Saturday, June 27, 2015

An unplanned break

I lost my phone and internet service in the major storm that hit Houston a month ago (thankfully, though, not power and air conditioning).  A phone service box was submerged in the flooding, and it took AT&T three long weeks to repair it.  One of the storm's electrical surges also fried my modem, adding insult to injury.  During the three weeks, I was able to buy a week's worth of WiFi service at a time, from a different provider, but I could only use it on my phone.

With the phone, I had basic communication, including texts and emails.  But I knew from the start that I wouldn't be able to write anything of length.  I'm very clumsy on those tiny keyboards - I think I came too late to cell and smart phones.  So that meant nothing on the blog, which I found very frustrating.  I have gotten too used to writing about what I am reading, to sharing books that excite or entertain me, the ones that bring out the book evangelist. At one point I joked about tweeting reviews, and JoAnn found an example of someone experimenting with that, but I knew it wasn't really feasible.

I've read 18 books over the past month.  I'll never manage posts on all of them, but I did want to mention (briefly) a few that really stood out for me.  The first is Naomi Novik's Uprooted, a tale of magic set in an AU version of medieval Poland. Teresa and Helen both wrote great reviews of this, to which I will refer you.  As I mentioned elsewhere, I was initially disappointed when I found out her new book wasn't a Temeraire novel, but I am now completely reconciled and hoping for more stories from this world.

I admit that I bought my copy of Sir Alastair Dunnett's The Canoe Boys because he was the husband of Dorothy Dunnett, though I am on record as a fan of books about boat travel.  This book, originally published in 1950, chronicles a trip that he and a friend took by canoe in the early 1930s "From the Clyde Past the Cuillins," as the subtitle says - or for those of us less familiar with Scotland, from Glasgow through the Hebrides to Skye.  They set off in late August, though everyone warned them it was much too late in the year for such a trip.  Their attempt to publish a "weekly adventure paper for Scottish boys" called Claymore had just folded.  They saw this trip, and the articles they would write about it, as an opportunity to reach an adult audience with their ideas about the future of Scotland, and their own strong nationalism.  Dorothy Dunnett said that her husband was her inspiration for Francis Crawford of Lymond, and reading this I was reminded why.  It also made me wonder if the Dunnetts knew Patrick Leigh Fermor.  And it made me want to immediately book a holiday in the Hebrides - though not by canoe.

The last of Anthony Trollope's published novels, Mr Scarborough's Family was running as a serial when he died.  From the title I was expecting a family saga along the lines of the Gresham or Palliser families.  I had forgotten that the later Trollope stories are much darker.  On the first page, John Scarborough announces that his son Mountjoy is a bastard and that his second son Augustus is the true heir to the vast estate of Tretton Park.  This neatly outfoxes the moneylenders, to whom Mountjoy owes such vast sums that the estate will be lost the moment his father dies.  And Mr Scarborough has more secrets up his sleeve.  Meanwhile, there is an uncle who contemplates a late marriage, to cut out his own unsatisfactory heir.  The two stories play out against each other, tragedy and comedy, tied together by a young woman who wants to choose her own husband.  I found her story the least interesting, and a bit too drawn-out.  That aside, this is an amazingly powerful story, and Mr Scarborough such a fascinating character, even an heroic one.

It wasn't all reading joy, though.  Patricia Wentworth's The Alington Inheritance from 1960 was dull.  Characters had conversations, which they then repeated to others who hadn't been present, almost word for word. I kept wanting to say yes, you told us that already!  And I found the ending really unpleasant.  This is the first of hers that I really haven't enjoyed.  I'm passing it along to the library sale.  In other mystery news, though, I was glad to finally find the British Library Crime Classics at Murder by the Book.  I enjoyed Murder Underground, by Mavis Doriel Hay, and I have her Death on the Cherwell, as well as the book that started it all, J.Jefferson Farjeon's Mystery in White.

