Published in 1956. Another sharp, cynical read. Pity it's out of print in English. Excellent. Published in 1956. Another sharp, cynical read. Pity it's out of print in English. Excellent. ...more
My first experience with Annie Ernaux. I thought it was a very powerful book. An interesting interplay between memory, nostalgia, and position of womeMy first experience with Annie Ernaux. I thought it was a very powerful book. An interesting interplay between memory, nostalgia, and position of women in 1958 France. Curious to see what people think has and has not changed. ...more
This book tripped me up for my book count for 2023! The writer is amazing, fabulous, articulate, immersive. But I don't like reading about downfalls iThis book tripped me up for my book count for 2023! The writer is amazing, fabulous, articulate, immersive. But I don't like reading about downfalls in general. It's the same issue with the movie Titanic or Henry James' Portrait of a Lady. I just lose my momentum and desire. I start going slower and slower because I know what's going to happen and I know I won't like it! Anyways, I made it. I had to finish this trilogy. I now know more about Thomas Cromwell than I ever imagined. ...more
So glad I finally got to read Matt Haig's work! I really enjoyed this book. So glad I finally got to read Matt Haig's work! I really enjoyed this book. ...more
I'm not a reader with a vast amount of knowledge about cooking nor the Franco-American foodie scene of the 1970s. However, I enjoyed this book. I realI'm not a reader with a vast amount of knowledge about cooking nor the Franco-American foodie scene of the 1970s. However, I enjoyed this book. I really liked the construct that M.F.K. Fisher was facing her old life and, now stale, views. There can be a romanticism of France that blinds Americans -- it's not Emily in Paris --and it was interesting to see how these notorious American expats balanced their lives and opinions between the two countries; And, how their views evolved over time.
Fisher is such a sharp and vivid writer that her excerpts and observations were the highlight of the book. Not surprisingly there were also many interesting cooking tips and tidbits inserted throughout. As someone who has never chronicled my own meal in my entire life, I found the whole thing novel and therefore arresting. Side note: if you are interested in Fisher, Consider the Oyster is another gem. It's snappy and dry and filled with recipes and restaurants that conjure up smoky American roadside diners and elegant pre-war hotels.
Julia Child, as usual, seems to sail through the book, untouched. There is something so unapologetic about her character she sparkles right off the page. The other characters held varying degrees of my interest.
I'm not surprised that this book was written by a relative of M.F.K Fisher, it goes to a level of detail balanced with nostalgia that only a member of family would take the time to write. To me it seemed like an author's labor of love and a very touching tribute to his family. ...more
The extraordinary story of the elegant and aristocratic Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, an unlikely leader who ran a resistance network throughout WWII. ForThe extraordinary story of the elegant and aristocratic Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, an unlikely leader who ran a resistance network throughout WWII. For me the book brought several elements of the war starkly into relief. You learn about the infighting and politics between the spy networks of the UK and the various internal French forces all on the side of the resistance. But above all you learn about the sheer scale of ordinary citizens, teenagers and scouts, policemen, housewives and bankers who chose to help the French resistance and who were rounded up and executed or imprisoned and sent to camps. The level of risk and the consequences impressed me. How you would behave in the same situation, would you be that brave? Or would you be filled with energy to have something to fight for? The portraits of some of these people positively sparkle.
I'm glad that this book exists both to highlight an incredible leader (who also happens to be female) and also to honor the lives of these men and women....more
The Jane Austen binge continues. I must admit that I hit a wall with this one. Sense and Sensibility moved along so merrily and with great suspense, whThe Jane Austen binge continues. I must admit that I hit a wall with this one. Sense and Sensibility moved along so merrily and with great suspense, while Northanger Abbey had a few moments where I thought, "Oh gosh, do I really have to pick this book up again?"
After I finished the novel I started doing more research including reading the introduction by crime writer Val McDermid (I make it a policy never to read introductions as I they often include spoilers), and realized that this was the first novel Austen wrote.
From that lens it all makes sense. The novel has the feeling of being with someone who is trying on various outfits. Austen plays around with the gothic and supernatural, a la Women in White or Frankenstein, with varying degrees of success. Yet her sparkling Austen wit is simmering beneath the surface. This makes for a tone that is a bit uneven: mysterious characters, romantic comedy scenes, moral digression.
You also see the origins of Austen's house fixation (she really likes nice houses); Her overwrought and romanticized description of Northanger Abbey was one of the sections of the book where I needed a breather. There is also a really interesting moral condemnation of romanticism, which I think was Austen's illustration of her female protagonist evolving from a girl to woman. It's a transition that she handles as a first-time novelist, successfully in many areas, but also a bit heavy-handed in others.
However, it's all good work, because you see the foundations of her later beloved characters in these experiments. Isabella, the annoying female who is slippery and selfish speaks more in monologues than Austen's later works has so much meat to her and reincarnates into many of Austen's beloved later characters. Her sketch of the rake is suitable annoying but still a bit unrefined. And as for Mr. Tilney, the love interest, the tension is not quite there, but you have all her other books to look forward to....more
Well, at this point I am waist-deep into my accidental Austen binge. I might as well read the other three. This time it was Sense and Sensibility. (I Well, at this point I am waist-deep into my accidental Austen binge. I might as well read the other three. This time it was Sense and Sensibility. (I started with Persuasion, followed by Mansfield Park.) Sense and Sensibility struck me as remarkably boisterous after Mansfield Park, which seemed to meander in details. And Marianne is by far the most modern heroine I've read in this binge of three. Her habit of expressing exactly what she thinks and feels seems much more inline with current behavior. And vanity, selfishness and seriousness were three tropes that played loud and long.
