bookgazing (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bookgazing) wrote2009-08-23 08:25 am
bookgazing) wrote2009-08-23 08:25 am
What a Difference a Book Makes
Isn’t it funny how one good book can change how you feel? I’ve been a little down in the reading dumps lately, starting books only to put them back on my shelves three chapters later. But after such a positive experience with the two novellas that make up my copy of ’84 Charing Cross Road’ all the other books look appetizing again.
I loved ‘The Dushess of Bloomsbury’ even more than ’84 Charing Cross Road’, it was so refreshing to see London through Helene Hanff’s eyes. Her enthusiasm for seeing the historical places great figures had inhabited and her funny, generous nature reminded me about all the great things London and Britain has to offer. I think some of her enthusiasm for life, history and literature must have rubbed off on me, because now when I look around my stacked shelves I see hundreds of opportunities for a wonderful story. I get a greedy feeling and I want to read everything now, and my plan to read one book at a time is going a bit wrong..
The first novel I’m reading is ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and so far it’s dragging me deep into its story. The novel follows three main characters and each character is focused on in separate chapters which alternate. Although I’ve read books that use this device before, this time I found myself wondering what would happen if I read all the chapters associated with one character, then returned to the beginning and followed the next character. Would the book make any sense? If anyone’s ever tried this let me know.
Now ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is taking a harrowing turn. While I knew bad things were going to happen (the back mentions the war in Nigeria) I don’t think I properly braced myself for the horrific events that have just started. The first part of the book is kind of domestic, showing details of the character’s relationships and homelives, before quite swiftly throwing them into the middle of massacres. So I’ve taken a step back from this book over the weekend, while I prepare myself a little more.
Right now I’m reading ‘The Heart of Horses’ by Molly Gloss, which my mum picked up when it was a Times offer book. Their review made it sound wonderful, the story of a female horse trainer looking for respect as she fills the place of the male horse trainers who have gone to war. When it arrived the blurb and the cover made me a bit apprehensive about it. It sounded much more sentimental and less like the sensible, grown up horse book I was hoping for. However so far it isn’t flowerly and the main character’s training methods are less mystical and sweet than the term ‘gentling’ implies.
Now I want to be a bit nosy and ask a question. What was the last book you had a really positive experience with? How did it make you feel about the choice of books you had in your house?
I loved ‘The Dushess of Bloomsbury’ even more than ’84 Charing Cross Road’, it was so refreshing to see London through Helene Hanff’s eyes. Her enthusiasm for seeing the historical places great figures had inhabited and her funny, generous nature reminded me about all the great things London and Britain has to offer. I think some of her enthusiasm for life, history and literature must have rubbed off on me, because now when I look around my stacked shelves I see hundreds of opportunities for a wonderful story. I get a greedy feeling and I want to read everything now, and my plan to read one book at a time is going a bit wrong..
The first novel I’m reading is ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and so far it’s dragging me deep into its story. The novel follows three main characters and each character is focused on in separate chapters which alternate. Although I’ve read books that use this device before, this time I found myself wondering what would happen if I read all the chapters associated with one character, then returned to the beginning and followed the next character. Would the book make any sense? If anyone’s ever tried this let me know.
Now ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is taking a harrowing turn. While I knew bad things were going to happen (the back mentions the war in Nigeria) I don’t think I properly braced myself for the horrific events that have just started. The first part of the book is kind of domestic, showing details of the character’s relationships and homelives, before quite swiftly throwing them into the middle of massacres. So I’ve taken a step back from this book over the weekend, while I prepare myself a little more.
Right now I’m reading ‘The Heart of Horses’ by Molly Gloss, which my mum picked up when it was a Times offer book. Their review made it sound wonderful, the story of a female horse trainer looking for respect as she fills the place of the male horse trainers who have gone to war. When it arrived the blurb and the cover made me a bit apprehensive about it. It sounded much more sentimental and less like the sensible, grown up horse book I was hoping for. However so far it isn’t flowerly and the main character’s training methods are less mystical and sweet than the term ‘gentling’ implies.
Now I want to be a bit nosy and ask a question. What was the last book you had a really positive experience with? How did it make you feel about the choice of books you had in your house?