Finally, Girl in a Green Gown, by Carola Hicks, is an exploration of one of my favorite paintings, the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck (now in the National Gallery, which has an amazing on-line catalogue here). Carola Hicks writes about the creation of the work and its transfer to different owners, as well as exploring the various elements in the picture. I learned so much from this book, about a painting that I thought I knew well.  I knew nothing of its provenance, and in fact I have never read anything tracking a particular work from its creation.  How it ended up in the hands of a veteran of Wellington's army is a wonderful story in itself.  And I appreciated Carola Hicks' portrait of Bruges and the Lowlands in the 15th century, also brought so clearly to life by Dorothy Dunnett in her House of Niccolo series (which Hicks mentions).  I was tempted to re-read the first book in the series, Niccolo Rising, which I'd just read back in February.  Instead, I read a book on the 15th century Paston family, briefly mentioned in Hicks, which had been on my shelves for more than ten years.  Then I ordered an edition of the Paston Letters.  I also ordered a copy of The Cloister and the Hearth, by Charles Reade, which no one ever told me is set in the Lowlands at the same time (and features Jan van Eyck's sister Margaret).  Thus books beget books.

It's good to be back.

18 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're back! I just read Uprooted and am hoping for a sequel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. elizabeth, I can't remember if you've read the Temeraire books? I'm waiting to see how she wraps up the series in the final book - but I'd almost rather have more from this series now!

      Delete
  2. On the other hand, sometimes just having time to bask in books would be very welcome! (But glad the difficulties are getting resolved...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, there was definite basking :) Having the two flood-related days off from work helped with that, as did having no cable TV or Netflix (for different reasons). I'm glad it's fixed though, I missed my tablet so much!

      Delete
  3. Welcome back, Lisa! I wouldn't be able to write a blog post on a phone either, so I can imagine how frustrating the loss of internet must have been for you. What a great month of reading you've had, though - I love the sound of the Carola Hicks and Alistair Dunnett books. I've had both The Paston Letters and The Cloister and the Hearth on the TBR for a long time, but haven't got round to either of them yet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Helen, at one point I had a copy of The Paston Letters, but I must have given it away - so this will be my second copy. I'm really interested in The Cloister & the Hearth now - I've seen it described as one of the best historical novels ever written. I have a friend I'm anxious to pass on the Carola Hicks book to!

      Delete
  4. It's good to see you back, Lisa... we missed you!! I'm the same way when it comes to twitter, etc. on my phone, and my girls all laugh at me because I text with one finger! I somehow had the feeling tweeted book reviews would never work, lol. Still, it's amazing how much more you can read when you aren't blogging ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was awful even trying to leave comments with the phone. I noticed a lot of typos, and for some reason the comments would post twice. I'm also a one-finger texter & typist :) And I did notice the correlation between reading more books and spending less time on-line!

      Delete
  5. I just have to mention that I love reading your blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jennifer, thank you! I'm also enjoying exploring yours, though I haven't managed to comment yet.

      Delete
  6. It's lovely to have you back, Lisa. I have a copy of 'Uprooted' so I'm delighted that you thought so well of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you will enjoy it, Jane! I've been admiring the UK cover - so evocative.

      Delete
  7. And here I was hoping your blog absence was due to a fabulous vacation; sorry it was something so frustrating and un-fun instead. Glad you're back. The Carola Hicks book sounds amazing. I love art (and reading about art). Hope the rest of your summer goes much better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no, Lark, nothing so fun :) Carola Hicks also wrote a book about the Bayeux Tapestry that is now on my reading list too.

      Delete
  8. Oh poor YOU without any internet and such! The storms and flooding in Houston sounded awful, and I'm glad you weren't hurt or anything. But it is no fun to be without proper internet, so I sympathize. Delighted to see you back! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really tried not to whine, because so many people suffered so much worse in the flooding, and at least we still had power here (it was so miserable after Ike with weeks of no power). But it was awful, and I am appreciating all the sympathy :)

      Delete
  9. Argh, I can't even use the bigger keys of the ipad to write much on - it just seems such a painstaking chore, and then blogger generally rejects it anyway... Glad you're back with us. A less good Wentworth is a sad thing - her late works get increasingly rough - as though someone told her she needed to fit with the times. I think, too, that that is one where the coincidences are a bit too hard to swallow. Still, it isn't as bad as her Worst One Ever, The Girl in the Cellar - I think she died during the writing and they just published it as is. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do even worse with the keyboard on my tablet!

      Yes, I'll put up with a lot in coincidences, but not the young man turning up in the middle of the night, just as the young woman is wandering down the road in the darkness. I remember reading something about The Girl in the Cellar, and putting it on my "pass" list :)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to read, and to comment. I always enjoy hearing different points of view about the books I am reading, even if we disagree!