, 2017, 2:06 am

Le dieu du carnage by Yasmina Reza

I saw Carnage, Roman Polanski’s English-language film adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play, towards the end of last year and was then curious to read the original. While the film version was set ostensibly in New York, in the original play it is two middle-class Parisian couples, Véronique and Michel, and Annette and Alain, who meet to discuss an incident in which the latter’s 11-year-old son struck the former’s in the face with a stick. Really, though, these characters could be found in any affluent Western city.

Véronique is determined that her son’s aggressor should be made to understand the seriousness of his actions and that the two boys should meet to settle the matter in a mature and civilised way. However, as the veneer of politeness fades, it appears that the four adults are incapable of such a thing. In the privacy of Véronique and Michel’s home, as conversation moves on from the boys’ disagreement, tensions build over approaches to parenting, Michel’s job, the treatment of a pet hamster, a dubious pharmaceutical drug, a clafoutis, Africa and a mobile phone that won’t stop ringing, until all inhibitions are lost and any pretence of civilised behaviour evaporates.

The play is humorous and occasionally farce-like, but unsettling in that the male characters gradually reveal a somewhat nihilistic world-view, which the more idealistic Véronique refuses to countenance. While I hope I’m a lot less po-faced than her, in this I identified with her and I was left with a rather uncomfortable feeling.

63Rebeki
Modifié : Mai 23, 2017, 11:06 am

Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen was the daughter of a white Danish mother and an Afro-Caribbean father, but he left when she was young and her mother then married a fellow Dane. Larsen’s sense of being an outsider in all worlds is reflected in her two novels, Quicksand and Passing, published in the late 1920s. I confess that I had heard of neither the author nor these books before reading about them elsewhere on Club Read, but, to my surprise and pleasure, I came across a copy in my local library.

Quicksand I assume to be the more straightforwardly semi-autobiographical. It is the story of Helga Crane, an intelligent but dissatisfied young woman, who is struggling to find her place in the world.

The book opens as Helga decides to leave the security of a teaching job at a prestigious school for black children in the southern US, and break off her engagement in the process, and head to Chicago to seek the assistance of her Uncle Peter. Things don’t go to plan and Helga is forced to look for employment. This takes her to New York, but it is not long before she is yearning for something else, which turns out to be a move to Denmark to live with her aunt and uncle. The pattern of disillusionment and discontentment, followed by a sudden change of scene, of which Helga, after her initial enthusiasm, soon tires, continues throughout the book.

It was interesting to read this novel not long after The House of Mirth, as the heroines of both are beautiful, intelligent, proud women who believe they deserve the best (and why not?) and are not prepared to settle for anything less, yet are hampered by circumstance. In Helga’s case, she suffers from being mixed race and not belonging to one of the established black families of the South and being forced to hide her parentage from her Harlem friends. Things are less complicated in Denmark, but there Helga seems to be encouraged to behave like an exotic bird on display, which also made me feel uncomfortable. The ending of Quicksand came as something of a shock to me, as it was not the path I had expected, or, indeed, hoped, Helga to take.

Passing

Passing begins with the memory of a chance encounter between the seemingly happily married Anne and a childhood friend, Claire, who had long disappeared off the radar, and tells of what happens when Claire gradually re-enters her life. The title refers to the fact that both Anne and Claire are light-skinned enough to “pass” for white, but while Anne takes advantage of this for the purposes of visiting restaurants and shops etc., Claire has made a life of it. It seems, however, that she has begun to miss “her people” and sees Anne as her way back.

Without wishing to say too much, this reminded me a little of Simone de Beauvoir (whose works were obviously published later than Larsen’s), not only in terms of the plot but also because of the elegant, precise writing.

I enjoyed both stories, which, while quite different from each other, gave me an insight into the issues around being mixed race in 1920s’ America. I was also impressed with the way Larsen kept the plot moving and, with her economical style of writing, quickly placed the reader in the head, and on the side, of each of her heroines. I’m only sorry she didn’t publish more books.

64Rebeki
Mai 23, 2017, 11:08 am

Who Will Comfort Toffle? by Tove Jansson

This is a beautifully-illustrated hardback picture book that I bought to read with my son. It tells the tale, in rhyming verse rendered into English by Sophie Hannah, of Toffle, a lonely creature who wants to find friends, but is too shy to do anything about it, until an SOS note from a terrified Miffle gives him courage and a sense of purpose. It's naturally set in Moominland, so some old Moomin favourites make a cameo appearance. A lovely book!

65Rebeki
Mai 23, 2017, 11:14 am

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

I read My Brilliant Friend towards the end of 2015, but, unusually, enough of it had stayed with me for me to be able to plunge back into Elena and Lila’s world without too much difficulty. I took a while to get into the first of the Neapolitan Novels, but that was far from the case this time. The action picked up where it had left off and I was soon engrossed.

With Lila married, working and living in a comfortable apartment, while Elena’s time is still taken up with school work and her family is just scraping by, the two seem destined to drift apart. However, in spite or probably because of her own stunted education, Lila continues to take an interest in Elena’s and offers her a quiet place to study. Later Elena seizes the opportunity to accompany Lila to Ischia for the summer, a chunk of the book I found absolutely riveting.

Perhaps even more than in My Brilliant Friend, I was struck by the claustrophobic and monotonous nature of the characters’ lives, with few ways out. The Solaras run the neighbourhood and it is increasingly apparent that Lila’s husband and brother and others have little power to go against them, but the characters are also trapped by social attitudes and expectations. I felt for the female characters – Pinuccia, Gigliolia and Nunzia in particular – who wish to be treated with respect and tenderness but have no choice but to settle for less, but also for Rino and Stefano, who somehow seem to feel that they must assert themselves as husbands and men by behaving in a brutal fashion, and for Antonio, broken by military service. It’s heartening to see Elena tread a different path and easy to identify with her imposter syndrome.

I’m taking a break from the series with a different book, but I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of Elena and Lila in the third novel. I have the impression from looking at other Club Read-ers’ comments that this second book is the best liked of the four, so I shall try to manage my expectations!

66labfs39
Mai 23, 2017, 8:39 pm

If I didn't have a stranglehold on my wishlist, I would add all of these (especially the first three) to my wishlist. I have avoided Ferrante's books, thus far, but feel as though I should read them. I'll check back to see what you think of the rest.

67valkyrdeath
Juin 11, 2017, 5:39 pm

>62 Rebeki: I listened to Art by Yasmina Reza last year and it sounds like this play covers very similar territory. I had mixed feeling about that one at the time but I can't say how much of it is down to the play, how much to the translation and how much to the performances.

