Poppyshake's Reading Year 2014

[poppyshake]

Thanks ladies  .. I'm sure it'll have you all laughing too  

[poppyshake]

On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin

Amazon's Synopsis: On the Black Hill is an elegantly written tale of identical twin brothers who grow up on a farm in rural Wales and never leave home. They till the rough soil and sleep in the same bed, touched only occasionally by the advances of the 20th century. In depicting the lives of Benjamin and Lewis and their interactions with their small local community Chatwin comments movingly on the larger questions of human experience.

Review: This story has such a ring of authenticity to it that it's difficult to believe it's a work of fiction, I had to check to make sure, it reads very much like a true account. I hadn't actually heard of it before it was nominated for the county challenge (Herefordshire) but it's the perfect story to illustrate that area of the country - where England meets Wales - as the landscape is gloriously described. It is a pretty serious story with very few, if any, light moments. That's probably why I couldn't quite give it a top rating as I felt a little bowed down by all the hardships .. it is fairly relentlessly grim. The story spans eighty years and follows the twins throughout their lives. They are born on the farm and there they pretty much stay .. any enforced separations (as in the second world war) are felt as keenly as amputations. Though different in appearance and nature they are are also remarkably and telepathically the same. I felt a great likeness and empathy for their mother Mary.. always trying to do her best in an increasingly impossible situation (plus she was a reader which obviously was greatly in her favour ) Their father was dour and pretty joyless .. I never forgave him for poking Mary in the eye with a copy of Wuthering Heights  He distrusted book reading and learning and as such .. I distrusted him. The community is peppered with exactly the right amount of eccentric and intriguing characters (characters to rival Laurie Lee's but, to me, not told with quite as much warmth.) Neighbourhood resentments and rivalries simmer in the background and occasionally blow up to catastrophic effect .. there are also scandals and intrigues .. but mainly life on the farm ticks over and the seasons come and go.

This is a snapshot in time really. For the inhabitants of this particular community nothing much changes and new innovations are slow in coming. It's quite claustrophobic in a way but I quite like it when a story stays in one place .. I can get as rooted in the landscape as the characters then.
As for the writing, there's not a false note in it, everything feels remarkably honest and true. Having been put through the mill a bit in regards to all the hardships, I felt the closing chapters were absolutely sublime and I actually had a grin on my face for the first time. Not for long though as the story closes in sadness but in a way that feels absolutely right for the story.

Despite the grimness there was toast .. plenty of it .. hurrah! 4/5

[poppyshake]

Review for Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole

[poppyshake]

Kilvert's Diary - Francis Kilvert (edited by William Plomer)

Amazon's Synopsis: Francis Kilvert was an country clergyman who lived from 1840 to 1879, and these are his diaries: gossipy, sweet-natured, generous, curious, and full of an abiding wonder and delight in the natural world and the beauties of the changing seasons. A worthy heir to Pepys and Dorothy Wordsworth, Kilvert is an irresistible companion.

Review: This book has a close connection to On the Black Hill as, for the first half of the book anyway, Francis was a curate in Clyro .. which is very close to Hay on Wye and the England/Wales border and, as he loved to talk about the local flora and fauna etc, I felt on very familiar .. lately read about .. ground. Though Francis was born in 1840 these diary extracts don't commence until 1870 so he's already thirty years old. There's very little reminiscing as far as his childhood is concerned so you only really learn what he's like in the here and now. Also the diary entries peter out with very few in 1878 and none at all in 1879 so you don't get to find out why he died at the relatively early age of thirty nine (well the intro does tell you but not in any detail) and you don't learn anything about his wife. The bulk of the diaries are written between 1870-1875 and, for me, there were probably too many entries included from that period. He writes everything down, everyone he meets, everyone he goes to sit with, and because we haven't had the usual set up of being introduced to these characters, it's sometimes just a listing of names, though you do become familiar with some of them.

