One of the great joys of summer, as we all know, is catching up on our reading. Whether it’s on the beach, on a couch, back in bed for another luxurious hour — it’s that little indulgence that means summer holidays. Here’s what I read this summer:
Echo House by Ward Just: This book is at least a decade old, and I’ve been meaning to read it for years. It tells the story of three generations of a behind-the-scenes Washington DC family as they live out their lives and the political life of their country within the walls of their Washington home. It’s beautifully told, wonderfully written, and in this election year, very poignant.
The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst: An interesting way to follow the mores and the sensibilities of English society throughout the 20th century, especially as it applies to homosexuality. Again, families within houses are used as the framework for the story and we watch not only as the families change, but also as the buildings change. I enjoyed this, although I didn’t love it as much as I had expected to.
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh: Starting in the 1960’s, two families are followed — one English and one Bengali — as their lives intertwine and are affected both by each other and by world events. God, can this man write! A wonderful book. Funny and compelling in equal measure. And again, the role of specific homes and the way the buildings house the families is used as the framework. I wasn’t looking for that thread in my reading, but it was there nonetheless. Interesting…
Dowsing and Science: Essays by J.D.Smith: I actually don’t read a lot when I’m sitting on the beach. I’m more likely to be chatting or staring into space. So in my beachbag I like to keep something that I can read in small bursts, like poetry or essays. I started, and nearly finished, this collection of essays last year. But I was happy to find it still there waiting for me this summer, and I spent my non-chatting beach time re-reading these funny and insightful essays. J.D (who I am happy to say I know personally) has a wide-ranging intellect, a great sense of humour and a keen, often unusual perception. I love this book and am looking forward to finding it in my beachbag again next year.
On Poetry by Gyn Maxwell: I haven’t quite finished this one yet and I know I will be writing an entire post about it alone in the near future. Just to say that I read this with a highlighter in my hand and once a page find myself putting the book down and staring into space in amazement at the beauty and clarity of thought. I may have already published two collections of poems, but I feel like this book is teaching me about poetry all over again. But more on that later….
So, what did you read?
thanks to book aunt.blogspot.com for this image. This isn’t me, but it could be…it’s my hat! |
I didn’t get any vacation reading time this summer (shame!) but I have been re-reading some old favourites, the three most recent being ‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov, which is simply a classic, ‘The Long Goodbye’, by Raymond Chandler, also a class act and a reminder of what a writer Chandler was. And the ‘The Black Lights’ by Thomas Hauser, a journalist, which is about the inside world of professional boxing from the late 1980s and manages to be both engaging and critical and avoids the clichés that have grown up around the sport.
OK, Sue, I can see I’m gradually losing you here, book by book…
No, you’re not losing me, Joe! I love both the Bulgakov and Chandler. ‘Black Lights’ is intriguing — really . Believe it or not, after my grandfather died, my grandmother had a long relationship with a man we began to call “Red Walter.” He was a good, old-fashioned NY Jewish “Commie” from the old school. And he ran a “health club”, ie a boxing ring. I’d love to know about that world.