Chrissy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The psychology of re-reading intrigues me. Why does a book still work when we know what will happen? For me I think a good book reveals nuance on a re-read. When you first read a story there is that part of you that dearly wants to find out what will happen, and some aspects can get lost through that enthusiasm to know. If you take the opportunity to read a book again, you can be more receptive to details, subtleties and nuance that were missed on the first read. It 'still works' because it operates on a different level from that first read. On a re-read of EG I will already feel connected to Rose and the others, I will have their back stories. Now I can 'see' in greater detail how they interact, how they move, their appearance, their depths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thanks Chrissy & Chesilbeach for your very thoughtful replies. I don't think I could have articulated the joys of re-reading nearly so well. I often find myself torn between re-reading something that I enjoyed very much (or read so long ago I can't remember why I loved it) and trying something new. I always feel I ought to read something new, but when you need something that will really hit the spot...? Are there any books that you started to re-read as soon as you finished the last page? I have 2: MANSFIELD PARK and TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 'Judas Child' by Carol O'Connell was my instantly re-read book. A stunning and harrowing story. She has a way of depicting children that is breath taking. Another reason I will return to a book is for the comfort of the words. That hugged by a textual blanket feeling. Boyfriends, girlfriends, happiness, jobs, health and homes may come and go, but our favourite reads stay true to us. Our favourite books care not for our weight, looks, status or mood, they just remain both loyal and consistent to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I am starting 'Emotional Geology' after my current read, I am looking forward to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Here's my thoughts on Emotional Geology: Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard Blurb: Blurb: 'I talk to the island. I don't speak, but my thoughts are directed towards it. Sometimes it replies. Never in words of course. I miss trees. You don't notice at first that there are hardly any trees here, just that the landscape is very flat, as if God had taken away all the hills and mountains and dumped them on neighbouring Skye. But eventually you realise it's trees that you miss. Trees talk back.' Rose Leonard is on the run from her life. Taking refuge in a remote island community, she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea. But she is haunted by her past, by memories and desires she'd hoped were long dead. Rose must decide whether she has in fact chosen a new life or just a different kind of death. Life and love are offered by new friends, her lonely daughter, and most of all Calum, a fragile younger man who has his own demons to exorcise. But does Rose, with her tenuous hold on life and sanity, have the courage to say yes to life and put her past behind her? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thoughts: A lot of people here on the forum have been raving about this novel for a long time, and about Linda Gillard's novels in general. I read the blurb some time ago and added the title to my wishlist, I liked the premise of the novel and as it came with many wholehearted recommendations, what was I supposed to do but to eventually read the book? I loved the novel. There are so many aspects in the book that I loved and enjoyed, and it's making the writing of this review very difficult, because I just want to jump in here and there to praise all the different things, making a cohesive report an impossibility! - I enjoyed the fact that the main character was a more mature woman, one with faults as well as good qualities, it made her seem more real. Her mental problems also brought depth to the story and made me sympathize with her, me having had my own share of mental problems in the past. It was something I could relate to, eventhough our problems and diagnoses are very different. Calum was also a great character, one whom I wished was a real person - The location was also a great attraction for me. I haven't read many, if any, books set in the British Isles. It was also very intriguing to see how Rose would fit in in a small, secluded community, how she would fair with the people there, and how she could cope with her new, hermit-like life. - I loved Gillard's style of writing. It's been a while since I'd last read a book that gripped me so, I couldn't stop reading unless I was forced to by interfering circumstances, and while I was reading the book, I could totally picture myself being there at the scenes. I didn't feel like I was a fly on the walls, watching what was happening below me, I rather felt like I was a mute friend of the town who was invited to follow the lives of the people on a daily basis. I felt like I was Chief in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, seeing everything, hearing everything, and being a part in the story. - I'm not a very visual person and it's usually hard for me to try and visualise certain things in novels, and one of them is art in particular. However, when I was reading Emotional Geology I had no such problems: Rose's textile artwork came to life for me, I could picture it very vividly, the colours, the look of it, and even the feel of the fabrics. All the stones, all the textiles, the colors... I could picture Rose's house very well, the austere and serene look of it, and even the atmosphere seemed to come in colors while reading this book. When Rose was at her neighbor's, I could feel the warmth of the fireplace and hear the wood crackling. - The book has a varied narrative structure: we have Rose as the narrator and at times there is this omnipresent narrator. There are poems and letters. To me it felt like the story itself, both visually and narration-wise read like a quilt work, which was amazing because quilt works and textile fabrics and paintings were one of the subject matters in the story. I had a very powerful reaction to this one particular nightmare of Rose's that was written in the form of a poem: Gavin falling somersaulting like a string-cut marionette limbs flailing ropes flying a dance of death accompanied by jingling karabiners at your waist til you hit the rocks and bounce then hit some more and split your helmet open like an egg and your blood spills out sticky and red mixed with sharp white fragments of bone grey gobbets of brain oozing on wsun-warmed rock. ... When I look at the poem on the page of the book, it kind of reminds me of a mountain itself. And when I was reading