I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I've read 50% and am still not sure about it. Some parts are funny but there is an underlying sadness. I hope your mom will be OK. Sending hugs to both of you.
As to what I'm reading, well, I just finished The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade. Who? What? I know, I know. An oldie from 1861, which I read as background to my work editing a volume of Conan Doyle - and did you know, this book was Doyle's favourite novel. And it's a great book. (Horrible title, don't know who chose it, but it's a great tale of adventure in the Middle Ages, though it doesn't matter that it was the Middle Ages, it's just exciting with an interesting protagonist and for a while a sidekick, or really the protagonist is the sidekick - can that be? - tagging along after a heroic knight, and it reminded me of Holmes and Watson; maybe it inspired Conan Doyle.
Not that Sir Arthur says that; for him it's good novel because it brings the Middle Ages to life, but don't listen to him about that; he thought the most important role of fiction, especially historical fiction, was to teach you about an age. (I thought we had actual history books for that.) Anyway, that's what Conan Doyle said, often, and he gave short shrift to other sorts of fiction, like stories about detectives solving crimes: who cares about that? But he was wrong about that and wrong about what makes The Cloister and the Hearth a great book. Anyway, I do recommend it.
Ah... interesting how you see a possible genesis of Holmes and Watson... and Doyle didn't, or wasn't admitting to it.
I do find that reading something--yes, fiction--written within a time period, is indeed a solid way to research and come to understand something of that time period, the sense of it, the voice of is. To absorb it in a way that a history book can't get at.
Likewise, you reading Doyle's favoured book to learn something about the man himself--that makes sense to me.
Ha! to the man being not so positive about other sorts of fiction! We humans are a strange lot altogether, surely.
You've made me curious about this book! Thank you.
Conan Doyle consistently disparaged his own Holmes stories and said they kept him from his serious work (i.e., his historical novels like Sir Nigel, The White Company, etc.). Have you read those? No, few have (I have read The White Company, and it's no Hound of the Baskervilles). You can't trust an author to be the best judge of their own work.
As to reading fiction to understand an age, yes, I agree; I didn't make myself clear: The Cloister and the Hearth was written in 1861, but set in 1465; Conan Doyle praised it for being an accurate picture of 1465; I would rely on it less for that than for what it tells us about 1861.
Oh! Agreed. Works written within and from and of the time.
Our works become on their own; that's hard to acknowledge.
Was there more joy and abandon with writing not to "be serious"? I wonder. I think readers pick up on the state from which a work grows--even if it defies articulation. Or isn't even considered.
Conan Doyle's relationship to Sherlock Holmes is interesting. Of course, he created him and knew he was popular - that in fact was a major reason he kept writing Holmes stories: there was pressure from the public (and his own mother!) to keep writing them (his mother even gave him an idea for a plot when he said he was thinking of giving Holmes up), and he made oodles of money from him, so he would say he was of course grateful for that, but he did really think his most important novel was The White Company (which no one's ever heard of). And of course he kept trying to kill Holmes off., e.g., at the Reichenbach Falls fighting Moriarty - but he kept having to bring him back.
Oh, and then at the end of his life he became interested in seances, Spiritualism, a campaigner for that, much more important than his "silly" detective, he thought ...
In 1980 I did an evening history course at UofT . I'd decided (already had a degree from there in history and lit) that novels written in the era could tell us a lot about events in the time. Wrote a paper on how Luddites were portrayed in Bronte. I think I was on to something - inter-discliplinary courses were on the horizon.
I am so sorry to hear that your mom had a stroke. Love that she has a sense of humor, though. (As do you.) I am reading several things including The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel (picked it up at Little Sisters a few days ago). Just finished Himawari House, a graphic novel by Harmony Becker. It is rare for me to read a graphic novel and I enjoyed this one. I hope your mother is recovering from her stroke.
Love the title, The Family Outing, and how it works.
Can you read multiple books because they're in different formats -- graphic novel simultaneously with traditional novel? Or can you/do you read more than one traditional novel at a time?
I can only read multiple books if they are poetry, nonfiction, fiction... but only one of each at a time. I rotate according to my mood or need, or simply the day!
