All

Stuck-in-a-Book’s Weekend Miscellany

StuckinaBook All 14 Comments

I’m off for the Bank Holiday Weekend, on yet another holiday. I am definitely spoiling myself this year! This time it’s to Gloucestershire – to the village next to the one I grew up in (although that one was in Worcestershire; we were right by the boundary. And when we moved there it was the county of Hereford and Worcester. England, amirite?)

I’ll leave you with some bits and bobs…

1.) I was excited to get an email from Ruth Franklin, who is writing a biography of Shirley Jackson – and there is a place where you can sign up for occasional updates, if that interests you.

2.) The other day, a man in his 60s on the London Underground leant over to me and said “Can I just say – my wife and I are fascinated by the fact that you’re reading a hardback!” I mean… sure? I showed him the book (Nuts in May by Cornelia Otis Skinner) and he said “I haven’t even heard of this book!” Did he think he’d hard of all the books?

3.) I was on the Underground to go and see Gypsy. Imelda Staunton was every bit as wonderful as all the reviews have said – and I believe the soundtrack album is now out.

4.) Darlene has written a fab review of Barbara Comyn’s excellent novel The Vet’s Daughter, and I’m not just saying that cos I get a mention.

5.) And I also get a mention here, but this link is because somehow I overlooked my friend Epsie’s insightful and delightful review of Boel Westin’s biography of Tove Jansson.

6.) Another review! Lyn of I Prefer Reading has made me desperate to read this book about Rex Whistler. Then I saw the price. It’s on my Christmas list…

7.) Reading reviews of The Shelf (don’t miss my eulogising about it here) made me go out and buy To The River by Olivia Laing (walking the Ouse and writing about Virginia Woolf) and The Whole Five Feet by Christopher Beha, about reading all the Harvard Classics. Anybody know anything about these? I mean, I’ve already bought them, but I’d still like to know…

FYI: anti-spam attempts

StuckinaBook All 8 Comments

By the way, because I’m using WordPress.org rather than WordPress.com, I can’t use their built-in spam filter. So I’m trying a plug-in that may send proper comments to spam… I’ll experiment with it, and any others (recommendations welcome!) and we’ll see where we get to. If you do try to comment and it doesn’t work for ages, maybe let me know on Twitter @stuck_inabook :)

The Shelf by Phyllis Rose

StuckinaBook All , , , 21 Comments

The ShelfWell, it all seemed to go pretty well! Thank you so much for coming over to my new haunt. I will keep the terror at bay by carrying on as if things were normal – which I suppose they pretty much are, all things considered. And I’m going to be writing about another entry in my ongoing list of 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About, which is coming very near its 50th entry (and another will be added quite shortly).

The book (2014’s The Shelf by Phyllis Rose) is one I bought in Washington DC – in the remainder basement of Politics & Prose, no less – which Thomas from Hogglestock coincidentally bought in the same place not long before. We mentioned it briefly in the episode of The Readers that we recorded together, at which point I was in the middle of it and loving it. (As I also mention in that episode, I love buying books on holiday and starting them immediately – offering an opportunity for impetuous reading that I seldom give in to at home.) A day or two later I finished it, and my opinions were confirmed – it’s a real delight of a book that bibliophiles anywhere would love, I feel certain.

In some ways, Rose is like a blogger – in that she’s set herself a book project, and is documenting how she goes about it. Her task: to read everything on a shelf picked at random from the New York Society Library’s stacks. The idea for the experiment stemmed from a thought that many of us will wholeheartedly empathise with:

Believing that literary critics wrongly favor the famous and canonical – that is, writers chosen for us by others – I wanted to sample, more democratically, the actual ground of literature.

And, perhaps equally:

Who were all these scribblers whose work filled the shelves? Did they find their lives as writers rewarding? Who reads their work now? Are we missing out? I wonder if, at some point, all readers have the desire that I had then to consume everything in the library, but it is a desire no sooner formulated than felt to be impossible. One shelf, however, might be read, a part to stand for the whole.

Her opening chapter documents the difficulties she had with the supposed randomness of this exercise. Rose does not want to be left reading thirty books (for that was approximately how many were on each shelf) by the same author. She sets various parameters, but ultimately lands on the shelf LEQ to LES. And these are the authors on that shelf: William Le Queux, Rhoda Lerman, Mikhail Lermontov, Lisa Lerner, Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Etienne Leroux, Gaston Leroux, James LeRossignol, Margaret Leroy, Alain-Rene Le Sage, and John Lescroart.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be left scratching your head and wondering whether you really knew as much about books as you’d thought. The only author I’d heard of was Gaston Leroux, and I couldn’t remember why (and only later recalled that he wrote The Phantom of the Opera). Would I enjoy The Shelf, since it concerned only authors I knew nothing about?