>63 Rebeki: Glad to hear Quicksand is good, as I did enjoy Passing. I think I'll try and get to it shortly as I'd almost forgotten I'd intended to read it until I saw your review. It is a pity she didn't write more.

68Rebeki
Modifié : Juil 5, 2017, 2:11 am

>67 valkyrdeath: I'm replying rather late, but, yes, it's similar in that there's a small cast, clashing viewpoints and a particular incident/stimulus that causes resentments and repressed feelings to come to the surface.

I saw Art at the theatre in January and remember laughing a lot and feeling less uncomfortable than after seeing the film Carnage. I do enjoy this kind of scenario though and would like to discover more of Reza's work (I bought the original script of Art to read after seeing the play in English).

Quite possibly you've already got to it by now, but, yes, Quicksand is definitely worth reading!

69Rebeki
Juil 12, 2017, 2:11 am

I've been a little distracted from reading over the last month or so, but I've certainly been reading faster than I've been posting reviews. I'm going to attempt to catch up, but my comments probably won't be as lengthy or as nicely expressed as they might otherwise have been!

70Rebeki
Juil 12, 2017, 2:13 am

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

My son was already familiar with Paddington Bear from the picture books for younger readers, but I decided it was time to try the full-length stories, of which this is the very first book.

Paddington is actually our closest mainline London station and very familiar to my son, so it was especially fun to read about his discovery there by the Brown family. In fact, for me, rereading this book as an adult living in London was quite a different experience from when I read it as a child in a provincial town, for whom London was nothing more than an impossibly exciting and glamorous idea. This time around, I realised how well-heeled the Browns were!

There were a few incidental points that needed explaining to my son because times have changed so much. The humour endures, however, and we both loved reading about the various scrapes Paddington finds himself in, particularly when attempting to travel by Tube, shopping for clothes in “Barkridges” and visiting the theatre for the first time. I’m looking forward to continuing the series!

71Rebeki
Modifié : Juil 12, 2017, 2:14 am

The Worst Witch Strikes Again by Jill Murphy

The second instalment in the Worst Witch series, also read with my son. When new girl Enid Nightshade arrives at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, Mildred is given the responsibility of helping her settle in, but Enid is less demure than she appears and Mildred is soon in danger of being expelled. As before, lots of fun.

72Rebeki
Juil 12, 2017, 2:15 am

Stork Mountain by Miroslav Penkov

In spite of an overwhelming-to-me TBR pile at home, I decided it would be fun to do what “normal” people do and go to a bookshop, choose a book and read it right away. The book that called out to me from the display tables of Waterstones Piccadilly was this one. The title, cover illustration and Bulgarian setting were very appealing.

A young Bulgarian émigré to the US abandons his studies and returns to his native country to search for his grandfather and claim the 20 acres of land that are his to sell. His destination is the remote village of Klisura in the Strandja Mountains, close to the Turkish border, where Christians and Muslims coexist somewhat uneasily. Confusingly, this is not the town further west in Bulgaria but a fictional location. Indeed, the author acknowledges that he has invented certain towns, “historical” figures and legends, but to me, as a non-Bulgarian, these inventions sit seamlessly alongside the real ritual of Nestinarstvo or fire dancing, which is central to the plot. The title, meanwhile, refers to “Klisura’s” location on a stork migration route, which sees the birds fly north from Africa each spring.

There are many strands to this book and, as it’s now several weeks since I finished reading it, I confess that some of them have faded from my memory slightly, but love stories are combined with history, real and imagined, to produce a sprawling whole in which the unnamed narrator’s grandfather, a retired teacher, is the most intriguing figure. The writing is both effortless and highly evocative and it made for an absorbing reading experience. I could see vividly the crumbling Strandja houses, part stone, part wood, and the men playing backgammon in the village, while storks flew overhead.

Although Miroslav Penkov has previously published a short story collection, this is his first novel, and I look forward to seeing what else he comes up with.

73Rebeki
Modifié : Juil 27, 2017, 3:20 am

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

I read this book not long after the English translation first came out in paperback and, while I appreciated it, my enjoyment of it was overshadowed by knowing the author’s fate and the circumstances of the book’s publication. This time around, re-reading it for my reading group’s June meeting, I was determined to concentrate on the book itself and ignore all else.

Before first starting Suite Française 10 years ago, I’d assumed (on no basis whatsoever) that it would deal specifically with the experience of being a Jew in occupied France. In fact, the two sections contained within the book – Storm in June and Dolce – cover the early days of the occupation and feature no Jewish characters at all. In Storm in June we encounter a number of Parisians packing up to leave the city for the relative safety of provincial France. Némirovsky succeeds in making the mundane matter of their decisions as to what to take with them and the logistics of travel completely fascinating, helped by the fact that many of these characters are unsympathetic and their priorities and attitudes seem to us to be rather skewed. The exception is the Michauds, a middle-aged couple struggling financially, whose only thoughts are for their son, Jean-Marie, away fighting and, unknown to them, wounded in action.

Jean-Marie forms the link with the second section, Dolce, set in the village of Bussy, where inhabitants are preparing for the arrival of occupying Germans for whom they’re forced to provide lodgings. Lucile, a young woman in a loveless marriage, must somehow hide from her austere mother-in-law the feelings that are growing between her and “their” German.

War does not bring out the best in everyone and Némirovsky is humorously scathing of the selfishness and hypocrisy displayed by the wealthier characters. At the same time, she is measured in her treatment of the German soldiers, and I found their departure from the village after the Soviet Union joins the war a poignant moment. The sense really is a of a group of human beings trying to navigate their way through, and maintain their dignity throughout, an unfolding drama whose end they – and Némirovsky – have no way of knowing.

The two sections here were to have been joined by a further three to form a panoramic piece in the vein of War and Peace. Aside from the human tragedy of Némirovsky’s death, I’m sad that she was never able to complete this work.

74Rebeki
Modifié : Juil 27, 2017, 3:47 am

The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood

A re-read of an old favourite, and yet one I can't have read since my late teens/early twenties, i.e. not very recently!

As I've frequently found with re-reads, the humour is so much more apparent as I get older. Last time around I remember being very bothered by the protagonist Marian's temporary eating disorder – a reaction to her forthcoming marriage to the ostensibly perfect Peter – whereas this time it seemed a natural response. I also took greater pleasure in the minor characters, such as Marian's landlady and her work colleagues.

It occurred to me this time that I would love to see a film or TV adaptation of The Edible Woman. Great fun, while delivering a searing message.

75Rebeki
Modifié : Août 7, 2017, 5:17 am

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

My son's teacher was reading this book to the class, but my son insisted I also read it to him at home, more or less at the same time. However, because the class finished it ahead of us, my son took great delight in the fact that he knew what was going to happen, while I apparently didn't, despite my telling him several times that I'd also read the book as a child!

