The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple January 26, 2012

Filed under: Classics,Comfort Reading,Dorothy Whipple,Historical,War — The Book Whisperer @ 5:07 pm
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In three words:

Charming, family, WW1

 

 

What I thought:

I had seen a few reviews of this book recently as it is a newly re-published book by Persophone so when I caught sight of this small, battered and stained copy languishing on the shelves of my library (also apparantly neglected as it has only been checked out twice in four years) I knew it had to come home with me.

What a wonderful and charming book this is. Written in 1932, Greenbanks tells the story of the Ashton family spanning from around 1910 to 1925. It is centered around the house, Greenbanks, in the Lancashire village of Elton, and revolves mainly around Louisa Ashton, Mother and Grandmother. Louisa has five (very different) children who have all started to make their own way in the world too and so Louisa dotes on her 4 year old Granddaughter, Rachel. Greenbanks may be a lovely, beautifully written book about a family in a grand old house but there is plenty of room for sibling rivalry, illegitimate births, divorce, tyranical fathers and heartache. In fact all these are done so well that I was in awe of how well Whipple understood human emotion such as depression, jealousy, shame and love.

The book is set at during the early part of the last century when ideas and ideals are shifting and in particular Whipple explores the changing roles of women at this time. Louisa is the gentle, kind head of Greenbanks (after her philandering husband dies) but her daughters are exploring new territories that are still thought of as a huge embarassment to the gossiping folks of Elton. Daughters Letty and Laura both carving out new paths for themselves and lodger Kate Barlow still lives the shame and stigma of having an illegitimate child all those years ago. Granddaughter Rachel, much to her Father Ambrose’s profound disappointment, is intelligent and is desperate to continue her studies at University when she grows up, but Ambrose wants a dutiful daughter who will greet him at the door and “take his hat”.

The character of Ambrose Harding is actually one of my favourite characters despite his prigishness and I found him (unintentionally on his part) very amusing:  he is so old-fashioned and is constantly baffled as to why people don’t behave the way he expects and wants them to.

 

“And he did not believe in all this education for women; in fact, he considered knowledge definitely unbecoming to them. It destroyed their charm; they did not listen so well if they knew too much.”

 

“That’s what this modern education did for them. These modern girls, smoking, riding motor-bicycles, flying airplanes, breaking speed records; they would do anything for notice. What else could it be for? Men did these things for the love of them, to try them out, or to advance knowledge, experience, but women did them for notice, just to get into the papers, to be made a fuss of.”

 

The quotes made me laugh, especially when I think of how times have changed now. But even with Ambroses sexist rants I could still sympathise with him to a degree as he was born in an age where men were head of the house and no one (especially a wife or daughter) would ever question him. His three other children (all boys) were a huge disappointment to him also as they didn’t follow the direction he wanted them to follow and went their own way; Ambrose felt unloved and and couldn’t understand why. Such a brilliantly drawn character.

A final quote that made me laugh (because it could have been me saying it) Iwas when Letty who in frustration cries:

 

“”Is there something wrong with me?” she asked in alarm. “This is no more than other women have to put up with. Why don’t I like housekeeping?”"

 

Verdict: I highly recommend this gorgeous book. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea (or in the bath, or in the postoffice queue….pretty much anywhere really). Loved it!

 

  Have you read anything by Whipple? Which others do you recommend?

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern January 23, 2012

Filed under: Authors,Erin Morgenstern,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 8:05 am

In three words:

Magic, circus, duel

 

 

What I thought:

Do you believe in magic? You might just do after reading this book.

The hype for this book has been everywhere: if you’ve missed it you have possibly been under a rock for the past few months. Normally, if a book has SO much hype I give it a wide berth until it has all died down so that I can read it and savour it on my own but this one had me so intrigued and convinced that I would love it that I was itching to read it. Magic and Victorians, I thought; what’s not to love?

