samgrosser
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Posts posted by samgrosser
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I enjoy novels set during wartime that offer a different perspective to the battlefield.
The book I'm currently reading, Andrea Levy's Small Island, provides some read food-for-thought about the West Indian volunteers for the British Armed Forces in WWII (particularly when juxtaposed with black American GI's. I was so shocked, perhaps naively).
To return to the Home Front, I thought Sarah Waters' recent novel The Night Watch brilliantly fictionalised the experience of the civilians left in London during the Blitz (especially the new and changing roles for women).
Next week, I'm hoping to get a copy of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut as I've wanted to read that for ages now. Fingers crossed!
I really liked Small Island and Night Watch too - interesting and different angles from the usual war books.
But I absolutely loved Slaughterhouse 5 - I think it should be essential reading for everyone for sooo many reasons.
Other World War II books that I'd recommend are:
The Soldier's Return by Melvyn Bragg,
The Chamomile Lawn by Mary Wesley
End of the Affair by Graham Greene.
Suite Francais by Irene Nemirovsky
I think you're all right about the attraction of books about the war - from a writer's perspective it allows you to put ordinary characters in extraordinary and sometimes extreme situations, which is simply a gift.
I think also that culturally, our society was completely and irrevocably altered by WWII so it's kind of imprinted on our collective unconscious as a crucial moment in our development. All the affluence and freedom we enjoy today we owe to that generation, and even if our acknowledgement of that isn't overt, I think the sustained interest in the stories of the people who lived through attests to some continuing level of recognition of the fact.
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Last time I went on hols it was to Germany to see OHs kids. I knew full well I would finish my book, but only took the one. OH was sat in his ex-wife's house with me most of the day time and he read through a chunk of my LOTR. I remember finishing mine and wishing I'd taking the next book on my list.
LOTR's a good one for long holidays, as you've got lots of free time (hopefully) to immerse yourself in Middle Earth.
For my last overseas holiday (Australia) I read Shadow of the Wind which was perfect for long plane and train journeys. Utterly absorbing but not too much of a challenge.
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There was an article in The Times recently that said that while women read a lot of books written by men, men still prefer to avoid books by women - that they think that "women's writing" won't appeal to them.
I think I might publish the next one under Sam ...
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I hate it when I don't know how to pronounce names and if there's more than one I find it really off putting and confusing. I suppose it's something to do with not being able to get a proper handle on the character if I don't really know what they're called.
By the way, and still on the subject of confusing, I've just noticed that if I read the thread without logging in the posts are in the opposite order.
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Kinda off topic / on topic ... there is a wonderful play by Tom Stoppard called
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead that is (why can't I make my text work right?) a wonderful "play within a play" based on two characters from Hamlet. I've seen the movie and the show, personally I'll take the show - but both are fun and lively, I recommend the experience.
I've loved Rosencrantz & Guildernstern are Dead since I saw it as a teenager and here's a little story about it you might like.
Many many years ago Tom Stoppard worked with my father as a news reporter in Bristol and I once wondered where Stoppard got the idea to turn Hamlet inside out. My father told me that Stoppard had been a useless reporter because whenever he got sent out on a story he would get completely distracted by some minor detail and write about that instead... Makes sense.
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I use my local library a lot, but mostly to pick up books I've reserved online from other branches. I tend to use it for non-fiction, particularly when I'm doing research.
The staff are very friendly (mostly!) but it's quite a small library and has a small selection of books. It also, very annoyingly, has all the non-fiction under the heading of Information Books, which is quite useless really. I know now where the appropriate sections are, but it's infuriating to start with, and sooo unnecessary.
Like most libraries, it seems, it has a lot of computers and dvds, which is fine, but not if it means the range of books has to be limited.
Still, without the library my research would cost me a fortune and I really like being able to browse at home and reserve things on line for 50p a go. It also has a great children's section with a reading area which my son loves.
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I've just read The English Patient and there are lots of books mentioned in it, most memorably, Kipling's Kim, Herodotus' Histories, and The Odyssey. There are others too, but those are the ones that have stuck in my mind.
I think it's called 'intertextuality,' but you'll have to ask someone who's studied more recently (or with more attention) to find out more.
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there no way i shop in british heart foundation too dear. you could go to woolworths or asda and get a brand new book cheeper then what there charge for a book.
British red cross is cheap. you could proplay get about 10 books from red cross for the same price as 1 from british heart foundation.
I don't mind paying 2 or 3 quid for a book I really want to read, and there's a far greater range than the cheapos in Asda or Woolies can offer.
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There's a really good Heart Foundation Bookshop on the corner of the road where my son goes to school, which is bad news for a person who is fighting a losing battle against the quantity of books in a small 2 bedroom flat.
Recent bargains include Year of Wonders, The Soldier's Return, Nightwatch, A Long Long Way, and On Beauty.
It's just too hard to resist. But we have had a massive clear out over Easter, and plan to take a lot of old friends to a car boot sale soon :-(
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The Mayor of Casterbridge is a good one to start with. Tess is a bit depressing, IMHO , but I know Jude the Obscure is a favourite, as is Far from the Madding Crowd.
