Author Archives: Caroline

John Sutherland: The Dickens Dictionary (2012)

Posted in Books, Non-fiction by

Although I’m one of those who has been tiptoeing around Dickens’ work for a while now without reading anything else but A Christmas Carol and part I of David Copperfield, I’m still interested in the author and the work. I also have a feeling I’m familiar with his novels without having read them because I saw the one or the other movie based on his books and because creations of great artists seem to acquire a life of their own and seem to go on living outside of the confined space of the book covers. People mention them, talk about them as if they were real people.

When I discovered The Dickens Dictionary on Mel U’s blog (here is the post) I knew I had to get it right away and since it arrived yesterday afternoon I spent many moments with it.

The author John Sutherland is a recently retired professor who has taught and published on Victorian novels. Browsing his book and reading the one and the other of the 100 collected entries, you discover not only a world of information but a book written by someone who is passionate about the subject and knows how to write about it in a way that will make you feel the urge to grab the next Dickens novel at hand. Sutherland’s aim was

When I think of Dickens I do not see a literary monument but an Old Curiosity Shop, stuffed with surprising things: what the Germans call a Wunderkammer – a chamber of wonders.

This book, taking as it’s starting point 100 words with a particular Dickensian flavour and relevance, is a tour round the curiosities, from the persistent smudged fingerprint picked up in the blacking factory in which Dickens suffered as a little boy to the nightmares he suffered from his unwise visit at feeding time to the snake-room of London Zoo.

The 100 entries cover such different subjects as Bastards, Blue Death, Candles, Cats, Child Abuse, Dead Babies, Dogs, Fog, Hands, Incest, Merrikins, Onions, Pies, Pubs, Smells, Thames…. They are all entirely fascinating.

What certainly adds to the appeal of this book are the many illustrations.  There is one on almost every other page.

I also liked the many quotes Sutherland included which give a good feeling for the work. Since I have still not decided which will finally be my first Dickens, this book will help me make up my mind.

To give you an idea of the entries I chose the one called Blue Death.The title refers to the Cholera epidemic of 1848-49 during which 52,000 Londoners died. The entry explains where it came from – India 1817 – and how Dickens and most people thought it was miasmic. He referred to it in Bleak House in his description of Tom-All-Alones’s. His rival Thackeray contracted the Cholera and might have died if Dickens hadn’t sent his own physician.

The Dickens Dictionary is a great introduction to Dickens, it contains quotes and references of the various novels, anecdotes from Dickens life, historical facts of Victorian London and a whole range of other “curiosities”.

As I said, I still don’t know which should be my first Dickens. Which one would you recommend?

Mary Lawson: The Other Side of the Bridge (2006)

Posted in Books, Literature, Novel by

At the end of my introductory post to the Canadian Book Challenge I asked for recommendations and pburt mentioned how much she liked Mary Lawson’s books. That’s how I decided to read The Other Side of the Bridge.

We cannot experience everything in our life. Especially not the past, nor a way of life which is very different from our own. Luckily one of the many functions of literature is to help us experience other times and places. Reading this novel makes it possible to travel back in time, to a place and a way of life long gone; rural Ontario between 1930 to 196o, a harsh inhospitable place which drives strangers and young people away.

The novel tells two parallel but linked stories and moves back and forth in time. It starts in the 30s with the story of the brothers Arthur and Jake. Arthur is the reliable one. Stocky and solid. He wants to become a farmer just like his father. Jake who is much younger, is the good-looking one, the favourite of his mother. But Jake is also inherently mean. A manipulative bully with a sadistic streak which he manages to hide behind his good looks and alleged charm. Only Arthur seems to know about his brothers true nature. One day, on a bridge, fate strikes and sets in motion a tragedy which cannot be stopped anymore.

The second story line starts in the 50s and is told from the point of view of young Ian, the son of the local doctor. Because he is secretly in love with Laura, Arthur’s beautiful wife, he offers to help Arthur every Sunday on the farm.

The blurb states that the novel bears a resemblance to 19th century novels of provincial life. That’s not a bad comparison. But more than that it also reminded me of Greek myths in which you can see the doomed heroes move towards their destruction. The worst thing in the myth of Oedipus for example isn’t so much that he sleeps with his mother and kills his father – although that is certainly very bad – but that his father thought he could prevent this tragedy which had been predicted and through this very attempt at preventing it, he finally provokes it. While The Other Side of the Bride is no story of incest, it has a similar dynamic as Oedipus’ story. There will be a tragedy. We know it.  And no matter how much the people try to prevent it, it will happen anyway. But other than in greek myths, and that’s where Mary Lawson meets Ian McEwan, there is atonement too.

