Monthly Archives: October 2007
Nightwood
Happy Halloween everyone! I’m sitting in my living room armchair, a place I rarely sit, so I can hop up and answer the door in case kids are out trick-or-treating. This is the extent of my Halloween celebrations, I’m afraid. … Continue reading
Weekend Reading
And now I’m sick! Wonderful, isn’t it? I’ve got a cold that is not quite bad enough to keep me home from school, but just bad enough to make me unhappy about it. It was a beautiful fall afternoon with … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Fiction, Life, Nonfiction
The Conference
Well, can I just say that I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed? I had a nice weekend, but upon returning home last night, I felt that I needed a weekend to recover from my weekend. But I did not get one. … Continue reading
Gone for the weekend
Have a wonderful weekend everyone; I’m heading to Albuquerque tomorrow bright and early, and I’ll be back Monday or Tuesday. I’ll give you a full report then!
Filed under Life
Georgette Heyer’s Lady of Quality
I finished Georgette Heyer’s novel Lady of Quality last night, and it was such a pleasurable read! I don’t feel like doing a proper review, still suffering as I am from insomnia and general all-around crankiness, but I do want … Continue reading
Filed under Books
Books for traveling
Well, I haven’t done a pooterish, list-y, rambling kind of post in a while, and since I’m feeling fatigued after getting practically no sleep last night and don’t want to think too hard, this evening seems like a good time … Continue reading
Novel writing
T.S. Eliot wrote a Preface to my edition of Djuna Barnes’s novel Nightwood, and I thought he had some interesting things to say about fiction: … most contemporary novels are not really ‘written’. They obtain what reality they have largely … Continue reading
Judging the Booker
If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s an interesting article at the Guardian by Giles Foden on what it was like to sit on the panel of judges that chose the Booker prize winner this year (via). It sounds like … Continue reading
The Turn of the Screw on stage
Last night Hobgoblin took a group of students to see the play version of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw at a local theater, and I went along. I’d read the novella in college and wrote a paper on … Continue reading
Ways of reading
Bud Parr at Chekhov’s Mistress has an interesting post that’s partly in response to my post from a couple days ago about reading difficult books. He argues that reading difficult books has taught him that “it’s okay NOT to understand.” … Continue reading
Filed under Reading
Readers and reviewers
Would somebody remind me please that there’s no reason to expect every author who writes a good book now and then to refrain from saying stupid things? I came across this quotation from Ian McEwan (via): Publishers seem to be … Continue reading
On reading difficult books
I like challenging myself with difficult books now and then, but there are some books that leave me quaking in my boots. There are challenges, and then there are challenges, right? And then there’s a category of book that is … Continue reading
Booker news and a meme
Well, I see that McEwan did not win the Booker after all; Anne Enright did, for her book The Gathering. The NYTimes describes it as “a family epic set in England and Ireland, in which a brother’s suicide prompts 39-year-old … Continue reading
On Chesil Beach and the Booker Prize
I’m writing this the night before the Booker winner will be announced, and I’m curious to see if McEwan will win for On Chesil Beach. I haven’t read any of the other books on the short list, so I can’t … Continue reading
Moon Tiger, by Penelope Lively
When Litlove suggested I read Penelope Lively’s Moon Tiger (the Booker prize winner from 1987), I made sure to mooch a copy right away. And I was right to do so; I finished it the other day and enjoyed every … Continue reading
Another Century!
I just got back from eating a huge meal, which I felt I could indulge in because I rode my second century of the season today. It was a completely different experience than the one I did two weeks ago. … Continue reading
Filed under Cycling
Reading On Chesil Beach
Just a short post tonight to say that I’m about 3/4 of the way through Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, and I’m finding it quite hard to put down. I know what it’s all about, I know the whole plot … Continue reading
Beginning Djuna Barnes’s Nightwood
I have begun reading Djuna Barnes’s Nightwood, and I can already tell I’m going to need to read it again. I’m considering reading it again immediately after I finish the first time around, although I’ll wait to see how I … Continue reading
The Five Writing Strengths Meme
I saw this first over at Charlotte’s, and have enjoyed reading her answers and answers from all the other participants. I’ve felt ambivalently about calling myself a writer, but I do write, so that’s really the end of that question, … Continue reading
Dear Walter Scott
I finished! I’m sorry Walter Scott, I really tried. I wanted to like this book; I was patient and gave it time to get better after a slow start. I kept hoping and hoping that the action would pick up, … Continue reading