I'd agree that the Mayor of Casterbridge is a good one to start with - I read it at school for O level. Tess is a bit depressing though very beautiful, but IMHO Jude is far more so (and also might qualify for the lonnnnng books thread). I like Far from the Madding Crowd too, but it's a been long long time since I've read any Hardy. I count him as one of my major influences - I spent far too many angst-ridden teenage hours agonizing over Tess...
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Sam, have you read The Cement Garden? I'm very intrigued by it, but I don't know anyone who's read it.
No, I haven't. I've read Enduring Love, Saturday, Amsterdam, and of course, Atonement. Oh, and the Innocent, which I didn't like as much. But I've been meaning to read it - it seems to be the one everyone talks about.
Bagpuss, apology accepted.
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I read Atonement, but thought it was really overrated. I can't even remember the story now, but I think I thought the ending was poor or a let down!
Please don't say that - it's one of my favourite books!
I haven't enjoyed his others quite as much but as Dogmatix says about The Comfort of Strangers (which I haven't read) all his books have an insidious development of tension that keeps you gripped - there's always something dark going on underneath the surface. I think he's a great writer.
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My favourite character of all time is Gandalf - Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I love his wisdom, mystery, wit and i can't remember what else because somehow my post was deleted:motz:
One of my favourite characters has always been Aragorn - probably the first fictional character I actually fell in love with, when I was about 15. Then when the films came out I fell in love with him all over again.
But before I discovered Tolkien I wanted to be Lucy from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
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I have just received my copy of Sams book, 'Another Time, Another Place', and as its not published I got a hardback. And its lovely. I was surprised at the difference, cos I rearely read hardbacks. I keep picking it up and stroking it. I can't wait to read it.
Thank you, Purple Poppy - that's just made my day.
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Right now, the first 5 favs I can think of are....
Very well put. My first 5 right now are:
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (that one is always top of the list)
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
Lord of the Rings
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
Atonement, Ian McEwan
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It's strange that they don't publish the new writers in paperback first. You'd think it'd make more financial and commercial sense: people are more likely to buy paperbacks by writers they haven't read before, than in more pricey hardback. It doesn't seem to make business sense! Or have I missed something?
Yes, I know. I thought the same thing - but that's just the way it is, and quite frankly, I'm just happy to be published.
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Sam....do you not have any control over what the publisher does. Can you not move to another publisher, or is contracted for a specific time?
The short answer is no to the first two questions, and yes to the third.
Macmillan New Writing was set up as a new imprint of Macmillan last year specifically to publish previously unpublished authors. To keep costs down, (and therefore to be able to publish more writers) the terms aren't negotiable.
Basically I'm happy with the arrangement - my book has been published by a branch of a major international publisher, and will, hopefully, eventually be available in paperback. I think the process is pretty much the same with most publishers and something I'm learning is that absolutely nothing in publishing happens quickly. It's just that it's hard to be patient.
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I do sometimes wonder why publishers persist with releasing books in hardback first - in the interests of profit (and we all know about publishers and profit) you'd think they'd want to maximise sales from the start. Paperbacks must be way cheaper to produce, and how many more people buy them?
I'm just hanging for the day my publisher tells me they're going to put Another Time and Place into paperback. Then I might actually see a decent number of sales - I can't count the number of people who've told me they're waiting for it to come out in paperback.
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Because they cost six times as much?
Mmm, maybe...
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Also, I feel a special bond with my paperbacks, when I look at them on the shelf with the lines on the spines and the rumpled pages, I can remember our time together and know that they have lived and are loved. Hardbacks just don't have the same personality!
Having said earlier in the thread that I like the feel of hardbacks best, you've made me think again. You're right - my paperbacks have been me with through thick and thin, carried around and enjoyed in places that hardbacks just don't ever go because they are too heavy and cumbersome and I'm always worried they are going to get ruined.
Why is that? Why is okay to trash a much-loved paperback by stuffing it in your bag, while a hardback demands (and generally gets, it seems) so much more gentle handling and respect?
Yes, looking along my shelf, each battered spine has its own story too.
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I can see your predicatment. I think that's why J K Rowling went for initials. Her publisher said that boys wouldn't buy her book if they knew she was a woman, because they'd think it was a girly book.
I did think of using initials, but I don't have a middle name, (though I suppose I could have made one up) and S. Grosser just sounded naff...
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When deciding what name to publish under I faced a real quandary - I wanted to use my real name, but it was a really difficult choice between Sam and Samantha. Most people still assume that Sam is a boy's name, and I knew it would make a difference to how the book was perceived. The gender of the writer doesn't generally make a difference to my reading choices, but I know that isn't the case for everyone.
In the end I chose Samantha but only because I thought it sounded better.
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From Wilde by Katherine Warwick.
Okay, okay, but I happen to have my own books lying all over the place! LOL.
'Are you all right, Anna?' he asked at last, when she stumbled on her way to the door, clutching a chair for support. 'You seem a little under the weather.'
'I'm fine, thank you Mr Morris,' Anna replied. 'Just tired, I think.'
'Why don't you sit down for just a moment. Get your breath.'
From Another Time and Place by Samantha Grosser.
Yes, KW. Me too. LOL
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I prefer the feel of a hardback - the paper is better quality and the textures are just nicer to the touch, but like everyone else, I prefer the portability of a paperback. And of course, the price.
Books set during wartime
in General Book Discussions
Posted
Absolutely.
And I just thought of another great book about the period - Fair Stood the Wind for France by H.E. Bates