Unfortunately quite a lot. Despite loving parts of it, most of it left me hugely underwhelmed. OK, so let’s talk about what I liked about it first: the images created from this book were vivid – the costumes and the settings were largely well written and I could see them easily in my head. Infact, one thing that I loved was that several years ago I had visited the Cirque du Soleil and I remember a really heady smell of powder and costume paint in the tent, and reading this book managed to evoke that sense again which made me smile. I loved the tents and what was in them – acrobatic kittens, snowy wonderlands, the labarynth eating caramel and chocolate popcorn. I also loved the tent where whenever you took the lid of a random bottle you were transported to somewhere else, comeplete with smells and taste: it reminded me of what I love about books – you get so emersed in another world that it’s often a surprise to look up and realise that you are still in your front room.

Now on to what didn’t work for me: I never felt like I got to know any of the characters well enough; there were too many and none of them felt fully fleshed out to me. The books blurb has us believe that there is some epic battle of wits and skill between the two young aprentices, Celia and Marco who are pitted against each other in a battle to the end, despite them falling in love. I never bought their relationship at all – it came out of nowhere and it would be months, even years, between them seeing each other for only a few hours. Where was the passion or the tenderness or the longing to be together? It was the most understated relationship I have ever read about. Also, this epic battle that is eluded to in the blurb is hardly that – infact it takes about 20 years; the pacing was way off to make it in any way exciting or intriguing.

Verdict: For me, this was definitely a case of style over execution. The plot felt weak. The visuals were good but the plot was more of a whimper than a bang and I found myself rushing it in the hope of getting to the end and being rewarded which I never felt I was. It’s a shame – I wanted to love it but I really didn’t.

 

  Have you read this book? Most people seem to have loved it – did you?

 

This is the second book I have read for the Victorians Challenge and the first neo-victorian book

 

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy January 17, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 8:18 pm
Tags: , ,

In three words:

Drama, excitement, intruige

What I thought:

When I began this book I have to admit that I didn’t think the three words I’d be using to describe it would be drama, excitement and intrigue . In fact, I really had no intention of reading this book at all any time soon as a friend of mine had to study it in school as a teenager and told me it’s the worst book she’s ever read and that had stayed with me and filed into the “don’t bother” part of my brain. So then, just before Christmas I saw or heard something about this book (I forget where and what) and that it was about a man who sells his wife and baby daughter at a fayre and immediately I thought that sounds intriguing and off I popped to pick up a copy. How glad I am that I did – The Mayor of Casterbridge has turned out to be one of my favourite books! I loved it!

Michael Henchard is a young man of twenty-one and walking the countryside of Dorset with his wife, Susan, and their baby girl, Elizabeth-Jane, looking for work. They decide to rest a while in a small village where there is a fayre and several drinks later, Michael starts loudly asking for bidders to buy his wife. After accepting 5 guineas from a sailor he wakes later to realise that they have actually gone and when he realises what he has done he swears not to drink a drop more of alcohol for another 21 years (as long as he has so far lived). He starts to make enquiries about where the sailor and his family may have gone but nobody knows who he is and Michael is too ashamed of his conduct to search too effectively and he sets off on the road once more, alone.

The story then fast-forwards eighteen years and Michael is now the Mayor of Casterbridge (modelled on Dorchester in Dorset). It’s difficult to say more about what happens next as I really don’t want to give it away – this book is much better read if you know nothing about the characters and what is to come yet as there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. The fuller title for The Mayor of Casterbridge is The Life and Death of a Man of Character, and that is really what this book is based around – Michael Henchard and his fall and rise (and fall again). The main cast of characters is small enough that we really get to know them well and care about them: Susan and Elizabeth-Jane become part of the story again as does a Scottish traveller looking for work, Donald Farfrae and a young lady, Lucetta Templeman, who gets caught up in something that will come back to haunt her in a big way later in the book.

Henchard really is a man of character, as the title suggests, and he is prone to jealousy, impulsiveness and malice but in turn he can be caring, warm and reflective meaning that the reader never hates him, but actually feels for him as he is his own harshest critic. What astounded me was Hardy’s understanding of human nature: time and time again I was amazed that he had managed to get it so spot on; to really make me feel as the characters did and understand why they behaved the way they did.