I am glad that your mom is doing well. To answer your question about whether it is easier for me to read multiple books at the same time if they are in different genres, I haven't really thought about that. I think I have different purposes for reading. So I usually have a stack of researched books about the history of adoption or trans healthcare (for example) as well as some related memoirs, and I am using those to inform myself for various writing projects and etc, or for things going on in my life. And I have a few hardcover or paperback books here and there, often novels or memoirs. And my iPad (Kindle software) is full of all sorts of wonderful books that I want to read immediately. Plus, I have Libby software on my iPad and often listen to audiobooks from the VPL, or a few novels, sometimes thrillers. (Robert Crais' Hostage was a recent one.) I just pick up whichever book is gripping me at the moment or whichever is nearest to my fingertips. For the first time in a long time I'm beginning to read YA again and children's books. I guess having grandchildren has brought me back to the fold!
She is, yes. The three weeks after a stroke are a vulnerable time, I now know. Time to be vigilant and aggressive with medication and approach. A learning curve.
What stands out about the read? Are you enjoying it?
Travelling in Central Europe for three weeks. To read on the train, I brought Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise, which opens with Strauss and Mahler going for a hike near Graz in the afternoon prior to the 1905 Austrian premiere of Salome. We’re attending the opera in Vienna next week. I also found on my phone a translation into English of the original Wilde play.
I think I met your mother once! It was when I was telling her that I liked her sweater which was a most cheerful yellow colour and it had birds on it. Then she told me about how she found it in a thrift shop, and I remember she has a most enthusiastic and sparkly personality. I hope you and her are doing as well as can be.
And, other than that, here is what I have been reading:
I spent so much of the last year reading a Serious Textbook about Serious Political History Stuff that it has been a bit difficult to rewire my brain into remembering what it is like to read fiction books again. A few weeks ago I read "Holes" by Louis Sachar almost entirely out-loud to someone else. I kept on remembering the timing of this scene over and over:
"The Warden spoke softly. 'I don't especially care about your sunflower seeds.'" Mr. Sir moaned.
'If you must know,' said the Warden, 'I liked it better when you smoked.'
For a second, Mr. Sir's pain seemed to recede. He took several long, deep breaths. Then his head jerked violently, and he let out a shrill scream, worse than the one before.
The Warden turned to Stanley.
'I suggest you go back to your hole now.'" (91). (This is from a scene in which Stanley covers up for the other boys at Camp Green Lake by saying that he was the one who ate Mr. Sir's entire twenty-pound bag of sunflower seeds all by himself, and Mr. Sir takes Stanley to see the Warden, as Mr. Sir is addicted to eating sunflower seeds.)
What I am reading right now is:
"Rembrandt is in the Wind" by Russ Ramsey. It is about art and the lives of artists. I especially liked reading about Caravaggio because Caravaggio's life was a bit nuts! According to this book, he once started a fight in a restaurant because he threw a platter of hot artichokes at the waiter!
"Holy Ground" by Chris Castaldo. I heard about this book and started reading it out of utter curiosity. It is about the differences and similarities between Protestant and Catholic Christianity, yet he writes it in a way that is very gentle and respectful to both sides, as it sounds as though he cares for everyone to understand each other better, and it is quite funny at the same time, such as this: "However, my editor (who has slightly bigger biceps than me) won the arm-wrestling match and which decided that instead of addressing all of these topics, which would make our book twice as long, I would direct the readers to another book. So here it is:" (113).
"Everything Sad is Untrue: A True Story" by Daniel Nayeri. This is a children's middle-grade novel and memoir about being a refugee in the USA. The storytelling is unlike anything I have read so far, and I like how he combines little tiny obscure details with larger, more serious ideas.
What I would like to read: so far I have placed a hold on a book called "The Witch's Vacuum" by Terry Pratchett, which I don't know anything about, but would like to read just because of the title.
The quote from the Castaldo book makes me laugh, and if that's the tone of the whole, so good! I'd like to pick that up. Words that bring people of faith together--yes.
"Holes" is such a good book, and to read aloud!