I needn’t have worried.

This book is filled with such riches. Rose’s evaluative responses to the books don’t actually occupy a huge amount of The Shelf, although she is very funny about the books she thinks ridiculous (‘Hands down the worst book on the shelf is Le Queux’s Three Knots, a mystery that reads as if it were written by a eight-year-old on Percocet’) and also (which is far more difficult) winningly enthusiastic about those she loves. But The Shelf uses those books as the bases for talking about books in general; for talking about the process of reading, and how one engages with characters and an author’s intention.

This leads into separate discussions about the role of libraries, translation, the evolution of detective fiction, women writers etc. She brings out thought-provoking points like this, in a section on false categorizing…

There’s a way of suppressing respect for women writers that Joanna Russ didn’t mention, unless I have not understood her categories and this is somehow included. It is pointing to the woman writer and accusing her of privilege. What shall we call this? False populism? It’s bait-and-switch class warfare in which women, who might well be considered a class in themselves, are attacked for belonging to the middle-class – or, heaven save us, the upper class – by male critics who are themselves usually middle-class but speak as though they were working a twelve-hour shift in a steel mill. The woman writer enjoys a privilege that offends them. Her focus on family and relationships seems trivial. Her way of getting at truth seems indirect and banal. Her feel for the specific detail verges on an obsession with brands.

And more witty musings, like the following (which I could hardly not quote, could I?):

How do the British do it? They manage to be so deep and so funny at the same time. It’s as though they’ve all been taught to take the most extreme position possible and assume that that’s the standard, the received wisdom, and then to introduce the true and ordinary as a revelation. They begin with the high-flown what-ought-to-be and puncture that with the deflating edginess of what is.

But I think what I mostly love about The Shelf is Rose’s style and genuine love for literature. Like many of the bloggers I love most, she meanders from topic to topic, one thing reminding her of another, being brazenly honest about the things she loves and loathes in literature and life (if you’ll forgive that much alliteration). It is all so much more compelling than a series of critical reviews would have been; life is there. The more I think about it, the more it feels like the most engaging reflection on a blog project ever.

And what of the books themselves? They are the bulk of The Shelf, even if not in a literary criticism sort of way. and I have neglected to write about them much. Well, that’s because they could have been any selection, really, and The Shelf would be equally fascinating. We discover that Rose loves Rhoda Lerman’s work and hates William Le Queux’s – but it is much more interesting to see her track Lerman down and compare lives, or to wonder at Lerman prizing most the work that Rose considers her failure.

I want to read Baron Bagge and Count Luna by Alexander Lernet-Holenia, after hearing Rose’s response to it, but I was equally fascinated by her unexpected love for Lesage’s 18th-century enormous work Gil Blas, which I haven’t the smallest intention of reading.

Mostly, I was left wanting to read more by Phyllis Rose – which, before the end of my holiday, I had. But more on that another day. For now – bibliophiles, I feel sure you will love The Shelf. Please track down a copy. At the very least, there’s a pile in the basement of Politics & Prose.

 

Welcome to StuckinaBook.com!

StuckinaBook All 65 Comments

Thanks for visiting Stuck in a Book at my old site – and welcome to my new one! If you were searching for a particular page, then the content will all still be here. Search in the search bar on the right, use the drop down menu to search for authors, or check out a list of all my reviews.

Or just head to StuckinaBook.com homepage and have a look around! It’s lovely to have you here. Below is the post I wrote when I first moved here.

**********************************************************************************************

I feel (oddly) extremely nervous about this – but here is my new blog, StuckinaBook.com! But we’re friends; we can still call it plain old Stuck in a Book. Hopefully it has enough similarities to my previous incarnation to make you feel at home.

It feels rather a strange move, after more than eight years at Blogger, but the number of people who couldn’t post comments, and Thomas’s successful move, finally convinced me to give WordPress a go. (I’ve actually gone for WordPress.org and a web host, which may or may not end in tears.) Fingers crossed for a better comment experience for people here. So, I’ve been breathing deeply and anxiously, hoping I don’t lose all my readers and traffic, because I would hate to see that happen – but comforting myself that I can always go back to Blogger if everything goes horribly wrong.