What I really loved about this book, though, was the drama. This is why I love all the Victorian books I have read so far – they’re like watching a soap-opera. The Mayor of Casterbridge has it all – love, hate, greed, jealousy, deceit and repentence. And watch out for a scene involving a skimmington-ride (what the Victorians – and those before them – used to do to humiliate people, particularly adulterous women or women who beat their husbands which involved a very rowdy and public parade with effigies of the persons concerned being ridden through town on the back of donkeys) which has extremely tragic consequences.

I just had to share this quote with you too as it made me laugh:

“The present room was much humbler, but what struck him about it was the abundance of books lying everywhere. The number and quality made the meagre furniture that supported them seem absurdly disproportionate.”

Sound familiar? ;)

 

I loved the fact that there were pictures too

 

Verdict: I heart Thomas Hardy! This is the second book of his that I have read (the first being Tess) and I now fully intend to gorge myself on the rest this year. Forget your pre-conceptions about dry and dull Victorian literature – this book has it all! A firm favourite now and one I will definitely read again at some point.

 

 

  Have you read this book?

  Which Hardy novel should I read next?

This is the first book I have read for the Victorians Challenge 2012

 

Victorians Challenge 2012 January 12, 2012

Filed under: Charles Dickens,Charlotte Bronte,Classics,Elizabeth Gaskell,Emile Zola,Guy de Maupassant,Knut Hamsun,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,Oscar Wilde,The Victorians,Thomas Hardy,Wilkie Collins,William Makepeace Thackaray — The Book Whisperer @ 8:00 am
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Men judge us by the success of our efforts. God looks at the efforts themselves*

*by Charlotte Bronte

 

I didn’t do any challenges last year and I promised myself I wouldn’t this year either as when I have done them in the past I have found that they can sometimes feel like homework and that I “have” to read something. However, being a massive fan of Victorian literature, I have been eyeing up this one, hosted by Laura’s Reviews for some time and I have decided to give it a go.

 

Here are the rules:

1. The Victorian Challenge 2012 will run from January 1st to December 31st, 2012. You can post a review before this date if you wish.

2. You can read a book, watch a movie, or listen to an audiobook, anything Victorian related that you would like. Reading, watching, or listening to a favorite Victorian related item again for the second, third, or more time is also allowed. You can also share items with other challenges.

3. The goal will be to read, watch, listen, to 2 to 6 (or beyond) anything Victorian items.

So, knowing how rubbish I am at sticking to plans and lists, I have decided not to give myself a huge goal but to say that I will read six this year and then just keep going if I fancy more. Seeing as I have almost finished two so far this year, it’s looking pretty possible.

Here are some of the books / authors I would like to read this year. Obviously, I won’t get to them all but a girl gotta have options :) :

 

1) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (already read)

2) The Complete Short Fiction by Oscar Wilde (almost finished)

3) Armadale by Wilkie Collins

4) Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

5) Something by Dickens (I’m thinking either David Copperfield, Oliver Twist or Little Dorritt at the moment)

6) Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

7) More books by Thomas Hardy (whom I have fallen in love with) like Jude the Obscure, Far From the Madding Crowd or The Woodlanders

8) Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

9) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackaray

 

I wasn’t sure if non-Brits would be included at first but Laura (in her post) has included authors such as Mark Twain and Louisa May Alcott so I’m hoping it’s OK to include some other nationalities like the French and Russian for example. If so then I really want to read:

1) Cousin Bette by Honor Belzac

2) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

3) Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant

4) Germinal by Emile Zola (already started)

5) Hunger by Knut Hamsun (Norwegian)

 

And if I have time after that little lot I would also like to read some non-fiction like finish Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens and also London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew.

 

  Are there any out of this little lot that I should be reading before the others?

 

 

 

Bookish Gifts January 9, 2012

Filed under: Aldous Huxley,Authors,Classics,Elizabeth Gaskell,Knut Hamsun,The Victorians,Thomas Hardy,Uncategorized,Wilkie Collins — The Book Whisperer @ 8:24 am
Tags: , ,

 I must have been a good girl this year

After regulsarly complaining that I don’t get bookish gifts for birthdays or Christmas (people assume that I can’t possibly want more when I already have so many – oh but I do!!!), this year I haven’t done too badly.