Ah--you are surely leaving behind the reading demands of your time at Uni... with joy!
Yes, you describe my mom's yellow/bird jacket--you do remember. And "sparkly" describes :)
Oh dear……such a time……thinking of you so much with your Mother.
As far as current reading, these past few days, I was hooked on The Circle by Dave Eggers…….and I am so not a poster,blogger,texter, happy or unhappy face/ like,follower,internet person!!
I'm glad your momma now feels more at peace at home, and I'm so sorry to hear of her news. These issues have been close to home for my family too, recently. Sending you thoughts, prayers, hugs, all the things!
As for reading, I've been creating instead. Not even writing, but digital collage—out of nowhere! So much consuming to catch up on now.
I am with you on the caregiving. Hope you and your mother are getting some rest, and can both keep laughing through it all. I'm reading Ayelet Tsabari's Songs for the Brokenhearted, and enjoying it. Just finished re-reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life (I wanted to read it for structure this time around, to see how she moved the story forward).
Thank you, Rachel. We are both restoring, I think. Today, puttering with chores.
So good and necessary to RE-read. For many reasons.
We're always reading as writers--which makes me sad. Those few books that return me to childhood-reading, when I wasn't reading with writer-mind, are magical. And then I have to read again.
I’m reading Carly Simon’s 2015 autobiography, “Boys in the Trees” and loving every word.
Earlier this month, I read Rona Maynard’s “Starter Dog”, and Moon Unit Zappa’s “Earth to Moon”. YES, I love autobiography by people I find interesting! In fiction, my highlights so far are Eleanor Catton’s “Birnam Wood”, “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray, and Kevin Wilson’s “Nothing to See Here” and “Perfect Little World”. Yes, can you tell I am a)retired and b)had second-hand “plane flu” as my kids returned from England on Sept 3?
And, apologies for my ‘last question’, hyper self-focused post - I hope your mum continues to improve! Now an orphan, a chunk older than you are, I think I auto-block mentions of parental decline - not a pleasant stage of life. May she have plenty of good years remaining!
Not at all--no apology needed! I appreciated the list!
I understand the auto-block. I've done the caregiving piece with my spouse, and have been realizing how it's just beyond exhausting. I'm not up for it, really.
Yes, she'd doing better. My sons spend time with her, too. Enormous help.
Thank you, Elizabeth--glad you are here, reading and writing :)
So sorry to hear about your mum, Alison. Hospitals are difficult places to be if you value peace and quiet. I understand your mum’s decision. Wishing you both well in this difficult time, and if readings is a good distraction or gives you comfort, then I hope your ‘to-be-read book pile is high and varied. Just finishing up my jury reading and critiques, but my next read is for my bookclub; Small Mercies by Denis LeHane (author of Gone Baby Gone). It’s a thriller set in a major eastern US city amid the violence and racism that accompanied the desegregation of US schools.
Alison, wishing you and your mom all the best! I love that your mom got an attack of the giggles while imitating her neighbour. So sane in such a high stress environment.
I just finished an Elly Griffiths novel, The Last Word. Love it. I like it better than her Magic Men series.
Just getting to this post now and have to write down all the books people are reading. I just finished Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Powerful story of the power of money and those who have it. Environment plays a big role.
I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I've read 50% and am still not sure about it. Some parts are funny but there is an underlying sadness. I hope your mom will be OK. Sending hugs to both of you.
Thank you, Darlene, for your well wishes! She's happier at home.
Interesting... about the book. I'll be curious to know where the end lands for you!
Thinking of you and your Mom, Alison ❤️ love the sense of humor and agree, sometimes you just wanna go home if you can.
Best wishes to you and your mother, Alison.
As to what I'm reading, well, I just finished The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade. Who? What? I know, I know. An oldie from 1861, which I read as background to my work editing a volume of Conan Doyle - and did you know, this book was Doyle's favourite novel. And it's a great book. (Horrible title, don't know who chose it, but it's a great tale of adventure in the Middle Ages, though it doesn't matter that it was the Middle Ages, it's just exciting with an interesting protagonist and for a while a sidekick, or really the protagonist is the sidekick - can that be? - tagging along after a heroic knight, and it reminded me of Holmes and Watson; maybe it inspired Conan Doyle.