Everything that I said so far has more to do with the plot. The story tells a tragedy and how it happens but that is just one layer of the book and not even the one I liked best as I found it a bit too predictable. What I really liked about this book is the writing which is amazingly beautiful and contains many passages like this one:

It was September, the worst time of the year as far as Arthur was concerned – endless months of school ahead, cooped up in one stuffy schoolroom at a too-small desk, while outside the maple flamed red and gold and the air was clear and pure as spring water. Inside was the leaden boredom, outside was the sharp tang of wood smoke and the urgency of shortening days. You could smell the winter coming. You could see it in the transparency of the light and hear it in the harsh warning cries of the geese as they passed overhead. Most of all you could feel it. During the day the sun was still hot but as soon as it dipped down behind the trees the warmth dropped out of the air like a stone.

Somewhat later in the book there is this passage in which Ian and his friend Peter sit together

They sat on in silence, or almost silence; if you listened closely you could just hear a faint thrumming from thousands of wings. Beyond the dragonflies the sun was sinking slowly, casting its rays across the lake, and on the other side, everything, as far as the eye could see, was slowly dissolving into the haze.

Ian thought, If I love to be a hundred years old, I always remember this.

Apart from the central story of a tragedy, The Other Side of the Bridge is an excellent depiction of the Canadian home front during WWII. It shows the way Canada was affected by huge losses, how most of the young men didn’t return and many of those who did were maimed for life. The book would have been a worthy candidate for my readalong.

Through Ian’s story it is also a coming-of age tale and a look at the life of a country doctor in an isolated place like rural Ontario where the winters are so incredibly harsh that most foreigners and many natives flee the place.

I must admit I didn’t connect with the characters and their stories, I didn’t feel I could identify with any of them, but I’m glad I discovered Mary Lawson. Her writing is beautiful and the way the people and the place come to life is astonishing. They emerge from the pages and seem to be walking around before your very eyes. The way she writes about Canada is very nostalgic and at times I was wondering if the writing wasn’t to a large extent fuelled by homesickness as she seems to be living in England by now. I any case I want to read her first novel Crow Lake soon.

This review is my first contribution to the Canadian Book Challenge 6

Antonio Tabucchi Week 17 – 23 September 2012 – The Giveaway Winner

Posted in Books, Giveaway, Novel, Short Story by

Random org has decided who has won

Pereira Maintains

In the sweltering summer of 1938 in Portugal, a country under the fascist shadow of Spain, a mysterious young man arrives at the doorstep of Dr Pereira. So begins an unlikely alliance that will result in a devastating act of rebellion. This is Pereira’s testimony.

The book goes to Bettina (Liburuak).

I hope you will like it.

Please send me your address via beautyisasleepingcat at gmail dot com.

For those who want to know more about Tabucchi Week and want to join, here are the details.

Thank you for the Liebster Award

Posted in Award, Books by

First a big thank you to Janet Allen (Popcorn Dinner) for my nomination. We only just “met” and I already receive an award. That’s so nice.

Yes, I know, I don’t always accept awards, or let’s say, I do accept them but then I don’t play by the rules, meaning I don’t post about them let alone pass them on. But this time I do as I still feel “post-freshly pressed festive”. However I amended it a bit and only give it to 7 other bloggers. Addotionally I thought that for a change I will give the award not to pure book bloggers but to people who love reading and also blog about other things.

For those who will receive my award and would like to play by the rules here you go

1. Each person must post eleven things about themselves (I skipped this)
2. Answer the eleven questions the person giving the award has set for you
3. Create eleven questions for the people you will be giving the award to
4. Choose eleven people to award and send them a link to your post
5. Go to their page and tell them
6. No tag backs

Now on to Janet’s questions

1. What is your favourite movie of all time? (yep, only one)

I’m almost as interested in movies as in books, despite that fact it’s surprisingly easy for me to name my favourite movie. It’s Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. When I saw it for the first time I was about 14 and since then I have re-watched it at least 5 times. Every time I watched it I liked it more. Be careful however, if you’d like to watch it and haven’t seen it before, the Director’s Cut is shorter and lacks a few important scenes.

2. Where is your favourite city?

This is difficult. Hmmm. It shouldn’t be, right? You would all assume I would say: in France. But I’m not sure it really is my very favourite city. No, I think my favourite city is in England. And it is not London. (The way Janet asked this question it’s almost a bit like a quiz. Can you guess my favourite city?)