 

Francis is a hopeless romantic, I don't think he mentioned a girl or a woman without thinking her beautiful (unless she was a mad old crone ) ... there was such a plethora of soft eyes, bouncing curls, flushed cheeks and plump arms that I lost count  Three times at least he falls desperately in love .. though one of those is only mentioned in hindsight as those particular diary entries are missing .. and he is like a man stricken. There never will be another for him etc and he'll never marry if he can't have xxxx (though .. interestingly .. he seems to have eventually married someone he met in France ) You get more of an idea about his character when you read how bereft the people of Clyro were when he left to return to Chippenham to take up the position of curate to his father .. they seemed so genuinely fond of him and were always jubilant when he came back for a visit. However, I don't think he was considered a good enough catch for any of the young ladies he'd set his heart on (and young ladies is the operative word because they were all about nineteen .. and he was over thirty!  I kept having to think of Colonel Brandon and Marianne )

Several things were real revelations, for instance, I had always thought that the Victorians were really buttoned up .. and that at the seaside they had their bathing machines etc and ridiculous costumes that covered them up from head to toe but Francis' descriptions about sea bathing weren't anything like that. The men at least all appeared to bathe in the nuddy  .. and children too seemed to be dressed much as they are now for the beach. I think there was only one occasion when Francis was handed some sort of bathing trunks which he was fairly outraged about .. saying that the ladies ought to look elsewhere if they didn't like it and the trunks proved hopeless anyway and parted company from him once he'd started swimming

The early entries are full of picnicking and country visits though he was not really a frivolous fellow .. it's just, you get the impression, that he's someone you'd invite along if there was an outing of any sort. He's very convivial. He was very caring too though and did as much as he could for the sick and elderly. He loved listening to their anecdotes and would repeat it all and believe it too .. even though it might be about fairies or people that looked like frogs because of a gypsy curse or something. He had a love of local customs and rituals and also a love for anything ridiculous .. writing down anything that amused him ..

This morning at prayers the pretty housemaid Elizabeth, with the beautiful large soft eyes, was reading aloud in Luke i how Zacharias saw a vision in the Temple, but for the word 'vision' she substituted 'venison'

At the Scripture Lesson at the School this morning asking Eleanor Williams of Paradise, 'What happened On Palm Sunday?' she replied, 'Jesus Christ went up to heaven on an ass'. This was the promising result of a long struggle to teach her something about the Festivals of the Church.

Palmer, the new Cae Mawr gardener, and his wife have moved down from the Vineyards Cottage to the Old Mill. Mrs Palmer could not bear the Vineyards. She said it was so lonely. Miss Bynon, to whom the cottage belongs, took great exception to Mrs Palmer and the fault she found with the cottage. 'Lonely indeed! What does the lady on the hill want?' asked Miss Bynon. 'She can see my backdoor.'

I grew very fond of him and so it was a shame not to hear more about his childhood and what happened preceding his death. The introduction is only short and doesn't really throw any light on either subject. It seemed such a pity that he would die (of peritonitis) only a week or so after returning from his honeymoon .. I felt really touched by it actually as he had so longed to have a wife and child

I don't think Francis' diary is as memorable as Pepys .. being as he is just a humble country curate living in fairly ordinary times but .. though slightly long winded .. it's still a fascinating read. 4/5

[vodkafan]

Sounds good Poppyshake!  And yes it was traditional and proper for men to swim naked. In the sea anyway. I don't know about in swimming baths. In my research I have found there were quite a lot of Victorian indoor swimming pools built and some of these did have separate swimming times for women and men. I have been trying to discover if and how schoolchildren were taught to swim....  

[julie]

Kay

How do you keep finding all these good sounding books ? This one sounds like a really cute story ! Another one to add to my list .

[Athena]

Kay, you're reading a lot lately! Great review!

[Inver]

I love the unusual book covers you manage to find.

[poppyshake]

Sounds good Poppyshake!  And yes it was traditional and proper for men to swim naked. In the sea anyway. I don't know about in swimming baths. In my research I have found there were quite a lot of Victorian indoor swimming pools built and some of these did have separate swimming times for women and men. I have been trying to discover if and how schoolchildren were taught to swim....  

It's a total surprise to me ... they were more liberated in that way than we are now. If you saw men bathing in the nude at Shanklin now you'd probably faint .. well I would .. and then I'd dig out my binoculars

Kay

How do you keep finding all these good sounding books ? This one sounds like a really cute story ! Another one to add to my list .

