Welcome to this week’s blog, and our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.
Where are the songs of spring? Think not of them... It’s autumn on Tips, Links And Suggestions and readers like Brooke Sherbrooke have been tailoring their choices accordingly:
Just finished Fell by Jenn Ashworth. The Guardian did a quiet write up in June 2017 about the novel. To be honest, I was intrigued at that time, purchased it for my Kindle reader and then forgot about it. When the weather turned cooler a week ago (thank goodness for autumn), I went looking through my TBR pile for a cosy read and this was a perfect match. Ashworth is a talented writer.
Autumn has also been on TheLittlestRascal’s mind:
Having read Murakami’s Pinball, 1973, I now have got a severe case of book hangover. That autumn from years ago has now merged with my own, its railway stations, stray dogs, and cold rains infesting my precious sunny days.
Talking of weather, fingerlakeswanderer has a report from near the eye of last week’s storm:
Hi all. Typing this on my phone from where we evacuated to to hunker down for Irma. Last night was dramatic. It sounded like the house was surrounded by banshees keening and wailing. I didn’t sleep much of the night. It is daylight now. Some damage to the house, but we are safe. We arrived Friday to a house with no telly or internet, so I’ve had the chance to read and write all weekend. I read a lot of poetry, especially Kevin Young and Mary Oliver. I also brought with me the new, 900+ page Ken Follett book A Column Of Fire, the third of the Kingsbridge series. I read the whole thing. It was a cracking read and a marvellous distraction. The book begins in 1558 and goes through until the Gunpowder Plot. He has action taking place in England, Scotland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Hispaniola. He is focused on the wars taking place in Europe between Catholics and Protestants and brings to life how doctrinal issues divided families. Follett gets to use all his knowledge of spycraft to show how Walsingham and others spied, and the conspiracy stuff is dark and sinister. One of the best parts is that women play lots of important and heroic roles, a reminder that women had agency and power in that time period. I would really recommend this book for an immersive read.
On the subject of women with agency, proust has been reading Richard Yates’s The Easter Parade:
I loved Revolutionary Road and the short stories, but think this is his masterpiece. Perceptive, insightful, sad. Brilliantly written.
Interesting that the main character is a liberated young woman working in advertising in the 1960s. I wonder if the Mad Men Peggy character is based on her to some extent?
Elsewhere, frustratedartist, has enjoyed Golden Hill by Francis Spufford:
Set in New York in the 1740s, it’s got a great atmosphere with lots of fine mock-18th century writing. It’s got a bit the feel of Tom Jones (the novel not the singer). The narrator and main character has a secret purpose, one he holds back from his readers and from all the other characters until the end of the novel. His actual secret turns out to be a bit of an anti-climax – almost inevitable after such a long build-up, and some pretty major hints along the way, but the novel is packed with other, more unexpected, twists and turns. Thoroughly enjoyable.
And finally, jmschrei recommends I Never Talk About It by Quebec actors/writers Véronique Côté and Steve Gagnon:
This collaborative project features 37 monologues first performed live and then gathered into a book. In creating an English edition, publisher QC Fiction invited 37 different translators (from first timers to multi-award winners) to each translate a story. At the end of each piece there is a bio of the translator and his or her thoughts about the challenges and decisions they faced in translating the work. The translators came from around the world. As someone who reads a lot of translated literature and is fascinated by the many questions raised by the process of guiding a work from one language (and culture) to another, this is a most interesting (and entertaining) read. Pushed a few buttons too—especially a couple of pieces that were transformed to a US or UK setting, replacing references as necessary. As a Canadian I felt violated as institutions like Tim Hortons Donuts or the Montreal Canadians were removed!
Oh Canada!
Interesting links about books and reading
- “Dear Britain, please take your Booker Prize home”: a view from America.
- Anne Enright takes on gender in literary culture (and wins.)
- Good news: the descendants of Hemingway’s six-toed cats got through Hurricane Irma okay.
- South Park just scored an epic victory against Amazon.
If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the blue button on this page to share your video or image. I’ll include some of your posts in next week’s blog.
If you’re on Instagram and a book lover, chances are you’re already sharing beautiful pictures of books you are reading: “shelfies” or all kinds of still lifes with books as protagonists. Now, you can share your reads with us on the mobile photography platform – simply tag your pictures there with #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection here. Happy reading!