these lines (til / you / hit the rocks / and bounce / then hit some more/) I could actually visualise Gavin hitting the surface of the mountain at the end of each line, me moving on the the next and Gavin hitting another surface below, and on, and on. It felt quite surreal! - As for the actual story in the book: there were two twists to the story that I really did not see coming at all: Calum having known Gavin and having witnessed his corpse, and Megan having had sex with Gavin. The latter one especially blew my mind, I had to stop reading for a while because I was so stunned. Initially I'd only gotten the impression that Rose and Megan were having some normal mother-daughter issues, but when Rose reacted so strongly to Megan being interested in Calum, I did wonder whether Rose is not perhaps the best mother there is and I was disappointed in her character. The revelation about M&G certainly explained it! I was very happy reading the book just as it was, I was really enjoying it, and wasn't expecting anything like that, but it certainly took the whole book to another level after that! Excellent. - One of my favorite parts in the novel was when Rose went to Calum's school to talk to the kids about her artwork. The interaction with the kids was very funny and authentic. And my most favorite bit in that part was when Calum and his students were explaining to Rose about their writing exercises. It was very informative and intriguing, and it made me wonder whether it's an exercise Gillard has picked up herself in some writing shop she might have attended. All in all, I really enjoyed the novel, it's a gem, and I'm so grateful to all the people on here who've read it and recommended it. I will definitely order all the other books by Linda Gillard online. 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 A great review of the book Frankie. It really is that good a read isn't it? I love reading the reviews of others on books I adore, as I find myself nodding frantically and muttering "Oh yes, that was good. Mmmm I agree there" etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Linda has just made this one available for the kindle, and it's only £1.90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Linda has just made this one available for the kindle, and it's only £1.90. I got mine this morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Linda has just made this one available for the kindle, and it's only £1.90. Off to buy now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 A great review of the book Frankie. It really is that good a read isn't it? I love reading the reviews of others on books I adore, as I find myself nodding frantically and muttering "Oh yes, that was good. Mmmm I agree there" etc. It really is, indeed! It totally lived up to my expectations which were rather high because you guys have been hyping this book, and it was even better than I thought it could be! I think my biggest thanks goes to you, Chrissy, for being such a great supporter and spokesperson for this novel and the author, and for helping me find this gem of a book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Fanks for the flowers Frankie. I do feel that the book speaks for itself though! Now all you gotta do is read some more of the fabulousness that is Linda's writing! Star Gazing soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Fanks for the flowers Frankie. I do feel that the book speaks for itself though! Yes, but I wouldn't probably know about the book if it wasn't for you and other people on the forum, me living in Finland and our bookstores not catering to my English literature needs! Now all you gotta do is read some more of the fabulousness that is Linda's writing! Star Gazing soon? I'll be ordering the other books sometime this summer, right now is unfortunately not a good time for me because I'm going on a money-consuming trip to Helsinki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 This is a copy of the review I just wrote in my reading list. Reading everybody elses I probably didn't make enough of the poetry and the perceptions of the artist character , but I did like these things. Anyway here are my thoughts: I had been curious about this one for some time before I read it. It is a quick pleasant read. I would class this as a romance and more appealing to women readers than men, but that's just my opinion, please feel free to argue with me! The writing was good. When the writing is good you don't always "notice" it when you are reading, but I took notice because Linda is one the few writers who takes time to come on here and talk to us. I liked the plot construction, it was not any more complicated than it need to be to tell the story. The characterisation I also liked; I felt that if I wanted to I could have looked at a background character like Donald or Megan or even little Kenny and there would be a story there too, if the author had wanted to tell it. The bit I didn't get was why the main male character was interested in the heroine (for want of a better word) in the first place. The more she revealed of herself, and the more she messed him about, I kept thinking "why?" what's the appeal? Run away NOW. One other thing, which is not intended to be a criticism, it is just something I have noted in some other books by women authors, is the dialogue; specifically the way a man talks. Calum talks as if the conversation is a living thing, like a ball in a co-operative game of throw and catch, and his eye is on the ball the whole time. I am sure this is because this is how women wish that we did talk with them in real life. I mean, I wish I did have that ability all the time. Unfortunately, not many of us do. I am also aware of the reverse in books written by men. I have given some of my favourite books to my wife to read and after a few pages she has handed them back saying that she could not get into them "because the men all talk like robots." Anyway, I enjoyed this OK and I would read another book by this author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 (edited) Thanks, Vodkafan, for this thoughtful review. I've responded to some of the interesting points you raise here (where you also posted your review.) http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/7810-vodkafans-2011-reading-list/page__view__findpost__p__274238 Edited October 8, 2011 by Linda Gillard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Thanks, Vodkafan, for this thoughtful review. I've responded to some of the interesting points you raise here (where you also posted your review.) http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/7810-vodkafans-2011-reading-list/page__view__findpost__p__274238 Thanks Linda I replied to it in depth there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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