FFTA

Didn’t we all get excited over the past couple of days?  Mum and I have very much enjoyed the debates we’ve been having – your comments have been hilarious.  Some of you I’ll never look at in quite the same light again.

Anyway, on with the show – and another trip down memory lane for Five From The Archive.  This week…

Five… Books About Death

A quick note.  I am definitely not intending to be glib about death or grief – but I think it is fascinating to see the many and varied ways in which death is treated in fiction and non-fiction.  Obviously ‘death’ is a huge topic, but it’s thought-provoking to see how it has influenced such different books – some treating death with reverence and mourning; some as a matter of historical interest; some as merely a plot point.

I had the delight of seeing Karen/Cornflower on Sunday, and she laughed nervously when I asked her whether or not she thought it would be a good idea… but I’m going to go ahead, trusting that you know I wouldn’t intend to be flippant about grief.  Ok?  Ok.

1.) Death and the Maidens (2007) by Janet Todd

In short: Todd uses the suicide of little-known Fanny Wollstonecraft as the starting point for exploring the strange and fascinating, intertwining lives of the Shelleys, Wollstonecrafts, and Godwins.

From the review: “According to Hogg (and also quoted by Todd), Shelley was ‘altogether incapable of rendering an account of any transaction whatsoever, according to the strict and precise truth, and the bare naked realities of actual life’. It is to Todd’s great credit that the reverse is true for her – what could have become sensationalised or hand-wringing is, in fact, told with a caring honesty. Death and the Maidens does not fall into the other trap, which much literary biography does, of dryness and dullness – though the research is doubtless impeccable, Todd does not write this work in an overly-scholarly manner.”

2.) In the Springtime of the Year (1974) by Susan Hill

In short: A young woman comes to terms with the sudden death of her husband.

From the review: “Some of my favourite writers are those who can weave an involving narrative without huge set pieces or plot turns. The biggest event having happened in the first few pages, this novel is more a study of grief than a rollercoaster of events. From the immediate aftermath; the funeral; Ruth’s difficult relations with Ben’s family; closer kinship with Ben’s younger brother; dealing with Ben’s possessions; moving onwards to the future without him – each stage is subtly and intimately shown – never too much introspection, and always writing of so high a standard that it doesn’t feel like cliché.”

3.) Let Not The Waves of the Sea (2011) by Simon Stephenson

In short: Easily the most moving book on this list.  Stephenson’s brother was killed in the new year tsunami, and this beautiful book traces past and future – a biography, autobiography, travelogue, and even a philosophy.

From the review: “It is often said that first-time authors put everything into their book – with novels, this is meant is a criticism.  Every idea is thrown in, to the detriment of the structure and unity required of fiction.  With non-fiction, with Let Not The Waves of the Sea, putting everything in is what makes Stephenson’s book so special. […] This book is as full and varied and complex as the life it commemorates, and I consider it a privilege to have been able to read it.”

4.) The Driver’s Seat (1970) by Muriel Spark

In short: My third Spark, and the one which made me love her – we learn early on that eccentric tourist Lise has been killed, and this short novel traces the curious events leading up to her death.

From the review: “The novel [is] some sort of waiting game, the reader never being quite sure where they stand. Spark’s prose is deliberately – and deliciously – disorientating. We move in and out of Lise’s thoughts, never quite grasping hold of her perspective, nor yet letting it slip entirely out of reach.”

5.) Murder at the Vicarage (1930) by Agatha Christie

In short: You know the score with Agatha Christie… it’s interesting how death has become emotionless for the reader in murder mysteries, isn’t it?  All the usual red herrings and impossibilities in typical Christie fare.

From the review: “What I wasn’t expecting, what I had somehow either forgotten or never noticed, was how funny Christie is. The problems the vicar and his wife have with their servant are written so amusingly, I laughed out loud a few times. She also has the drifting ‘oh gosh how we simply shrieked’ type down pat too.”

This is probably the vastest topic yet in Five From the Archive, but which great books (fiction or non-fiction) would you recommend under the theme of death?   Over to you!  Hope you’re enjoying this series – I’m really loving a trawl back through the archives – and it’s fun to be thinking up sketches again.

In honour of Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week – and being a bit teasing about the morose face she seems to have in every photo…

Beryl Bainbridge was famously nominated for the Booker Prize five times but never won – and so, also in my honour, this week’s five from the archive are…

1.) Loitering With Intent (shortlisted 1981) by Muriel Spark

In short: My favourite Spark novel, as I’m sure you all heard during Muriel Spark Reading Week, it concerns Fleur’s somewhat mad involvement with arrogant Sir Quentin, his Autobiographical Association, and the world of publishing.

From the review: “This becomes the crux of the novel – where does Fleur’s imagination end, and where does plagiarism begin? Similarities between the Autobiographical Association’s activities and the manuscript of Warrender Chase grow ever greater – how much is coincidence, how much does Fleur absorb, and how much does she write before it happens? ”

2.) The Bookshop (shortlisted 1978) by Penelope Fitzgerald

In short: A woman tries to open a bookshop in a small town, but finds that the town takes against her.