Not that Sir Arthur says that; for him it's good novel because it brings the Middle Ages to life, but don't listen to him about that; he thought the most important role of fiction, especially historical fiction, was to teach you about an age. (I thought we had actual history books for that.) Anyway, that's what Conan Doyle said, often, and he gave short shrift to other sorts of fiction, like stories about detectives solving crimes: who cares about that? But he was wrong about that and wrong about what makes The Cloister and the Hearth a great book. Anyway, I do recommend it.
Ah... interesting how you see a possible genesis of Holmes and Watson... and Doyle didn't, or wasn't admitting to it.
I do find that reading something--yes, fiction--written within a time period, is indeed a solid way to research and come to understand something of that time period, the sense of it, the voice of is. To absorb it in a way that a history book can't get at.
Likewise, you reading Doyle's favoured book to learn something about the man himself--that makes sense to me.
Ha! to the man being not so positive about other sorts of fiction! We humans are a strange lot altogether, surely.
You've made me curious about this book! Thank you.
Conan Doyle consistently disparaged his own Holmes stories and said they kept him from his serious work (i.e., his historical novels like Sir Nigel, The White Company, etc.). Have you read those? No, few have (I have read The White Company, and it's no Hound of the Baskervilles). You can't trust an author to be the best judge of their own work.
As to reading fiction to understand an age, yes, I agree; I didn't make myself clear: The Cloister and the Hearth was written in 1861, but set in 1465; Conan Doyle praised it for being an accurate picture of 1465; I would rely on it less for that than for what it tells us about 1861.
Oh! Agreed. Works written within and from and of the time.
Our works become on their own; that's hard to acknowledge.
Was there more joy and abandon with writing not to "be serious"? I wonder. I think readers pick up on the state from which a work grows--even if it defies articulation. Or isn't even considered.
Thanks for clarifying, Sheldon!
Conan Doyle's relationship to Sherlock Holmes is interesting. Of course, he created him and knew he was popular - that in fact was a major reason he kept writing Holmes stories: there was pressure from the public (and his own mother!) to keep writing them (his mother even gave him an idea for a plot when he said he was thinking of giving Holmes up), and he made oodles of money from him, so he would say he was of course grateful for that, but he did really think his most important novel was The White Company (which no one's ever heard of). And of course he kept trying to kill Holmes off., e.g., at the Reichenbach Falls fighting Moriarty - but he kept having to bring him back.
Oh, and then at the end of his life he became interested in seances, Spiritualism, a campaigner for that, much more important than his "silly" detective, he thought ...
Did not know that Doyle didn't like Holmes!
It's useful to ponder: what/who we are in relation to our creations.
In 1980 I did an evening history course at UofT . I'd decided (already had a degree from there in history and lit) that novels written in the era could tell us a lot about events in the time. Wrote a paper on how Luddites were portrayed in Bronte. I think I was on to something - inter-discliplinary courses were on the horizon.
I am so sorry to hear that your mom had a stroke. Love that she has a sense of humor, though. (As do you.) I am reading several things including The Family Outing by Jessi Hempel (picked it up at Little Sisters a few days ago). Just finished Himawari House, a graphic novel by Harmony Becker. It is rare for me to read a graphic novel and I enjoyed this one. I hope your mother is recovering from her stroke.
She is doing well really. She's quite amazing.
Love the title, The Family Outing, and how it works.
Can you read multiple books because they're in different formats -- graphic novel simultaneously with traditional novel? Or can you/do you read more than one traditional novel at a time?
I can only read multiple books if they are poetry, nonfiction, fiction... but only one of each at a time. I rotate according to my mood or need, or simply the day!