More positively – welcome! All the content from my old blog is here, with a slightly altered header and a little bit less in the sidebar. Make yourself at home, do say hello, and all should proceed as normal from now on.

(Oh, and if you could update links, blog readers, etc. you would be making me feel very happy!)

London War Notes: now a Persephone!

StuckinaBook All 17 Comments

Back in 2013, when I listed the best books I’d read that year, I had not a moment’s doubt in putting London War Notes by Mollie Panter-Downes at the top of the list. I wrote:

It changed the way I think about the day-by-day events of the second world war, and (like Guard Your Daughters at the top of 2012’s list) I think it is scandalous that it’s out of print. Well, Guard Your Daughters is coming back into print in 2014, so fingers crossed for London War Notes following suit…
Well, sadly Guard Your Daughters never made it into print, but the crossed fingers for London War Notes worked a treat. Now you can get your own copy – in a beautiful Persephone edition, no less! More info from their site, here.

If this doesn’t quite match my excitement when Miss Hargreaves came back into print, it’s not a million miles away – London War Notes is such a valuable resource and a wonderful book that I do urge you to rush out and get a copy. Or, let’s face it, order it online from the comfort of your own bed.

And do pop back and let me know what you think of it! If you’ve reviewed it, put a link in the comments, as I’d love to read people’s responses.

Me… on The Readers podcast!

StuckinaBook All 6 Comments

Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s pic of my haul – do keep ’em coming!

I was going to save this for a mention in another post, but I couldn’t wait. It’s no secret that I have long wanted to appear on an episode of The Readers (and actually had that privilege in its very early days, where I talked about my favourite books). I’ve not been subtle about it.

Well, this time I got to be a guest for the whole episode! I stayed a night with Thomas while in DC, and we recorded an episode in his beautiful library (with Simon replacing Simon for an ep, confusingly).

I was pretty nervous and stunned to start with, but relaxed after a bit and had a really great time discussing bookish things with Thomas – specifically (1) our ideal bookish holidays, and (2) how many chances you give an author before giving up on them. And all sorts of tangents.

If you don’t already subscribe to The Readers through iTunes or similar, you should – it’s always fab – but you can download the episode by searching there, or you can listen online here.

Thomas and Simon do it every fortnight, so do check it out. I had such a blast doing it, and it goes without saying that I’d always be thrilled to be invited back, if I haven’t disgraced myself. And it has rather given me a taste for podcasting… something I will mull over.

Anyway – go and have a listen, or download it and listen while walking/driving/etc. and let me know what you think!

The books I bought in the US of A

StuckinaBook All 30 Comments

I’m back! Thank you for your lovely comments on my previous post – and for those of you who emailed/Facebooked/tweeted because of Blogger being so hopeless with comments. Any sort of communication is always a delight :)

I had such a wonderful time in Washington DC (and bits of Virginia and Maryland too). I’ll be writing more about the trip soon, including meeting up with a whole heap of bloggers, but I’ll start with what you really want to know: the books I bought.

Well, dear readers, I bought a heck of a lot. 34, I think. And, since I’d brought 7 books with me, that meant carrying more than 40 to the airport – and a substantial percentage were crammed in my hand luggage. It was quite the feat. And… here they are, with a little bit about why I bought them. As always, do comment (or email/tweet etc.!) if you have read any, want to know more about any, etc. etc.

The World in Falseface – George Jean Nathan
I was partly drawn to the prettiness and neat size of this book, but (less shallowly), it’s about the theatre, and I always love that.

The Small Room – May Sarton
Big-time May Sarton fan Thomas (from My Porch) wasn’t even with me when I picked this up – but it seemed like it could be a fun one.

Last Leaves – Stephen Leacock
A Leacock I didn’t own, to join the piles of Leacock books I’ve yet to read… In fact, I don’t think I’ve read any for about ten years, so must get onto that.

Nabokov’s Butterfly – Rick Gekoski
A book about books – specifically book dealing with 20th-century classics. Called Tolkien’s Gown in the UK, I think.

The Pilgrim Hawk – Glenway Wescott
Someone recommended this… Anyway, an NYRB Classic and an intro by Michael Cunningham sold me on it.

Alien Hearts – Guy de Maupassant
And another beautiful NYRB by an author I’ve been intending to read.

Portrait of an English Nobleman – E.F. Benson
Janet – E.F. Benson
Two in a series EFB wrote about different periods in London, with beautiful dustjackets.