This time around, I couldn't help but wonder whether Willy Wonka had made sure that Charlie Bucket, as a poor boy living so close to the chocolate factory, found the last golden ticket, since it must have been obvious from the press coverage of the previous four ticket finders that they were totally unsuitable. I have no basis for thinking this though!

A Bad Spell for the Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

This is my favourite of the Worst Witch series so far. Mildred finds herself transformed and must work out how to save herself and a new friend. Exciting stuff!

76Rebeki
Modifié : Août 23, 2017, 6:03 am

The Burning of the World: A Memoir of 1914 by Béla Zombory-Moldován

I first heard of this short memoir on one of rebeccanyc’s threads a few years ago and was struck by the dramatic title. After receiving it as a birthday present last year, it sat on my shelf until now, but I’d been keen to complete Miklós Bánffy’s Transylvanian Trilogy beforehand. This non-fiction account begins where the final novel in the trilogy ends, with the outbreak of the First World War.

In both works it is a chilling moment. Zombory-Moldován is holidaying with friends in what is now Croatia when he learns that war has been declared and that he must report for duty back in Hungary just a few days later. As poignantly described at the close of Bánffy’s trilogy, the first reaction among young Hungarians is one of feverish excitement, but Zombory-Moldován, an artist, does not share this feeling; he is aware that this is the end of life as he knows it and, possibly, of life itself.

Zombory-Moldován’s front-line experience turns out to be short-lived: he is badly wounded in battle, but fortunate to escape with his life and see out the rest of the war away from the front. However, his descriptions of doing battle in Galicia convey the horror and futility of the war, as the Austro-Hungarian troops, ill-equipped and under-prepared, incur heavy losses against the Russians.

On his return to Budapest, Zombory-Moldován, perhaps unsurprisingly, struggles to return to his old life and to his work. Back on the Croatian coast, he eventually finds peace – in more sense than one – and the ability to paint once more.

This was a moving read and an interesting insight into an individual’s experience of going to war, of which I’ve read only fictional or generalised accounts.

77avaland
Juil 13, 2017, 10:53 am

I am very far behind on checking others' reading (and just catching up on my own thread after quite a long absence0 but you list of what you've read this year is very interesting. My eye always goes to the translated books first, it seems. The Penkov sounds interesting, if it weren't from my seriously bloated pile of just acquired TBRs, I'd be very tempted!

And you've read The Edible Woman; it's on my list to re-read at some point.

78OscarWilde87
Juil 18, 2017, 2:54 pm

>58 Rebeki: I like that review. I have read the novel quite a while back, but in light of fake news it might be worth exploring again.

79labfs39
Juil 29, 2017, 10:45 pm

Hi Rebeki! I'm glad you popped in for a bit. It's interesting hearing your reviews of children's and adult lit side by side. It must be fun to read some old favorites again, this time through your son's eyes too.

I liked Suite Francaise, but not as much as I thought I would. My edition had some fascinating appendices: one with the author's notes, and the second of her correspondence to publishers, etc. as she begins to fear for herself.

80Rebeki
Août 23, 2017, 6:15 am

>77 avaland: Thanks, Lois, for stopping by. As you will see from this very late reply, I'm still struggling to catch up on my own thread, let alone visit others' threads! The Penkov was interesting and offered a real sense of place, despite the location having been invented!
I've updated my post on The Edible Woman since you posted, but it was a re-read for me. I had this idea of re-reading Atwood's novels in order of publication, but I think I may need to re-read The Handmaid's Tale next, so that I can finally get round to watching the TV version!

>78 OscarWilde87: Yes, it was a very timely read!

>79 labfs39: Hi Lisa, it seems like my reading diet is predominantly children's books at the moment. I blame the school holidays for that!
My edition of Suite Française also has those appendices, but, rather pathetically, I'm still steeling myself to read them...

81Rebeki
Modifié : Août 23, 2017, 10:42 am

Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym

Reading Barbara Pym is always pure pleasure and this was no exception. An anthropology institute, not a church, is the main setting for this book, where Deirdre Swann, a young student, falls for handsome Tom Mallow, recently returned from Africa, with all the cachet that brings. As it happens, Tom is already in a relationship with romantic novelist Catherine Oliphant, but that proves not to be an insurmountable obstacle and the latter's attention is soon attracted by another anthropologist, who just happens to be Deirdre's neighbour. Meanwhile some of the institute's other students are doing all they can to win a highly-prized research grant.

Pym spent time working at the International African Institute in London and I enjoyed the thought that the characters and incidents in Less Than Angels were based on what she had observed there. The scenes at Deirdre's suburban home were also particularly amusing, the interaction between her mother and aunt especially, while Catherine, who I imagine had something in common with Pym herself, was a very appealing character.

The barbed irony with which Pym contrasts the situation for the sexes was delicious and, as always, no word was out of place. A joy to read.

82Rebeki
Modifié : Août 28, 2017, 3:24 am

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I first came across this memoir 17 years ago, in the university library. The title, and subject matter, intrigued me, but, for whatever reason, I didn't borrow it that day. Then I found a copy in a second-hand bookshop last autumn, suggested the title to my reading group and, thanks to the rather prompt take-up of this suggestion, have finally got to it!

I was expecting eloquent and beautiful writing - and I got it, Maya Angelou being a poet after all. I was expecting tales of hardship and injustice in the American south, and there was certainly that. What I wasn't expecting was the rollercoaster ride!

When, as young children, their parents split up, Maya and Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother and uncle in Stamps, Arkansas. Momma, as they call her, is a stern, devout, dignified woman, determined to raise them to be the best they can be. However, a few years later Maya and her brother are sent to St Louis for a while to live with their glamorous mother and her relatives. This was the first surprise to me: this side of the family are essentially gangsters, who wield influence with the police. The contrast with Maya's life in Stamps and the powerlessness of black people there is stark. This contrast is felt again later on in the book, when, as a teenager, Maya goes to live with her mother in California and attends a non-segregated school: I could almost taste the freedom she must have felt, and it was astonishing to us in the reading group that conditions could be so different in different parts of the US. How much more arbitrary and cruel must the discriminatory precepts of the south have seemed.

Maya is a good student and a dutiful granddaughter, but she is spirited, tough and daring. A reading group member who had made it only part way through the book by the time of the meeting said she found the pace was lagging a bit - Angelou spends a few chapters describing aspects of life in the south, which I found interesting, but the book is at its best when she is relating incidents from her own life - to which we all replied, "You haven't got to Mexico yet. Wait till you get to Mexico!"