3. How old were you when you realized there was no Santa Clause and did it matter to you?

I think I was 9 and the discovery was a huge shock but not because I found out that there is no Santa Claus but because I found out my mother was a bad cheater. The story is quite funny  but at the time I did NOT think that at all. Every year me and my mother’s best friend’s son and the whole family gathered in the living room on the 6th of December. Invariably the doorbell would ring and Santa Claus would come in and look really scary. He would then take out a huge book and read every bad thing the both of us had done during the year. It was awful. He knew it all. Every single thing we had done. After that lecture we had to recite a poem (I still have a terrific memory) and would afterwards be forgiven and receive some presents and a warning. He told us that if we didn’t behave better next year, he would come and get us, put us in his bag and take us to God knows where Santa Claus lives. The year when I turned 9 my mother accidentally lost a piece of paper which I found and on it – to my utter shock – I saw a list of all of my and my friend’s misgivings which were meant to be passed on to Santa Claus. Santa Claus, it turned out,  was a neighbour especially hired for the occasion. I was mortified. That was the end of Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny died on the very same day. And my belief in motherly reliability.

4. If you won an Oscar, what would it be for?

I think I could receive it for several things. The script, the score, acting, most probably the script though.

5. What three famous people (living or dead) would you invite to a dinner party?

C.G. Jung, Mircea Eliade and Neil Gaiman. Yeah, I know, it’s not obvious but, believe me, there actually is a connection.

6. If you had 10 minutes alone with your country’s political leader what would you say?

I think that could be a one minute thing. I’d say: “Didn’t you find anything more useful to do with your time?”

7. What’s the hottest (temperature-wise) you’ve ever been?

The desert in Morocco. When I got out of the car I had the ingenious idea of picking up a stone because I wanted to take something back home. It actually  burned my fingers. Heat like that is hard to imagine if you’ve never experienced it.

8. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Be invisible.

9. Have you ever had a surprise birthday party?

No. My friends know me very well. That’s not something I would enjoy.

10. What was the first movie you ever saw in the theater?

It was a Sunday afternoon Disney Special but I cannot remember which one it was. I think it was Bambi.

11. What is your favourite thing to do on a rainy day?

Lying in bed, under the roof, listening to the rain and read.

So finally here are my 7 nomenees

Pearls and Prose

Jaquelin Cangro

50 Year Project

Underneath the Shell Novia’s second home (Polychrome Interest)

Andrew Blackman

The Peacocks Feather Danielle’s second home  (A Work in Progress)

Bayou Quilts Jenclair’s second home  (A Garden Carried in Your Pocket’s)

*****

Now comes the last part, my 11 questions. Just answer those you like.

1. Which is your favourite painting or photograph? (Add it or link to it)

2. If you could stay in another city for a year, which one would it be?

3. Which language would you like to speak and why?

4. Which is your favourite book cover?

5. What craft would you like to be great at?

6. Which is your favourite dish. Recipe included!

7. If you could design a garden what would it look like?

8. Which is your favourite song or piece of music? It can be one you just like at the moment or one you always loved.

9. If you could wake up in a movie (or book)  – which one and why?

10. What is your favourite piece of clothing or accessory?

11. What book are you reading at the moment?

*****

That’s it from festive me, as of tomorrow, there will be business as ususal,  book reviews and book related topics, the odd movie review and…

What’s Going on Here? or Life On the Freshly Pressed Lane

Posted in Books by

This is the cloister garden of the Cathedral of the town in which I live. I love to go for a walk around the garden. The symmetry is soothing. It’s one of the reasons why I love Gothic Cathedrals. Usually there are not many people here. The odd tourist but that’s all. It’s quiet and relaxing. The perfect place for introspection. And introspection is what I needed after the excitement of being freshly pressed. Especially since I didn’t check my e-mail and had no clue I had been chosen. When I logged on on yesterday I could hardly believe my eyes when I noticed 3000 views on one post, almost 200 likes, hundreds of comments, 70 new subscribers… Amazing. And for someone like me who answers every comment quite a challenge too. But I’m not moaning. I enjoyed it.

What can I say? Thank you. Thank you for  the “freshly pressed” experience. Thank you for your thoughtful, interesting, funny and engaging comments. I met great people thanks to this, I read about some very interesting ways of choosing a book and, of course, I also gathered a lot of reading suggestions.

I must honestly say I would never have thought that I would enjoy it this much. I can only repeat myself and thank you once more.

Thank you for your interest, for sharing your thoughts and for your kind words.

Hmmm… By the way, does anyone know, can you get freshly pressed more than once?

How Do You Choose Your Next Book?