It was the cover Julie Those sneaky people at Vintage knew I'd buy it as soon as I saw it  

Also there was an extract in Round the Christmas Fire .. it's probably the highlight of the diaries actually. Firstly he's describing how he got into his bath and sat on a huge sheet of ice which then cracked .. and how he washed himself with an iced up sponge  and then for a few days he walks over to Draycot where the water has frozen over and skates with the locals. Such a lovely image as he says at night they were skating holding torches (though not battery operated obviously .. actually I don't know what a portable torch looked like or consisted of in Victorian times?)  .. they seemed quite proficient at it and did proper figures and everything   .. and all at Christmas too .. perfect.

[poppyshake]

Kay, you're reading a lot lately! Great review!

Thanks Gaia I'm doing okay .. though not as well as last year .. but mojo is still alive and kicking  

I love the unusual book covers you manage to find.

It's a beautiful cover isn't it?  And blow me down if Vintage didn't put an advert for another diary on the back of it .. or a set of essays I think it is ... again with a beautiful cover and of course .. I've put it on my wishlist

 

[Inver]

Your bookshelves must look lovely with all these lovely covers.

[pontalba]

Great reviews, Kay.  I especially love the sound of On the Black Hill.  Def on wish list, (whispers...maybe purchase...) right now.

 

 

poppyshake wrote:  Francis is a hopeless romantic, I don't think he mentioned a girl or a woman without thinking her beautiful (unless she was a mad old crone ) ... there was such a plethora of soft eyes, bouncing curls, flushed cheeks and plump arms that I lost count  

 

I just love this!  He sees only the beautiful!  How grand is that?!

[chesilbeach]

I might have to ban myself looking at this thread - too many books get added to wish list!!!   

 

(Only joking)

[poppyshake]

Your bookshelves must look lovely with all these lovely covers.

You'd think so wouldn't you Diane .. but Vintage will insist on giving everything a red spine  

Great reviews, Kay.  I especially love the sound of On the Black Hill.  Def on wish list, (whispers...maybe purchase...) right now.

 

 

I just love this!  He sees only the beautiful!  How grand is that?!

Thanks Kate  

Yes .. I came to the conclusion that he only saw the beauty in people .. he was a great lover of nature (and a bit of a frustrated poet) but all the girls/ladies couldn't have been as gorgeous as he said .. it must be that he only saw what was gorgeous in them  Also he was completely enchanted by anyone .. man or woman .. who smiled

I might have to ban myself looking at this thread - too many books get added to wish list!!! 

 

(Only joking)

Don't you dare stop visiting

I haven't got a current pile going for you yet have I? (or have I forgotten again? ) Except I need to read some books for returning ... but let me know Claire if you fancy borrowing anything .. most of them are tree copies.

[poppyshake]

Mrs Bridge by Evan S. Connell

Amazon's Synopsis: Mrs Bridge, an unremarkable and conservative housewife in Kansas City, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. She spends her time shopping, going to bridge parties and bringing up her children to be pleasant, clean and have nice manners. And yet she finds modern life increasingly baffling, her children aren't growing up into the people she expected, and sometimes she has the vague disquieting sensation that all is not well in her life. In a series of comic, telling vignettes, Evan S. Connell illuminates the narrow morality, confusion, futility and even terror at the heart of a life of plenty.

Review: I wasn't sure for a while whether I liked this story or not. Nothing particularly exciting happens and it's all related in an ironic, matter of fact way. The synopsis says it's comic and some of the time it is but it's also quite sad and a bit depressing. For me it blossomed every now and then but had lulls as well .. I kept chopping and changing my mind about Mrs Bridge who has a set belief in how life should pan out .. and of course life isn't panning out that way at all. She doesn't really inspire warmth or sympathy .. she's a little bit too insipid for that but somehow you do start sympathising as she struggles to find meaning in her life. She hasn't really achieved anything, even the novels she's picked up she hasn't finished. It would be some consolation to know she'd been a good wife and mother but she's not altogether sure she has. A lot of the time she's a woman just going through the motions. Even making small talk with people is an effort for her .. she does belong to a number of social groups but has no social skills to speak of soon running out of things to say if put on the spot and feeling particularly muddled if asked anything but the most mundane and commonplace questions. The behaviour of other people baffles her and causes her to question all her previously firmly held beliefs. Her children's behaviour .. especially her eldest daughter Ruth .. is so alien to her that she wonders whether she actually can be their mother.