From my mum and dad I got a lovely book with short Christmas stories by various different authors (both past and present) and a gorgeous address book with quotes about reading (of which I shall be posting some soon) and also a pack of bookmarks (one can never have too many).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From my lovely cousin Sara and her family I got Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters which I have been wanting to read for ages as I loved North and South and her Gothic Tales. I also got a note book and a journey planner which I love as we go away a lot and I can now start planning my reading about the places we go:

I am a member for an online group  in Goodreads (there are 15 of us – 2 Brits, one Australian, one Candian and the rest Amreicans) and we have been really close since getting to know each other on one of the larger groups on Goodreads and setting up our own group aside from that about 4 years ago. Every year we do a Secret Santa where we make a list of 5 books each that we really want and then one of the partners of the group send out who has who so it’s a secret to us all and then we send out our gifts. This year we couldn’t open before Christmas as mine and one other package went missing and we were waiting for them to arrive. My Secret Santee, the wonderful Jen from USA, was so worried that mine hadn’t turned up that she sent me another package (with 2 books in it!) and the very next day the first package turned up so I ended up getting three books off my list! We had the grand unveiling last night where we all go online together and open them and it’s really good fun – everybody ripping open their parcels and posting little comments and refreshing to see what other people have put. My husband rolled his eyes when I told him how much fun it is; maybe you just have to be a book-nerd to understand the excitement ;)

Anyway, the fabulous Jen sent me Hunger by Knut Hamsun, Armadale by Wilkie Collins and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I also got a book bag and two bookmarks! I love them all. I have been very spoilt!

And finally…

No Christmas is complete without a little treat for oneself ;)

I have almost finished The Mayor of Casterbridge and it is shaping up to be one of my all-time favourites. And I couldn’t resist the Oscar Wilde Complete Short Fiction for reasons I shall explain when I post about it.

Did Santa visit your house too?

 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott January 5, 2012

Filed under: Authors,Christmas,Classics,Comfort Reading,Louisa May Alcott,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 7:03 pm

In three words:

Heartwarming, family, love

 

 

What I thought:

 

It has taken me years to get round to reading this book – YEARS I tell ya! This wasn’t my first attempt at reading Little Women, although it was the first time that I have read the whole thing through to the end. Despite loving the films since I was a child (particularly the 1949 version with Elizabeth Taylor and June Allyson) every time I picked the book up, I could only stomach a few pages without wanting to throw up. So, with attempt number trillion and one this Christmas, how did I manage to get through it? Not sure but who cares – I LOVED it!

It is said that all readers (and viewers) will relate more to one March sister than the others. Not being in the least bit domesticated (Beth), vain (Meg) or spoilt (Amy) that would make me more like Jo, as aside from her love of books (check), Wikipedia describes her as ” clumsy, blunt, opinionated, and jolly, her behavior is often most unladylike” my husband would be sure to agree in a flash that yes, I am indeed Jo.)

So, what once made me cringe and slighty vomit, this time around had me swooning into my hankerchief and devouring every page as if I were there in Concord, Mass. in the snow with lanterns, singing songs by the fire and warming Marmees slippers for her before she gets home from do-gooding. Who’da thunk? Seriously though, I genuinely loved this book.

I read somewhere that Alcott was more well known for writing sensations novels (of which I really must check out) and that she was asked to write a book like this instead. When reading it, several times I did wonder if she had deliberately gone over the top with her narrative and morality but either way, this time around I found it endearing and comforting (which is probably what she was going for). The overriding message of the book for me was about learning lessons  (there are a lot of these to be learnt, but they are never done in a preachy way) and overcoming obstacles but at the heart of the book is a family that loves each other and sticks together through thick and thin: maybe it was because I read it over Christmas at a time when I caught up with all my family, but I found it really heart-warming.

Jo was by far my favourite character: she’s fiesty, funny and brave. One of the my favourite parts, though, and the one that made me laugh the most starred Meg and her attempt at being a housewife once she had moved into her tiny home with new husband, John Brooks. One afternoon she decides to surprise him to her culinary delights by making jam before he comes home from work. What ensues is the sort of chaos that I can only describe as having hit my own kitchen on the odd occasion that I have decided to surprise my husband with a little domesticity. In Meg’s case, her husband arrived home to find jam and fruit and a crying wife all over the kitchen. In my case, my husband has usually arrived home to find an equal amount of mess but with a wife laughing hysterically and a rather odd concoction of some sorts served for tea. He’s a lucky man!

