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As with 2012’s Century of Books, there are some books which – for one reason or another – don’t get their own blog post, but I still need somewhere to link to in my run-through of 100 books. So… here is that place! Or at least the first part of it. Let’s call them mini-reviews; that sounds better.
The Perfect Stranger (1966) by P.J. Kavanagh
A friend lent me this; it is a memoir of a young man’s life – at Oxford, at war, and in love. I certainly liked it, and it was rather moving, but that’s about all I remember now.
The Sittaford Mystery (1931) by Agatha Christie
I think my Reader’s Block is FINALLY over, and that means my Agatha Christie binge has probably come to an end too. Whenever I read too many in a row, the plots have to be really good to impress me, and – well – I just read too many, I guess. So I liked The Sittaford Mystery and I think it was probably quite artful, but I didn’t appreciate it as much as I could have done. I did very much like the feisty, no-nonsense, secretly-sensitive heroine who took on the role of quasi-detective. I think her name was Emily?
Inclinations (1916) by Ronald Firbank
Mike Walmer kindly sent me a copy of this, but I’m afraid I didn’t have a clue what was going on while I read it. I love some books which are mostly in dialogue (I call Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett to the stand) but this one just baffled me. Luckily Karen/Kaggsy enjoyed it more – read her review for more elucidation.
Riding Lights (1955) by Norman MacCaig
Green Song and other poems (1944) by Edith Sitwell
Every now and then I think I should try poetry. I don’t remember anything at all about these.
"Every now and then I think I should try poetry. I don't remember anything at all about these." LOL!!
And thank you for the link! I *think* I got Inclinations!!
I have decidedly not improved my mind!
I am halfway through the Sittaford Mystery right now, as it seemed to be one I definitely hadn't read before. And am also enjoying the heroine very much, though she takes a while to come on the scene.
She's so fun! I wish she'd appeared in more Christies.
I remember reading "The Perfect Stranger" about 20 years ago and it made quite an impression on me. You omitted to mention that the 'perfect stranger' is his wife Sally who died suddenly very young. I've followed him as a poet since then, but I haven't found the same person. It's a bit like meeting someone with whom you had a passionate friendship years ago to realise that he isn't at all the person of your imagination.
I did omit mentioning that, and deliberately ;) I wanted to avoid giving spoilers!
HA your comment about poetry made me HA out loud. I'm always glad when other literary, bookish types don't really "get" poetry – I like John Donne and Wendy Cope and the First World War Poets and nothing much else!
Oh, this also reminds me that I've read another of my Century of Books but have forgotten to put the link in my Century List … must do that right away!