Read Any Good Books Lately?

The knitting has got rather left behind lately, I'm afraid -- have been reading quite a number of things lately of all shapes and sizes, as it were -- finished most, tossed some aside with or without regret.

-- Not, in fact, Amberwell, but Young Mrs Savage because it is one of my favorites (I have an ex-library copy, watched the librarian weed it from the fiction shelves and was torn between saying "oh, no, you can't get rid of any of these, she's wonderful!" and thinking "well, I'll have that, thank-you-very-much!", and I confess that greed won out).  I joined the D.E. Stevenson list on Yahoo a few months ago, but haven't yet de-lurked, not sure why.  They are reading at a terrific clip and discussing as they go, and although I started The House of the Deer with the best of intentions have v. quickly fallen so far behind that I cannot possibly catch up on this go-around.

-- A truly terrible biography of Roald Amundsen by Tor Bomann-Larsen, which takes the prize as one of the worst books I have ever read.  I should say partly read, as I literally could not finish it, even though I had paid $3.50 good money to ILL it, and felt on that score alone I should get my money's worth.  I suppose I could have accepted either the shoddy writing or the snark, but not both at the same time.  How depressing, to read a biographer who so obviously despises his subject.

-- Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore, wh. was quirky-interesting, but I think I liked The Gate of Angels a bit better.

-- Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, wh. I could not help referring to inadvertently as "Major Pettigrew Saves the Day" (and in fact did so again as I typed this).  Thought it started off extremely well, and I had very high hopes, but thought that it descended rather unnecessarily into farce towards the end, although I would still recommend it as a charming and well-written story.

-- La's Orchestra Saves the World.  Loved it.  Have read so far only Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series, but appreciated them immensely, their quiet intelligence and satisfying if not necessarily "happy" endings, and so too with this one.

-- Am finding myself now and then wishing wistfully that there were more Joanna Trollope novels yet to be read.  I've especially appreciated The Men and the Girls, The Spanish Lover, and The Rector's Wife, but have enjoyed all of her modern books.  (Am not feeling especially historical lately, so I haven't yet delved into her alter ego, as it were.)

-- A new biography of Jane Grey, wh. I had to turn back in to the library as I'd had it for six weeks and got only about two chapters along.  How someone can make the Tudors so dull, I don't know.  Got at the same time a history of the Vikings that I do hope to finish in the next few days, although I must say it's rather difficult to keep track of who is who -- there's Harald Fairhair, Rolf the Ganger, Sven Forkbeard, Ingvald the Lame, Torgeir the Gormless, Sven the Eccentric (no, I made that one up), and even with the epithets I can hardly tell them apart.

-- Came home from the library this evening with an old Rosamund Pilcher, and William Trevor's Love and Summer from the new book shelf.  Not ready any of his before ....

Comments

[mary lou]

I have never even heard of DE Stevenson, must look at my library. Reading the Secret Life of the Grown Up Brain at the moment. Quite heartening. Now where did I put it....

[Wendy]

Hey

If you want a great Arctic explorer bio, try Roland Huntford's bio of Fritjof Nansen...my grown up brain doesn't have the title at hand but the author should help you find it...it should contrast to the Amundsen bio that you found lacking. Too bad as he is such a hero to the Norwegians, as in Nansen.

While on the subject of books about cold places, I also really loved Peter Freuchen's autobio called "My Life in the Frozen North" about surviving in Greenland, and adventures with Knud Rasmussen.

Wendy

[Dulce Domum]

I've just finsihed reading "Amberwell". I was surprised to see it so prominently on your blog!

I enjoyed it very much. There's a whole genre of post-war, state of the nation, which I enjoy very much.

If you like this kind of writing too, try "A Requiem for a Wren" by Neville Shoot. A beautiful book.

Also, have you read Sarah Waters "The Little Stranger"? She immersed herself in post-war women's fiction and got the "austerity" tone just right.

PS. I did get the feeling though, that "Amberwell" was Stevenson "doing" Goodge!