I am glad that your mom is doing well. To answer your question about whether it is easier for me to read multiple books at the same time if they are in different genres, I haven't really thought about that. I think I have different purposes for reading. So I usually have a stack of researched books about the history of adoption or trans healthcare (for example) as well as some related memoirs, and I am using those to inform myself for various writing projects and etc, or for things going on in my life. And I have a few hardcover or paperback books here and there, often novels or memoirs. And my iPad (Kindle software) is full of all sorts of wonderful books that I want to read immediately. Plus, I have Libby software on my iPad and often listen to audiobooks from the VPL, or a few novels, sometimes thrillers. (Robert Crais' Hostage was a recent one.) I just pick up whichever book is gripping me at the moment or whichever is nearest to my fingertips. For the first time in a long time I'm beginning to read YA again and children's books. I guess having grandchildren has brought me back to the fold!
Oh! I love that you are reading work for youngers again :)
Books everywhere. There's something soul-building about that.
I started "Are You Afraid Of The Dark" by Sidney Sheldon.
How is Grandma now? I hope she's better?
She is, yes. The three weeks after a stroke are a vulnerable time, I now know. Time to be vigilant and aggressive with medication and approach. A learning curve.
What stands out about the read? Are you enjoying it?
Travelling in Central Europe for three weeks. To read on the train, I brought Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise, which opens with Strauss and Mahler going for a hike near Graz in the afternoon prior to the 1905 Austrian premiere of Salome. We’re attending the opera in Vienna next week. I also found on my phone a translation into English of the original Wilde play.
Oh! Reading as immersion, yes. Good. I do like how such pieces can all work together, and you'll absorb more from the experience. Enjoy!
Hello Alison!
I think I met your mother once! It was when I was telling her that I liked her sweater which was a most cheerful yellow colour and it had birds on it. Then she told me about how she found it in a thrift shop, and I remember she has a most enthusiastic and sparkly personality. I hope you and her are doing as well as can be.
And, other than that, here is what I have been reading:
I spent so much of the last year reading a Serious Textbook about Serious Political History Stuff that it has been a bit difficult to rewire my brain into remembering what it is like to read fiction books again. A few weeks ago I read "Holes" by Louis Sachar almost entirely out-loud to someone else. I kept on remembering the timing of this scene over and over:
"The Warden spoke softly. 'I don't especially care about your sunflower seeds.'" Mr. Sir moaned.
'If you must know,' said the Warden, 'I liked it better when you smoked.'
For a second, Mr. Sir's pain seemed to recede. He took several long, deep breaths. Then his head jerked violently, and he let out a shrill scream, worse than the one before.
The Warden turned to Stanley.
'I suggest you go back to your hole now.'" (91). (This is from a scene in which Stanley covers up for the other boys at Camp Green Lake by saying that he was the one who ate Mr. Sir's entire twenty-pound bag of sunflower seeds all by himself, and Mr. Sir takes Stanley to see the Warden, as Mr. Sir is addicted to eating sunflower seeds.)
What I am reading right now is:
"Rembrandt is in the Wind" by Russ Ramsey. It is about art and the lives of artists. I especially liked reading about Caravaggio because Caravaggio's life was a bit nuts! According to this book, he once started a fight in a restaurant because he threw a platter of hot artichokes at the waiter!
"Holy Ground" by Chris Castaldo. I heard about this book and started reading it out of utter curiosity. It is about the differences and similarities between Protestant and Catholic Christianity, yet he writes it in a way that is very gentle and respectful to both sides, as it sounds as though he cares for everyone to understand each other better, and it is quite funny at the same time, such as this: "However, my editor (who has slightly bigger biceps than me) won the arm-wrestling match and which decided that instead of addressing all of these topics, which would make our book twice as long, I would direct the readers to another book. So here it is:" (113).
"Everything Sad is Untrue: A True Story" by Daniel Nayeri. This is a children's middle-grade novel and memoir about being a refugee in the USA. The storytelling is unlike anything I have read so far, and I like how he combines little tiny obscure details with larger, more serious ideas.
What I would like to read: so far I have placed a hold on a book called "The Witch's Vacuum" by Terry Pratchett, which I don't know anything about, but would like to read just because of the title.
The quote from the Castaldo book makes me laugh, and if that's the tone of the whole, so good! I'd like to pick that up. Words that bring people of faith together--yes.
"Holes" is such a good book, and to read aloud!
Ah--you are surely leaving behind the reading demands of your time at Uni... with joy!
