tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80272999434477286582024-03-13T03:23:07.392-04:00Books and Chocolate“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. LewisKaren K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.comBlogger856125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-46223388477176072952023-01-23T10:56:00.001-05:002023-01-23T10:56:39.674-05:00Back To the Classics Challenge 2022: The Winner! <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotu2dXUvECWYj9XmbNFCq7pFmsqK5WVBEVYfUZAQWNYwnTRIUzST9s1FmIoTZk9fRawZ5djMWA7CMM1bMzFuoFknVIEDVfDXtYpMGTVy-8urg17tLgjHx5UVzBm7eHrH48H7UNLvYYMs32LLpTYS5HAg5fIihRI1gOVadntzw5Oh5DDf14YWJht1Vhg/s1027/BTCC2022Red.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1027" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotu2dXUvECWYj9XmbNFCq7pFmsqK5WVBEVYfUZAQWNYwnTRIUzST9s1FmIoTZk9fRawZ5djMWA7CMM1bMzFuoFknVIEDVfDXtYpMGTVy-8urg17tLgjHx5UVzBm7eHrH48H7UNLvYYMs32LLpTYS5HAg5fIihRI1gOVadntzw5Oh5DDf14YWJht1Vhg/w640-h424/BTCC2022Red.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> Congratulations to Joseph at <a href="https://100greatestnovelsofalltimequest.blogspot.com/2022/12/back-to-classics-challenge-2022-wrap-up.html">The Once Lost Wanderer</a>! </span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Joseph </span><span>won a $30 gift card so he can get even more books to read in 2022! </span>Many thanks and congratulations to everyone who participated in this challenge -- 69 people signed up, and 24 people completed the challenge. And a special mention of <a href="https://flickerstory.blogspot.com/2022/12/reading-post-classics-challenge-wrap-up.html">Flicker</a> who completed her entire list with Japanese books in translation; and also to <a href="http://majoryammerton.blogspot.com/2022/12/back-to-classics-2022-wrap-up-post.html">Major Yammerton</a> who completed the challenge and did a second round! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">We're all winners because we got to share the joy of books and each one of us crossed some classic books off our to-read lists!. I hope everyone enjoyed all the new books and authors they discovered. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">As some of you may have guessed, I'm taking a break from blogging right now and so I'm going to take this year off from reading challenges, including my own. Lately I've felt like challenges and goals are too much pressure and are taking some of the fun out of my reading, so it's time to take a break and just read for pleasure. Hopefully this will inspire me, and by the end of the year I can plan for another Back to the Classics Challenge in 2024. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thanks again to everyone for participating and I hope you find plenty of joy in your reading in 2023. Happy reading everyone!</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-28297689759701333182022-12-18T14:20:00.000-05:002022-12-18T14:20:02.392-05:00Back to the Classics 2022: Final Wrap-Up Posts<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOklyKZg5_SBRlmQXbpwz0R0up7N-p5LFKG7DoKe27J6p9ORY9Tohk3keSXahw-SSzgEcTNmOuWW6f__AuQTc3JoglbQSrTSdG4B2Ezy-gVskQIQMWvFYvonPPU3DQ02eeC_dJgvDLxorZ2c3VgpeJlbUGteCOUS7pNN_deUhXS7Ic6koOXlScU6Zjww/s1027/BTCC2022Red.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1027" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOklyKZg5_SBRlmQXbpwz0R0up7N-p5LFKG7DoKe27J6p9ORY9Tohk3keSXahw-SSzgEcTNmOuWW6f__AuQTc3JoglbQSrTSdG4B2Ezy-gVskQIQMWvFYvonPPU3DQ02eeC_dJgvDLxorZ2c3VgpeJlbUGteCOUS7pNN_deUhXS7Ic6koOXlScU6Zjww/w400-h265/BTCC2022Red.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Have you finished the Back to the Classics Challenge? Congratulations! This is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> where you'll link up to your <b>Challenge Wrap-Up Post,</b> after you've completed a minimum of six different categories from the original challenge post. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">This post is only for </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><b style="line-height: 22px;">Challenge Wrap-Up Posts</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">. If you do not have a blog, or anywhere you post publicly, please write up your post-challenge thoughts/suggestions/etc in the comments section below. <b>Please read the directions carefully. </b></span></span></div><span><div><br /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div>By linking or commenting here, you are declaring that you have completed the challenge; that each book reviewed fits the correct definition of the category, and was published no later than 1972 (except for posthumous publications); <b>and that your reviews for each category are linked to the correct post. If I cannot find links to your reviews, I cannot give you credit and thus enter you into the drawing. </b>THIS is where I will look at the end of the year and randomly choose the winner for the bookish prize. </div></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><div>Please remember to indicate the following within THIS POST, linked below, or <i>in the comments section below if you do not have your own blog:</i></div></span></span></span><span><div><br /></div><span style="background-color: white;"><div>1. Which book corresponds to each category;</div></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div>2. The number of entries you have earned for the prize drawing; </div></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div>3. Links to your reviews. </div></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div>If you do NOT include links to your original reviews IN THIS POST, I CANNOT ENTER YOU INTO THE DRAWING.</div></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div>Remember:</div></span></span></span><ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you've completed <i>six</i> categories and you get <i>one entry</i>.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Complete <i>nine</i> categories, and you get <i>two entries</i>.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Complete <i>all twelve categories</i>, and your name is entered into the drawing <b><i>three times!</i></b></span></li></ul><div style="background-color: white;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>VERY IMPORTANT:</b> </span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>Please be sure and include some kind of contact for me within your final wrap-up post. This year, I will be contacting the winner privately BEFORE posting their name publicly on this blog. </span><i>If I cannot contact you, I cannot award your prize. </i><span>If there is no contact on your blog post, please email me at karenlibrarian13 [at] yahoo [dot] com.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div><br /></div><div>I can also message the winner via Goodreads, so if you are posting reviews via your Goodreads account, I can contact you that way also.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: red;">The deadline to link your wrap-up post is December 31, 2021 at 11:59 PM, Pacific Standard Time. </span>I will notify the winner the first week of January. </div></span></div></div>
<link href="//www.blenza.com/linkies/styles/default.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></link><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/loc_en.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/opt_defaults.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/misterlinky.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?mode=standard&owner=Karenlibrarian13&postid=18Dec2022" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-25089285352493086422022-09-04T12:33:00.005-04:002022-09-04T12:33:56.160-04:00Mr. Skeffington by Elizabeth von Arnim<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sEqdOlhhvj1l-wsazooPc0v-Fm54RcIMPEmIheWYwsLeOJRRKTxL7auLLMMKEkfOE57kso-ywU4CdrAt20PLP36ex7ER2mGCKS4DlSMonIHiUWoUPHfGkdJ-zR4YIWG5JuOhskW_K_3CzBfjx83qWPfjHC-NdcNJRT5Uu1IS47mU2rq17zXf49noJA/s381/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.43.48%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="267" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sEqdOlhhvj1l-wsazooPc0v-Fm54RcIMPEmIheWYwsLeOJRRKTxL7auLLMMKEkfOE57kso-ywU4CdrAt20PLP36ex7ER2mGCKS4DlSMonIHiUWoUPHfGkdJ-zR4YIWG5JuOhskW_K_3CzBfjx83qWPfjHC-NdcNJRT5Uu1IS47mU2rq17zXf49noJA/w280-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.43.48%20AM.png" width="280" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I found this book several years ago at an antique bookstore in Fredericksburg, TX, a very cute little town outside of San Antonio, full of boutiques and antique stores. Or maybe it was Boerne -- so many quaint places in the Hill Country, I can't keep them all straight. Anyway, I was pleased to find a first edition of a book by Elizabeth von Arnim, one of my favorite writers. Naturally it sat on the shelf for a good ten years before I finally decided to read it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHrx6STL5-x3B_Jh2BIXN0huNTAxiuThggC30IVwB9mDg9_0x9JfRpaFwWOk-t23ZqBB-kuygbShIqdjfBsMRBdGGt5_0MWiCfhUslPHwppH_OU0uUV3yT9709PZMq39yuYZv67E0y7Mnqyj4rYqxtccnBO6qBpdQqrNOzdH4Ao6RgGl0DsPWriJluiA/s319/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.48.27%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="202" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHrx6STL5-x3B_Jh2BIXN0huNTAxiuThggC30IVwB9mDg9_0x9JfRpaFwWOk-t23ZqBB-kuygbShIqdjfBsMRBdGGt5_0MWiCfhUslPHwppH_OU0uUV3yT9709PZMq39yuYZv67E0y7Mnqyj4rYqxtccnBO6qBpdQqrNOzdH4Ao6RgGl0DsPWriJluiA/w253-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.48.27%20AM.png" width="253" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Lots of Italian reprints of von Arnim's novels. <br />Nice cover but it really doesn't reflect the mood of the book.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So. Published in 1940, the book begins with Lady Frances (Fanny) Skeffington, who is recovering from a serious illness. She's on the verge of her 50th birthday, and is basically going through a mid-life crisis. In her early twenties Fanny married a rich older man, Job Skeffington, to save her beloved brother's estate, but finally divorced him after his multiple affairs with office girls. She never remarried but for the last twenty years or so has had multiple romances with various men. Now nearing 50, her stunning beauty has faded and she begins to consider her past life and relationships; also, she keeps having visions of her ex-husband Job. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujtZbfNyNEvFeSRKMMocH2Xy51VAiA-U3NTtIgzKxsrUh9sbEq6WNmuSelE4QEgF1iTknAeK-dDi5EuhsIuDCvTRrjw3U_ApY7uVLbPWZtlzj_pili0ZIDbyJGOX-zXUhDjAig8YE84E4vPyMFILbwuU5P2ojsk7Uc5g28Nsysmu6zctUNw_z3YO28w/s336/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.47.22%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="205" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujtZbfNyNEvFeSRKMMocH2Xy51VAiA-U3NTtIgzKxsrUh9sbEq6WNmuSelE4QEgF1iTknAeK-dDi5EuhsIuDCvTRrjw3U_ApY7uVLbPWZtlzj_pili0ZIDbyJGOX-zXUhDjAig8YE84E4vPyMFILbwuU5P2ojsk7Uc5g28Nsysmu6zctUNw_z3YO28w/w244-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.47.22%20AM.png" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nice cover on this French edition</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">First Fanny consults unsuccessfully with a famous London specialist, whom she finds insulting; then, she decides to revisit all her past lovers, which becomes more and more embarrassing as she acknowledges that they were really all attracted to her by her stunning beauty -- another Helen of Troy, much like Lady Ruby MacLean in <i><a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/07/paris-in-july-2022-loved-and-envied-by.html">The Loved and Envied</a>. </i>Time and illness have stripped her of her looks and most of her past lovers and friends are shocked at her appearance. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Apparently this novel was much beloved and even adapted into a movie starring Bette Davis, but it isn't my favorite of von Arnim's novels. I found it really sad and kind of painful -- Fanny really needs to find validation from men, and she isn't getting it. (And most of her female friends were really pretty unpleasant). I don't know if it was supposed to be funny or if von Arnim was trying to make a point about women in the mid-century. This was her last novel and she herself had an unhappy first marriage, then an affair with writer H. G. Wells, and an unhappy second marriage. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvVq0k9cG7JP1BIAzlWuwyk12qwDp2bZHvjV9S0Qv1TJnAn5NPODbpVUIdPYa3rmHhQcu2sBG4bfY7erdJs1uXKa9wEPJwSW6px_KmFL92dMcXtE2fGReEbhIgbqpf1HVf3JkgNUHHbvoyCOsrIwGmWfWbQGTdhAFanUiTW4O3GAPr11D8CEF3USftA/s448/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.42.53%20AM.png" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="311" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvVq0k9cG7JP1BIAzlWuwyk12qwDp2bZHvjV9S0Qv1TJnAn5NPODbpVUIdPYa3rmHhQcu2sBG4bfY7erdJs1uXKa9wEPJwSW6px_KmFL92dMcXtE2fGReEbhIgbqpf1HVf3JkgNUHHbvoyCOsrIwGmWfWbQGTdhAFanUiTW4O3GAPr11D8CEF3USftA/w278-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.42.53%20AM.png" width="278" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The other issue I had with this book was the anti-Semitism. Fanny's ex-husband Job is Jewish, and this is brought up multiple times in a rather uncomfortable way. (There's also another awful character who has recently returned from the South Pacific and is really racist, but he's clearly meant to be terrible). Without giving away the ending, I will say that Fanny takes the high road, but I was really wondering how this would all pan out, especially with the backdrop of the War and Jews in Europe, which is finally acknowledged. So it all basically comes right in the end but the whole book was just kind of awkward and uncomfortable for me. I cannot imagine how this translates to a film, but it's available for rent on Amazon for only $3 so I might give it a try, though I honestly don't see Bette Davis as Fanny. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmnD3RL5FGg2jS26J5ikWWzO8fiN4ra88InVI7rlv3PxE7cS7ktYHHZKYPj3UaiPFT2Y2AeWOm2zpPb_MyD-qJOzC4gbDLCaoLiHGk82lv_CnD7g7E7XJxX6svxZht0NsBrkLuXSBZui203hn1GKW6CEGqE0O6VxMxxep1muGuOAutXJ_UKB1cyXK5A/s480/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.49.20%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="356" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmnD3RL5FGg2jS26J5ikWWzO8fiN4ra88InVI7rlv3PxE7cS7ktYHHZKYPj3UaiPFT2Y2AeWOm2zpPb_MyD-qJOzC4gbDLCaoLiHGk82lv_CnD7g7E7XJxX6svxZht0NsBrkLuXSBZui203hn1GKW6CEGqE0O6VxMxxep1muGuOAutXJ_UKB1cyXK5A/w296-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-30%20at%2011.49.20%20AM.png" width="296" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, not among my favorites of her novels, but I still have three left on the shelves unread -- <i>The Caravaners, Vera, </i>and <i>The Jasmine Farm. </i>I'm really hoping I like those better. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm counting this as my Classic by a Woman Author for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-challenge-signup.html">Back to the Classics Challenge.</a> </span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-78452698892224637962022-08-28T10:49:00.002-04:002022-08-28T10:49:19.706-04:00Bethel Merriday by Sinclair Lewis (with Bonus Bad Book Covers)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ZrQU3hqNSRe6cLDTSf-pVx3DPQZG5M3z4YKmYN66IEXvRF2IniFCLPKt5oK-sXsBEXRYmlWUO7ucoinhnWua_6lS4k__Da2LgirVN-qIOUdAY5Z0s_4Fk_zQyKfVRynaEc6rNn7y7Q6wHjzikrdTydRsZO2PK03QqEmkxmYhGavXP2xUs1HIB2c3Rw/s278/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-19%20at%201.39.47%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="193" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ZrQU3hqNSRe6cLDTSf-pVx3DPQZG5M3z4YKmYN66IEXvRF2IniFCLPKt5oK-sXsBEXRYmlWUO7ucoinhnWua_6lS4k__Da2LgirVN-qIOUdAY5Z0s_4Fk_zQyKfVRynaEc6rNn7y7Q6wHjzikrdTydRsZO2PK03QqEmkxmYhGavXP2xUs1HIB2c3Rw/w278-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-19%20at%201.39.47%20PM.png" width="278" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Original 1940 dust jacket cover</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like all artists -- all painters, all musicians, all poets, even some of those plodding recorders, the novelists -- actors are glorious children, with a child's unwearied delight in the same story over again, and the child's ability to make dragons grow in a suburban garden, but with an adult magic of crystallizing the daydreams into enduring life. </span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the summer of 2019 I took a little jaunt to Ellicott City, Maryland, officially known as The Cutest Little Town in the USA. It's really just a long winding street up a steep hill, lined on either side with quaint shops and restaurants, the perfect place to spend the day puttering about. At the bottom of the hill is a multi-level antique mall, which is a great place to look for obscure books. Needless to say I found several that intrigued me, one of which was <i>Bethel Merriday</i> by Sinclair Lewis. Famous for his satires <i>Elmer Gantry, Babbitt, </i>and <i><a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2016/09/main-street-by-sinclair-lewis.html">Main Street</a></i>, he actually published more than 30 novels. I'd never heard of <i>Bethel Merriday </i>and was intrigued. A quick online search described it as "the story of a young girl on the stage," and since I've become really interested in the theater the past few years I thought I'd give it a go. Plus it was a first American edition! (but sadly no dust jacket -- I've found an image of the original, plus there have been some hideously bad pulp covers on paperbacks, included for your amusement).</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4VaRT1zCzxMmMLtEtdvKv-t-vUV9VO2ejLlC3nQlrVd1MR2t-aL_Ap0cydosXns3J7DltSzNR0O3GmeUAZOn6HgvNNkJGHT5Vruzo4xY_4o_56xM_o9YvDDTI8a_SJTZKlRcOdSu-_ru20lG9KBNxQ-QKn5MDFPKZA_OT92mvVqIdTGt64YZZtdeQw/s332/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-19%20at%201.40.36%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="206" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4VaRT1zCzxMmMLtEtdvKv-t-vUV9VO2ejLlC3nQlrVd1MR2t-aL_Ap0cydosXns3J7DltSzNR0O3GmeUAZOn6HgvNNkJGHT5Vruzo4xY_4o_56xM_o9YvDDTI8a_SJTZKlRcOdSu-_ru20lG9KBNxQ-QKn5MDFPKZA_OT92mvVqIdTGt64YZZtdeQw/w249-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-19%20at%201.40.36%20PM.png" width="249" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This 1960 paperback cover makes it look really steamy. It is not.