This memoir is often heartbreaking and shocking: the natural expectation that young black men must hide themselves away every time the Ku Klux Klan is on the rampage or suffer the consequences; the limitations placed on black high school students, no matter how brilliant they are; the grinding poverty of the cotton pickers, for whom work offers no prospect of a better life; and Maya's abuse by her mother's boyfriend in St Louis and the guilt she feels in connection with it. However, it is also written with humour and offers uplifting moments. As a group, we enjoyed Maya's response to a woman who insists on calling her by the wrong name, as well as her determination to become the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco.

For us, the memoir ended on a surprising note and it made me all the more keen to read the rest of Angelou's autobiographies.

83Rebeki
Modifié : Août 25, 2017, 6:23 am

The Worst Witch All at Sea by Jill Murphy

In this book, Mildred is forced to give up her beloved Tabby for a black cat who isn't scared of flying. Meanwhile the girls are "treated" to a holiday by the sea, where all sorts of adventure ensues. I prefer it when the action stays within Miss Cackle's Academy, but this was still a fun read.

84Rebeki
Modifié : Août 26, 2017, 5:35 am

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami

I borrowed Kawakami's The Nakano Thrift Shop from the library on a whim last autumn and spent the first 50 or so pages wondering what I thought of it. One thing was certain, however: I couldn't put it down. Kawakami's writing is economical and matter of fact: we are given little introduction to the characters and their motivations and circumstances but get to know them as in real life, by observing their actions and mannerisms and listening to their words. The tone was unsentimental, yet I ended up really caring about the characters and what happened to them. In addition, never having read anything by a Japanese author before, I enjoyed the new setting.

On that basis, I was keen to try Strange Weather in Tokyo, which appeared to be a more straightforwardly sentimental tale. Tsukiko, in her late thirties, meets her former Japanese teacher by chance in a bar one night. In spite of the age difference, a relationship slowly develops between them, although the path towards it is far from straightforward. Sensei, as Tsukiko refers to him throughout, is a curious but sympathetic character, as mysterious to Tsukiko as to the reader. The growing connection between them - based initially, it seems, on a shared enjoyment of eating and drinking in bars! - is also curious, but very convincing, and I finished the book feeling very moved.

I would love to read more by Kawakami. I find her writing soothing and her heroines intriguing in - what seems to me - their refreshing disregard for convention or ideas of femininity. I know nothing about Japanese society, but here in the UK it's not usual for a woman to regularly spend her evenings in a bar alone. It's probably not usual for a man to do so either, since eating and drinking out of the house are held to be social activities, but it would attract fewer glances, I think. That said, Tsukiko often seems a lonely character and her attitude to alcohol far from healthy, but I liked the lack of apology or explanation.

85Rebeki
Modifié : Août 25, 2017, 6:49 am

Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson

Unlike the other Moomin books my son and I have read, this was a series of unconnected stories, featuring a range of Moomin characters (it was nice to see Sniff again!). I'm not a short story fan, so went into this with lower expectations, but I was surprised to find that my enjoyment was not at all diminished.

It was more evident than ever that there is much adults can recognise - and learn from - in these books. I was particularly struck by the story The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters, in which the title character goes through life with a feeling of impending doom, anxious that, if things appear to be going well, that surely means something terrible is about to happen. She also struggles to relate to her neighbour Gaffsie, whose favourite topics of conversation seem to be washing and cleaning. The scene in which these characters take tea together was funny to me in a way that I'm pretty sure my six-year-old couldn't appreciate.

A story we both giggled our way through was the one in which the Moomin family, who usually hibernate through winter, wake up early to find everyone bustling about on account of some mysterious thing called "Christmas". Since everyone seems in such a panic about it, they conclude that it must be a very bad thing and try their best to prepare for the disaster that is surely on its way. Very funny, but it also gives you pause for thought.

86Rebeki
Modifié : Août 25, 2017, 6:32 am

The Worst Witch Saves The Day by Jill Murphy

Mildred and her friends are pleased to find that someone other than the stern, and sometimes downright terrifying, Miss Hardbroom is to be their form teacher this year, but are soon perplexed by new teacher Miss Granite's behaviour. As usual, it's Mildred who gets to the bottom of the mystery. One of my favourite Worst Witch books!

87Rebeki
Modifié : Août 23, 2017, 12:26 pm

Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham

I'm a Girls fan – albeit somewhat of a latecomer, since I started the first series last year and still haven't seen series 5 or 6 – and thought it would be interesting to try this memoir.

The blurb on the back suggests that Dunham's aim in revealing all is for other young women to learn from her mistakes. At seven years older than her, I'm not the target audience in that respect, but I am intrigued by her and admire her work, so it was on that basis that I picked up this book.

In fact, watching Girls and reading Not That Kind of Girl, the seven-year-age gap often feels twice that – the distinction between Generation X and Millennials, I suppose. However, it could also be that Dunham's wealthy New York upbringing as the daughter of two artists is vastly different from my own happy but run-of-the-mill childhood, making it hard to identify with her experiences at times. That said, one of the most poignant parts of this book for me is where Dunham, having been dismissed by college peers for her comfortable background, allows herself to be treated badly by a boyfriend in order somehow to compensate for this good fortune and to "learn about the world", a path that she acknowledges leads only to misery.

Since I've never felt the need to "experience everything", the Love & Sex part of this memoir didn't resonate with me so much, but was by turns entertaining and painful to read; however, sections of the Body and Friendship parts spoke to me more. I also enjoyed reading about Dunham's family and her experiences at summer camp, a concept still alien (and horrifying!) to this Brit.

Dunham is funny and honest – well, as honest as a self-confessed unreliable narrator can be – and this was a fun and often touching read, if a little disposable. Immediately after finishing this book, I watched Caitlin Moran's 2014 interview with Dunham and she came across as supremely likeable. I look forward to seeing what she does after Girls.

88Rebeki
Modifié : Août 25, 2017, 6:32 am

The Worst Witch to the Rescue by Jill Murphy

It's the first day of the summer term in Class Three and Mildred is feeling hopeful it's going to be a good one, but things soon go badly wrong.

My son and I were bothered by just how awful Mildred's nemesis Ethel Hallow is in this book, but, of course, things right themselves in the end. We loved the talking animals too!

89Rebeki
Modifié : Août 29, 2017, 3:36 am

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

The Luminaries had been sitting on my shelf for three years, patiently awaiting its moment. With the prospect of a two-week holiday this summer - and a few more weeks after that before the usual obligations resumed - the timing seemed perfect for an 832-page book that promised an intricate and absorbing tale.

I'd read somewhere that readers could safely ignore the astrological references at the beginning of each chapter and part, and that's what I did, but they added to the overall atmosphere and the sense that the characters were fated to act as they did.