Yes, you describe my mom's yellow/bird jacket--you do remember. And "sparkly" describes :)
Thank you, Kathryn
Oh dear……such a time……thinking of you so much with your Mother.
As far as current reading, these past few days, I was hooked on The Circle by Dave Eggers…….and I am so not a poster,blogger,texter, happy or unhappy face/ like,follower,internet person!!
Ah, that's been on my shelved for ages, unread and waiting. Good to be hooked for days--that's how I was with the Mandela book.
Thank you for thinking of us!
I'm glad your momma now feels more at peace at home, and I'm so sorry to hear of her news. These issues have been close to home for my family too, recently. Sending you thoughts, prayers, hugs, all the things!
As for reading, I've been creating instead. Not even writing, but digital collage—out of nowhere! So much consuming to catch up on now.
There's a time to read, and a time to create!
And a time for things out of nowhere, too ...
I am with you on the caregiving. Hope you and your mother are getting some rest, and can both keep laughing through it all. I'm reading Ayelet Tsabari's Songs for the Brokenhearted, and enjoying it. Just finished re-reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life (I wanted to read it for structure this time around, to see how she moved the story forward).
Thank you, Rachel. We are both restoring, I think. Today, puttering with chores.
So good and necessary to RE-read. For many reasons.
We're always reading as writers--which makes me sad. Those few books that return me to childhood-reading, when I wasn't reading with writer-mind, are magical. And then I have to read again.
I’m reading Carly Simon’s 2015 autobiography, “Boys in the Trees” and loving every word.
Earlier this month, I read Rona Maynard’s “Starter Dog”, and Moon Unit Zappa’s “Earth to Moon”. YES, I love autobiography by people I find interesting! In fiction, my highlights so far are Eleanor Catton’s “Birnam Wood”, “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray, and Kevin Wilson’s “Nothing to See Here” and “Perfect Little World”. Yes, can you tell I am a)retired and b)had second-hand “plane flu” as my kids returned from England on Sept 3?
I enjoy autobiography and biography. This is a good list--thank you!
Oh, plane-flu. It's a Thing now! Sorry to hear. I hope you are 100% soon.
And, apologies for my ‘last question’, hyper self-focused post - I hope your mum continues to improve! Now an orphan, a chunk older than you are, I think I auto-block mentions of parental decline - not a pleasant stage of life. May she have plenty of good years remaining!
Not at all--no apology needed! I appreciated the list!
I understand the auto-block. I've done the caregiving piece with my spouse, and have been realizing how it's just beyond exhausting. I'm not up for it, really.
Yes, she'd doing better. My sons spend time with her, too. Enormous help.
Thank you, Elizabeth--glad you are here, reading and writing :)
So sorry to hear about your mum, Alison. Hospitals are difficult places to be if you value peace and quiet. I understand your mum’s decision. Wishing you both well in this difficult time, and if readings is a good distraction or gives you comfort, then I hope your ‘to-be-read book pile is high and varied. Just finishing up my jury reading and critiques, but my next read is for my bookclub; Small Mercies by Denis LeHane (author of Gone Baby Gone). It’s a thriller set in a major eastern US city amid the violence and racism that accompanied the desegregation of US schools.
Oh... jury-reading is not easy! A community-thank you to you!!!
Thank you for your kind words--I so appreciate.
Alison, wishing you and your mom all the best! I love that your mom got an attack of the giggles while imitating her neighbour. So sane in such a high stress environment.
I just finished an Elly Griffiths novel, The Last Word. Love it. I like it better than her Magic Men series.
I am not familiar with Griffiths... so had to look her up. Would The Last Word be a good starting place?
YES... to giggles!
Griffiths is fun! No, don't start with The Last Word. It's her latest. My neighbour bought it and I got to read it after her.
The Crossing Places is the first one in her forensic archeologist series.
Or the Postcript Murders in a series that reminds me a little of the Thursday Murder Club.
Thank you, Zoë!
Just getting to this post now and have to write down all the books people are reading. I just finished Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Powerful story of the power of money and those who have it. Environment plays a big role.
This title keeps crossing my path... I guess that's for a reason!