Posted in Books by

I just finished a novel by a Canadian author and while I was still reading that book, I was thinking of what I might want to read next. Every day I picked a title and put it under the book I was reading on my nightstand. The books kept on changing. Some candidates returned more than once and after a while I realized, they all had a common theme: 18th/19th century France. So either I was going to read a historical French novel (Chantal Thomas’ Les Adieux à la reine – Farewell my Queen) or a French classic (Maupassant’s Bel-Ami fr. Bel-Ami engl.). Funny enough both books have just been made into movies.

This made me wonder, how other people choose the books they are going to read next. I’m a mood reader and on top of that my moods change quite fast that’s why I never really know what I’m going to read until I finally start it. Before I do so however, I will have begun at least 5 – 10 books, reading first pages and first paragraphs. The only thing that is likely is that the book following the one I just finished will be very different. I will hardly ever read a crime novel after having finished one or a French classic after having come to the end of another French classic. It can happen but it is rare.

Unfortunately my system is faulty. Because I often give in to momentary moods, instead of waiting for an underlying theme to emerge, by the time I’m in the middle of a novel, it’s not always exactly what I wanted anymore. That’s when novellas and short stories come in handy. I’ll put the novel aside and read the one or the other shorter piece in between.

Last November I did something which proved to be really good. I made a list of all the novels, I felt like reading during the month, especially those which kept on returning, and in December I started to read from that list and whenever I finished a book, I picked the next one from my list. It worked really well and I didn’t pick one dud.

So, that’s me, usually, not able to tell you before I started it, what book I’m going to read next. And unfortunately forgetting those I felt like reading unless I make a note. The only exception of course is my readalong and some of the readalongs of others.

I have seen on other blogs that some people make a list for the whole year and stick to it. They will not necessarily read in order but they will pick books from the list. Others love an author so much that they will read their way through his or her books. Some have a small pile they read and then they make another small pile. Someone reads all the books from one editor. I know there are bloggers who only buy a book after having finished one, so the trip to the book shop will determine the next choice. Others will go to the library, bring home a huge amount of books, dip into them and finally settle for a very few.

While I don’t review them very often,when it comes to non-fiction I’m much more systematic. One book will lead to the next and most of them are connected.

As you can see, there is no end to the possibilities. I’m really curious to find out how you do it. Do you follow a plan or a list? Do you pick randomly? Do you stick to a genre?

How do you choose your next book?

Antonio Tabucchi Week September 17 – 23 2012 and Giveaway

Posted in Books, Giveaway, Novel, Short Story by

Ever since Stu’s Henry Green Week I wanted to host something similar for an Italian author and my first choice was always Antonio Tabucchi. He is one of the finest Italian writers and one I admire a lot.

Sadly what should have been a tribute to a living author has now turned into a commemoration as Tabucchi died earlier this year.

Tabucchi was a novelist, short story writer and academic. One striking feature was his love for Portugal, the Portuguese language and Fernando Pessoa. He didn’t only teach Portuguese literature at the university but he lived in Portugal (as a reaction among other things to Italian politics), wrote a novel in Portuguese and translated Pessoa.

He is one of the rare authors not writing in English who has been extensively translated. While I will read him in Italian, all those who would like to join can choose from a variety of other languages. He is available in English, French and German and most probably also in Spanish and Portuguese.

Tabucchi’s Indian Nocturne is one of my all-time favourite books. It has been made into a movie. I just read and reviewed Sogni di Sogni – Dreams of Dreams – a collection of imagined dreams attributed to famous writers, musicians and artists. But there are others that I want to re-read or discover for the first time like Tristano muore. Una vita.

If you have never read anything by this author I would suggest you start with one of his more famous novels like Pereira Maintains (Sostiene Pereira) or Indian Nocturne (Notturno Indiano). If you like short stories you may enjoy the beautiful collection of fictitious letters It’s Getting Later All the Time. If you go for quirky and inspiring, Dreams of Dreams may be the thing. But there are more.

Requiem: A Hallucination

Little Misunderstandings of No Importance

The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro

And in Italian (and other translations) only

Tristano muore. Una vita

Il tempo invecchia infretta

Il filo dell’orizzonte

In order to motivate you to join I’m giving away one copy of one of his most famous novels which has also been made into a movie with Marcello Mastroianni.

Pereira Maintains

In the sweltering summer of 1938 in Portugal, a country under the fascist shadow of Spain, a mysterious young man arrives at the doorstep of Dr Pereira. So begins an unlikely alliance that will result in a devastating act of rebellion. This is Pereira’s testimony.

The giveaway is open internationally. If you would like to win this book, just leave a comment. The only condition is that you take part in Tabucchi Week. What you will read is up to you, it doesn’t have to be the book you won.

The winner will be announced on Friday August 17 2012.