Set in New Zealand in the mid-1860s, in a small town in which gold is the main business, this book indeed resembles a Victorian novel - in its detailed scene-setting, its language and the creation of suspense. It opens with the discovery by Walter Moody, a fresh arrival from Britain, that the 12 other men sitting in the smoking room of his hotel are not there by chance but have gathered for some purpose. Finding him to be trustworthy, they gradually admit him to their confidence. A local recluse has been found dead in his home, with a lump of gold and bottle of laudanum mysteriously present on the scene, a wealthy young man has disappeared and one of the town's favourite whores (that is the word Catton and the character herself use throughout, although it is playfully banned in a court scene) appears to have tried to end her life. Each of the 12 is caught up in the mystery in some way and, determined to get to the bottom of things, they meet to pool their knowledge.

We then move steadily forward in time, as matters progress, confidences are inevitably betrayed and vengeance is sought, before going back in time to unravel the different strands of the story.

I loved the setting, which was completely unfamiliar to me, and the introduction to a variety of characters, including a Maori man and two Chinese men, whose experiences of life in New Zealand were inevitably different to those of the European settlers. However, for all that we are acquainted with their backstories, in the end there are just five characters at the heart of the action and I was sorry not to learn what became of the rest.

Overall, this is a compelling, cleverly-structured book that I was sad to finish.

90Rebeki
Modifié : Août 28, 2017, 3:39 am

The Diamond Mystery (The Whodunit Detective Agency) by Martin Widmark

This was a present to my son from his godparents in Sweden. A little sadly for us, the English translation transports the action from a small town in Sweden to one in the US. Since my son has been to Sweden a few times, we would have liked to retain the original setting.

Jerry and Maya are classmates who also run a detective agency together and are hired to work out who is stealing diamonds from the local jeweller. To an adult reader, it's a little obvious and simplistic, but this was my son's first ever whodunnit and he was gripped!

91OscarWilde87
Août 27, 2017, 1:08 pm

>82 Rebeki: Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

92Rebeki
Août 28, 2017, 3:27 am

>91 OscarWilde87: I've finally managed to write them down (in post 82 above)! I was waiting until I had the time and mental energy to attempt to do the book justice. In summary, though, it was excellent and surpassed my expectations!

93NanaCC
Août 28, 2017, 9:04 am

I've been terrible about posting this year. And I've neglected my own thread too. It's always interesting to visit your thread. You've done some great reading, and have moved a few books up my 'to read sooner' list.

94Rebeki
Modifié : Août 30, 2017, 2:09 am

>93 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen, it's nice to see you here. I've just about caught up on my reviews - for now - and hope to catch up with everyone else's threads over the next week or so. It's hard to keep on top of things, isn't it?

I've just posted my comments on The Luminaries (>89 Rebeki:) and am wondering whether it was your review of the book that encouraged me not to worry about the astrology...

95Rebeki
Modifié : Oct 3, 2017, 4:02 am

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

With the success of her book and a new life in Florence, Elena feels she has escaped the brutality of her old neighbourhood, but concern about Lila and a surprising development in her own family soon draws her back.

After really enjoying the previous book in this series, The Story of a New Name, I was worried that I wouldn’t like this one quite so much. I’d gathered, from reading others’ reviews, that politics played a prominent role in this third book and that the narrator, Elena, became a less sympathetic character.

In the event, I found the political backdrop fascinating. I’d read a little about Italy’s anni di piombo – though my knowledge remains hazy – and it was interesting to see the characters of the Neapolitan novels caught up, to a greater and lesser extent, in these happenings, on both sides of the political divide.

Elena’s behaviour is often less than admirable, but the same can be said of most of the characters. Enzo is perhaps the only exception. In any case, I enjoyed her candour and understood her frustrations. In this book, I found the dynamic between Lila and Elena more interesting than ever: the mutual resentment is necessary to drive each of them on to excel, while each desires the good opinion of the other. At the same time, the connection between them is such that each wants the other to succeed and is able to take pride in that success as if she had a share in it.

I’ve found it preferable to leave a gap between the books in this series, but I’m looking forward to picking up The Story of the Lost Child before too long.

96Rebeki
Sep 19, 2017, 9:09 am

The Wine of Solitude by Irène Némirovsky

Someone in my reading group lent me this book after we’d read Suite Française and, since I’d read the latter book twice, but nothing else by Némirovsky, I was happy to try this earlier novel.

The story begins somewhere in early 20th-century Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. Hélène Karol is the only child of a distracted father and an emotionally cruel mother. It is only in the company of her doting French governess, Mlle Rose, that she is able to feel safe and loved. When her older cousin Max begins an affair with her mother, leading the latter to neglect her completely, Hélène grows angry and vows to seek revenge one day. Meanwhile, with the Great War and the onset of revolution, the situation is becoming more precarious for the Karols and they are forced to flee Russia.

The plot seemed slow-moving at times and didn’t build up to the dramatic climax I was expecting, but it was compelling nonetheless. The first reason for this was the quality of the writing, which carried me along and painted such a vivid portrait of the various “homes” in which Hélène and the Karols found themselves – without ever feeling at home – and the atmosphere that reigned there. The second was the feeling that it was all real, that Némirovsky had lived it. Having skimmed a few articles since finishing The Wine of Solitude, I’ve learnt that this coming-of-age novel, chiefly concerned with the young protagonist’s attempt to separate herself from and define herself in contrast to her mother, is heavily autobiographical. That being the case, I’m happy to accept a calmer resolution and forgo the fireworks the blurb on the back of the book seemed to promise.

97OscarWilde87
Sep 20, 2017, 12:42 pm

>82 Rebeki: >92 Rebeki: Great review! When I read it, it also surpassed my expectations. By far, actually.

98Rebeki
Sep 28, 2017, 5:59 am

>97 OscarWilde87: Thanks! Last week I came across a secondhand copy of the next volume, Gather Together in My Name. Have you read it?

99Rebeki
Oct 3, 2017, 4:08 am

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith

Another enjoyable instalment in the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. A fun and relaxing read.

100Rebeki
Oct 3, 2017, 4:25 am

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

My son has recently got into the TV series based on this famous series of books, so I thought it would fun to try the original works. (This obviously led to a fair number of "But in the TV series..." type comments!)

I'm not exactly sure what age group Cowell is targeting, but I know it's older than six, so there were quite a few words I needed to explain. The story kept my son's attention though and we were both eager to see how Hiccup and his fellow Vikings would solve their dragon problem.

It's interesting to me that I can enjoy fantasy and world-building in children's fiction but not in adult books (with a few exceptions). I don't know whether the writing is better in the children's books I've come across or whether the stories are unspoilt by the need for romance between the characters. Whenever I've opened my husband's fantasy books at random, I've found the descriptions rather cheesy...