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So. It starts with Bethel as a small child growing up in Connecticut, realizing that she loves to play-act. Eventually she goes off to a women's college and snags a few parts, and despite her family and friends trying to convince her to settle down and marry her home-town honey, she persuades her parents to do a sort of summer theater internship, where (for a fee) she gets a few small parts and does a lot of behind the scenes work in a small theater in a disused former church. Bethel then decides to try her luck on Broadway, and after several months of struggling, discovers that someone from the summer stock company is mounting a new touring production of <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, with a shocking modern interpretation -- well, shocking in that the actors are all wearing modern clothes. She manages to finagle herself a job as a secretary to the producer/lead actor, the handsome and wealthy Andy Deacon, who is spending all his money on this endeavor. Bethel is also the understudy for Mrs. Boyle, a semi-famous actress who has accepted the part of Juliet for an astronomical sum.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The whole crew go on the road, bringing the Bard to small-town America. By now it's 1938 and the threat of war is looming, but there's very little mention of "the situation in Europe." It's really about the day-to-day struggles of this low-budget touring company and their attempts to at least break even, and the relationships that develop among the players. As the lead character, naturally young Bethel has her admirers -- I counted at least six proposals of marriage Bethel receives from various men in the book, and it might have been more.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxA1cMrepfIckxmY30zardbMRlMWPQ8-QerxE3R0Fb9_w3ZDJeyKy1u4pGztwEwRK7XhQDHiGLEw4UmfI73LT_qHNLVp7yGI84qPlRu9bQBcPk4vsNo_0z_JkxxcOKpw8voXckZrTCqTSCmgaE4ZQPnMaz3NBdCBwD7sVqv321jrB3-QH5IeuxPIFGKQ/s340/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-28%20at%2010.45.18%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="209" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxA1cMrepfIckxmY30zardbMRlMWPQ8-QerxE3R0Fb9_w3ZDJeyKy1u4pGztwEwRK7XhQDHiGLEw4UmfI73LT_qHNLVp7yGI84qPlRu9bQBcPk4vsNo_0z_JkxxcOKpw8voXckZrTCqTSCmgaE4ZQPnMaz3NBdCBwD7sVqv321jrB3-QH5IeuxPIFGKQ/w246-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-28%20at%2010.45.18%20AM.png" width="246" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> A very pulpy 1962 paperback edition, also laughably bad. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I enjoyed reading about all the backstage drama and trouble that the company faced, which probably wouldn't be much different today, except they'd probably be in a giant motor coach instead of Pullman cars. (I love traveling by train and the idea of a sleeper car sounds delightful -- they still exist in the USA but they're quite expensive and train food isn't very good any more so I don't know if I'll ever try it). I liked Bethel and the other characters but the story is lacking the real satire that I expected after reading <i>Main Street. </i>I really didn't get a lot of character development, especially with Bethel, who is really a bit too perfect. I've seen other readers complain that the book mostly ignores the buildup of WWII -- the book was first published in 1940 and it is a bit odd, though Lewis had addressed the rise of facism in his 1935 work, <i>It Can't Happen Here. </i>Maybe he really wanted a break from the war and needed to write something escapist? I don't know enough about Lewis to speculate. </span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are three classes in the audience in a city theater: those who can afford to go -- of whom some really like the play; those who want it thought they can afford to go -- they are too engaged in hoping they look like regular and expert theatergoers to have much attention left for the play itself; and the students up in the gallery, who love the play savagely or hate it volubly.</span></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn2NR63XTjhov4cQIXATQqUhHGauTorpzuC6IdazGcdRk7664UVB1wTkLhlnkgURXZJxtT9GOwyGU6RNcFMDypqQBvNnreNJVn_DZdCtyy9h1XYU6555V3eC5CtP8924Peslv1E5fbq9krWvdkGF-imsaRq4QF9WPMla_FIEWbng_mBv-gtWFoR4o1A/s211/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-28%20at%2010.41.59%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="154" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIn2NR63XTjhov4cQIXATQqUhHGauTorpzuC6IdazGcdRk7664UVB1wTkLhlnkgURXZJxtT9GOwyGU6RNcFMDypqQBvNnreNJVn_DZdCtyy9h1XYU6555V3eC5CtP8924Peslv1E5fbq9krWvdkGF-imsaRq4QF9WPMla_FIEWbng_mBv-gtWFoR4o1A/w292-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-28%20at%2010.41.59%20AM.png" width="292" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Spanish edition from 1946. This one is actually quite pretty.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Bethel Merriday</i> was a fairly quick read and pleasant diversion, if a bit predictable. I liked it though it's not particularly memorable. If you're not a theater lover or a big fan of coming-of-age stories, I don't know if you'd enjoy it. The writing is good and Lewis gets in some good zingers here and there, but I"m not surprised it's mostly fallen into obscurity. <br /></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my eighth book for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-14406884609696443902022-07-26T12:34:00.003-04:002022-07-26T12:45:25.804-04:00Paris in July 2022: The Loved and Envied by Enid Bagnold<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna7fXE3O-pUG-If7xWyR_CQQkyuLl8hDC8Xkn6uIqhiaTZ29dwvu_KiJ8Q7kFn82x9JSFsIiyJBtWUk7-OhjVWTEDvhAJWtu4mScNhrRl2s6pQi6MrnuOOedt5A8heYw5vSOS4JfQlCL4e-UqAk4nvY9z12mgCvZNEyu3ByWWW7iC-Csa8_3fn6L3rA/s254/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="191" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjna7fXE3O-pUG-If7xWyR_CQQkyuLl8hDC8Xkn6uIqhiaTZ29dwvu_KiJ8Q7kFn82x9JSFsIiyJBtWUk7-OhjVWTEDvhAJWtu4mScNhrRl2s6pQi6MrnuOOedt5A8heYw5vSOS4JfQlCL4e-UqAk4nvY9z12mgCvZNEyu3ByWWW7iC-Csa8_3fn6L3rA/w301-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" width="301" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My fourth book for this years Paris in July is <i>The Loved and Envied, </i>a Virago reprint I've owned for several years (I can't even remember where I bought it -- it has the price in USD). Originally published in 1951, it's a novel for adults by Enid Bagnold, most famous for her children's book <i>National Velvet </i>(which I've never seen nor read).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Inspired by the life of Lady Diana Cooper, it's the story of aristocratic families living in Paris after WWII. Though their titles are French, some of the characters are actually British. Most of the action is centered around the beautiful and charismatic Lady Ruby Maclean. Now in her mid-fifties, she's has been happily married to Sir Gynt Maclean for many years, but has always had a large circle of admiring men who find her irresistible -- Sir Gynt first saw her while walking down the street and instantly fell in love with her at first sight. She's basically Helen of Troy and men will do anything for her, much to the chagrin of her only daughter Miranda, who has always been overshadowed by her mother.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also in the Macleans social circle is Edouard, the elderlyVicomte de Bas-Pouilly and his mistress Rose; Alberti, the Duca de Roccafergolo, who rents a cottage on the Vicomte's estate; Rudi Holbein, a famous playwright; and his ex-wife Cora, an artist and great friend of Lady Ruby. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9K7PT5PyZdmYEP3MkQhw1zwgNwILmAl7wmFFXOBatGBUdjzo8rqRg00xsVnweRf63eUbsNHip7X4iGx7fUmAZ_wsrYwovLU2wJdXGyKW8VYi5LURFQTixRlHJKvuXsf74Ik1AV0u2RavY15NW6GL-uue7Bek5qNTO6XgtMHNsQbaZLABJ3AOA68YQVA/s510/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-24%20at%201.04.41%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="351" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9K7PT5PyZdmYEP3MkQhw1zwgNwILmAl7wmFFXOBatGBUdjzo8rqRg00xsVnweRf63eUbsNHip7X4iGx7fUmAZ_wsrYwovLU2wJdXGyKW8VYi5LURFQTixRlHJKvuXsf74Ik1AV0u2RavY15NW6GL-uue7Bek5qNTO6XgtMHNsQbaZLABJ3AOA68YQVA/w275-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-24%20at%201.04.41%20PM.png" width="275" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Virago reprint. The cover image is the portrait of Lady Diana Cooper by J. J. Shannon.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The story begins the opening night of Rudi's latest play, with most of the characters in attendance, and what follows over the next few weeks. It's another book in which not much happens, yet many things happen, largely character driven. Most of the characters are aging aristocrats and much of the story concerns aging and mortality, particularly the question of aging beauty. Lady Ruby is 53 and still all the men hover around her, even those young enough to be her sons. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Rdu7V1dCAjb2Rvtv7BmcDjjh5Fwe9IYFRBqkpMDIElb60HtddBt0oVw6STlwAxNgnSWW0HK0tKcCAorgB9EHua_WxGey-sP_k6x_4DpbudlwyPIf5ylp4SD-UZEc3PBe9k0dFboGYmBDPjzq-ol9YiPos4RkYPYNW2NS863ENxqB9zXeeYMpHjoOQ/s523/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-23%20at%203.55.15%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="345" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Rdu7V1dCAjb2Rvtv7BmcDjjh5Fwe9IYFRBqkpMDIElb60HtddBt0oVw6STlwAxNgnSWW0HK0tKcCAorgB9EHua_WxGey-sP_k6x_4DpbudlwyPIf5ylp4SD-UZEc3PBe9k0dFboGYmBDPjzq-ol9YiPos4RkYPYNW2NS863ENxqB9zXeeYMpHjoOQ/w264-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-23%20at%203.55.15%20PM.png" width="264" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original 1951 cover</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The story jumps around quite a bit at the beginning giving back story to all the characters surrounding Lady Ruby and their relationships to her. The first half was almost like a set of short stories about them before they actually got to the main character. Honestly, I don't even remember much about her except the many descriptions of how beautiful she is and was, and that got a little tiresome. It's well written and I liked a lot of the characters, but I found everyone besides Lady Ruby to be far more interesting than she was and would have loved to read more about them and less about her. I particularly liked the back story of Cora Holbein and would happily have read an entire novel about her.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">One thing I didn't particularly like was (yet again) some of the persistent racism and some homophobia. Ruby's daughter Miranda is living in Jamaica for part of the book and there are some unfortunate slurs. There's more than one gay character and at first I thought the book was surprisingly progressive, then another gay character showed up at the end and <i>yikes</i> some of it was pretty cringe-worthy. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since it was published in the 1950s but I still hate it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though nearly all the story takes place in France, many of the characters are British so it doesn't feel especially French. It was an interesting look at aristocrats of the period but it isn't one of the best Viragos I've read so far.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my eighth book completed for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-26489367827754588132022-07-20T14:28:00.005-04:002022-07-20T14:37:42.895-04:00Paris In July: Renoir, My Father by Jean Renoir<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknHo1Aqm8EcJw53OD9dlvqOf7YTITpD3A5cU7F47Xk17GlViENHG-KPXEJezfUvYSSFBV0zK7F8zpu_r2ToZV31twROWQ0OD5qzAXOC-byMjIQQBlYR1XsIQd0RU9vuqfmRHx4THuP56ojEqkvt5mtMrHleaHCccfNHlOdEIIR6DlFhoQM-gQ5ZPW5A/s493/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.16.15%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="308" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgknHo1Aqm8EcJw53OD9dlvqOf7YTITpD3A5cU7F47Xk17GlViENHG-KPXEJezfUvYSSFBV0zK7F8zpu_r2ToZV31twROWQ0OD5qzAXOC-byMjIQQBlYR1XsIQd0RU9vuqfmRHx4THuP56ojEqkvt5mtMrHleaHCccfNHlOdEIIR6DlFhoQM-gQ5ZPW5A/w250-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.16.15%20AM.png" width="250" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I am <i>extremely </i>pleased with myself for finally finishing this book! I bought it more than ten years ago on a visit to the Frick Museum in New York City, when I went to see an exhibit of Dutch masters. Apparently they didn't have anything else in the gift shop and but the pretty cover of this NYRB classic (it's a detail from <i>Garden at the Rue Cortot, Montmartre</i> painted in 1876, below. It's at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxbyz0duTOSMx9NWASsEVjWYPoWgLRzx7_3M3MH3r-SI2oG5JNRfPhJLMgY-3ddGBk78xZl9mziLJrLDWKNTo1OEvdrfTZvSYm5nZXwgyzVXhFq5gJuin2ZuvRZUDYQVSSfrr7AfuBrEI1-asPTiV83DohQwC0HWiPUJ2N4lo0xK09MBUbjhrxs-P2g/s552/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.58.43%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="356" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxbyz0duTOSMx9NWASsEVjWYPoWgLRzx7_3M3MH3r-SI2oG5JNRfPhJLMgY-3ddGBk78xZl9mziLJrLDWKNTo1OEvdrfTZvSYm5nZXwgyzVXhFq5gJuin2ZuvRZUDYQVSSfrr7AfuBrEI1-asPTiV83DohQwC0HWiPUJ2N4lo0xK09MBUbjhrxs-P2g/w258-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.58.43%20PM.png" width="258" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So. I've owned this book forever and I know I've put it on my list of books to read for <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/07/paris-in-july-2022.html">Paris in July</a> <i>multiple</i> times. I finally cracked it open a couple of weeks ago and though it's not a fast read, I really enjoyed it. I love art and I'm fascinated by the lives of artists. I wouldn't say Renoir is my favorite Impressionist but I really gained a new appreciation of his work from reading this book. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Originally published in 1958, it's a memoir by filmmaker Jean Renoir, Auguste Renoir's middle son. Jean was wounded during WWI and as he convalesced with his elderly father, who was already crippled with rheumatism, the younger Renoir spent a lot of time talking to his father about the artist's life. The book is a combination of a biography of his father's life and his own recollections growing up in Paris and various other parts of France. The family often spent summers in the countryside in various parts of France, particularly Essoys in Burgundy, where his mother Aline was born, and later in the south of France, near Nice (I was actually lucky enough to visit Nice a few years ago and was sadly unaware that there's a Renoir museum just 20 minutes away in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in his final home. I did get to visit the Chagall Museum and the Matisse Museum, so I really wouldn't complain but I wish I'd known!)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_ONBXm5RQGDu74VDF8oGy1JcxBDaIvBXJ1RwLztlQcA2JtWew-SUhOvn3PLHQQnl8WtrlBoXBxcBdIpEjzNsK7Ba2RU0TjXDqTMBEtkNYU9JIyZjphJQMphDYrMkaK2YNqIrFhzNSfqxkLvMmXg7s87P5X2W8Gc99rqd_WzIczkgBMhBC0hRqU3uBQ/s601/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.17.51%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_ONBXm5RQGDu74VDF8oGy1JcxBDaIvBXJ1RwLztlQcA2JtWew-SUhOvn3PLHQQnl8WtrlBoXBxcBdIpEjzNsK7Ba2RU0TjXDqTMBEtkNYU9JIyZjphJQMphDYrMkaK2YNqIrFhzNSfqxkLvMmXg7s87P5X2W8Gc99rqd_WzIczkgBMhBC0hRqU3uBQ/w266-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.17.51%20AM.png" width="266" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />It's quite an interesting memoir about Renoir's life and how became and artist and met up with his fellow Impressionists. He's one of the most prolific of the group, with at least 4000 paintings to his record (and the book includes stories about other paintings that were lost or stolen which just made me aghast. Some were literally used to patch up holes in a leaky roof). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">There are also great stories about the other painters including one about his good friend Gustave Caillebotte, who named Renoir executor of his estate and personal art collection after his death. Apparently it was Caillebotte's wish that the collection be given to the Louvre who <i>didn't want the whole collection and turned 2/3 of it away. </i>The third that they kept was stored away in the Luxembourg Museum. After his widow's death they just went to various heirs and were mostly sold outside France. Well, France's loss is the world's gain, I suppose! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I feel very fortunate to have been to Philadelphia last year where I saw the biggest single collection of Renoir's works at the Barnes Foundation, a total of 181! Barnes was a huge art collector and began amassing Impressionist works in the 1920s. His entire house was designed to showcase his collection and was eventually left to the city of Philadelphia as a private museum. The collection was eventually moved to a larger space in downtown Philadelphia which resembles the original house with the exact layout of the all the artworks. If you ever get the chance it's absolutely worth visiting! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm also extremely fortunate to live only a short drive away from the Phillips Collection Museum in DC near Dupont Circle. One of the highlights of the collection is Renoir's <i>Luncheon of the Boating Party. </i>The last time I visited one of the docents told me that Phillips and Barnes were rival collectors. Phillips was annoyed that Barnes had the bigger collection of Renoirs but always bragged that he had the best one. </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVX9qkHkWDHbat1xV35624yjrskDNJe_p6T4JNL3MW2-HQ8PFhvcqkYRAgvUXwluoLzSAkAacVojrg4iuZ_fiiYGfmioXLMm8JGRRe9QAxGrgXGHBwN-b6tE7zBDRWJvGdFR9jZBYeNdKcZTnvp1hcFhz8NtbOSoE71JDb_ufMdNBGcWTm8UAHVmH7TQ/s804/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.47.55%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="804" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVX9qkHkWDHbat1xV35624yjrskDNJe_p6T4JNL3MW2-HQ8PFhvcqkYRAgvUXwluoLzSAkAacVojrg4iuZ_fiiYGfmioXLMm8JGRRe9QAxGrgXGHBwN-b6tE7zBDRWJvGdFR9jZBYeNdKcZTnvp1hcFhz8NtbOSoE71JDb_ufMdNBGcWTm8UAHVmH7TQ/w640-h468/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.47.55%20PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Renoir's <i>Luncheon of the Boating Party, </i>1881. <br />Renoir's future wife Aline is in the left hand corner with the little dog; <br />Renoir's friend and fellow Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte is on the lower left leaning back. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I enjoyed visiting Renoir's world but the book is pretty dense and took a lot longer to finish than I expected -- I am rather behind on Paris in July reading list and also my <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/06/big-book-summer-reading-challenge-2022.html">Big Book Summer Reading Challenge</a>! But this book was on both lists and I'm also counting this as my Classic Nonfiction for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-challenge-signup.html">Back to the Classics Challenge</a>. </span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-63883769791000429092022-07-05T08:49:00.002-04:002022-07-09T14:19:30.701-04:00Paris in July: The Martha series by Margery Sharp<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhag4nAze-89aCjcEzHb6f1P3iF86jKGXWSeKgKhJLjcUwF8SzGkYeaeDyh9_7fd-MnX16nckalCG9Csi85OxIaXtoyXXeTa105BY1yluQ0c-GcFZfflPivcI3Cca5uEWSRjyCXmJqk_HotDQwE6InE8Vsn945FEVt4XcaT_Er_eI5HU6SD9eWTesPzHw/s254/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="191" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhag4nAze-89aCjcEzHb6f1P3iF86jKGXWSeKgKhJLjcUwF8SzGkYeaeDyh9_7fd-MnX16nckalCG9Csi85OxIaXtoyXXeTa105BY1yluQ0c-GcFZfflPivcI3Cca5uEWSRjyCXmJqk_HotDQwE6InE8Vsn945FEVt4XcaT_Er_eI5HU6SD9eWTesPzHw/w301-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" width="301" /></a></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I thought I'd start <a href="https://thyme-for-tea.blogspot.com/2022/06/its-coming-paris-in-july-2022-sign-up.html">Paris in July</a> with a short, fun book. Margery Sharp's <i>Martha in Paris</i> fit the bill perfectly -- only 166 pages and it was one more I could cross off my owned-and-unread pile. However, when I bought this at Strand Books several years ago I didn't realize it was second in a series. Naturally I would need to read them in order, so I had to track down the first book and buy that one too, though </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">it's set in London, not Paris.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGm5MUsBDKSi2G09DI5wIx2M74erIn1eJ6XPJmO9C_m9zBh1cE2XW_btMWBEs0m79sZK9GzqgCDrRsMsmNiRWV_6eu-yEm-HUhJ3fBD09JQWWTWrVBAqwgo1eGuteHUoMlX6sErfNQCJ-chVCIit6PrMwtHG6UbdOb_ref-wVGHdHkpic1PmMrbR_8HQ/s438/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.14.56%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="281" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGm5MUsBDKSi2G09DI5wIx2M74erIn1eJ6XPJmO9C_m9zBh1cE2XW_btMWBEs0m79sZK9GzqgCDrRsMsmNiRWV_6eu-yEm-HUhJ3fBD09JQWWTWrVBAqwgo1eGuteHUoMlX6sErfNQCJ-chVCIit6PrMwtHG6UbdOb_ref-wVGHdHkpic1PmMrbR_8HQ/w256-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.14.56%20AM.png" width="256" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1957, <i>The Eye of Love </i>is the first book of the Martha series. Set in 1932, it begins with Martha's aunt, who was christened Dorothy Hogg but now goes by the name of Dolores Diver. Miss Diver, on the wrong side of 30 and fading, has just been left by her longtime lover Mr. Gibson, who is about to become engaged to the daughter of an associate, in order to preserve his failing furrier business. Times are hard and during the Depression, furs aren't selling well. Mr. Gibson and Miss Diver are despondent, but there's nothing to be done. He must leave his Spanish rose to marry an annoying woman he doesn't love. The least he can do is pay the lease on their love-nest through the end of the year, and give her all the contents which they've accumulated.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Miss Diver is also the guardian of her orphaned niece Martha, now ten years old and obsessed with drawing -- so much so that she basically eludes school and spends all her time sketching trees, stoves, and anything that catches her fancy. One day while sketching a tree she meets Mr. Phillips, who is looking for new lodgings, and he becomes their boarder, but soon suspects Miss Diver has some money and decides to make a play for her. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhY6JbW2IoxDEOR3X1DHpyj-Vs7ZXNHUqTDYKQkFyd1dQZKaKa76FqWiqmerPeMbZo3nit-sWj_1fb-U5t5J9c63NtpBWe9VOl7GwUg6BHA08wX3qhtiulnnLVq5OJHxR-i77aonYtGXKq1nugAIEaM_yFe5H_-iLIaR9ZZtbK7jSFZ4WxyPoXdkx1w/s441/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.10.06%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhY6JbW2IoxDEOR3X1DHpyj-Vs7ZXNHUqTDYKQkFyd1dQZKaKa76FqWiqmerPeMbZo3nit-sWj_1fb-U5t5J9c63NtpBWe9VOl7GwUg6BHA08wX3qhtiulnnLVq5OJHxR-i77aonYtGXKq1nugAIEaM_yFe5H_-iLIaR9ZZtbK7jSFZ4WxyPoXdkx1w/w241-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.10.06%20AM.png" width="241" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I love this pulp novel cover - so dramatic! </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meanwhile, Mr. Gibson has merged his business with the charming and steadfast Mr. Joyce, his future father-in-law, and they soon develop a deep friendship -- much more so than with his future wife Miranda. He cannot bear the thought of marrying her instead of Miss Diver but doesn't see any way around it. Coincidentally, Mr. Joyce, a lover of art, also encountered young Martha while sketching and sees that she has talent. Naturally all the stories converge, and without going into too much detail, I'll only say that it's witty and charming and has a very satisfactory ending. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ld9DUh2wsc-AXkUmVIUOzHuywho9LQj8tmubqjfbjFG-ihSNUnHZ5yjznk_ilob0DMo4f8cakNTV97KJ5qVsjkNKjDI9lyjKQowJLe8o3eynO5671DEMP_Fg6PRfubBiNraLD6jklM8F5A2MXd2XOgvL_gww_eIUxZe8zJ-PS86mTvm87Hwxm7DMqQ/s339/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2010.46.10%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="230" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ld9DUh2wsc-AXkUmVIUOzHuywho9LQj8tmubqjfbjFG-ihSNUnHZ5yjznk_ilob0DMo4f8cakNTV97KJ5qVsjkNKjDI9lyjKQowJLe8o3eynO5671DEMP_Fg6PRfubBiNraLD6jklM8F5A2MXd2XOgvL_gww_eIUxZe8zJ-PS86mTvm87Hwxm7DMqQ/w271-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2010.46.10%20AM.png" width="271" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I really enjoyed it and was also enchanted by the sequel, <i>Martha in Paris. </i>The story has jumped forward and Martha is now eighteen. Mr. Joyce is now Martha's patron and decrees that she MUST study in Paris. Martha is still obsessed with her drawing and resists at first, but then sees the advantages and begins studying art while staying with a widow and her daughter. She's very focused and is oblivious to everything else -- in once instance, she doesn't even realize that while sketching in the Tuileries Gardens, the nice young Englishman named Eric sitting next to her is asking her out on a date. In a very amusing turn of events, she turns his invitation to Friday night dinner with his mother into an opportunity for a really good bath in their renovated English-style tub. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book is equally witty and charming and surprisingly feminist for its time (first published in 1962). Martha is portrayed as an artist completely focused on her work, but she actually struck me as someone who today might be considered on the autism spectrum. She's <i>completely </i>obsessed with drawing and art, and really bad at picking up at social cues. I'm no expert but if the book were published today I think readers would really speculate about that. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaa1U3GHjTL2oT0Z5zJwXOpZnjVme0_0TJc8WAhgBEGxBhDmwW141eOu9gvNcmmcdRdSF5-9kYZEb3xZEOS7OWP7-VgRcZOLbw6V0c9JsweitoRFYcUXAR7ru0jEhsH7U1KXpGXj6LKdr1mHaDaTx9Wq2MzY7xzJ4GE8ffrYH-SWy8DYS_9gNmEhi6xg/s424/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.13.53%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="254" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaa1U3GHjTL2oT0Z5zJwXOpZnjVme0_0TJc8WAhgBEGxBhDmwW141eOu9gvNcmmcdRdSF5-9kYZEb3xZEOS7OWP7-VgRcZOLbw6V0c9JsweitoRFYcUXAR7ru0jEhsH7U1KXpGXj6LKdr1mHaDaTx9Wq2MzY7xzJ4GE8ffrYH-SWy8DYS_9gNmEhi6xg/w240-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.13.53%20AM.png" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This cover is just SO WRONG it's laughable. <br />Martha wouldn't be caught dead in stockings and black pumps. <br />It's so bad I had to include it. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">My one tiny quibble about this book is that if the first book starts in 1932, the second would be set squarely in WWII and the French occupation of Paris. There is not a single mention of this and people are traveling back and forth over the Channel from England,so clearly, this book is set in an alternate universe in which the war never took place (but now I'm nitpicking).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I don't want to give away too many details for fear of spoilers, but <i>Martha in Paris </i>ends on such a cliffhanger I absolutely had to find out what happened next, and I found a online copy of the final novella, <i>Martha, Eric and George </i>online and read the whole thing in a couple of hours. If I gave any but the loosest setup it would absolutely spoil the plot of the second book. The third books picks up immediately after the end of the second, and after a couple of chapters, jumps forward ten years later with Martha as a successful artist who has to finally deal with the fallout of her actions in the end of the second novel. I loved the third novel as well as the first two but I do think it ended rather abruptly. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Q7csRVFbsg9s8sA_eWsH5ECdeEvLN_B_xgpnoTNzsIkeM1wp19tKuCgwWWsqgVUjSMg2M2RyJpdnUZcb5tbjnGnAFBrip14T55N3qSgKz7y3GagUXCC1wVN8dcVg46NxkHMPfz6PpWB8AcLZAaxfh1nViugVFbbpHaP_l1LhQkUdk0miQIOQJdtunw/s502/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.07.26%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="328" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Q7csRVFbsg9s8sA_eWsH5ECdeEvLN_B_xgpnoTNzsIkeM1wp19tKuCgwWWsqgVUjSMg2M2RyJpdnUZcb5tbjnGnAFBrip14T55N3qSgKz7y3GagUXCC1wVN8dcVg46NxkHMPfz6PpWB8AcLZAaxfh1nViugVFbbpHaP_l1LhQkUdk0miQIOQJdtunw/w261-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-04%20at%2011.07.26%20AM.png" width="261" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I love this retro cover.<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like the second novel, it's also very feminist for its time (1964). Like Martha, author Margery Sharp was very successful and focused on her work. I also wonder if Martha's devotion to her work was a reflection of Sharp's own feelings about women working. I'm guessing some people will find Martha unsympathetic but if she'd been a man no one would have raised an eyebrow at her absolute dedication to her work and confidence in her talent. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I've now read a dozen of Margery Sharp's books for adults (she also wrote the <i>Rescuers </i>children's series adapted into two animated Disney movies.) I've really enjoyed all of them and I'm happy to report many have been reprinted, including six recent paperback editions by the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint of Dean Street Press. The DSP editions are available on Kindle for around $3 or $4 US, a real bargain, and I'm sure I'll be downloading some of them soon. </span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-76901794708296737202022-07-02T14:17:00.005-04:002022-07-03T10:05:58.609-04:00Paris in July 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3ap-pPgsgohy1XPxIiDDlAHBDxhlPWo4DK8eVvdgpxUOC6GNEnmJTsn5UhbaeaJLRTwkwgFVZA_6qZu7f4v0qwdCau6YOpzyWKdDynWuaTes6lIWrsK3AvBClxqvFE_kNNBvTPUvLdj8gCGYCnJ_qTXun-yNBi_xpt0qiHkF4eQPw9ikEHJje79CHg/s254/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="191" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3ap-pPgsgohy1XPxIiDDlAHBDxhlPWo4DK8eVvdgpxUOC6GNEnmJTsn5UhbaeaJLRTwkwgFVZA_6qZu7f4v0qwdCau6YOpzyWKdDynWuaTes6lIWrsK3AvBClxqvFE_kNNBvTPUvLdj8gCGYCnJ_qTXun-yNBi_xpt0qiHkF4eQPw9ikEHJje79CHg/w301-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-01%20at%202.14.23%20PM.png" width="301" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's July already, the year is half over -- how did this happen? But for me July will always include the Paris in July reading challenge hosted by <a href="https://thyme-for-tea.blogspot.com/2022/07/paris-in-july-week-1-so-excited.html">Thyme for Tea</a>. I started participating in this event back in 2011 and I've posted my Francophile book reviews nearly every year since! </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">As always, I'm trying to read mostly from my own shelves in my never-ending quest to empty the TBR shelves. Some of these can also count for the Back to the Classics and TBR Pile Challenges, and from my Classics Club List. I'm sure I won't finish all of them but reading goals are always good, right? </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-0wdox9tbyMjY5YuxPeuK8CaP1dF-42wK6gjmH0oBn3XPFQwDjamVCZiqDJznKOREKefzX4dEotFx63mEZlFd6SvkefFHV7PVfnHyEKDbC2naSOp86PG0-gGvYq39_Ijv2iCnBoGHBvd-BAZfFim3umJDS_ard_Jwjfqb9TRoBWJ8SnJ545Rwx-w5Q/s640/IMG_9814%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-0wdox9tbyMjY5YuxPeuK8CaP1dF-42wK6gjmH0oBn3XPFQwDjamVCZiqDJznKOREKefzX4dEotFx63mEZlFd6SvkefFHV7PVfnHyEKDbC2naSOp86PG0-gGvYq39_Ijv2iCnBoGHBvd-BAZfFim3umJDS_ard_Jwjfqb9TRoBWJ8SnJ545Rwx-w5Q/w640-h480/IMG_9814%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">First, the French books in translation: </span></div><div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Claudine Married </i>by Colette. The second novella in the <i>Claudine</i> omnibus; I'm sure I won't finish the entire series this month.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Mystery of Henri Pick </i>by David Foenkinos. Found this whilst browsing in the library and it looked interesting (and short!). </span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Maman, What Are We Called Now? </i>by Jacqueline Mesnil-Amar. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Renoir, My Father</i> by Jean Renoir</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>A Fine of Two Hundred Francs</i> by Elsa Triolet</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Bright Side of Life</i> by Emile Zola</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Books originally written in English but set in France: </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Loved and Envied </i>by Enid Bagnold</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Greengage Summer</i> by Rumer Godden</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Martha in Paris</i> by Margery Sharp</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Golden Lion of Granpere</i> by Anthony Trollope</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Summer Will Show </i>by Sylvia Townsend Warner</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">So - mostly fiction and fairly short books - more than half of them are under 300 pages and a couple are under 200! The longest is the Renoir biography (not counting the <i>Claudine </i>omnibus but all three of the remaining novellas are under 200 pages). I wonder if I could actually finish the entire list? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bloggers, have you read any of these? Which are your favorites and should be read first? And what else do you recommend for Paris in July?</span></div><p></p></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-77344574333370771592022-06-28T22:15:00.002-04:002022-06-28T22:15:30.493-04:00The Feast by Margaret Kennedy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4OPYGdmY4pVJ4EHEEeAfU6Wg-JPwS1nO2TIUYuWZ4To2UcYs-wMpP5Dc2HrDzD64_gSpP6Ff_n7RJZ8-ZLwhLbBMK3IcRIAMu7wn0Yl3O4KTIRzRf7Cy1lLO_Ir-qjcpQv2DSLDrvrw9qrDgzJ23O8UdmnuQduyfDF7N40tkF7EBdYq4cXZcpmDI1A/s486/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.23.38%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="328" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn4OPYGdmY4pVJ4EHEEeAfU6Wg-JPwS1nO2TIUYuWZ4To2UcYs-wMpP5Dc2HrDzD64_gSpP6Ff_n7RJZ8-ZLwhLbBMK3IcRIAMu7wn0Yl3O4KTIRzRf7Cy1lLO_Ir-qjcpQv2DSLDrvrw9qrDgzJ23O8UdmnuQduyfDF7N40tkF7EBdYq4cXZcpmDI1A/w270-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.23.38%20PM.png" width="270" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover of a 1969 reprint. This one is pretty much perfect.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, how is everyone's summer reading going? Anyone in the mood for a beach read that turns out to be full of death and destruction? <i>The Feast </i>by Margaret Kennedy was reprinted last summer and WOW. I put it on my Christmas list last year and saved it to read until this summer. If you're looking for a summer read that packs a real punch, this is it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1949, this is basically a morality tale that tells you upfront that people are going to die -- this is NOT a spoiler, it's the setup. The book begins a prologue: the annual meeting of two friends, a minister in Cornwall and his summer visitor (they're hardly in the book, so their names are not really important). They normally begin the visit with an evening of chess, but the host needs to put off their game in order to finish a sermon for the following day -- a eulogy for a group of people who tragically perished when a cliff collapses on top of a summer resort, leaving nothing but a massive pile of rubble. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, we do know that there were some survivors among the resort's guests -- but who? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vnZ3gUovw6X-1ovDYzMI87A-BJFf2jQ0uunETNVesyy3-_wJMITpO_Cqhh9ucw_MUIGXK5VW-H5bLMkyp-lOuVRFpOnTexDwNcCLTgGsUiMYlurv8QgfpGQ423S7tdnFwUkink6zkPU3PCo_GeYPOznl0nnVPj37gTCY95bV8SH5QOF2kQTvuU2oQQ/s519/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.23.17%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="337" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vnZ3gUovw6X-1ovDYzMI87A-BJFf2jQ0uunETNVesyy3-_wJMITpO_Cqhh9ucw_MUIGXK5VW-H5bLMkyp-lOuVRFpOnTexDwNcCLTgGsUiMYlurv8QgfpGQ423S7tdnFwUkink6zkPU3PCo_GeYPOznl0nnVPj37gTCY95bV8SH5QOF2kQTvuU2oQQ/w260-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.23.17%20PM.png" width="260" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The copy of my edition. <br />Nice, but I don't think it really reflects the setting of the book. <br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The book then jumps back seven days and describes the final week of the resort and its inhabitants. Set in 1947, the Siddal family are struggling to make ends meet in their ancestral home on the Cornish coast and have converted it to a boarding house, not so much a hotel. Mrs. Siddal is trying to make a go of it but her husband has mentally checked out and doesn't lift a finger, hiding in a room under the stairs. Her three grown sons help but are ready to leave the nest. There are also some servants including Miss Ellis, a snobbish, gossipy housekeeper and Nancibel, the loyal housemaid. Then there are the guests, including two families, the wealthy Gifford family with four children; the Coves, with three; an unhappy couple, the Paleys, who are grieving for their dead daughter; plus an obnoxious clergyman, his put-upon daughter Evangeline; and a late arrival, a bestselling author and her chauffeur. It's almost like an Agatha Christie novel, but instead of a murder, it's a natural disaster, and the reader has to work out who will live and who will die. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RbBQMc1K2Xt2k2BepynA3gFVnIzA3pU_AbnQLXNP8hqnHSWPmVDaS159qG91ewJOjeqTjh1vxrrLWswQ6wWI3nX4hsxAlcwmIeyi-ZECA2bYqT6DrgABuzYfPIRjaI31np_RyttwOvyBklmukZemhE9ANWupdE9S3a7k1P-uZbGJ5lqJk0B69Qs8ww/s520/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.24.08%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="336" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RbBQMc1K2Xt2k2BepynA3gFVnIzA3pU_AbnQLXNP8hqnHSWPmVDaS159qG91ewJOjeqTjh1vxrrLWswQ6wWI3nX4hsxAlcwmIeyi-ZECA2bYqT6DrgABuzYfPIRjaI31np_RyttwOvyBklmukZemhE9ANWupdE9S3a7k1P-uZbGJ5lqJk0B69Qs8ww/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.24.08%20PM.png" width="207" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original 1949 cover. Good, but I like the 1969 cover better. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book took a bit for me to get into, but after the first few pages, I was hooked. It's divided up by the seven days of the final week for the resort, and each has many short sections (too short to really call chapters) covering the many characters in the book. And there are a LOT of characters, more than twenty. Some of the children are really minor characters, but it didn't take long to keep everyone straight. They're mostly really well developed and the plot got me completely engrossed, so I was able to speed through it quickly -- it's more than 400 pages long, and the last day I read almost the last hundred pages in a single sitting. It is THAT GOOD. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzbNE_swzGrda_ipOQEStCGb7fzm6nJpbdF4ZLrJPuvyFYe-4qJXPTPc0Ajlsbe1yR5LHE7VKHsweSasnZAb3LUbgF3SVDN66QdUeKcfIEAzXlHB_MygnhH3IcZjkzDSOtAE4ZqQYgqeP5pvIUkfMI_tlfvkvVlnuQEfvAp--65iSg-YC-_jsh5rBbw/s521/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.24.33%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="338" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmzbNE_swzGrda_ipOQEStCGb7fzm6nJpbdF4ZLrJPuvyFYe-4qJXPTPc0Ajlsbe1yR5LHE7VKHsweSasnZAb3LUbgF3SVDN66QdUeKcfIEAzXlHB_MygnhH3IcZjkzDSOtAE4ZqQYgqeP5pvIUkfMI_tlfvkvVlnuQEfvAp--65iSg-YC-_jsh5rBbw/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.24.33%20PM.png" width="208" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A French edition from 1956</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Towards the end I began to have a terrible sense of foreboding -- of course the reader already knows that disaster is looming but there is a lot of foreshadowing. I absolutely had favorite characters and I was dreading the end because I'm always worried if someone I like will be killed off. If you want hints about the plot and the outcome, feel free to read the introduction which gives some very strong hints. I have given up reading introductions because of spoilers so I was blown away by the ending. I am glad that I did go back and read it because there was some subtext that I had definitely missed. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypucjdjQYivrDfm50gewqFJPERjUTESWA_vlhwDEKohjL2znTB4OnNh8N4njDGsn5q_uQpU_tHyRHPhLsSiyjMF0ZNkh-nixBlSXbah9ORfzd8BmFE4o_g39CMggZj9nKkFAoYb-y92LWdB4mwls-tm8SBq18KxGbeNpSiGsBvb-3eYi-6DaThgicXg/s522/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.35.56%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypucjdjQYivrDfm50gewqFJPERjUTESWA_vlhwDEKohjL2znTB4OnNh8N4njDGsn5q_uQpU_tHyRHPhLsSiyjMF0ZNkh-nixBlSXbah9ORfzd8BmFE4o_g39CMggZj9nKkFAoYb-y92LWdB4mwls-tm8SBq18KxGbeNpSiGsBvb-3eYi-6DaThgicXg/w245-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-28%20at%209.35.56%20PM.png" width="245" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A new French reprint. Good, but a little too cheerful for what's inside the book.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is an absolutely brilliant book and I know it will be one of my top reads of the summer, if not the entire year. I've only read one other book by Margaret Kennedy, <i><a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/09/classics-spin-24-troy-chimneys-by.html">Troy Chimneys</a>, </i>which is also good but very different from this one. Several of her other books are still in print including her other most famous book, <i>The Constant Nymph, </i>which I also own and will definitely move up on the to-read pile. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm counting this as my Classic Set In A Place You'd Like To Visit for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-challenge-signup.html">Back to the Classics Challenge</a>. It's also the first read for my <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/06/big-book-summer-reading-challenge-2022.html">Big Book Summer Reading Challenge</a>.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-46316376571789661802022-06-14T12:06:00.001-04:002022-06-14T12:06:03.372-04:00A Pin To See the Peepshow by F. Tennyson Jesse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc68xwDlKlOvW70HbqbJjoqM7m9JNpJrTkktKijVp38aAYJSSulBduqi-SKj7f0BpthHAq1hibOHxcwd5IBn6RQzhIZtrFVlH579ruZjhKsLAyu44VwUs9yTLeKojbKYZmH4DH7RzFxTxIxy2dEWo7Zl6ziJIqLyLmVvKEGlyjWbCwGHPYC334FFQbjg/s522/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-11%20at%2010.52.43%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc68xwDlKlOvW70HbqbJjoqM7m9JNpJrTkktKijVp38aAYJSSulBduqi-SKj7f0BpthHAq1hibOHxcwd5IBn6RQzhIZtrFVlH579ruZjhKsLAyu44VwUs9yTLeKojbKYZmH4DH7RzFxTxIxy2dEWo7Zl6ziJIqLyLmVvKEGlyjWbCwGHPYC334FFQbjg/w265-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-11%20at%2010.52.43%20AM.png" width="265" /></a></div><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the history of the world it is only we -- we who are young now -- who are really going to know about life. </span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I bought this Virago Modern Classic more than five years ago, after Simon and Rachel discussed it in the wonderful podcast <i><a href="https://www.stuckinabook.com/tea-or-books-34-novels-based-on-real-life-yes-or-no-and-a-pin-to-see-the-peepshow-vs-messalina-of-the-suburbs/">Tea or Books?</a> </i>I was going to say "I can't believe I've waited so long to read this" but who am I kidding? I have more than 150 unread books and the pile never seems to grow any smaller. But I recently joined a Goodreads book group that discusses middlebrow books and it was their June pick! (The group has also caused me to buy more books, so I don't know if it's really a win. I'm really enjoying the books though).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It took me awhile to get started, but I zoomed through this book in only three days -- pretty good since it's just over 400 pages. It's one of several books inspired by the Thompson/Bywaters murder trial in the 1920s. I knew nothing about the case other than what I'd heard on the podcast several years ago, and I remembered none of it -- I couldn't even recall who the murder victim was though I had my suspicions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I really liked this book but I was surprised at how long it took to get to the actual crime, more than 300 pages. It's really a character study of a young lower-class woman growing up in the Edwardian/WWI period. The protagonist is renamed Julia Almond and the story begins when she's off to school, aged about 16. As one of the upper-level pupils, she's tasked one day with briefly overseeing some younger students, one of whom has a tiny peepshow, a sort of mini-diorama you peer into through a tiny hole. This peepshow acts as a metaphor for Julia's life -- over the next ten years she's observing what she wants and will never have, due to circumstances beyond her control.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_G0lg8XphtmZpiN2d-ZhN6DzzFEf2_9G6qybrtDBRUkDwJymfhOxGhfgDcqT_7zPXuBUwSwJuWr6w7LNDFW4JeFW7y0wUcoHyOPhOjy7mOWkqCzBYXeYAni8q-LIinoadf_3vxJ2xI6NFRJSylOJSsMPNhQFx7HCMy3OGyliv5EhztItqwsCK2j5zw/s521/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-11%20at%2010.53.13%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="351" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_G0lg8XphtmZpiN2d-ZhN6DzzFEf2_9G6qybrtDBRUkDwJymfhOxGhfgDcqT_7zPXuBUwSwJuWr6w7LNDFW4JeFW7y0wUcoHyOPhOjy7mOWkqCzBYXeYAni8q-LIinoadf_3vxJ2xI6NFRJSylOJSsMPNhQFx7HCMy3OGyliv5EhztItqwsCK2j5zw/w270-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-11%20at%2010.53.13%20AM.png" width="270" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>I think this is the original dustjacket. <br />Nice illustration but it doesn't even give a hint about the story.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Julia soon leaves school and studies fashion drawing and French, which leads her to a minor job at a fashion house in London. She's a quick study is working her way up in the business when the Great War begins. People are spending money like there's no tomorrow (and for some, there won't be) and she makes fashionable friends and hopes for a better, more exciting life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">However, her father dies suddenly leaving Julia and her mother without enough to live on, and they are forced to combine households with her uncle and his family, including a younger cousin Elsa. It's tight quarters and they're obliged to share a room, which overwhelms Julia, and she makes the rash decision to marry an older friend of her father's, Herbert Starling, just to get out of the house. Having had a taste of independence, Julia isn't satisfied as the compliant little wife by the hearth that Herbert has envisioned, and the marriage is doomed from the start. Julia isn't a particularly likable character, but I absolutely sympathized with her frustration and lack of choices for women in the time period, particularly middle-class women who were judged by a much higher standard than lower or upper-class women of that era. <i>A Pin To See the Peepshow </i>was published in 1934, about twelve years after the murder, and I wonder if it was quite shocking for its time as it covers some topics that are still pretty divisive today.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This book is very character-driven and Jesse takes a long time on developing Julia. Most of the other characters are also well drawn. The murder portion of the book is really only the last 100 pages or so and did feel a bit rushed in parts. The author does spend a good bit of time on Julia's thoughts during and after her trial, and thankfully leaves out a scene at the end which is probably best left to the imagination. My Virago edition also includes an excellent epilogue by the writer who adapted it as a 1973 mini series. (There's also a new British Library Women Writers edition which includes an introduction by Simon!) I was hoping someone had uploaded it to YouTube or other streaming service but I haven't been able to find it. It starred Francesca Annis who I can perfectly imagine as Julia. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is book #7 for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-41053367908799483792022-06-01T09:15:00.002-04:002022-06-01T09:15:24.321-04:00Big Book Summer Reading Challenge 2022<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu11gTb5QJ7sbW32YG17lgA5oTFKcdnNc_Tuwp1nlKe8kSuyPbYAG7coQsO8xuyO0LtELZUhdTW1USvjtpqeRjabTBOx4nSvbvivUSsKiv7k196wTloAAr3I8GE390YqyF7LBXhG-q60YklU5nBX7xLsP4aiCRIpzJhZ2H9IoiyvwCYH-y46RbFg3FjA/s336/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-27%20at%2012.37.47%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="336" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu11gTb5QJ7sbW32YG17lgA5oTFKcdnNc_Tuwp1nlKe8kSuyPbYAG7coQsO8xuyO0LtELZUhdTW1USvjtpqeRjabTBOx4nSvbvivUSsKiv7k196wTloAAr3I8GE390YqyF7LBXhG-q60YklU5nBX7xLsP4aiCRIpzJhZ2H9IoiyvwCYH-y46RbFg3FjA/w400-h306/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-27%20at%2012.37.47%20PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time for another <a href="https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/p/welcome-to-big-book-summer-2022-this-is.html">Big Book Summer Reading Challenge</a> hosted by Suzan at Book by Book! Alas, I still have too many unread books. Let's see if I can shrink the pile just a little this summer. Here is my stack of hopeful reads: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWmw9Pit4v1HsrPBArkhG0L5qPYXQXX2NLWKP5ihn_zG4P2LU0na_Y-nwbG-wIO6HKQN6w2wc3XLGkKuwDZNMJ-Zd0b2rjNwJCYwwLEQkcaqqQihYRsOI6a59y-itZ99BFnLSDSJoRsYMArqyOUNdziGCazYQdyCahIy0ZHCYGbAlq1E5d6NccDFjMQ/s640/IMG_9556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWmw9Pit4v1HsrPBArkhG0L5qPYXQXX2NLWKP5ihn_zG4P2LU0na_Y-nwbG-wIO6HKQN6w2wc3XLGkKuwDZNMJ-Zd0b2rjNwJCYwwLEQkcaqqQihYRsOI6a59y-itZ99BFnLSDSJoRsYMArqyOUNdziGCazYQdyCahIy0ZHCYGbAlq1E5d6NccDFjMQ/w640-h480/IMG_9556.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><ol><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>They Were Counted</i> by Miklos Banffy (624 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Deepening Stream</i> by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (616 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Night Falls on the City</i> by Sarah Gainham (632 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Long Live Great Bardfield</i> by Tirzah Garwood (495 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>My American </i>by Stella Gibbons (480 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>A London Family</i> by Molly Hughes (600 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Feast</i><span> by Margaret Kennedy (448 pp)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Renoir, My Father</i> by Jean Renoir (456 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Gods Arriv</i>e by Edith Wharton (454 pp)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Most of P. G. Wodehouse </i>(701 pp)</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Nearly all of them count for other challenges -- <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-my-list.html">Back to the Classics</a>, the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>, and the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/european-reading-challenge-2022.html">European Reading Challenge</a>. </span><span>I'm cheating a little this year by choosing mostly fiction which are normally much quicker than nonfiction. I do love a great big fat biography but since I'm so far behind this year I'm going for more novels instead; only three of this list are nonfiction and one volume is (mostly) short stories. </span><span> </span><span>I'm hoping that most of them are fast reads. </span>I know I won't finish them all but we can dream, right?</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which one should I read first -- and are there any I should just donate to my Little Free Library? Please let me know in the comments! And what's on your list for the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge?</span></div><p></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-38462882455366077362022-05-30T11:13:00.002-04:002022-05-30T11:13:54.087-04:00The World My Wilderness by Rose Macaulay<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IjfRR5d_LcYq0Kr4NQREsziZQ3EhvjbwWUcme0B9tNVKmtMRn-3mVbd-KmncufvlHUDPFGcLQ2oyDSfErj89fNjr5qBM7H8_KRFTxNWGCCOYH_jrpokW7EMeMIIf4n9KI8qWhAAi-FodbW3aLslQJYoZqn6z6JuG2mZOELoWIutHVEntfl_3WqRkxw/s442/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.43.00%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="284" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0IjfRR5d_LcYq0Kr4NQREsziZQ3EhvjbwWUcme0B9tNVKmtMRn-3mVbd-KmncufvlHUDPFGcLQ2oyDSfErj89fNjr5qBM7H8_KRFTxNWGCCOYH_jrpokW7EMeMIIf4n9KI8qWhAAi-FodbW3aLslQJYoZqn6z6JuG2mZOELoWIutHVEntfl_3WqRkxw/w258-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.43.00%20AM.png" width="258" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">No civilization had lasted for more than a few thousand years; this present one, called western culture, had had its day and was due for wreckage, due for drowning, while the next struggled inchoate in the womb of the ensuing chaos, till slowly it would take shape and have its day. That day was unimaginable; it would be what would be; but already the margins of the present broke crumbling and dissolved before the invading chaos that pressed on. </span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1950, <i>The World My Wilderness </i>is Rose Macaulay's penultimate novel, just before her most famous work, <i><a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-towers-of-trebizond-by-rose-macauley.html">The Towers of Trebizond</a>. </i>I'd been meaning to read this forever and was lucky enough to find a paperback Virago copy a couple of years ago, on the free book cart in the lobby of the Ramstein AFB library. I can spot a green Virago spine a mile away so naturally I snapped it up. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Just after the end of World War II, British expat Helen Michel is living in the south of France, in a small town near the Pyrenees, with her 17-year-old daughter Barbary, and her young son, child of her second marriage to a Frenchman. Her husband Maurice, suspected by many as being a collaborater, has died under mysterious circumstances, and Helen is living a quiet existence in their house, Fraises, when her oldest son arrives from Cambridge. After a visit, he returns to London, taking his sister back to live with their British father and his new wife. Also joining them on the trip is Barbary's stepbrother Michel, now orphaned, to live with his uncle. Fifteen-year-old Michel and Barbaray have been running rather wild with the Maquis, French resistors. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr7lXWIvXdSN3gRjaqgIp93RSZo2uyFlDw-38-51Xl700TJA2mEuucBM5vnzW8OC4if0h7iJFJFshovNX-GerTjZIWK_vxCvHio7Ppv_RA420kHZm5nPyJANjWdt20aK-hAzagCu9JC7U3KebN8EOPhSZHHPD8SMibdUhECixT30W_7KZPmdI7lUoTxg/s515/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.43.29%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr7lXWIvXdSN3gRjaqgIp93RSZo2uyFlDw-38-51Xl700TJA2mEuucBM5vnzW8OC4if0h7iJFJFshovNX-GerTjZIWK_vxCvHio7Ppv_RA420kHZm5nPyJANjWdt20aK-hAzagCu9JC7U3KebN8EOPhSZHHPD8SMibdUhECixT30W_7KZPmdI7lUoTxg/w271-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.43.29%20AM.png" width="271" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original 1950 hardcover edition</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not surprisingly, the move to London does not suit Barbary very well. Theoretically she's studying art but is also continuing to be rather wild, exploring the bombed-out buildings with Michel and making some rather disreputable friends. Her father, a British peer, attempts to 'civilize' her -- or rather, her new stepmother Pamela does -- but Barbary can't be bothered to put on makeup or look like a lady, much less sit in boring drawing rooms. Things take a turn for the worse when Barbary accompanies the family on a trip to Scotland to visit an uncle, a psychiatrist who would like very much to analyze her. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I liked this novel but for a short book, only about 250 pages, it was surprisingly slow. I expected to rush through it but it really isn't that sort of book. It's quite description-heavy and the characters are really well drawn. I was surprised that as early as 1950 an author recognized the psychological effect the war must have had on so many people, including the young, since I've always thought PTSD and wartime trauma was mostly ignored -- Barbary's British father and stepmother were clearly very stiff-upper-lip type of people. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nEkMppMRfEiCl8H0zSUhnr4BMAnOuDxITH_pJot7rBMwb4zhj5qm2zyn4XLpthuhCokncArrPVKU-eeBC8zePr9u6oF1tWGX5AblFt9I86RoBpmebroxt1nAHJispwyJrH6hUA13KaZ49dHZmjjG_nOgZr5PiAUa7Tt0Iluy0uulwjzLVz_G86LZiQ/s491/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.44.28%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="315" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5nEkMppMRfEiCl8H0zSUhnr4BMAnOuDxITH_pJot7rBMwb4zhj5qm2zyn4XLpthuhCokncArrPVKU-eeBC8zePr9u6oF1tWGX5AblFt9I86RoBpmebroxt1nAHJispwyJrH6hUA13KaZ49dHZmjjG_nOgZr5PiAUa7Tt0Iluy0uulwjzLVz_G86LZiQ/w256-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-30%20at%2010.44.28%20AM.png" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Really like this Dutch-language edition from 1968</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Barbary in particular is a very interesting character, she's both old beyond her years and also extremely childlike. I was very worried that something terrible would happen to her wandering about bombed-out London buildings alone, (and it does) but not at all what I was expecting. I also think the name Barbary is a little heavy-handed but again, it was published in 1950 so maybe that was a subtle hint for its time. </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also quite liked the twist ending which I was not expecting at all. Overall, a very enjoyable book and an excellent summer read. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my sixth book for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-70739565650933319932022-05-01T10:50:00.002-04:002022-05-01T10:50:21.225-04:00Zoladdiction 2022: His Excellency Eugene Rougon <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN92FfqLgPLmltXPM-JF49Re1MfW8ejiOR6tXGZi41Upc65sJIkz4KGNVGBFCE6KgUduqo4fXdghIjR4M1YxWHUtSf5STA4YmVorKnPc2KIcoOK0CWHtV5zDnTN7AGqobomBEmguUXK0N0M9pdn0WcR8di2AN_Pn36VoPivdQsPXtnWTvFeXxlj7R0vA/s439/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%201.58.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="290" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN92FfqLgPLmltXPM-JF49Re1MfW8ejiOR6tXGZi41Upc65sJIkz4KGNVGBFCE6KgUduqo4fXdghIjR4M1YxWHUtSf5STA4YmVorKnPc2KIcoOK0CWHtV5zDnTN7AGqobomBEmguUXK0N0M9pdn0WcR8di2AN_Pn36VoPivdQsPXtnWTvFeXxlj7R0vA/w264-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%201.58.35%20PM.png" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">To his father he owed his massive, square shoulders and heavy features; from his mother, the fearsome Felicite Rougon, who ruled over Plassans, he had inherited his strength of will, a desire for supremacy that scorned petty concerns and petty pleasures. He was without question the greatest of the Rougons.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Not one but TWO epic fails this week: I did not finish my Zola novel in time for Fanda's April Zoladdiction reading event, and I did not finish my selection for Classics Spin #29. In fact, I didn't even start my Spin selection. For both fails, I blame Zola. Sorry, Zola, but this book dragged so badly that it's squarely tied on the bottom <i>Nana, </i>the only one of his novels that I truly disliked.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>His Excellecy Eugene Rougon </i>is the sixth novel in the Rougon-Maquart cycle, and it's fairly short at 333 pages so I thought I'd have no trouble reading it in a week. I've owned this book for a couple of years but had putting it off because it's a political novel, which is not my favorite genre. Sadly, I was correct to be hesitant because I could barely finish it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrPQsLqdkJs4tY6DvYV67dXVozQcxdq-8WfatOThvVFhJTVviPQhgqZS90lrRUKkd8sGcSB1ToZVvDfrRhhwHc8PW8oQOFRx_2nnYI-vXYC3-fAIuXsqGEk0dhybiwsTKYckkd-yOBGx6ONmqyV71nJtQnuvQjTotFa2io5rCQHpY1fV2ORDOwxuD1w/s354/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%202.25.31%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="227" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrPQsLqdkJs4tY6DvYV67dXVozQcxdq-8WfatOThvVFhJTVviPQhgqZS90lrRUKkd8sGcSB1ToZVvDfrRhhwHc8PW8oQOFRx_2nnYI-vXYC3-fAIuXsqGEk0dhybiwsTKYckkd-yOBGx6ONmqyV71nJtQnuvQjTotFa2io5rCQHpY1fV2ORDOwxuD1w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%202.25.31%20PM.png" width="205" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Basically, it's the story of the fall and rise and fall and rise <i>again</i> of a politician, Eugene Rougon, who makes appearances in the first two books of the cycle, one of the original Rougons, the bourgeois, legitimate side of the family . The book begins when he has resigned his post in the ministry. As he's attempting to pack up or burn documents in his office, a parade of hangers-on traipse through his office. This is the circle of friends and frenemies and political allies who are most of the recurring characters in the story. Before he leaves office, many of them are still trying to get favors or score points. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The rest of the novel is basically Rougon and the group scheming, gossiping and back-stabbing one another to achieve their own ends (or example, one character is desperately trying to get a train line re-routed so it's closer to his factory, which will then increase its value). Often Zola will begin a novel by throwing a lot of characters at the reader, and normally they sort themselves out and become distinctive to me, but I had a really hard time keeping all the characters straight in this one, because they were all sort of awful, and not even in an interesting way as in some of the other books in the series. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZYZ0gZUdgauDd3ngRCOAW7Yqwy_MKOhuz7UPDyeEC7ZUPy0-i4dCO25ivDNRfO4H4IyaBFbNlz3537FehShGIWEKAjMVYtU1kRgUN4oi4kxcKla5bR5X8i1BM9EzS79db0YHIzcR-GXklGaMv_izPrh04uXDb7Z4FWfkTZikG8fxUn2LKDCCgprjgQ/s518/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%202.24.16%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZYZ0gZUdgauDd3ngRCOAW7Yqwy_MKOhuz7UPDyeEC7ZUPy0-i4dCO25ivDNRfO4H4IyaBFbNlz3537FehShGIWEKAjMVYtU1kRgUN4oi4kxcKla5bR5X8i1BM9EzS79db0YHIzcR-GXklGaMv_izPrh04uXDb7Z4FWfkTZikG8fxUn2LKDCCgprjgQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-14%20at%202.24.16%20PM.png" width="216" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Maybe this was the wrong time for this book. There are so many political scandals right now in real life I can hardly keep them straight, and reading about them in 19th century France is even harder since I don't really understand the context very well. After reading the introduction (which I always save for last because of spoilers), I realized that many of these characters are based on real people and there's a lot of satire involved which would have been obvious to contemporary leaders but was lost on me. I didn't particularly find Rougon to be a very well-developed character and I didn't much care for the other main character, a politically savvy schemer named Clorinde who is basically a female version of Rougon. At one point she suggests that they marry but Rougon points out that two such people in a marriage would be a disaster). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He loved power for power's sake; free from any vain lust for wealth or honours. Crassly ignorant and utterly undistinguished in everything but the management of other men, it was only in his need to dominate others that achieved any kind of superiority. He loved the effort involved, and worshipped his own capability. . . . He believed only in himself; where others had arguments, Rougon had convictions; he subordinated everything to ceaseless self-aggrandizement.</span></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">My other issue with the book was that great sections of it are Zola telling the reader what characters do or have done instead of actually describing or showing it. The parts when there are actual activities and dialogue are much more interesting than the narrator passively explaining it. Towards the end of the book there's a chapter when people are actually <i>doing</i> something and it was the best part of the book, but I had to get through eleven or twelve chapters to actually get there, which was a real slog. And there's SO MUCH gossip! So much scheming, it's kind of exhausting. I guess that's politics though, so maybe this just was not the book for me, or maybe it's just not the right time. But this book is definitely at the bottom of the Zola ranking for me. There are only four more books in the series left that I haven't read and I certainly hope those are better, I'd hate to finish reading Zola with a whimper instead of a bang.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I'm counting this as my Classic in Translation for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-challenge-signup.html">Back to the Classics Challenge</a>; and as my French selection for the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8027299943447728658/7946356604589048190">European Reading Challenge.</a> </span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /> </span><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-67354438267316904432022-04-21T13:24:00.001-04:002022-04-21T13:24:55.076-04:001954 Club: Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUBDm6EjXzmTt4899wwvnWFUbXTgG5K9JCTIVex1qKZc8FllMzcK44Lk19HIqWqpM7XaGk-7XwiBAf63X_NC5swwQKAQ62uUE3fDuL8Eit-4cMc9b6G_ljtRwJbSxDuBlwaMnb0EC04JkI7awpjie_CYoX0WwdH5X6IkqaSYFw9cEpx3EaSxaCeMEzQ/s648/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%207.59.48%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUBDm6EjXzmTt4899wwvnWFUbXTgG5K9JCTIVex1qKZc8FllMzcK44Lk19HIqWqpM7XaGk-7XwiBAf63X_NC5swwQKAQ62uUE3fDuL8Eit-4cMc9b6G_ljtRwJbSxDuBlwaMnb0EC04JkI7awpjie_CYoX0WwdH5X6IkqaSYFw9cEpx3EaSxaCeMEzQ/w400-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%207.59.48%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Within a few weeks funerals were to become a common occurrence in that village; but at this time they were rather scarce and looked forward to eagerly.</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I've read several books by Barbara Comyns and was delighted to find out one of them had been published in 1954 -- perfect for Simon and Kaggsy's <a href="http://www.stuckinabook.com/1954club-post-your-reviews/">1954 Club</a> event. Even better, I found out my local library had a copy of this book, a weirdly twisted take on village country life. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSivSD_VFGvsLAkxOojYt7OMbHQS_WdlOsKA3T38h2g1kmPXZZLemeDcqtevZNgS6iEUqHFVXAik6rC7oCvhiRI-RBSD4xaq8k_GPs4xjPAkDtm7OUSKnZs9h9Cy9pfL6TrWK7JMWiggyD0Hh47HNpmlmaUOIvG6JomHgJplSQmgJgL_4mgal5Ilv0A/s444/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.17.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSivSD_VFGvsLAkxOojYt7OMbHQS_WdlOsKA3T38h2g1kmPXZZLemeDcqtevZNgS6iEUqHFVXAik6rC7oCvhiRI-RBSD4xaq8k_GPs4xjPAkDtm7OUSKnZs9h9Cy9pfL6TrWK7JMWiggyD0Hh47HNpmlmaUOIvG6JomHgJplSQmgJgL_4mgal5Ilv0A/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.17.19%20PM.png" width="255" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Set in Warwickshire during the early part of the 20th century, the story begins with a flood so high that ducks are swimming through the windows of the Wildweed family home, a large household consisting of Ebin Wildweed; this three children, Emma, Dennis, and Hattie; the matriarch, Ebin's cantankerous mother; and two servants, sisters Norah and Eunice. The banks of the nearby river have overflowed into the house and caused havoc throughout the surrounding villages.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>The ducks swam through the drawing-room windows. The weight of water had forced the windows open; so the ducks swam in. Round the room they sailed quacking their approval; then they sailed out again to explore the wonderful new world that had come in the night.</i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Uh9uoONh3DmUO2AaVkEjpl_7IyhjFYye_yyIsSQB3HoYT0niiuxbxkTBsCfzLqH46d71oE6KHKjMJAUC_hH1WsHvKf2VvaPwUMtfxrKUhYfa3eCLsBYQFqD4GfDf10G853IOZVDYb2_FmqeYhKg63WnParut9laSnOb44tc-xOse7Pnaj7O2tk0QFQ/s519/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.18.50%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="338" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Uh9uoONh3DmUO2AaVkEjpl_7IyhjFYye_yyIsSQB3HoYT0niiuxbxkTBsCfzLqH46d71oE6KHKjMJAUC_hH1WsHvKf2VvaPwUMtfxrKUhYfa3eCLsBYQFqD4GfDf10G853IOZVDYb2_FmqeYhKg63WnParut9laSnOb44tc-xOse7Pnaj7O2tk0QFQ/w260-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.18.50%20PM.png" width="260" /></span></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />It's the beginning of June and the floodwaters soon subside. What follows that summer is slightly sordid and increasingly unsettling; quirky and eccentric behavior among the village residents turns dark, violent, and tragic. I should probably give more details about the plot but I don't think I can without giving too much away.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This book was a quick read, less than 200 pages in a smallish paperback format. I could have probably read it in one sitting, but I did have to take breaks because I found it a little creepy. I've read six of Comyn's books and they've all been darkly quirky in a similar way. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fsDK973J0iggEjfGZ4Be-AgBjqjezveQF94z3kFd0v3QxcVmNo13WJNaJwQlHdG66OawvNNLIMVV9wmgdFIM2XCUhTrIJjZOM_sWCb4TuEcvhEp5Vkwk98jtMg1jIZcgdittD8TGTwyzRFu--XIuOytcDz_pneWgOsKhUcVkoQGjvgyfP3KyBSMgwA/s437/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.19.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="296" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fsDK973J0iggEjfGZ4Be-AgBjqjezveQF94z3kFd0v3QxcVmNo13WJNaJwQlHdG66OawvNNLIMVV9wmgdFIM2XCUhTrIJjZOM_sWCb4TuEcvhEp5Vkwk98jtMg1jIZcgdittD8TGTwyzRFu--XIuOytcDz_pneWgOsKhUcVkoQGjvgyfP3KyBSMgwA/w271-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-12%20at%2012.19.22%20PM.png" width="271" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Some of her other novels have recently been reprinted by Turnpike Books and also by Daunt books; I've already ordered one of them, <i>Mr. Fox. </i>A couple of her works are nearly impossible to find, hopefully the reprints will find an audience and the others will follow. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Thanks again to Simon and Kaggsy for organizing this reading event! I'm hoping to read two or even three more novels so fingers crossed I'll get them finished and posted in time. </span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-15023116969533404312022-04-17T10:57:00.002-04:002022-04-20T09:00:52.095-04:001954 Club: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit by P. G. Wodehouse<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomgeL09DREXo9TvNFpkVJedvjDqAkUE4stlmJ1UpXcfcQYh5fF8dJj78wqrdvUpebJmLH7y21uzsCOw44nyZIJFcPQH5_eL9mdf_TzHH_JKO7SD78BXal-SIHSkAoxpRfKnGBZvavqrmUMdudnbOKzREITug5b04uxXk6UMqJJMPic1QYIet4MdCd1w/s648/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%207.59.48%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomgeL09DREXo9TvNFpkVJedvjDqAkUE4stlmJ1UpXcfcQYh5fF8dJj78wqrdvUpebJmLH7y21uzsCOw44nyZIJFcPQH5_eL9mdf_TzHH_JKO7SD78BXal-SIHSkAoxpRfKnGBZvavqrmUMdudnbOKzREITug5b04uxXk6UMqJJMPic1QYIet4MdCd1w/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%207.59.48%20PM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is both amusing and amazing to me that P. G. Wodehouse was able to recycle his own plots and characters over the course of his seventy year writing career. By my count, I've now read 25 of his works, as novels and short story collections. Wodehouse tropes abound in <i>Jeeves and The Feudal Spirit.</i> I'm always looking for an excuse to read more Wodehouse, and the timing couldn't have been better as I could count it for Simon and Kaggsy's <a href="https://www.stuckinabook.com/1954club-post-your-reviews/">1954 Club</a>! It runs this whole week from April 18 to 24. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves return for their eleventh adventure and with them some beloved returning characters and situations. Somehow Bertie just never learns to avoid young upper-class women who want to marry him and mold him into respectability, their jealous ex-fiancés who want to sock him, and devious aunts who want him to commit petty crimes. Naturally the faithful Jeeves with his superior brain power is there to save the day (and Bertie's skin).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In this installment, Bertie has been summoned to help Aunt Dahlia out of yet another scrape -- she's desperately trying to unload her women's magazine, <i>Milady's Boudoir, </i>to a wealthy publisher, and has enlisted Bertie to help wine and dine him, in London and at Brinkley Court, her country estate. She has also tasked Bertie with picking up a pearl necklace for her in London from a jewelry store. Little does Bertie know that Aunt Dahlia has made a cheap copy of some extremely valuable pearls, which she has subsequently pawned to infuse cash into her insolvent periodical. She is in a panic because her husband Tom is planning on showing off the pearls to another weekend guest, Lord Sidcup, a supposed expert of antiques and jewelry.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70OrWt1f3uAFInp87CXJwXr5P4Cl19KPYZ8KNPqzMaYkuKZ3ohZ-Hygbg7PpAGnysP3oWGbQ0pYG90D59K8MmN5n8hbrcSnFAstAWu3P9asaZd_BnkbNYTezpOlK6MUWtAqIn77RNg6hj5GGmEH4sV4mquK0SnDI8iDG1KY1oO-rdWsrjYyMHAgakbw/s504/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%202.27.33%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="504" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70OrWt1f3uAFInp87CXJwXr5P4Cl19KPYZ8KNPqzMaYkuKZ3ohZ-Hygbg7PpAGnysP3oWGbQ0pYG90D59K8MmN5n8hbrcSnFAstAWu3P9asaZd_BnkbNYTezpOlK6MUWtAqIn77RNg6hj5GGmEH4sV4mquK0SnDI8iDG1KY1oO-rdWsrjYyMHAgakbw/w400-h301/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-29%20at%202.27.33%20PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster and Nicholas Palliser as Stilton Cheesewright from the 1993 TV adaptation,<span style="text-align: left;"> the episode entitled "The Delayed Arrival." </span>Jeeves does not approve of Bertie's mustache.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bertie is also in the soup, so to speak, because the Brinkley Court guest list includes Florence Craye, a strong-willed young writer who has managed to entangle the unwitting Bertie into an unwanted engagement. She's on the rebound after jilting her overbearing fiancé, D'Arcy "Stilton" Cheesewright, who has appeared to have it out with Florence and wring Bertie's neck. It also includes the aforementioned publisher, Trotter; his social-climbing wife; and his stepson, Percy Gorringe, a playwright who is adapting Florence's novel for the stage, and is madly in love with her. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">You always know what you are getting with Wodehouse, and therein lies the charm. I don't really want to time-travel to aristocratic England between the wars, but it would be amusing to be a fly on the wall and observe the hapless Bertie in all his slapstick charm. It honestly doesn't bother me that Wodehouse recycles plots and character types -- they're so beautifully drawn and so funny, just the thing if you need a light read, and who couldn't use some diversion right now? </span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8TdFD1FTeJwGSZY5eG16X0erRDne-PRjQSQ4PbymlGuOgSKP1UEgdr1DvlM39kvOBY-gYi9TjqG9SLJAF2UMIEU3BGtYyCStbGOZoXuSigeYnbYN0eZlj5EIvpSeBYR36azFPlwsW24wP1OT4OduIwhijIogmgwG0La2S_UREukYW1-m3xf3PB93oA/s447/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%208.01.00%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="287" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8TdFD1FTeJwGSZY5eG16X0erRDne-PRjQSQ4PbymlGuOgSKP1UEgdr1DvlM39kvOBY-gYi9TjqG9SLJAF2UMIEU3BGtYyCStbGOZoXuSigeYnbYN0eZlj5EIvpSeBYR36azFPlwsW24wP1OT4OduIwhijIogmgwG0La2S_UREukYW1-m3xf3PB93oA/w256-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-28%20at%208.01.00%20PM.png" width="256" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And now time for a little bonus Wodehouse! If you like musical theater, I strongly recommend watching the upcoming TV broadcast of <i>Anything Goes</i>, airing in the US this May on <i>PBS Great Performances. </i>It had a short run on the big screen in US theaters in March and I was lucky enough to go see it. It's a professionally shot recording of the 2021 West End production starring Sutton Foster (currently starring on Broadway in <i>The Music Man</i>). Wodehouse co-wrote the original book, lyrics by Cole Porter. The plot is classic Wodehouse, about wacky characters on an ocean liner in the 1930s. There are mobsters, star-crossed lovers, a ridiculous English lord, and an American cabaret singer, giving ample opportunity for hijinks and great musical numbers. It was an absolute joy to watch and I can't wait to watch it again. I suspect I'll save it on the DVR so I can watch the fabulous tap dancing numbers again and again. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here's the preview from Youtube: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="334" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FhyaK6fTtoc" width="482" youtube-src-id="FhyaK6fTtoc"></iframe></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">So -- my first read for the 1954 Club! I have two or three more I'd like to read for this event, hopefully I'll get through them all. What are you reading for the 1954 Club?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-2455745417593285092022-03-21T10:29:00.001-04:002022-03-22T09:52:58.214-04:00The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford: An NYRB Classic with a Dark Twist <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivXbh0RXc5A3eQOhTCoLSVCl7iw9g4sHaD7YB6rKsgqcDNESxkA-KtMSXUr-MkU6QIVi0L-PfANPgqLEZQ5PSpS7JNStUX45KNbKPipDicJd1bS1w2gg9B4H7dY90W599vQphkXHR0LLRtl9gOE_AdYrRHQbJP6l73F-p-z6Q2-wZ59-qqEjE0qgof1g=s521" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="325" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivXbh0RXc5A3eQOhTCoLSVCl7iw9g4sHaD7YB6rKsgqcDNESxkA-KtMSXUr-MkU6QIVi0L-PfANPgqLEZQ5PSpS7JNStUX45KNbKPipDicJd1bS1w2gg9B4H7dY90W599vQphkXHR0LLRtl9gOE_AdYrRHQbJP6l73F-p-z6Q2-wZ59-qqEjE0qgof1g=w250-h400" width="250" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Detail of "The Shower" by William Herbert Dunton. <br />The original is in the American Museum of Western Art in Denver, Colorado</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Mountain Lion </i>is one of several unread NYRB Classics that have been accumulating on my TBR shelves. I've probably owned it for a good ten years and it seemed like a good choice for the TBR Pile Challenge. I try to mix up my reading with different genres and it seemed quite different than my previous read, plus it's short -- a good choice when I'm behind on my annual reading goal already! However, this book was <i>nothing </i>like I expected.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1947 but set about 20 years earlier, it is the story of a young brother and sister living in California, Ralph and Molly Fawcett. The book begins when Ralph, aged ten and Molly, eight, are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their Grandfather Kenyon, the stepfather of their widowed mother (so, technically, their step-grandfather). They live with their mother and two older sisters in a walnut grove in suburban Los Angeles, and their Grandfather's visit is the highlight of the year. Grandpa Kenyon is quite a character, a world traveler who owns various properties including a ranch in Colorado, managed by his son Claude, their mother's half-brother. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ralph in particular is stifled growing up among a lot of females, but ostensibly for their health, Ralph and Molly begin to spend extended trips on the ranch with Claude. Ralph's world changes as he leaves his repressed childhood in California to a heavenly freedom in Colorado, where he learns to ride and shoot and fish. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiW-e0Rnbv0qDzuQ7BbWAj9I8VycAFjG_m0Gzc-bH-nAagZQ4uw3dA96E_TtJdfp1bjfN-12SIK16W_if2Y9wfHu0bhUD13pbygK7zYRgqceIHYqDU8N9iK6OYXnjRUblEQ5-THbUDmqkvk09FFbEXmJP0Zv_TbP3PSz_FIC6GpMS6nF6PJZUQhOsuMgw=s504" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiW-e0Rnbv0qDzuQ7BbWAj9I8VycAFjG_m0Gzc-bH-nAagZQ4uw3dA96E_TtJdfp1bjfN-12SIK16W_if2Y9wfHu0bhUD13pbygK7zYRgqceIHYqDU8N9iK6OYXnjRUblEQ5-THbUDmqkvk09FFbEXmJP0Zv_TbP3PSz_FIC6GpMS6nF6PJZUQhOsuMgw=w278-h400" width="278" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original 1947 cover. <br />I love the illustration, like a reverse woodblock print. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This seems like it could be a wonderful and ideal way to spend summers, but it's not ideal for Molly, who is precious, awkward, and bookish. It also takes a rather darker turn as they begin to grow older. What at first appears idyllic is actually not. Jean Stafford is masterful at describing life, both on the ranch and in California, but she doesn't leave out any details, including butchering animals and a really grotesque incident of self-harm. The characters are really well-drawn, but none of them are particularly likable; however, I absolutely had to keep reading to the ending which left me gobsmacked and <i>very </i>unsettled. My edition had a forward by Stafford with a major spoiler so I should have seen it coming -- I was still rather shocked but if you want to be completely surprised, I'd skip it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having read the forward, I had an overwhelming sense of dread. It actually reminded me a bit of the film <i>The Power of the Dog</i>, -- not so much the plot, but they're both Westerns set in the 1920s with dark undertones. I actually saw it the theater a few months ago and it's a great movie but it made me deeply uncomfortable because I knew something dreadful was going to happen. If that is the type of story that puts you off, I would probably not read <i>The Mountain Lion.</i> I gave it four stars on Goodreads (there is some racism besides the disturbing parts) but I don't think I would read it again. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtTd3qCs52RZujKXyRpYTH5DhtCyFsEBnHpy1h6SP6JKU3zK58gniIe_DHOTi9zjNw3ROOSDaAK2GgIZ_i_8lF1nu4ts8ZIh7TXXuxwTy-SOpW1SSWHVYB11h9pxHINsCB-za7o0zB0mdBXXBd0gIQC1_Y3UWhWT_WM-J1ZPZrlwz6maP4mdsB5C8bgQ=s375" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtTd3qCs52RZujKXyRpYTH5DhtCyFsEBnHpy1h6SP6JKU3zK58gniIe_DHOTi9zjNw3ROOSDaAK2GgIZ_i_8lF1nu4ts8ZIh7TXXuxwTy-SOpW1SSWHVYB11h9pxHINsCB-za7o0zB0mdBXXBd0gIQC1_Y3UWhWT_WM-J1ZPZrlwz6maP4mdsB5C8bgQ=w284-h400" width="284" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From the 1983 edition. This cover is SO 1980s!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jean Stafford won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for her Collected Short Stories, and a couple of other novels. I'm not sure if they're as dark as <i>The Mountain Lion</i> but her writing is very good and at some point after I've recovered from this one I might look for them later.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my fifth book for the <a href="https://roofbeamreader.com/2022/01/01/the-official-tbr-pile-challenge-returns-sign-up-post-tbr2022rbr/">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-43037235498979426622022-03-18T20:13:00.002-04:002022-03-24T20:02:41.766-04:00Last Year When I Was Young by Monica Dickens<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMtuFUnF--asJikRYCnNhw5B_Z0lFUAe9dzR_v-NFcUR40Izzg3mPUQJx_TgGCyuMxfkoxY-yx-1a4mUC3hh1sBA7ZlWihGl8X_SyYS7OtE82mFx8hpK3LuGAL8hf0ag0FKeiSMWEc4VvaIbI-2jHzjCE9lqSsQcCSZeL6-I8HRfGuPbo263nyWpRH4A=s522" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="338" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMtuFUnF--asJikRYCnNhw5B_Z0lFUAe9dzR_v-NFcUR40Izzg3mPUQJx_TgGCyuMxfkoxY-yx-1a4mUC3hh1sBA7ZlWihGl8X_SyYS7OtE82mFx8hpK3LuGAL8hf0ag0FKeiSMWEc4VvaIbI-2jHzjCE9lqSsQcCSZeL6-I8HRfGuPbo263nyWpRH4A=s320" width="207" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wow, this cover is TERRIBLE. <br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm not going to spend too much time on this post, because to be perfectly honest, I don't think anyone will read it -- it's about a book from the 1970s that no one has heard of, by an author that hardly anyone reads anymore (despite her famous name) and it has one of the WORST COVERS OF ALL TIME. Seriously, who looked at that cover and thought, "This book will sell!" Did her editors secretly hate her? It is a mystery.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyway. I'm sure that I would never have picked up this book in a store, but this copy somehow ended up with the donations at my library about ten years ago. As I was sorting through them I recognized Monica Dickens' name, and kept it aside for myself (these were books donated for the Friends of the Library sale, and employees got first crack at them. All books were $1 and I did pay for this). There was another Monica Dickens as well called <i>One of the Family, </i>whose plot I have instantly forgotten. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I finally got around to reading this last week -- I added it to my TBR Pile Challenge list so that I would be inspired to read it. As it is just over 200 pages long and I'm way behind on my reading quota for the year, I thought I'd give it a try.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1974, <i>Last Year When I Was Young</i> is the story of Richard, a twentysomething private nurse who is working at the home of an elderly man who is fading fast. The family are all pretty awful except for a granddaughter named Fanny who turns up from Australia, where she'd been on an assignment for the BBC. Richard had a past love that ended tragically several years before and I knew instantly that Fanny was the new love interest. I predicted that the elderly client would pass away and leave all his money to Fanny, and she and Richard would end up together. I was wrong.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ6OT8KpqL9uK3zpdbkGYGPa9i6jhAwvXJY5I9DSanYkAYb4Zx-fuE251u7Le_iYTB62WRW9Qt4iPYSxY5wPCChfpEuROVvTJwFoDBF7hEHF9eHKLKsJMmJ6rhm1cVpq1PpugnqJTwwhje6LU4GzQBjT9GxuIWrP6wmRiCYXT1YQb9MgqfHMVy3g3XTA=s344" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="221" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ6OT8KpqL9uK3zpdbkGYGPa9i6jhAwvXJY5I9DSanYkAYb4Zx-fuE251u7Le_iYTB62WRW9Qt4iPYSxY5wPCChfpEuROVvTJwFoDBF7hEHF9eHKLKsJMmJ6rhm1cVpq1PpugnqJTwwhje6LU4GzQBjT9GxuIWrP6wmRiCYXT1YQb9MgqfHMVy3g3XTA=s320" width="206" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This cover is not much better</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />I expected the whole story to be about this particular assignment for Richard, but it ends rather abruptly and he moves on to other jobs. But over the course of a couple of years, he and Fanny drift in and out of each other's lives as Richard takes on private nursing assignments. Some are sad, some are amusing, but overall this book is just sort of melancholy, but it didn't end at all how I was expecting. In retrospect there were hints all along that made perfect sense as I read the final paragraphs. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Like I was hoping, it was a pretty quick read, and I think I read it all one day (we had some unexpected bad weather and I was stuck inside the whole weekend). It was a fairly good read but I don't suppose this will be reprinted anytime soon -- it's very middlebrow but not really interesting enough to get picked up by Persephone or any of the other indie publishers who are reprinting unappreciated fiction right now. I don't read that many books from the 1970s and parts of it are very much of its time, i.e. a couple of pretty cringe-worthy racial slurs. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">An OK read but I suspect it will end up in the Little Free Library down the street. But it's one more book knocked off my TBR pile. </span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-30281393399284174582022-03-15T11:09:00.009-04:002022-03-20T18:51:29.530-04:00Classics Spin #29<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQuKPuUYtNDHyYnOZYYEm4y-4eaR2NBJR7CeVmMBQakYa3q_l84b1aD8c50WiTu-4_g4ZMbJ4ce_G0eoZXHVTqEwuGJon66rBsq0m0vPoD-N4XOxnK6-ub9mT9wEE1dZiTi0D3S_BYO_k6oTvqpjH5dAlNKT_wxKOIng-zVegIvn_bosS5OM8DooBRkg=s657" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="657" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQuKPuUYtNDHyYnOZYYEm4y-4eaR2NBJR7CeVmMBQakYa3q_l84b1aD8c50WiTu-4_g4ZMbJ4ce_G0eoZXHVTqEwuGJon66rBsq0m0vPoD-N4XOxnK6-ub9mT9wEE1dZiTi0D3S_BYO_k6oTvqpjH5dAlNKT_wxKOIng-zVegIvn_bosS5OM8DooBRkg=w640-h360" width="640" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I've been very bad the past year or so about my <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/p/imperial-palace-arnold-bennett-east.html">Classics Club list</a> -- I have thirteen books left on the list, and just about a year left to complete them! I did add several of them to the TBR Pile Challenge, and some of them would work as selections for other challenges (including my own Back to the Classics Challenge). </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Enter the latest <a href="https://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/13/cc-spin-29/">Classics Club Spin</a> -- </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I do love having other people choose books for me, so I've selected seven from my list that would work nicely with my other scheduled reading for the year. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Next Sunday, March 20, the Spin will randomly assign a number from one to twenty, and whichever number is chosen, I'm pledging to finish that book by April 30! Here's my list:</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />1. <i>My American</i> by Stella Gibbons<br />2. <i>A Pin to See the Peepshow </i>by F. Tennyson Jesse<br />3. <i>The World My Wilderness</i> by Rose Macauley<br />4. <i>Noli Me Tangere </i>by Jose Rizal<br />5. <i>Jenny Wren</i> by E. H. Young<br />6. <i>The Bright Side of Life</i> by Emile Zola<br />7. </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Beware of Pity</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> by Stefan Zweig</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">8. </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">My American</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">9. <i>A Pin to See the Peepshow </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">10. <i>The World My Wilderness</i> <br />11. <i>Noli Me Tangere </i><br />12. <i>Jenny Wren</i> <br />13. <i>The Bright Side of Life</i> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">14. <i>Beware of Pity</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">15. <i>My American</i> <br />16. <i>A Pin to See the Peepshow </i><br />17. <i>The World My Wilderness</i> <br />18. <i>Jenny Wren</i> <br />19. <i>The Bright Side of Life</i> <br />20. <i>Beware of Pity</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">My top choices would be <i>Jenny Wren </i>(for my Back to the Classics Challenge); <i>The World My Wilderness</i> (TBR Pile Challenge); or <i>The Bright Side of Life </i>(Zoladdiction; also counts toward the European Reading Challenge <i>and </i>the Back to the Classics Challenge). I'd be happy with any of them though I'm a bit hesitant about <i>Noli Me Tangere </i>as it sounds rather dark. I've been putting it off for so long, though, I should just suck it up and give it a try.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Anyone else signing up for the next Classics Spin? What's on your list? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Updated: The Classics Spin has assigned me. . . Number 11! So I'll be reading <i>Noli Me Tangere, </i>wish me luck!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-26051123320666174492022-03-13T09:51:00.002-04:002022-03-13T09:51:31.173-04:00Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk12bqp3x7nR9nE7g8jVIL-znofyxhnk2kzlfFd54kc7deRhEzYmgWsrXwNlbl4lAKISDDrXaCuFxq4e4tS1V7wvD3ey9aqn_Ml8AQwgxtLLZnVa63ltL-dm9CCvS2sZHpJeMoCERmB4ZdtkKkTtWaleytaVHePewUs_fth8Fr3FZQE9RUBY7MnQzc-Q=s438" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="277" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk12bqp3x7nR9nE7g8jVIL-znofyxhnk2kzlfFd54kc7deRhEzYmgWsrXwNlbl4lAKISDDrXaCuFxq4e4tS1V7wvD3ey9aqn_Ml8AQwgxtLLZnVa63ltL-dm9CCvS2sZHpJeMoCERmB4ZdtkKkTtWaleytaVHePewUs_fth8Fr3FZQE9RUBY7MnQzc-Q=w253-h400" width="253" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p><i style="font-size: large; text-align: justify; text-indent: 4%;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is impossible that these volumes should be graced by any hero, for the story does not admit of one. But if there were to be a hero, Herbert Fitzgerald would be the man. </span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Victorian novel by Anthony Trollope, set in Ireland? This book could not be any more in my wheelhouse. For the Back to the Classics Challenge I needed a book from the 19th Century and I still had five unread Trollopes on my TBR shelve. Two of them were set in Ireland so that seemed like an obvious choice for March.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Trollope spent nearly twenty years in Ireland working for the post office, and began his writing career there. His first two novels are set in Ireland, and were written during the Great Famine. <i>Castle Richmond,</i> his third novel set in Ireland, was published in 1860, but is set several years earlier. It does use the Great Famine as a plot point, but much less so than I was expecting. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Basically, it's the story of a love triangle between two cousins of the landed gentry, Owen and Herbert Fitzgerald, and the girl they both love, Clara Desmond, the beautiful but poor daughter of Countess Desmond, a young widow whose marriage was less than happy. There's also a complicated plot about the inheritance of Castle Richmond, the seat of the wealthy Fitzgerald family. But I'm getting ahead of myself. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Owen Fitzgerald is the young squire of Hap House in County Cork -- technically gentry, but the poorer branch of the Fitzgerald family, and untitled. He is handsome and dashing, and befriends the young Earl of Desmond, acting as a sort of older brother. They go hunting and fishing and whatnot, and Owen also notices the young Earl's older sister, Clara, who is about sixteen. Eventually he declares his love for her, and she returns his feelings. However, her young widowed mother, who is not yet forty, quashes all her hopes -- Owen is too poor and lacks a title, so she refuses to acknowledge any engagement and forbids Clara to see or write to Owen. (The reader is also aware that the young Countess is also crushing on Owen and secretly wanted him for herself). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">About a year Clara is befriended by two of Owen's distant cousins, Mary and Emmeline Fitzgerald, from the wealthier portion of the Fitzgeralds -- the family living at Castle Richmond. She spends time with them and is much thrown together with their brother Herbert, the heir and future Baronet. He's younger and more bookish than his dashing cousin Owen, who considers him a prig. It would seem that Clara and Herbert would be a perfect match -- she's beautiful and he's rich, and they're both gentry. But that would make for a very short novel, so there must be complications -- which arrive with some nasty characters from London, Mr. Matthew Mollett and his son Abraham, who have come to County Cork to stir up trouble for the wealthy Fitzgeralds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Before marrying Lord Fitzgerald of Castle Richmond, his beautiful wife Lady Fitzgerald had made an unfortunate marriage with a ne'er-do-well named Talbot who deserted her and her child and ran off to Paris, where he was supposedly killed in a fight over a gambling debt. Eventually, she met and married Lord Fitzgerald. Now the Molletts have arrived with the intent of blackmailing the Fitzgeralds, claiming that Lady Fitzgerald's husband is still alive and that her children are illegitimate. . . making Owen Fitzgerald the rightful heir of Castle Richmond and the title. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I liked this novel, though the love triangle and the blackmail plot lines are the strongest. But these characters are basically wealthy Protestant landowners. There's actually not that much in the story about Ireland and the famine -- that's mostly a peripheral plot point only in how it affects the main characters. As landlords, the Fitzgeralds are trying to help the starving population, and there's some infighting between the Catholic and Protestant clergy about how to best help everyone which is pretty infuriating, but that's not a large part of the story. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also found Clara to be a very undeveloped character -- both of these men are in love with her, but she's mostly a flat character, just very pretty and sweet. She gets a little character development writing letters to both of the men in love with her, but not much. She's not as annoying as some of Dickens' ingenues, but not nearly as interesting as some of the women in Trollope's later novels. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Overall I did enjoy the novel and sped through the 500 pages in just about a week. I'm getting down to the last few unread books by Anthony Trollope. I can proudly say that I've now finished 38 (!) of his 47 novels. When I've finished them all I'm sure I'll be sad but I guess I'll just have to start reading them all over again!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my 19th Century Classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge, and my Irish read for the European Reading Challenge.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-870161827705250792022-03-04T11:22:00.001-05:002022-03-04T11:23:48.298-05:00The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster: Metafiction Mysteries<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgka7t2kIsPUMNMq79zF1Ji7ShcKHV3RyZASzQ4F6xsEARvTybuPuMk5ovfT8stM7wO0qp-XVIh7QhMSNF6ZaTXRf_gZ1DEdAjT4yUHaLZBCV1sjezJcSOvfbcdyTmNnX6WFrVz0RL_05Tu2oGeN6R6AxrtJ7vAhib2jXgnKpj3A9uwp4IoBghV13xkWg=s523" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="350" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgka7t2kIsPUMNMq79zF1Ji7ShcKHV3RyZASzQ4F6xsEARvTybuPuMk5ovfT8stM7wO0qp-XVIh7QhMSNF6ZaTXRf_gZ1DEdAjT4yUHaLZBCV1sjezJcSOvfbcdyTmNnX6WFrVz0RL_05Tu2oGeN6R6AxrtJ7vAhib2jXgnKpj3A9uwp4IoBghV13xkWg=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyone knows that stories are imaginary. Whatever effect they might have on us, we know they are not true, even when they tell us truths more important than the ones we can find elsewhere. ("The Locked Room")</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">More than ten years ago I received a big box of 24 <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/search?q=penguin">Penguin Deluxe Classics</a> as a prize from the publisher. As of this year I still had four still unread so I added <i>The New York Trilogy</i> to my TBR Pile Challenge list. I brought it with me, appropriately, to a recent trip to New York, but this book was not what I expected at all. This is an odd book, and I don't even know if I can describe it accurately.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It's a collection of three novellas, originally published in 1985 and 19867. Each of the protagonists is either a private investigator, or someone who becomes caught up in an investigation. Ostensibly they are all detective novels, but they're hardly the mystery/detective fiction of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett.They all begin as traditional detective novels, but it quickly becomes apparent that they're all much more than that, as the narrators begin to question what they're doing and the nature of their existence within the investigations. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In the first novella, "City of Glass" a mystery writer named Quinn who is between projects gets a series of mysterious phone calls for a "Paul Auster," asking for help. Out of boredom and curiosity, he decides to impersonate Auster and ends up taking on a case and descends into a Kafka-esque spiral. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The second novella is titled "Ghosts," in which a private investigator named Blue is hired by the mysterious White to follow a man named Black and monitor him 24 hours a day. Eventually he starts to wonder who is observing who and what it all means. (All the characters are named after colors, shades of <i>Reservoir Dogs.)</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The final novella of the trilogy, "The Locked Room" is the story of a nameless young writer contacted by the beautiful wife of his childhood friend Fanshawe, who seems to have disappeared, leaving behind boxes crammed with his writings. She asks the narrator to fulfill her missing husband's request to try and get his writing published and he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to his old friend while becoming more involved with the wife. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4GUEXY-k4QMXECwVOKfFXi9c4M6LglEOrStIeBava27GtQwBNZdvdTCg7qtH8qWZhht8cR3LgNORg1qZMQlBOGxXJwe7r2jsFwm-JeKgiVjIzrYbjyjFr3WKIlNC2GJDlyqisUMQdDV1K--9IlHai499j8Idakmzgg93uPVf23NUuQ_MmOnT-uAQZdw=s523" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="316" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4GUEXY-k4QMXECwVOKfFXi9c4M6LglEOrStIeBava27GtQwBNZdvdTCg7qtH8qWZhht8cR3LgNORg1qZMQlBOGxXJwe7r2jsFwm-JeKgiVjIzrYbjyjFr3WKIlNC2GJDlyqisUMQdDV1K--9IlHai499j8Idakmzgg93uPVf23NUuQ_MmOnT-uAQZdw=w241-h400" width="241" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I really liked these novellas but they were so much more than I expected. Instead of the hard-boiled detectives of the mid-century, the protagonists all begin to question their own existence and sometimes their own reality. They're all actually interconnected and it took me quite a while to figure out how they were related, other than being set in New York. (I had put the book down for a couple of weeks before the first and second novellas so that definitely made it harder.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They're also quite different from writing style of the traditional detective novel. There are so many insightful and beautiful quotes adding little sticky notes so I wouldn't forget them. Some favorites: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><i>New York was the nowhere he had built around himself, and he realized he had no intention of ever leaving it again. (City of Glass)</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">For the first time in his experience of writing reports, he discovers that words do not necessarily work, that it is possible for them to obscure the things they are trying to say. (Ghosts)</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">He feels like a man who has been condemned to sit in a room and go on reading a book for the rest of his life. This is strange enough -- to be only half alive at best, seeing the world only through words, living only through the lives of others. But if the book were an interesting one, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. He could get caught up in the story, so to speak, and little by little begin to forget himself. But this book offers him nothing. There is no story, no plot, no action -- nothing but a man sitting alone in a room and writing a book. (Ghosts)</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stories happen only to those who are able to tell them, someone once said. In the same way, perhaps, experiences present themselves only to those who are able to have them. (The Locked Room)</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">A man does not spend his time hiding from the world without making sure to cover his tracks. (The Locked Room)</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">We all want to be told stories, and we listen to them in the same way we did when we were young. We imagine the real story inside the words, and to do this we substitute ourselves for the person in the story, pretending that we can understand him because we understand ourselves. This is a deception. We exist for ourselves, perhaps, and at times we even have a glimmer of who we are, but in the end we can never be sure, and as our lives go on, we become more and more opaque to ourselves, more and more aware of our own incoherence. No one can cross the boundary into another -- for the simple reason that no one can gain access to himself. (The Locked Room)</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That's a lot of quotes but they're all so good that I couldn't cut a single one. I'm not a huge fan of post-modern or meta-fiction but I can't stop thinking about this book. It did have some sexist tropes that I could have done without but I understand why Penguin added it to their Classics list, despite being published in the 1980s. If I had a mystery book group I would absolutely recommend this because there is a LOT in here to discuss. I'm not even sure I understand the ending. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my third book for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a> and I'm really glad that it inspired me to finally read this novel. </span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-91743287474408127582022-03-01T19:08:00.002-05:002022-03-01T19:10:29.996-05:00The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgirkCAWaqtmvj2LI5Hg_UTEzfEBsuPU0XJolZQKlvdRfLZZwcQpH3Kmsz54xTv4wSyE1-p2T9TuChZJT42obNvXx9DvrsmbHxCURvdoprPzExFIJJ_Lu_NPVzgMgAr-AEaS8XwtSk-23MzEBG1i_q4bdUn-aBP340hzSoPYt2AemG8wJIGX_ULAnedBA=s442" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="271" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgirkCAWaqtmvj2LI5Hg_UTEzfEBsuPU0XJolZQKlvdRfLZZwcQpH3Kmsz54xTv4wSyE1-p2T9TuChZJT42obNvXx9DvrsmbHxCURvdoprPzExFIJJ_Lu_NPVzgMgAr-AEaS8XwtSk-23MzEBG1i_q4bdUn-aBP340hzSoPYt2AemG8wJIGX_ULAnedBA=w245-h400" width="245" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Last May I wrote <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-year-of-shakespeare.html">this post</a> in which I described my desire to complete reading all of William Shakespeare's plays in a year. At the time, I'd only read a dozen of the 37 plays definitively attributed to Shakespeare, and assumed I would easily finish the other 25 in a year. Riiiiiigght. It is now exactly 10 months later and I have only read another <i>four</i> plus I've just started the fifth. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have realized that I really prefer <i>watching</i> Shakespeare's to reading them -- which I don't think is terrible, because, honestly, they were meant to be watched! I have been lucky enough to attend several performances since then, including two plays at the Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. And I'm going back in April! In exactly one month I'm going to Staunton for a two-play weekend: <i>Romeo and Juliet </i>and <i>The Comedy of Errors.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">With that in mind, I decided to brush up my Shakespeare and give <i>The Comedy of Errors</i> another try on audio. I'd started listening a few months ago and just couldn't get into it, but I tried again, with an audio download from my library (I like the Arkangel Audiobook series). It's Shakespeare's shortest play and I easily finished listening to it in a day. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For those who don't know the plot, it's basically a slapstick farce about two sets of twins and a lot of mistaken identity. Possibly Shakespeare's earliest play, it's set in Ephesus, Greece (now modern-day Turkey). Egeon, a merchant, has been arrested and has one day to raise bail or be executed for the sin of being a Syracusan who dared set foot in Ephesus (due to some bad blood between the two places). The Duke of Ephesus asks why he has taken such a risk, and Egeon gives us some back story. Many years before, Ephesus had a wife and twin sons, plus another set of twin boys, born the same day as his own children, that he had bought as bonded servants from their impoverished mother. However, one of each set of twins, with his wife, had been separated from him in a shipwreck and never seen again. He raised his son Antipholus and the servant Dromio, who have since gone off seeking their lost brothers. Five years later Egeon is searching for them when he arrives in Ephesus. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Duke takes pity on him and gives him one day to raise a thousand ducats or forfeit his life. Meanwhile, Antipholus and Dromio, both of Syracuse, have already arrived, not realizing that Egeon is looking for them, and more importantly, that both of their identical twins have been living there for years -- and <i>are also named Antipholus and Dromio. (</i>Apparently, the younger of each pair of twins remained with Egeon, and took his brother's name when they go out searching for their elder twins).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since the older Antipholus and Dromio have lived for some time in Ephesus, they naturally have established relationships, including wives. Naturally this causes confusion and hilarity ensues when the second Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse arrive. It's all very slapsticky and yet it never occurs to any of these people that there are two pairs of twins, <i>including the pair that are literally looking for their lost twin brothers. </i>And are they identically dressed? I'm extremely curious to know how this play is staged -- I'm guessing very few theater companies have been able to cast two actual pairs of twins in the principal roles. It was a little confusing the first time I tried to listen to the audio version -- you have to be able to remember which voice goes with which part but eventually I got it. I suspect it would be easier watching the play instead of just listening. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did like the play but it really doesn't have that much depth to it. It's one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, and you really don't get much of the metaphors and themes of the later works. But it is a pretty fun read if you like slapstick and mistaken identities. I'm very much looking forward to my weekend in Staunton when I can see it performed live.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPEHgxlrXnktefADGkhHwUmWXYkj9AqJTGKOWYCsBf9ah2JivDds6kZ6ChNPz-Qn2xPNWHD4p8bZy4puUEkqk6MPQrJg32yKDwqxn1XVNPbXrz0ie8-n2Q2_Ox1HC6dzXMpUoxlJQXmWKvFzXdtmAtNxOIXceZz_8sG3MyuikQ_jIa0Cu8UPLgbsDBHA=s671" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="671" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPEHgxlrXnktefADGkhHwUmWXYkj9AqJTGKOWYCsBf9ah2JivDds6kZ6ChNPz-Qn2xPNWHD4p8bZy4puUEkqk6MPQrJg32yKDwqxn1XVNPbXrz0ie8-n2Q2_Ox1HC6dzXMpUoxlJQXmWKvFzXdtmAtNxOIXceZz_8sG3MyuikQ_jIa0Cu8UPLgbsDBHA=w640-h365" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Blackfriars Playhouse at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my Pre-1800 Classic for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/back-to-classics-2022-challenge-signup.html">Back to the Classics Challenge</a>; also my Turkish read for the <a href="https://www.rosecityreader.com/p/2022-european-reading-challenge.html">European Reading Challenge</a>.</span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-13681422772893201082022-02-21T10:30:00.002-05:002022-02-21T10:30:18.508-05:00The Matador of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCxMiJyWp0MYMDpc-chzImQmsRjtmum0n8a0hZfB54ILJ7gw3m1GLA1YnGdEkAXKHP3k0VbV3lMCSidFQB0dWzlDE2h7LsWpjZoLWu8KYJp63Cig4nZX1KlD8OG3lc-y_w826SJrP0Y6TUnWQOjH9jx_T6A9zg-0pQeJ1TTm7UsxYqaz05r-BVKGP9qw=s441" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="325" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCxMiJyWp0MYMDpc-chzImQmsRjtmum0n8a0hZfB54ILJ7gw3m1GLA1YnGdEkAXKHP3k0VbV3lMCSidFQB0dWzlDE2h7LsWpjZoLWu8KYJp63Cig4nZX1KlD8OG3lc-y_w826SJrP0Y6TUnWQOjH9jx_T6A9zg-0pQeJ1TTm7UsxYqaz05r-BVKGP9qw=w295-h400" width="295" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Years ago while living in Texas I was at the Half-Price Books in San Antonio whereupon I found this bought this adorably wee little volume of short stories (6.5 x 5 inches/17 x 12.5 cm) by Arnold Bennett. I had just completed and loved his novel <i>The Old Wives Tale </i>so why not? Well, at least ten years and three moves later I finally gotten around to finishing it. One would think that a small volume of 22 short stories shouldn't take that long, but you know how it is.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you haven't read Arnold Bennett, he seems to me a sort of transitional writer between the 19th and 20th centuries. This volume is copyrighted 1912, but many of the stories had a more Victorian feeling. Most of his stories are about working-class and middle-class people, just slices of life set in his fictional Five Towns which are modeled on the six Pottery towns in the Staffordshire area of Northern England. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once started, it still took me awhile to get into this book -- it's divided up between "Tragic" and "Frolic" with the majority in the latter category. The first stories is the eponymous "Matador of the Five Towns" and it's also the longest, which is probably why it seemed to take forever to get into. But once I started I found that I really enjoyed them, mostly the lighter comic "Frolic" stories. I won't go into each story into detail but just a few highlights:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Catching the Train" -- a man and his brother are repeatedly thwarted on a train journey to a Very Important Destination which isn't revealed until the end. It's one of those trips where anything that can possibly go wrong, does so in the worst possible way. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"The Blue Suit" -- a woman slyly manipulates her nephew's wardrobe choices while on a seaside holiday in Wales, with unexpected results.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Hot Potatoes" -- the mother of a violin prodigy desperately tries to keep her son's hands warm for a concert on a cold day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"The Long-Lost Uncle" -- a young man has an opportunity for romance after the sudden departure of his miserly uncle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Why the Clock Stopped" -- a pair of aging siblings have secrets from one another. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I definitely preferred the lighter comic stories to the tragic (though they weren't so terribly tragic) and I found that many of them had delightful twist endings. They reminded me a bit of the short stories of Edith Wharton, a bit like O. Henry, and even a little like Trollope, so if you like any of these authors, you might enjoy exploring Arnold Bennett. This volume is also available on iBooks and on Project Gutenberg, as are most of Bennett's early works. To be honest, I actually ended up reading most of it on Gutenberg via my laptop because as cute as this volume was, the print was really tiny! (Plus I have become used to reading while I eat my lunch and it's so much easier while reading on a screen).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Overally I did enjoy this book and will definitely read more Arnold Bennett, I have a vintage copies of both <i>Hilda Lessways </i>and <i>Buried Alive </i>and would love to read both or either of them this year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my second book for the Back to the Classics Challenge, also counting this as my UK read for the <a href="https://www.rosecityreader.com/p/2022-european-reading-challenge.html">European Reading Challenge</a>. </span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-83177988497412410862022-01-29T16:05:00.001-05:002022-01-29T16:05:19.837-05:00The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden (with bonus giveaway)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoCCa93RBTWalYJ3zpGZaLvemdfnobISHjznOTWdk9v8kNYyJ8otlGgiVKrxT7qREWOWvstMghszVUOPXNmLTZw_54Ma3dGibK1D57qKZBpCp-4laAjmku0W_pct2fnIhPXHiwdW8-bEF1McUKPetX94_CFZsSfEcWQ6z6CXw_p2_4kchE9U8e6n6tow=s515" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="349" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhoCCa93RBTWalYJ3zpGZaLvemdfnobISHjznOTWdk9v8kNYyJ8otlGgiVKrxT7qREWOWvstMghszVUOPXNmLTZw_54Ma3dGibK1D57qKZBpCp-4laAjmku0W_pct2fnIhPXHiwdW8-bEF1McUKPetX94_CFZsSfEcWQ6z6CXw_p2_4kchE9U8e6n6tow=w271-h400" width="271" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover of the 1975 edition, of which I now have 2 copies</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As I read a lot of middlebrow fiction, Rumer Godden is a writer that's been on my reading radar forever. Last year I was browsing on the cart outside Alabaster Books in New York, a tiny used and rare bookstore that is often overshadowed by the much more famous Strand Bookstore on the opposite side of the block. I found a 1976 copy of <i>Peacock Spring </i>and paid the bargain price of $1. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then last weekend I was killing time in <i>another </i>used bookstore in Pittsburgh (touristy post to follow soon) while waiting for a rideshare. Lo and behold, I found another copy of <i>Peacock Spring </i>and started reading it as I waited. I felt guilty about spending so much time there so I felt compelled to buy the second copy (only $7) and read it that night and on the plane home the following day. That didn't work out exactly as planned but I did finish the book this week and HOO BOY.</span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyd_6ouyAhd40ardC0JPtIvsUzrldw766P9nNeDT19WsLS23n9tPOygCVFAODMNGh2kZcWFgqAc4OcNogCod8pr5OY9DUXptPP0kp4i6LGRENxawqgNUxUu9LLw-Na4V18n4oxuII1ighNxrqQxfIKB8DnoXF8OhTdoOvWpSHcisznch2C86xyTUh-9Q=s443" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyd_6ouyAhd40ardC0JPtIvsUzrldw766P9nNeDT19WsLS23n9tPOygCVFAODMNGh2kZcWFgqAc4OcNogCod8pr5OY9DUXptPP0kp4i6LGRENxawqgNUxUu9LLw-Na4V18n4oxuII1ighNxrqQxfIKB8DnoXF8OhTdoOvWpSHcisznch2C86xyTUh-9Q=w263-h400" width="263" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover of the 2004 paperback edition. <br />A new copy can be yours via Amazon $632. Or $695. I did not omit the decimal point. <br />(Or a good used copy for 16 cents.)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Set mainly in post-Independence India, this is the story of Una Gwithiam, the teenaged daughter of Sir Edward Gwithiam, a diplomat newly appointed to a post in Delhi. Una and her younger half-sister are at boarding school in the UK when the headmistress tells her that she and her sister Halcyon (nicknamed Hal) are to leave their school and join their father in India, for reasons unexplained. Hal is thrilled but Una, more studious, is not, especially after she meets her new governess, Alix Lamont, a half-caste Eurasian who seems under-qualified. Una had had hopes of entering Oxford or Cambridge but now it seems those are dashed. Miss Lamont seems more interested in taking them sightseeing and socializing, and Una is forced to attempt higher mathematics on her own. This leads to a meeting with Ravi, an attractive young gardener who promises to secretly help her study. Meanwhile, Una and Hal aren't getting along with their governess Miss Lamont who seems to have secrets of her own. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rumer Godden was born in the UK but grew up in what is now Bangladesh (then colonial India), and moved back and forth before and after both world wars, so she knew India really well. The descriptions of India and of colonial life are really interesting, the highlights of the book for me. The book began rather slowly and it took awhile for me to get into, but by the second half I sped through it to find out what would happen -- which was sort of predictable, if somewhat problematic. And I don't mean problematic because of racism or classicism, which are definitely addressed pretty well, but problematic because of the age difference between Una and Ravi. Una is only 15 when the book takes place and though they never specifically Ravi's age, he's at least seven or eight years older than her which is pretty icky. There are definitely some consent issues in this book which made me absolutely cringe and want to throw the book across the room. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBLQGVcb0OciFjfaszAcmzpgYzeEFJfowDqJe4Mikcwhrh8bICo27qMubcq5YhCH7mElOzJB7XOxWygfK_wIqI0ueCnUOMD2PGzqR76roNHOiRwBzeZ1hyfDkcR6qwMq9z3oSgGYa7iAzgHS_77qcFjd59U01UQaRqyQmplsZt9J87k8cxt6LCPJB2DA=s524" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="348" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBLQGVcb0OciFjfaszAcmzpgYzeEFJfowDqJe4Mikcwhrh8bICo27qMubcq5YhCH7mElOzJB7XOxWygfK_wIqI0ueCnUOMD2PGzqR76roNHOiRwBzeZ1hyfDkcR6qwMq9z3oSgGYa7iAzgHS_77qcFjd59U01UQaRqyQmplsZt9J87k8cxt6LCPJB2DA=w266-h400" width="266" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Cover of the 2013 edition. These do not cost $632.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I did, however, complete the book and I was not surprised at how it ended up. Overall it's interesting and I loved the descriptions of India, a country I've always wanted to visit, but it's definitely problematic. It was first published in 1975 but I'm not sure of the exact year in which it's set. There was a PBS Masterpiece adaptation in 1995 which set the story in 1959, but I don't remember it being specifically mentioned in the book, not that it really matters. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And I discovered the adaptation is streaming on Amazon Prime! I couldn't find any stills but here's an image from the website. Might have to check it out soon. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibkiwrfYU-G2js4k0WcKTRCHFPoiM_lmvS-4ILyK97Z3PwmqUIq1RD0IbyRWrJBxE8gGgARqv1QEj2Wjrf3rHJE6gdJw2PxU7YLlk7gQbMDJd98_u5TsAbWBtZdsY1-5DIlwDg0JKXukLRl09XM1fY9lTPCL13p41APsCTsphVg9mr-xPNujKQaRb-Zw=s214" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="214" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibkiwrfYU-G2js4k0WcKTRCHFPoiM_lmvS-4ILyK97Z3PwmqUIq1RD0IbyRWrJBxE8gGgARqv1QEj2Wjrf3rHJE6gdJw2PxU7YLlk7gQbMDJd98_u5TsAbWBtZdsY1-5DIlwDg0JKXukLRl09XM1fY9lTPCL13p41APsCTsphVg9mr-xPNujKQaRb-Zw=w320-h296" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That's a very young Hattie Morahan as Una, in her first TV role. <br />I know her best as Elinor Dashwood in the 2008 adaptation of <i>Sense & Sensibility</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And now that I have <i>two </i>copies of the 1975 hardcover, I have an extra to share. (The $1 copy, not a $632). If anyone is interested in a free copy of this book, drop a comment below. If I have more than one person interested in the next week, I'll draw a name at random. Make sure you leave contact info so I can get a good mailing address! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my second novel completed for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.</span></div><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-79463566045890481902022-01-25T13:49:00.001-05:002022-01-25T13:49:08.050-05:00European Reading Challenge 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcX19AXY_Oxa1mMi9Bp-dvC7ZMrsibmy9XmJWxZNNthVoQ-OMPQ_yYCgSOUd2DHv65MoGAAI7J4qmD9Et-26DZFDEC39cvINXZm8EjKIGF-P2ArYurFVHe9aZBBQwh3mFf-ov91nTXXS4U-Wievye1C4xDyTHWsHl039nKpr_ELjIqRYKCrGRMQFsIVA=s348" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="348" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcX19AXY_Oxa1mMi9Bp-dvC7ZMrsibmy9XmJWxZNNthVoQ-OMPQ_yYCgSOUd2DHv65MoGAAI7J4qmD9Et-26DZFDEC39cvINXZm8EjKIGF-P2ArYurFVHe9aZBBQwh3mFf-ov91nTXXS4U-Wievye1C4xDyTHWsHl039nKpr_ELjIqRYKCrGRMQFsIVA=w400-h348" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Time for another <a href="https://www.rosecityreader.com/p/2022-european-reading-challenge.html">European Reading Challenge</a> signup! As always, my goal is as many books as possible from my own shelves. The list is always tricky for me since the vast majority of the books on my TBR shelves are British, and I never seem to make any progress on my own bookshelves. Some of these overlap with books from other challenges. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyway, I'm signing up for the Five-Star (Deluxe Entourage) level. I have at least a dozen books from my own shelves I want to complete this year for the challenge: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2yHdVrIBuuajmZg5ei2VJaaSMOVeDTOjtJz2rMwrvnXj4GNcsM6-bD6FuJZ86ktmJmla214ZcDmRi7fvoh_eWNvRV6O_Ti80OBC0QeiEsDyF3R1nkIpeEa_XpW7mTnU-gywb93Z4ZNtVT_w6nEoGdXZCYYEcgxtaRyTMOHGtnwH2VzNW2TyNNX1D2Sw=s643" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="643" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2yHdVrIBuuajmZg5ei2VJaaSMOVeDTOjtJz2rMwrvnXj4GNcsM6-bD6FuJZ86ktmJmla214ZcDmRi7fvoh_eWNvRV6O_Ti80OBC0QeiEsDyF3R1nkIpeEa_XpW7mTnU-gywb93Z4ZNtVT_w6nEoGdXZCYYEcgxtaRyTMOHGtnwH2VzNW2TyNNX1D2Sw=w400-h214" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></span><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Austria: </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Night Falls on the City</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> by Sarah Gainham</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">France: <i>Renoir, My Father </i>by Jean Renoir</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Germany: <i>Kasebier Takes Berlin </i>by Gabriela Tergit</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ireland: <i>Castle Richmond </i>by Anthony Trollope</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Italy: <i>The Days of Abandonment </i>by Elena Ferrante</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Malta: <i>The Sun in Scorpio</i> by Margery Sharp</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Monaco: <i>The Gods Arrive</i> by Edith Wharton</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Netherlands: <i>Amsterdam Stories</i> by Nescio</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Romania: <i>They Were Counted </i>by Miklos Banffy</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Russia: <i>Subtly Worded </i>by Teffi</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sweden: <i>Osebol</i> by Marit Kapla</span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;">UK:<i> The Half-Crown House</i> by Helen Ashton</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Is anyone else signing up for the European Reading Challenge? What are you reading? </span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027299943447728658.post-85559757139583215502022-01-19T10:41:00.004-05:002022-01-25T20:31:28.159-05:00The Chequer Board by Nevil Shute<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYo32vpnKBlKkFF20nbHcJJSkOQX2jdmxCROmtMt3qAS2SoG9ECLpggipDNkHkUPP0USGOrQlKfWa8N-1df37Ks2ylW09gpgCRQ9kaRKPuwbuziUPCcQE_NuFD2eNg6sl3jwynrdzRhJiTIlwFGkz4TtTPkl1TUIZoSgwIl9_03xKCbEveoNieYBXW0w=s499" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="352" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYo32vpnKBlKkFF20nbHcJJSkOQX2jdmxCROmtMt3qAS2SoG9ECLpggipDNkHkUPP0USGOrQlKfWa8N-1df37Ks2ylW09gpgCRQ9kaRKPuwbuziUPCcQE_NuFD2eNg6sl3jwynrdzRhJiTIlwFGkz4TtTPkl1TUIZoSgwIl9_03xKCbEveoNieYBXW0w=w283-h400" width="283" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I am <i>very </i>behind with my reading already this year -- normally by this time I've read at least four or five books, if not more. I really needed a fast read to get me inspired, so I turned to one of my most reliable authors, Nevil Shute. I think this is the eighth book by Shute that I've read, and I've mostly enjoyed all of them. They might not be considered great literature, but he is a great storyteller, and normally I can hardly put his books down.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published in 1947, <i>The Chequer Board</i> is the interweaving story of four WWII soldiers who are linked together after surviving a plane crash. They're all assigned to the same hospital ward and the most seriously injured, John Turner, suffers a very serious head wound, and his eyes are bandaged. While convalescing, the other three, previously unknown to Turner or each other, all read or talk to him, to help him recover. Several years after the war, Turner begins to have side effects from the head wound, and upon consultation, learns that shell fragments have been left behind in his brain, which are inoperable, and he has about a year left to live. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two of the three in the ward were also crash survivors, and the third was a Black American GI. One of the crash survivors was one of the pilots, who was very racist and snobbish to the Black American. The other three -- Turner, the American, Dave Lesaurier, and a third crash survivor -- are under guard together because they're awaiting court-martial, accused of various crimes. Turner has always wondered about the other three men in the ward with him, and decides to use the time left to try and track them down and see what happened to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">So, the story goes back in forth in time between the wartime experiences of the three men, and Turner's search for the them, which takes him all around England as far as Penzance, and all the way to Burma. (Another book about Cornwall! The universe is obviously telling me to go there).</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ1OPI2vs5sXy-vXaia3AwGBmCMVKYpDyiPcGhOHbKAcVKKR9013InlQxJ0I3TrNFBIIj6jV7ef2wco3e-bBf1Y4zsoiRWyXUE6wiJohp-IgdrtxcyXIB9XsqtC-xrTlVGnlOrz3nHBcrOUcn8dqj_WgQy_mmJofTyRXqdq5TEnTRFo1OL506qyfqgbQ=s429" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="274" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiZ1OPI2vs5sXy-vXaia3AwGBmCMVKYpDyiPcGhOHbKAcVKKR9013InlQxJ0I3TrNFBIIj6jV7ef2wco3e-bBf1Y4zsoiRWyXUE6wiJohp-IgdrtxcyXIB9XsqtC-xrTlVGnlOrz3nHBcrOUcn8dqj_WgQy_mmJofTyRXqdq5TEnTRFo1OL506qyfqgbQ=s320" width="204" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This pulp paperback cover is . . . something</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">There's a </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">lot</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> about race relations and prejudices in this book, both with the racist pilot, Morgan -- who ends up living in Burma, to the chagrin of his mother (the reader can see where he got his prejudices) and also with the Black GI, Dave Lesurier. It was very interesting to me to see how Shute was trying to explore racism and race relations in the UK at the time, and I honestly can't imagine an American writer of that era attempting the same. Those two stories were my favorites in the book, though there are quite a few racial slurs repeated, including the N word, which is so infuriating. The story is trying really hard to make the point that white people need to get over it and look past color, but Shute kept throwing the word in, which was pretty frustrating. There's also some sexism which made me roll my eyes.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Overall though, the message about getting along is pretty strong, and there are some great characters and development. In particular I liked learning how the residents of a small town in Cornwall supported a group of Black GIs. I know racism is still a big issue in the UK but it was nice to see someone in the 1940s pointing out how the Black GIs were treated better in England than they were at home. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also really enjoyed reading about Burma, which I briefly visited years ago on a trip to Thailand. That section of the book was very reminiscent of <i>A Town Called Alice</i>, one of Shute's best-known books, though that one is set in Malaysia. There are at least seven or eight more books by Shute I still haven't read, and I look forward to reading them all.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my first book for the <a href="https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2022/01/tbr-pile-challenge-2022.html">TBR Pile Challenge</a>.<br /></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved -- Karensbooksandchocolate. </div>Karen K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com8