From the review:  “Between Christine and Florence a rather touching, but unsentimental, friendship develops. If that sounds remotely mawkish, trust me, it isn’t. Penelope Fitzgerald doesn’t do mawkish. Her writing is spare, very spare, and there isn’t room for emotions – we simply see the people interact, and can quite easily understand the emotions they must be experiencing.”

3.) A Month in the Country (shortlisted 1980) by J.L. Carr

In short: Tom has been hired to uncover a medieval mural in a northern village church – this gentle novel shows his relationships with the other villagers, and quiet absorption in his work.  (I’m afraid the ‘review’ is hardly that… one of my scatterbrain days.)

From the review: “The most interesting scene is that when Tom visits the vicar and his amiable wife, Alice, only to discover their monstrous and secluded vicarage seems to alter both their personalities. Like the rest of the novel, this is shown subtly and calmly, but is a fascinating glimpse into one facet of the village.”

4.) The Little Stranger (shortlisted 2009) by Sarah Waters

In short: Creepy events start to happen in an old mansion in the post-war 1940s.  Visiting Dr. Faraday narrates them, but is uncertain whether or not the supernatural is to blame…

From the review: “It’s something of a truism to say that ‘the house is itself a character’, but you have to take your hat off to Waters’ ability to invest Hundreds Hall with this power without it becoming a caricature of Gothic literature. The house remains comfort and terror; mystery and simplicity; homely and unhomely.”

5.) Black Dogs (shortlisted 1992) by Ian McEwan

In short: Something happens on a couple’s honeymoon, involving two black dogs.  We see the impact of this event without, for a long time, knowing precisely what took place…

From the review:  “It certainly battles out with Atonement for being my favourite McEwan – people have recommended ‘early McEwan’ to me, and I can see why. The writing here is compact, tense – so often I’d finish reading paragraphs or phrases and think “wow” – quite the opposite of Saturday.”

As always, I want to know – which would you suggest?  To give you a hand, here is a link to all the shortlisted titles.

Whilst I was away from blogging, I came up with a fun idea (which you’re welcome to borrow, if you like it)…  One of the anomalies I’ve noticed about blogging is that we all put a lot of time and effort into reviews – creating really great, extensive resources about incredible books – and yet these reviews are only likely to be read for a week or so, and then disappear into the hazy mists of the blog archive.  I thought it would be fun, and maybe useful, to highlight and group past books.

Since I’ve now celebrated my fifth blogging anniversary, I’m going to start an ongoing series Five From The Archive, where I post excerpts and links to five reviews from my past five years, grouped in some way.  That might be something obvious –  like ‘books in translation’ – or something a bit wackier.  And then I’ll ask you to contribute your own suggestions.  I’m even hoping to post a (new) relevant sketch with each one – but you know how slack I get at that – kicking off with one of me and Colin.

They’ll be appearing on Wednesdays, but probably not every week.

I’ll start with a very Stuck-in-a-Book topic…  


Five Books Featuring Twins or Doubles

1.) Christopher and Columbus (1919) by Elizabeth von Arnim

In short: Half-German/half-American twins are exiled to America during the war.  They meet a friendly young American man on the boat, and the three embark on rather mad travels.  Somehow both wickedly cynical and totally heart-warming.

From the review: “The most delicious thing about this novel (and it is a very delicious novel) is undoubtedly the twins’ dialogue.  It’s such a delight to read.  […] They both have such a captivatingly unusual outlook on life.  Their logic swirls in circles which dizzy the listener; their conversations would feel at home at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – and yet they are lovely, kind, fundamentally good people – and without being remotely irritating.”

2.) The Icarus Girl (2005) by Helen Oyeyemi

In short: Introverted eight-year-old Jessamy meets TillyTilly, seemingly her double, whilst in her mother’s native Nigeria.  Their friendship grows gradually more unsettling…

From the review: “What starts as a novel about loneliness and isolation becomes infused with issues of obsession, possession, power and, most sophisticatedly, doubleness.”

3.) Alva & Irva (2003) by Edward Carey

In short: One twin helps battle the other’s agoraphobia, even as their bond is challenged, by building a scale replica of their town through plasticine – and it’s all presented as a travel guide.  Surreally brilliant, and surprisingly moving.

From the review: “It is a novel filled with grotesque characters (in the sense of exaggerated and strange) – the father who is obsessed with stamps, for example. The novel is actually, in many ways, about obsession – whether with objects or people or tasks.”

4.) A Lifetime Burning (2006) by Linda Gillard

In short: A compelling, involving novel about the dramas and conflicts within a tempestuous family – including twins whose relationship is far from normal.  Sadly my review was far too brief – I must re-read!

From the review: “Though the novel jumps all over the place, I never found it confusing – rather a path towards illumination and comprehension of the characters, understanding (rather than sanctioning) the way they act. Linda Gillard writes with lyrical intensity.”

5.) Identical Strangers (2007) by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein

In short: An autobiographical account of twin sisters only meeting at age 35 – and how they cope with this shift in their lives, and their different needs and responses.

From the review: “We follow Paula and Elyse through a couple of years – the joy, the excitement, the bickering, the discovering of their extraordinary relationship. […] A fascinating topic, well told by engaging, honest people experiencing a rollercoaster of events.”

Over to you!

Which title (or titles) would you add for this category?  Let me know!