101Rebeki
Oct 3, 2017, 5:29 am

Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939 by Virginia Nicholson

Given that it's taken me about six months to finish this book, you'd be forgiven for thinking that I hadn't enjoyed it or that it's a difficult read. Neither of those things is true. I suppose the issue is that, since last year, I've been craving fiction above all - stories, stories, stories, to help me ignore reality!

In fact, Among the Bohemians is the kind of book you can read a chapter at a time and then leave aside for a while. Nicholson explores the Bohemian lifestyle thematically, with chapters on subjects such as money, raising children, clothes, housework and the home, food and travel. I found this focus on the everyday practicalities and problems of life as a Bohemian fascinating.

The book features the insights of and anecdotes about a wide range of characters from the artistic world and, as the granddaughter of Vanessa Bell, Nicholson appears as good an authority on this as any. This book is nothing if not accessible, however, and the author helpfully includes a dramatis personae at the end of the book, along with a summary of her main sources and a bibliography that serves as a reading list for those wishing to delve further.

While the behaviour of those such as Augustus John and Dylan Thomas may appear reckless and irresponsible to the average reader, the "wildness" of those pursuing art and freedom above all else is placed firmly in the context of the times, as a response to the stifling attitudes and extraordinarily restrictive mores of Victorian and Edwardian times. Indeed, we owe these outliers a great deal, since many of their ideas about how to live are now mainstream: dressing comfortably is the example that springs most readily to mind, along with the widespread enthusiasm in Britain for foreign cuisines.

I should add that my pleasure in reading this book was enhanced by my visits this year to Charleston, the farmhouse retreat of Vanessa and Clive Bell and Duncan Grant, to an exhibition of Vanessa Bell's works and to another exhibition on "Sussex Modernism". At a time when my views and values seem so at odds with those propounded by my government, it has been a comfort to find myself in the company of those who famously swam against the tide.

102dchaikin
Oct 3, 2017, 10:27 am

Catching up and really enjoyed your reviews. You make Among the Bohemians sound fascinating - more so than I would have imagined. Really loved your review on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I read it 20 years ago, I'm painfully working through my memory of what happened in Mexico!! I'm good with Stamps, St. Louse (oye) and San Francisco. I enjoyed both your Némirovsky reviews, especially The Wine of Solitude since I haven't read it. Also, many other great posts here - Luminaries, Strange Weather in Toyko, The Burning of the World, etc.

103Rebeki
Oct 17, 2017, 4:32 am

>102 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan! I feel I'm having a good year in terms of the books I'm reading.

With regard to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, it was the journey back from Mexico that we were particularly gripped by...

104Rebeki
Modifié : Oct 18, 2017, 6:23 am

Autumn by Ali Smith

"Every morning she wakes up feeling cheated of something."

Well, this was a tonic. I've read only one other book by Ali Smith - How to Be Both - but, then as now, I was struck by how immediate and exciting the writing feels. It seems to have a life of its own, and it's somehow hard to believe that Smith has sat down and created it, rather than it bursting forth by itself, fully formed.

Set at the time of - and months following - the UK's EU membership referendum, this is a snapshot of the country, but it's also a heartwarming portrait of the friendship over the years between Elisabeth, now 32, and her elderly neighbour, Daniel. Into this Smith weaves the story of a long-forgotten real-life artist, Pauline Boty, along with references to the Profumo Affair, a scandal that saw the Conservative Prime Minister resign and his party damaged at the next election.

Alongside anger and despair, there is humour - Elisabeth's trips to the post office had me laughing out loud - and resilience. Elisabeth and her mother are forces to be reckoned with, while Daniel and Pauline Boty are inspiring figures.

I really hope this book is declared the winner of the Man Booker Prize tonight.

ETA: Ah well, I'm sure Lincoln in the Bardo is a worthy winner. In truth, I haven't read any other books on the shortlist, but Autumn really resonated with me.

105Rebeki
Oct 18, 2017, 6:58 am

Spectacles by Sue Perkins

I really like the TV presenter Sue Perkins and think she would be a fun and interesting person to hang out with, so couldn't resist grabbing this memoir from the library shelves.

At 437 pages, this is a substantial book, but highly readable, written in Perkins's candid, self-deprecating and always entertaining style. Published in 2015, it covers her life from birth to her recent work. When reading memoirs and autobiographies, I'm always most fascinated by the subject's childhood and so it was here. Indeed, my favourite aspect of this book was Perkins's depiction of her parents. I have no doubt she's exaggerated their quirks and foibles for comic effect, but the result is so funny that I don't care. What's really wonderful, however, is how affectionate this portrait remains: Perkins's love and gratitude towards them shines through.

I also enjoyed reading about Perkins's university days and how she came to meet her comedy partner Mel Giedroyc. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would want to put themselves through the ordeal of performing stand-up comedy, so the accounts of their early experiences of this were especially interesting.

Recommended for anyone who is even remotely a fan of Sue Perkins.

106Rebeki
Modifié : Oct 19, 2017, 5:48 am

Not Working by Lisa Owens

I bought this novel on a whim, attracted by the title and premise: like its heroine, I recently gave up the work I'd been doing since graduating in order to determine what it is I'd like to do next (currently doing voluntary work while I figure it out!). While there are many differences between our circumstances, there was plenty I could identify with and this was a fun but also a poignant read.

Claire is in her late twenties and has decided that her job in "creative communications" is not the reason she was put on this Earth. The problem is that she hasn't yet worked out what that reason is, and it doesn't help that she keeps comparing herself to her trainee surgeon boyfriend, her friends, friends of friends and, well, any passing stranger.

This was an easy read, but well written and with an episodic narrative that worked for me. Owens does a great job of capturing what London life is like for the young professional and I also thought the generational divide - seen in Claire's relationship with her parents and grandmother - was nicely depicted. Most enjoyable!

107dchaikin
Oct 18, 2017, 11:10 am

>105 Rebeki::>106 Rebeki: Great reviews. Never heard of Sue Perkins, but the Ali Smith sounds terrific.

108Rebeki
Oct 18, 2017, 11:21 am

>107 dchaikin: Ha, yes, I doubt Sue Perkins is well known across the pond (unless you have The Great British Bake Off in the US, which she co-presented up until last year; somewhat controversially, the programme has since switched channel and changed presenters).

I imagine Autumn travels a little better though.

109dchaikin
Oct 18, 2017, 12:34 pm

Wait, we love the Great British Bake Off. But we only discovered it a few months ago...

110Rebeki
Oct 18, 2017, 12:57 pm

>109 dchaikin: She co-presented the first seven series, but if you're watching the latest series, the presenters are different (a man and a woman, as opposed to two women).

