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Second in the biannual series entitled 'Book of the Month.
Any particularly inspiring books people have read in the last thirty days? Not had much time to read this month, unless you count a fascinating Open Uni publication, Earth and Life Through Time. Ask me anything about geology... actually don't, I'll probably just burst into floods of tears and throw my hands up in the air. Oh, the unconformity!
I'm about halfway through Albert Camus, A Happy Death. It's ninety-nine percent death, one percent happy. But I do like it, so far.
I've just read 'Ladder of Years' by Anne Tyler. As so often with Tyler, it's a story of a middle-aged woman whose life goes out of shape pretty much by accident. What makes it great is her wonderful characterisation; her observation of details which creates an atmosphere but doesn't bog down the story in minutiae; and the gentle kindness of Tyler's voice.
Luckypen, it seemed plausible to me - Delia only means to walk away for the rest of the afternoon, back to the summerhouse; she then takes a further journey by accident, and ends up staying simply because her husband doesn't actually ask her to come home!
I love Anne Tyler. I don't think Delia set out with the intention of leaving her family. It was just that one thing led to another. Has anyone read her latest yet, Digging to America? I'm waiting for the paperback.
I love Anne Tyler too. Does Delia really find a place called Bay Borough in fact, or is it part of her leaving her true life to find mental sanctuary. It's a place that could no longer really exist in the modern world and yet is something we might all desire from our simpler youth. That's what I love about Tyler, she makes you think whilst you become subsumed in the life of the protagonist.
Comments
Second in the biannual series entitled 'Book of the Month.
Any particularly inspiring books people have read in the last thirty days? Not had much time to read this month, unless you count a fascinating Open Uni publication, Earth and Life Through Time. Ask me anything about geology... actually don't, I'll probably just burst into floods of tears and throw my hands up in the air. Oh, the unconformity!
I'm about halfway through Albert Camus, A Happy Death. It's ninety-nine percent death, one percent happy. But I do like it, so far.
Over to you.