Told (third person) in 117 extremely short chapters (some only consisting of a paragraph or two) the story spans the entirety of Mrs Bridge's marriage. It has a definite rhythm and once you're attuned to it then it it becomes more enjoyable. You actually end up quite moved by it all and saddened .. or that is to say .. I did  There's a sequel apparently called Mr Bridge and told from his perspective. Not sure if I want to have it all served up to me again but then I am intrigued so possibly one for the future and a definite if I happen to come across it ... cheap I've given it a 4 though it ranged between 3 and 4 for me but veered towards 4 for the last third (I don't think it improved .. I think it was good from the start .. it was just that I began to understand it more.) 4/5

[Athena]

Great review! It sounds like an interesting book .

[poppyshake]

Great review! It sounds like an interesting book .

Thanks Gaia .. it is indeed. And it's good it turned out that way as I'm pretty sure .. now I think about it .. that I bought it because of the cover  

[Athena]

Thanks Gaia .. it is indeed. And it's good it turned out that way as I'm pretty sure .. now I think about it .. that I bought it because of the cover  

x

That happens to me a lot too! I find a book hard to resist if it has a pretty cover and a good synopsis and isn't too expensive.

[poppyshake]

x

That happens to me a lot too! I find a book hard to resist if it has a pretty cover and a good synopsis and isn't too expensive.

Yep .. and it usually turns out well so I'm not changing my book selection process anytime soon

[Athena]

Yep .. and it usually turns out well so I'm not changing my book selection process anytime soon

x

That's great to hear , it's the same here!

[poppyshake]

I had a weird dream last night that I kept posting warnings on here telling people not to read certain books because they were full of difficult words .. one book had a Welsh place name in it and that was enough  

'Beware ... don't read this book ... it's set in Dwygyfylchi'  

 

How very odd! Even in my dream I knew it was wrong and kept trying to delete the threads but couldn't.

So glad and relieved this morning to find that .. apparently .. I've only ever posted sensible things    

 

Mentally patting myself on the back too for enduring five Sunday's without finding myself at Waterstone's cash desk with an armful of impulse buys. It's been tough .. the weather alone makes you want to try and seek some sort of compensation but I'm focused on getting the TBR down. Having said that .. the new Ransom Riggs is very tempting .. that's going to start calling out to me very loudly from shop window displays I have no doubt.

[Kidsmum]

You weren't eating cheese before bedtime were you ? 

 

One of my DD's just finished reading Hollow City & she said it was really good but maybe i shouldn't be telling you that ....... i don't want to weaken your resolve 

[poppyshake]

You weren't eating cheese before bedtime were you ? 

 

One of my DD's just finished reading Hollow City & she said it was really good but maybe i shouldn't be telling you that ....... i don't want to weaken your resolve 

I did eat cheese yesterday but at lunchtime .. still, it was quite strong

 

I've seen murmurings on here that Hollow City is good so my resolve is already weakened (it wasn't particularly robust if I'm honest ) plus it would look so nice sitting next to Miss Peregrine  

[julie]

Kay

 Funny dream ! 

 

Maybe you should go ahead and pick up Ransom's newest book . It's only ONE book . That won't be too bad, will it ?

[poppyshake]

Kay

 Funny dream ! 

 

Maybe you should go ahead and pick up Ransom's newest book . It's only ONE book . That won't be too bad, will it ?

The old slippery slope Julie

I will most likely buy some books this month as it is birthday month and birthdays wouldn't be birthdays without books. If I can keep a lid on it though it would be good. I was good at Christmas compared to other years so there's every reason to be hopeful. Ransom will definitely be on my list

After that it gets difficult because technically .. there's no reason to buy books again for myself until Christmas (me wanting them doesn't count as a bonafide reason apparently ) Obviously I'm not deluded .. I know I'll be tempted long before then but perhaps going without will prove habit forming  

The sad fact is that even if I have another reading year like last year .. which was pretty good and don't buy any further books ... I won't even have got halfway to demolishing my TBR Very discouraging .. it's an impossible task .. I may as well give up and go buy a book tomorrow