There is always a rake in Austen's books and Willoughby is one of the best in her quiver. He's handsome, charming, fun and goes along with things. But behind that easy-going nature you find a man that doesn't take himself or others seriously. I think seriousness, which is one of the redeeming qualities of Elinor and Colonel Brandon, is a quality that Austen takes great pains to extoll the virtue of throughout this novel. "Take your heart seriously! Take yourself seriously!" she seems to be saying.
I appreciate this emphasis on respect of the mind and the person because it renders her characters positively feminist. Her heroines are never silly. And many of Austen's other characters are fabulous foils to her women of integrity: that vile Lucy, idiotic Lady Middleton, small, mean Mrs. Dashworth.
Also, the dialogue between Elinor and Lucy is some of the best in the book. Austen conveys such a subtle nastiness that leaves you on the edge of your seat. There are so many layers and double entendres as Lucy tries to incite as much pain as possible. It's a ringside seat to horrid girl games at its best.
Finally, as I was reading this book, and I stopped at one point and thought to myself, "She really is a master of uncomfortable situations." You cringe in the beginning when Mrs. Dashword convinces her husband to give his sisters nothing but occasional acts of kindness. Elinor and Edward's dysfunctional dynamic leaves you in spasms of pain. Marianne seeing Willoughby in London makes you want to cover your eyes with your hands! Austen's a specialist of tension in Sense and Sensibility. You're never quite comfortable until you reach the end. And when you do, you're disappointed. Somehow you've gotten used to a prolonged state of discomfort!...more
**spoiler alert** My accidental Austen binge continues. I moved on from Persuasion to Mansfield Park this week, which struck me as Austen spending hun**spoiler alert** My accidental Austen binge continues. I moved on from Persuasion to Mansfield Park this week, which struck me as Austen spending hundreds of pages working out through her prose exactly what bothers her about certain people. I think Austen's profound intelligence makes most people irritating to her. The Crawfords for example. Mr. Crawford is vain, silly, and in my opinion, weak. I think Austen abhors the propensity in some people to guide their behavior by how others will see them. Miss Crawford is another prime example. Austen writes "It was the detection, not the offence which she reprobated," which crystalizes her perfectly.
This got me wondering what Austen would think of today's Instagram and Facebook's idealized images and humble-brags posts and the like. A life lived for exterior fruits, would surely be under censure!
It really is refreshing to read Austen against today's backdrop. The internal world is so valued: integrity, lack of artifice, principles. All wonderful things. How can we continue to make sure these characteristics get their due? Can social media be changed, conquered, swayed?
As for our main character, after Anne Elliot of Persuasion Fanny Price struck me a confused and very uncomfortable young woman, while Elliot, to use a Austen turn of phrase, was "quite fixed in her character." Then again, Fanny is much younger in this book and you gradually see her grow up. In many ways Mansfield Park felt more complex than Persuasion, there are so many highly developed characters, not just our heroine. I'm sure it's another book that deserves a rereading from time to time.
To conclude, I'll leave you with one my favorite quotes from the novel: "She was of course, only too good for him, but as no one minds what is too good for them..."...more
Larson is an incredible investigator and this book reads like a well-assembled collection of research written in a vivid, cinematographic style. BasedLarson is an incredible investigator and this book reads like a well-assembled collection of research written in a vivid, cinematographic style. Based on multiple diaries of people who lived during this period, the nonfiction work pulls from diaries from both the famous and the mundane to show us what life was like in England during the early years of WWII.
The last Larson book I read was his In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, which I read during a harrowing moment of my life. The story and perhaps my own story were somewhat augmented by the ominous drumbeat of Berlin leading up to WWII. This time, the backdrop of global panic around the Coronavirus made for some interesting comparisons. One item that struck me the most clearly about this story, is how "present" the diarists were in the moment. There were many recounts of how beautiful London was both during and right before a blitz. Where I am currently, near several hot spots, is incredibly quiet and almost painfully lovely.
I also very much enjoyed the colorful portrayals of the various players, particularly Churchill the man, charging about like an angry rhinoceros in his kimono, reciting poetry, and taking copious baths.
The only piece of criticism I would offer is that the book wraps up very quickly after the U.S. joins the war and I would have preferred more detail for these later years.
Very interested to see what Larson takes on next. ...more
I picked this up on a whim at Bart's Books and it's a nice departure from 2017. In general, I think having read a few major medieval texts prior to piI picked this up on a whim at Bart's Books and it's a nice departure from 2017. In general, I think having read a few major medieval texts prior to picking this up would increase your chance of enjoying it! I had taken a course on Courtly Love and also one about the influence of the Black Death on religious art, so it was fun to stir up some very distant memories....more
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