I thought I’d start a little alphabetical series, where I pick an author for each letter of the alphabet – sharing which of their books I’ve read, which I own, how I came across them etc.
IS there an author for each letter of the alphabet that I can do this for? No, of course not, but we’ll cross the bridge when we get to the back end.
I’m starting with Diana Athill, largely because everybody has all of Jane Austen’s books.
How many books do I have by Athill?
According to a quick sweep of my shelves, I have seven – which is a pretty high percentage of them, I think. One is fiction (the short stories published by Persephone), most are forms of autobiography, and there’s a collection of letters in there too. I used to own Alive, Alive Oh! but I think I gave it away after I’d read it.
How many of these have I read?
I have definitely read three – Stet, Somewhere Towards the End, and Midsummer Night in the Workhouse. There’s a real possibility that I’ve read Instead of a Letter too, but I’m not sure – she covers the main events of it in several of her other books, so the blurb might just be telling me things I already know.
How did I start reading Athill?
According to the notes in the front of these books, I bought Yesterday Morning in 2009, though I still haven’t read it. Most of the others came in some sort of Athill spree in 2013, which must have followed me reading my first Athill – the wonderful Stet. More on that in a mo.
General impressions…
Stet is the best book I’ve read about the publishing industry, though I haven’t read an enormous amount. It tells of Athill’s time working as an editor, and is a wonderful insight to that process – and, in the second half, she details her experience working with authors including Jean Rhys, V.S. Naipaul, and Brian Moore. It’s a delicious, fascinating, intelligent book.
I’ve had less success with her other memoir-driven books – largely because they are often about how she slept with married men, and wasn’t the wife silly and irrational to get upset about it. Obviously it takes two to tango, but it doesn’t feel like very edifying reading.
She is still a wonderful writer (or was, I should say, having died last year) – and I’ll keep reading these. I do find that a memoirist has to have an element at least of connection with the reader – you have to like them, in essence – and I deeply admire Athill, but don’t always like her. With those glasses on, I’ll keep reading. (As for her fiction – I remember enjoying the stories but they were a bit forgettable; it was not her metier.)
Next time – B is for…
I shan’t be deciding them in advance, but I suspect any long-term reader of Stuck in a Book will have no difficulty guessing where I’m leaning.
Great idea Simon. I’m already trying to think of one for X….
I would like to read Stet, but apart from that, as you say, I’m not too keen on things that slag off the wives of unfaithful husbands. (I’m just reading a novel where the ‘old money’ owner of the ‘big house’ is said to be justified in having a local and very public mistress because his wife isn’t ‘one of us.’)
I did read Athill’s A Florence Diary at the beginning of this year, and would definitely recommend that. It’s about her first trip abroad, in 1947, with her cousin Pen. (I reviewed it here: https://sconesandchaiseslongues.blogspot.com/2020/01/diana-athill-florence-diary.html.)
I’m wondering what you’ve got for B. Angela Brazil? John Bude? For me it would probably be Maeve Binchy.
Oh lovely – now I’ve been to Florence, albeit only for a day, it will make more sense to me.
This is a lovely idea, Simon. I would love to do this also, someday. I look forward to reading more of these.
Please do!!
Honore de Balzac?
Ha, call him Plan B
What a fun idea! If I could be organised, I might try it…
As for Athill, I’ve never read her, though I have been tempted. But I think I would get angry about her attitude towards stealing other people’s husbands – so much for loyalty amongst women….
Oh do try it, I’d love to see your alphabet!
I‘m sure it will be Frank Baker 😊
You are not wrong, Andrea :D
I’ve really enjoyed her books that I’ve read. I know what you mean about her attitude to relationships though. I’m sure she knew that she wasn’t quite normal in that department and I think she put it down to her early experience with her fiance who died in the war. I loved the BBC (?) programme about her, she stepped out on the streets of London very briskly for a 99 year old. I am quite drawn to eccentrics though – so entertaining.
Sounds like a great idea for a series of posts. Thanks, I didn’t know this author
I also enjoyed Stet and have the same reservations you have about her other memoirs. I didn’t get very far with the only one I’ve picked up. I have her short stories and will give them a try soon.
I’ve read Athill’s complete works and would agree with you that her fiction is underwhelming; the memoirs are really where it’s at for me. Somewhere towards the End is my absolute favourite, though I also loved Stet.
I’ve only read her Persephone short story collection, which I loved, but a quick search just showed me that many of her other books are available at the nearby libraries — must add them to my list when they finally reopen.
I love the idea of these themed posts. I’m also thinking about an A to Z focus on reading my own bookshelves, also inspired by Rachel’s mention on the recent Tea or Books? podcast.
I liked Stet and Instead of a Letter but have had no compulsion to read others since!
What a wonderful idea about the alphabet. I wish I had thought of it, but I’ll love looking at what you come up with — I did hope “B” would be for Sybille Bedford (a big favorite of mine) but judging from a previous comment your choice lies elsewhere!
I’m not a great reader of memoirs but Stet was great. I was less enthused about the next volume — I enjoyed it, but didn’t go on. I do have the Persphone short stories, unread on my shelf — maybe one day!
I recently read Instead of a Letter and I liked it. I’ve added Somewhere Towards the End to my reading list. I’d like to read about how she coped with old age.
Read and loved “Don’t look at me like That”. Excellent character portrayal and feeling Of the time. Think it shows she certainly could write fiction though once again suspension of moral judgement may be needed by some readers.
What a lovely project and a most wonderful beginning to it. Athill is someone I’ve got as a mini-project for this year, reading and rereading (likely to extend into the next year as I don’t own all of here books and the libraries are not running in their usual way yet). My guess was Ivy Compton Burnet, but given the comment above, I’m thinking, now, that I must have forgotten/overlooked an all-important hyphen.