This is a very quick blog about the books I’ve been reading since my last book blog which was written 29th October 2023. Slim pickings indeed. In part because I have commenced reading Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad which I am loving and really savouring, so not rushing. I read some of these before I started that, then a couple afterwards when I wanted to read something not so demanding.
Shot With Crimson, Nicola Upson
I really enjoyed this. I heard about this author on Twitter. She writes detective stories around a main character based on the novelist Josephine Tey. There are a lot, and if I was into detective stories I’d get onto them. But I’m not so I won’t. This one is set around the making of the movie Rebecca which I liked a lot. I love the novel and love the original film and have read a bit about both so some of the characterisation was familiar. It starts in wartime England in the house in Cornwall on which Manderley, the great house that is a character all by itself in the novel, is based. It then moves to Hollywood where Hitchcock is making his movie. Well done.
Kairos, Jenny Erpenbeck
I’ve liked Jenny Erbeck’s previous novels, especially Visitation, but this was so-so. I normally don’t write about novels I don’t like but given such slim pickings for this blog I’m making an exception. I actually liked all the digressions in this away from the central relationship which is between a young woman and older married man. There was an article in the Guardian which I can no longer find bewailing the depictions of sex in contemporary novels written by women and I agree heartily with the critique. Here the two characters are smitten after seeing each other on a bus! Spare me. Then of course during sex he ties her up and beats her – for heavens sake! Later when she has the temerity to form a relationship with a young man he tortures her emotionally. And she accepts all this. Horrible. Demeaning rubbish. I quite liked the digressions about living in East Berlin and perceptions of the West and attitudes towards Russia. – about which Erpenbeck has written quite a bit. But the relationship is ridiculous. I can only hope young women don’t put up with this sort of treatment in real life. I really I don’t recommend.
The Patience of the Spider, Andrea Camilleri
I read two of these. Perfect for a break reading a classic. I can’t for the life of me remember anything about the other one, including the title. I didn’t take a picture. Good fun, especially when you imagine the characters out of the television show. But not memorable.
The End of Days, Jenny Erpenbeck
This is a book in three sections. You follow a character through different phases of her life. After two sections I was done and I gave it away. So another not recommended. About Jewish folk living in Poland (I think) way back, being mistreated but surviving. If you’re going to read about that there are much better writers. Like Isaac Bashevic Singer who I read, and loved when much younger!
The Wren, The Wren, Anne Enright
And my third not recommended. All the glowing reviews notwithstanding. I read The Gathering by this author a long time ago when I was in a book club. I liked it until the ending which I thought was a cop-out. I also read the Green Book which I can’t really remember. Both were Irish family sagas. This one is another written in discrete sections. I got through the first one – young woman, abusive relationship etc etc. I gave it away!
Addendum
Verdi And/Or Wagner, Peter Conrad
In my original blog I’d forgotten about this book. I bought and read it while in Brisbane at Opera Australia’s Ring Cycle which you can read about here. I enjoyed this, though it really has only one insight which is that these individuals were almost opposites character wise – chalk and cheese. Verdi was the upright man of the soil (he loved his country estate) who considered himself a manufacturer of music. He loathed everything about promoting his music – advertising, the need to suck up to patrons, even audiences! As we know Wagner was the dandy intent on leaching money from everyone he met because he was assured of his own genius. The writing was prosaic and it was a bit repetitive. Still there were lots of nuggets of information buried in these pages which made it worthwhile.
20024
It’s a controversial move for me, but tonight, New Year’s Eve, I’m making a resolution to buy no new books during 2024. New encompassing both brand new and used. I have so many unread books here I could read two a month for about three years before running out. Of the books I disliked described above two come from shopping trips to local bookshops where I buy a book to support them. Finished! They’re managing to survive, contrary to predictions, and so I will stop that from now on. As well as paper books I have a number of ebooks that remain unread. It’s so easy to read and review and to buy with one click. No more of that for a while. I’ll see how I go.
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