To be honest, I only watched it for the first time last year, after seeing an episode while staying with friends, but am less interested now that Mel and Sue aren't on it. The UK as a whole seems to be obsessed with baking in general and this programme in particular, but it's an obsession that's passed me by!

111dchaikin
Oct 18, 2017, 3:46 pm

>110 Rebeki: A man and a woman are the judges. I find it a bit addictive once I've started watching for a few minutes.

112Rebeki
Oct 19, 2017, 6:14 am

The Worst Witch and the Wishing Star by Jill Murphy

This is the seventh and last available book in the Worst Witch series. Now in Form Four at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, Mildred Hubble manages to start the year on a positive note, but it's not long before a wish made on a shooting star complicates matters and Mildred's nemesis Ethel Hallow seizes the chance to cause trouble.

My son and I are sad to have finished these books. Apparently, there is intended be an eighth and final book in the series, but sadly Jill Murphy is undergoing treatment for cancer and unable to complete it at present.

113OscarWilde87
Oct 21, 2017, 2:34 pm

>98 Rebeki: No, I haven't read it yet. I'll be really interested in your thoughts!

114VivienneR
Oct 30, 2017, 2:21 pm

>105 Rebeki: Great review! I will miss Sue Perkins in the new version of The Great British Baking Show when it arrives here in Canada, which I'm sure won't be anywhere near as good as the old one.

115Rebeki
Nov 1, 2017, 7:35 am

>114 VivienneR: After watching the series for the first time last year, I might well have watched this year's, but Mel and Sue were definitely part of the attraction for me, and I'm not sure what I think of Noel Fielding, one of the new presenters.

That said, in spite of all the upset when the change of channel/presenters was announced last year, the latest series seems to have gone down pretty well over here!

116valkyrdeath
Nov 13, 2017, 8:35 pm

>104 Rebeki: That's a great description of Ali Smith's writing from what I've read of hers. I'm looking forward to reading Autumn.

>105 Rebeki: I listened to the Sue Perkins memoir on audiobook last year. I'm not generally good with audiobooks but it was really entertaining to hear her reading it herself.

117Rebeki
Nov 20, 2017, 6:25 am

>116 valkyrdeath: Thanks! I definitely need to read some of Ali Smith's earlier work too. I hope you enjoy Autumn as much as I did!

Yes, I haven't the concentration for audiobooks, but I think with certain memoirs the reading experience would be enhanced.

118Rebeki
Modifié : Nov 20, 2017, 6:30 am

Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown

I'm late in catching up here, but this was what my son and I read over the October half-term holiday. Both good fun!

119Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2017, 2:56 am

Every Day is Mother's Day by Hilary Mantel

Evelyn Axon and her dependent thirty-something daughter, Muriel, lead a hermit-like suburban existence, with Evelyn convinced that her house is occupied by malevolent spirits. She does all she can to deter a string of social workers – along with any other visitors, as infrequent as these are. For a while, Muriel’s only escape from this suffocating life is her weekly outing to the day centre (or not, as the case may be), but Evelyn puts a stop to this when she discovers, rather implausibly, that Muriel is pregnant.

Meanwhile Colin Sidney, a history teacher who feels stifled by his own life as a husband and father, starts to fall in love with the younger Isabel Field, a social worker he meets at a creative writing class, and you can probably see where these narrative strands intertwine...

Mantel’s writing is delicious. She deftly evokes the bleakness and mundanity of 1970s life, while keeping an air of menace throughout. In fact, this is an extremely dark book, made palatable by the humorousness of the writing. One of my favourite moments is a terrible dinner party to which Colin and his wife, Sylvia, are invited. Until that point, I’d found Sylvia quite irritating and, suddenly, I found myself completely sympathetic to her.

Evelyn is a curious character, both a bully and a victim, and convinced her approach is the right one. The largely silent Muriel is an enigma, although it seems she comes into her own in the sequel to this book, Vacant Possession, which I’ve just started. I’m anticipating more carefully-balanced darkness and humour.

120Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 1, 2017, 2:47 am

La serveuse était nouvelle by Dominique Fabre

Pierre is in his late fifties and works as a waiter in a café on the outskirts of Paris. A conscientious employee, he is concerned when one of the waitresses fails to show up for work, while one half of the married couple who own the café, known for his periodic absences, has also been AWOL for an unusually long time.

I'd read about this book on LT a few years ago and it sounded appealing, but, failing to find a copy on various trips to Francophone countries, I'd ended up buying another Fabre novel, Moi aussi un jour, j'irai loin instead. As it turns out, the style and approach in both is very similar: a very ordinary middle-aged man recounts the details of his rather dreary everyday life and it's both fascinating and touching.

Admittedly, there's drama going on around him, but kind-hearted Pierre is the focus and I loved his observations about his life as a garçon de café. His descriptions, the other characters and the setting seem so authentic that it's like watching a documentary. Very enjoyable.

121Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2017, 3:20 am

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

This book is a series of episodes in the lives of a young girl, Sophia – loosely based on Jansson’s niece – and her grandmother – based, I assume, on Jansson’s mother – as they spend a summer on a remote Finnish island. This might sound twee, but the relationship is not simply one of an older person imparting wisdom to a younger one (although, inevitably, that happens) but a relationship of equals, each character having her own quirks and flaws and being prone to bouts of bad temper.

Having come to Tove Jansson through the Moomins, I appreciated the gentle humour and the alien (to me) setting, where nature’s beauty is evident, but also its dangers. And, like the Moomin stories, in depicting a slower pace of life, this is a book that encourages the reader to slow down too and think about how to live in a way that brings us happiness. I can imagine re-reading The Summer Book whenever I need that reminder.

122Rebeki
Modifié : Nov 20, 2017, 7:50 am

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

After re-reading The Edible Woman on a whim earlier this year, I decided to revisit Margaret Atwood's other novels in order of publication and, after watching this documentary recently, felt the urge to pick up her second novel, Surfacing.

I first read it in 2009 and it's fair to say I found it much tougher-going than the other novels I'd read by her. I felt that there was much I hadn't understood and was curious to see what I'd make of it this time round.

The basic story is that a young unnamed woman is returning to the wilderness of northern Quebec, where she spent much of her childhood, to look for her father, who appears to have disappeared without a trace. Accompanying her are her boyfriend Joe and another couple, Anna and David, the latter being particularly awful.

Once again, this was a slow read for me, but, older and wiser, as the cliché goes, I got a lot more out of it. On the face of it, the narrator seems somewhat unbalanced, but this is understandable given she is in the midst of a grieving process, feeling the loss of her parents and, as becomes clear in the course of the novel, of another. There is also a sense of alienation - from Joe and their life together in Toronto, from her work and from conventional society with marriage as its pinnacle, of which Anna and David represent an especially grotesque model. Coupled with this is the potential hostility of the natural surroundings, the locals and the barbarous "Americans" (which refers to a type of person rather than a nationality).

