Poppy's Paperbacks

[Fi.]

Have you seen this edition of 'Pride and Prejudice'?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pride-Prejudice-Fine-Jane-Austen/dp/0955881862/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255077873&sr=1-3

It's beautiful .. and though I don't like hardbacks I am a sucker for beautifully illustrated cloth bound books.

 

I've got this edition of P&P along with Emma and also the copy of Wuthering Heights that they do - also very tempted to get Jane Eyre too! They're stunning hardbacks and the fabric covers are really beautiful and most importantly, well bound

[Kylie]

Ooh, the P&P and A Christmas Carol both look lovely. I've also been after a nice illustrated copy of the latter, but I haven't found anything that takes my fancy yet.

 

Here the Pride and Prejudice I have.

[Janet]

I see what you mean, Kylie! I thought you meant this cover - which I think is just as bad!

[Kylie]

Oh yes! Those are indeed worse. I prefer mine.

[poppyshake]

 

PopCo - Scarlett Thomas

 

Waterstones synopsis:

 

Alice Butler has been receiving some odd messages - all anonymous, all written in code. Are they from someone at PopCo, the profit-hungry corporation she works for? Or from Alice's long lost father? Or has someone else been on her trail? The solution, she is sure, will involve the code-breaking skills she learned from her grandparents and the key she's been wearing round her neck since she was ten. "PopCo" is a grown-up adventure of family secrets, puzzles, big business and the power of numbers.

 

Methinks:

 

I picked this book up as a result of reading Scarlett's 'the End of Mr Y' .. which on the whole I had enjoyed (although I thought the storyline kind of fizzled out and didn't live up to it's cracking beginning). The narrative of 'PopCo' moves between the adult Alice and the child .. there is lots here about codes, puzzles, paradoxes and maths, so much so that .. unless you are mathematically minded .. your head will be in a twirl just trying to understand it. Alice works for the third largest toy manufacturer in the world .. 'PopCo' .. and the book is largely about her attending a conference in the depths of the Devon countryside .. there is also a sub plot concerning codebreaking and hidden treasure.

On the whole I did find it interesting although sometimes it felt that the author was getting a bit too preachy .. covering all sorts of subjects from capitalism, exploitation, slave labour, animal welfare, veganism, homeopathy (which was also key in 'The End of Mr Y'), consumerism .. and a lot of other ism's. But it is intelligently done and thought provoking (what is the real cost of some of our home comforts?).

Alice is intriguing though and I was interested in her story from beginning to end. Again, I don't think it ended as strongly as it began .. I wanted more from it .. but that might just be me.

It left me thinking that one day Scarlett Thomas will write a phenomenally good book because she has all the right ingredients, it's just not quite there yet (imo).

 

7/10

[poppyshake]

 

Excellent Women - Barbara Pym

Waterstones synopsis:

Mildred Lathbury is one of those 'excellent women' who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, 'capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather'. As such, she often gets herself embroiled in other people's lives - especially those of her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, whose marriage seems to be on the rocks. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially as Mildred, teetering on the edge of spinsterhood, has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier. This is Barbara Pym's world at its funniest and most touching.

 

Methinks:

I really enjoyed this book, it was written in the 1950's and in style was very much like some of the Persephone books (especially 'Miss Buncles Book' by D.E. Stevenson) .. quietly humourous and observational, it's about life during the post (second world) war period for Mildred, a parish spinster whose life becomes more exciting when a glamorous couple move into the flat downstairs. A book to curl up with on a cold winters night .. they really don't write them like this anymore.

 

8/10

[chesilbeach]

Barbara Pym is one of my favourite authors! My favourite book of hers is Quartet In Autumn which I can highly recommend (I re-read it a few years ago) and I'm hoping to have a re-reading session of some of her other books next year.

[poppyshake]

Barbara Pym is one of my favourite authors! My favourite book of hers is Quartet In Autumn which I can highly recommend (I re-read it a few years ago) and I'm hoping to have a re-reading session of some of her other books next year.

 

Thanks, I'm definitely going to read more of hers. Someone recommended 'Jane and Prudence' to me a few days ago.