The Shelf – Phyllis Rose
Non-fiction, about an experiment where Phyllis Rose decided to read everything on the LEQ-LES shelf of the New York library. I read this one while in DC, and it’s BRILLIANT. More soon.

Soap Behind the Ears 
Nuts in May
The Ape in Me 
Dithers and Jitters 
Family Circle – Cornelia Otis Skinner
I really loved Popcorn by Cornelia Otis Skinner (and I’m going to write about it soon) but she’s quite tricky to track down in the UK. So I had a parcel of Skinner books delivered to my friend’s address, to take away with me…

Barrel Fever – David Sedaris
Naked – David Sedaris
Sedaris is another one who is readily available in the US, and a little less so here.

Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House – Eric Hodgins
This one went on my Amazon wishlist ages ago, and I can’t remember why. But this edition is a beauty, and the two things combined made it irresistible.

Classics for Pleasure – Michael Dirda
Book about books = sold.

Why I Read – Wendy Lesser
…and another.

Benefits Forgot – G.E. Stern
A really beautiful copy of one of Stern’s memoirs – which are piling up on my shelves now.

Bookends – Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern
I enjoyed their book about friendship and book dealing, and, well – this one seems to be about the same thing.

The Ironing Board – Christopher Morley
Morley is everywhere in the US, and I nabbed this fun-looking collection.

By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham
On the plane, I read the Cunningham novel I bought last time I was in the US (A Home at the End of the World) so I thought I should replace it with another!

Mr Whittle and the Morning Star – Robert Nathan
The Enchanted Voyage – Robert Nathan
And last time I bought, read, and really enjoyed Robert Nathan’s Portrait of Jennie – so, this trip, I took the opportunity to buy a couple more.

Absence of Mind – Marilynne Robinson
I’ve never really tried any of Robinson’s non-fiction works (and am rather daunted by them). This one is on theology and science, and maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to give it a go.

Family Man – Calvin Trillin
Remembering Denny – Calvin Trillin
Trillin is another author to be found everywhere in the US, and these two caught my attention – particularly the intriguing Remembering Denny, about a high school star who came to nothing.

Literary Feuds – Anthony Arthur
I can’t lie, I love a literary feud…

Letters from the Editor – Harold Ross
I also love a collection of letters, and this one from the man who set up the New Yorker promises to be the best of the literary 1920s.

The Year of Reading Proust – Phyllis Rose
Another book by Rose that I bought and read while in America. It’s even made me think about give old Marcel a try…

The Faithful Servants – Margery Sharp
Despite intending to only buy books that were hard to find in the UK, I couldn’t leave this lovely Sharp behind.

Two-Part Invention – Madeleine L’Engle
This is another one that was on my Amazon wishlist for ages and I don’t remember how it got there – but now it’s all mine!

More on the bookshops, people, and activities soon – but, for now, let me know your thoughts on my purchases!

8 years of blogging!

StuckinaBook All 31 Comments

Yep, dear blog readers, today is 8 years since I started blogging at Stuck-in-a-Book. Every year it comes around more quickly, and I seem to be running through the numbers at a rate of knots.

Thanks so much to all the lovely people who read this, particularly those who have been reading for many years. I really do appreciate your comments, emails, links, and friendship – and, of course, your blogs (for those of you who blog).

As you read this, I am off on a ‘plane to America, visiting my friend in Washington DC. While there I am planning on meeting up with FIVE bloggers, three of whom I haven’t met before. I’m not back til the 20 April, so you may hear their reports before you hear mine – and I am intending on returning to Blighty with bagfuls of books, of course.

See you in a couple of weeks!

NYRB Classics: recommendations?

StuckinaBook All 14 Comments

Loving Alfred and Guinevere and Skylark makes me think… are there little-known NYRB Classics that you would especially recommend?

I find that their list is extremely varied, and there are lots that I probably wouldn’t bother picking up – but I am besotted with many of their authors, including Tove Jansson, Elizabeth von Arnim, Elizabeth Taylor, Ivy Compton-Burnett, and Rose Macaulay. And then things like those two novels aforementioned that I knew nothing about before being seduced by those NYRB covers. OH, and the extraordinary The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton.

(I have stolen Thomas’s image of NYRBs again, because I love it so much. Sorry, Thomas. And thanks.)

So please, dear NYRB fans, let us know your recommendations in the comments, please!