Surfacing often feels bleak, but, for me, the ending offered hope and redemption. A worthwhile re-read.

123Rebeki
Modifié : Nov 24, 2017, 2:22 am

Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes

"It's because I'm a patriot, that I can't bear our country." (p. 59)

It's the late 1950s and, according to the 18-year-old narrator, teenagers, or "absolute beginners", are running the show. The plot as such is meandering, but the nameless protagonist, in taking us from his "penthouse" flat in the lawless and rundown "Napoli" to jazz clubs to parties in Chelsea, provides us with a wonderful snapshot of life in London at a particular moment in time.

There is a sense of seediness throughout - the hero makes a living taking pornographic photos (though not exclusively) and counts junkies, pimps and prostitutes among his acquaintance, while his mum, with whom he has a hostile relationship, appears to run a sort of boarding house with questionable arrangements. However, there's also an innocence and purity of heart about the protagonist, with his love for the 17-year-old Crepe Suzette, his concern for his ailing dad and his disbelief and horror at the violence directed at black people.

I think there has been some criticism of how the Notting Hill race riots of 1958, which feature at the end of the book, are depicted, but for me, knowing shamefully little about it, I found it a good starting point. I'm actually confused as to why they are referred to as "riots" rather than attacks, which suggests general unrest when one side were clearly the aggressors, but, then as now, the press was happy to blame immigrants for all manner of ills. This part felt painfully modern and relevant.

This was not the perfect book for me. I wasn't very moved by the romance aspect and wearied a little of all the characters we are introduced to, but I enjoyed the writing - including the special language of their own the narrator and his friends use - and felt compelled to keep reading. Most of all, however, I loved seeing London through the protagonist's eyes. It's a warts-and-all portrait, but one that makes the city seem a magical place full of endless possibilities - which, I suppose, it is.

124Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2017, 4:06 am

The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

I'd had this book on my shelves for over six years and, looking for "something fun", I decided its moment had finally come.

It is 1876 and Erast Fandorin, a young, inexperienced detective with the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department finds himself investigating the apparent public suicide of a rich university student, an investigation that reveals the incident to be part of something far more large-scale and takes him to London on the trail of a shadowy organisation.

I really loved Akunin's writing, which is both elegant and humorous, and the twists and turns of the plot made for an exhilarating adventure. However, it wasn't really the feel-good read I was anticipating or looking for at the time, although that's certainly no criticism of the author.

I've since read a bit more about the series and have learnt that each of Akunin's Fandorin novels takes the form of a particular subgenre of crime writing. I had the feeling while I was reading The Winter Queen that I was missing all kinds of literary and other allusions, so it seems Akunin is doing something far more sophisticated here than writing a straightforward historical crime novel. I may not be sophisticated enough a reader to understand everything, but, duly informed, I'm looking forward to seeing where his next book takes me!

125Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 26, 2017, 7:01 am

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This was our final reading group book of the year. I’d previously enjoyed Waters’s Tipping the Velvet, but was less keen on The Night Watch, so wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but happy to give it a go.

In fact, I found the style to be different again from the above two books. In terms of the writing and the plot, I was instantly reminded of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca and My Cousin Rachel and I see that others have made the same comparison, some therefore finding it derivative. This wasn’t a problem for me and I was able to enjoy it on its own terms, as a gripping story about the aristocratic Ayres family just after the Second World War whose family estate, finances and mental health are becoming increasingly fragile. The story is narrated by a local doctor, initially called upon, somewhat by chance, to attend to the family’s one remaining live-in servant, a 14-year-old girl convinced that something is not right in the house. Dr Faraday gradually ceases to be an outsider and becomes the family’s confidant, as a series of disturbing incidents disrupt the family’s already strained existence.

This is a long book and I’d read reviews complaining of the slow pace, as did some of the other reading group members, but for me each of Dr Faraday’s visits to Hundreds Hall was accompanied by enough suspense to leave me reluctant to put the book down. I enjoyed the characterisation, finding Caroline Ayres particularly sympathetic and appreciating how my feelings towards Dr Faraday, set apart from the others by virtue of his humble upbringing but increasingly important to them, slowly changed in the course of the book.

There are plenty of ambiguities in The Little Stranger, which generated a good group discussion, but I was left with a fairly firm opinion of my own as to what was behind the mysterious and devastating events.

126dchaikin
Déc 26, 2017, 8:05 pm

haven't posted here in a while, but wanted to say I've been enjoying your reviews.

127Rebeki
Modifié : Déc 27, 2017, 3:03 am

>126 dchaikin: Thanks! I haven't posted anywhere recently and only managed to catch up with my reviews yesterday.
I see that next year's group is up and running, so hopefully I'll manage to be a bit more sociable at the start of the new reading year than I have of late!

128Rebeki
Jan 2, 2018, 3:40 am

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante

This is the final book in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels and my final book of 2017. I don’t feel able to write a coherent review, but, then, the book itself, like life, like the sprawling city of Naples, doesn’t offer a sense of coherence.

It spans almost thirty years, from the point at which Elena leaves her husband to the beginnings of old age, and in that time an awful lot happens – to Elena, to Lila and to the cast of characters we have come to feel involved with since My Brilliant Friend. Elena’s eventual return to Naples brings her closer – emotionally as well as geographically – to the friend she begins the book trying to avoid. And, while it comes under considerable strain, this friendship will prove more enduring than the women’s relationships with men.

There is no neat ending, something that is hinted at at the beginning of My Brilliant Friend, and I was left curious to know how things would play out subsequently, as well as the truth of the plot strand referred to in the book’s title. As much as Elena has tried to recount the story of Lila’s life alongside her own, there is so much more I would love to know about her, but, if we are to trust Elena’s view, the last thing Lila wants is to be captured in print: “Come on – she would say – tell us what turn your life took, who cares about mine, admit that it doesn’t even interest you. And she would conclude: I’m a scribble on a scribble, completely unsuitable for one of your books; forget it, Lenù, one doesn’t tell the story of an erasure.

Elena must finally learn to define herself on her own terms and I must accept that my acquaintance with these characters and their world is over, although I can certainly imagine wanting to re-read the four novels from the beginning.

129Rebeki
Jan 2, 2018, 3:43 am

Thus ends my reading year. It's been a good one, with so many enjoyable books that it's hard to pick one or two standouts. I may attempt to do so on my 2018 thread (when I set it up), but, suffice it to say, I've recovered the pleasure in reading that I lost for a while in 2016 and I hope it continues throughout the year ahead.