Verdict: A true joy to read and one I think I will revist again at some time. Think of it like a tonic or a soothing balm on your frazzled nerves. Lovely.

 

1949 film - my favourite

 

The good, the bad and the ugly of 2011 January 2, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 9:10 am
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Click on pic for link to original post

2011 in review

1. Best Book You Read In 2011

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

 

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did

Rupture by Simon Lelic. This wasn’t actually the worst book I read last year, but the one that disappointed me the most as I had read great reviews and I kept on reading to find out what all the fuss was about – I never did find out.

 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011

Homeless Rats by Ahmed Fagih

 

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Probably still Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong although I didn’t actually read it in 2011. It’s my favoiurite book so I am always recommending it.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

Definitely Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series of books (fab, fab, fab!)

 

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011

Tess Gerritsen, S J Bolton, Karen Rose, Santa Montefiore

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you

2011 was the year of comfort reading for me and I don’t think I have actually read anything from a genre that was unfamiliar to me.

 

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011

I’ve already mentioned both Tess Gerritsen and S J Boltons books so I will go for S J Watsons’ Before I Go To Sleep – a definite page-turner.

 

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011

I’ll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark – I always look forward to settling down with a good MHC.

 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011

 

 

I love all the Oxford University Press book covers.

 

11. Most memorable character in 2011

Either Sarah in Sarah’s Key or Jo in Little Women. I still think about Sarah now and Jo is, well, just Jo.

 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011

The Snow Child and also The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Bailey

 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011

Far to Go by Alison Pick – a time during WW2 that I wasn’t aware of and left a lasting impression on me.

 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011

Now I’m being really lazy but I can’t remember which books I did and din’t quote from this year without trawling through every single one so I’m passing on this one.

 

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012

I’m not sure I’ll re-read them as soon as 2012 but I like to think that I will read The Snow Child and Little Women again some day

 

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The Devotion of Suspect X right at the end! I was dying to have someone to go “OMG!” with!

 

  Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011?

This is a tough one as I have discovered a few new blogs (new to me) this year but if I am only allowed to pick one then I will say Fleur Fisher in Her World. I found her blog through another favourite of mine (She Reads Novels). Jane is the owner of Fleur Fisher in Her World and not only do we have a lot of books in common I have also picked up some recommendations from her reviews. Another bonus is that her dog, Briar, sometimes posts and I always look forward to those :)

 

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011

Probably The Attack by Yasmina Khadra. I lived in Israel for two years back in the early 90′s so any books about Israel / Palestine have a massive impact on me and I get very passionate about. Despite it being my favourite, I only got 2 comments on this post (it seems others don’t share my interest).

 

3. Best discussion you had on your blog

I’ve had lots of great discussions on my posts this year but I have chosen Under The Skin by Michael Faber as I really didn’t enjoy this book and I love the fact that different people have different opinions on a book and that’s what reading’s all about.

 

4. Best moment of book blogging in 2011

Probably when I did my 40 day  book challenge in the run up to my 40th birthday – people told me it was like opening an advent calendar window every day :)

 

5. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)

The Top Eleven Best Book Group Reads….EVER! This has won hands down for the second year in a row.

 

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love

Homeless Rats by Ahmed Fagih as it was such a wonderful book.

 

9. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year

I didn’t opt for any challenges last year (as I haven’t this year either). I did have a list of about 20 books I really wanted to get round to reading but crossed only two off my list (I did tell you that I’m crap at sticking to plans! ;) )

 

   Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012

Gone With the Wind – I’m reading it with my online book club in March

 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012

Being published in 2012: Elly Griffiths’ latest book, A Room Full of Bones,  Dead Scared by S J Bolton, Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde, I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?

Just to keep going for another year and see where I am then (and not to feel so pressured to review so much – I do have a life outside of blogging which includes a full-time job…boo!!)

 

  What have been your blogging highlights of 2o11?

 

 

2011 in review for The Book Whisperer January 1, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 12:07 pm

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

 
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