I am pleasantly surprised by Moral Disorder. Not only is it highly entertaining, it is particularly insightful. I love the interactions and comments about families and siblings. I think everyone can relate to the different relationships illustrated.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story set in the high school years, as well. I can assure you that my high school years were not as intellectually stimulating. In fact, I didn't study, My Last Duchess by Browning until University. Atwood compelled me to pull out Browning's work once again. I suspect this poem is going to find its way into the work at some level.
I don't see direct associations to the opening story, but it is rolling along quite nicely as I actively try to find time to read.
A forum for book discussion and musings. Why Jolie Laide? I am drawn to aspects of the world that are outside the classical rigours of symmetry and proportion prescribed as beauty. The slight discords are more compelling.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
The End
Finished The Thirteenth Tale earlier last week. I just had to read until I found out the ending. Who was Vide Winters?!?
The ending was a little weak, but I enjoyed it none the less. I'm a die-hard Romantic, so I like the fact that Margaret may have a chance for love in the end. What a fun ride.
The ending was a little weak, but I enjoyed it none the less. I'm a die-hard Romantic, so I like the fact that Margaret may have a chance for love in the end. What a fun ride.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Thirteenth Tale
I'm not sure if it is an antidote to the activity of this season, or if the book is really that captivating, but I am thoroughly enjoying Diane Setterfield's, The Thirteenth Tale.
I feel like a kid again as I read this tale filled with family mysteries, estates, ghosts, changed identities -- an old fashioned Gothic novel complete with a walk in the moors. Yes, I could be wrapping gifts, or baking Christmas treats, but instead, I read.
The Thirteenth Tale is such a change from the last book I read, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures -- a wonderful collection of related short stories. I'm looking forward to reading it again. But for now, I'm going to go back to being a kid and return to Angelfield's family saga...
From the publisher:
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father''s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain''s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise - she doesn''t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter''s dozens of novels.Late one night, while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter''s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father''s rare copy of Miss Winter''s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.
As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter''s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. As well as the ghosts that haunt them still.
I feel like a kid again as I read this tale filled with family mysteries, estates, ghosts, changed identities -- an old fashioned Gothic novel complete with a walk in the moors. Yes, I could be wrapping gifts, or baking Christmas treats, but instead, I read.
The Thirteenth Tale is such a change from the last book I read, Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures -- a wonderful collection of related short stories. I'm looking forward to reading it again. But for now, I'm going to go back to being a kid and return to Angelfield's family saga...
From the publisher:
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father''s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain''s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise - she doesn''t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter''s dozens of novels.Late one night, while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter''s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father''s rare copy of Miss Winter''s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.
As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter''s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. As well as the ghosts that haunt them still.
goal setting
Thank goodness for goals...
I was reviewing lists recently -- I love lists -- and noticed that I had stated that I would post a blog this year.
First hurdle: what to call my blog?
Southern Exposure? That's what I called my Web site (it has never been uploaded)
Southern Belle? I'm getting too old to be a belle.
Southern Mama? I do enjoy being a Mom but I'm not a Mama
Instead, I have opted for Jolie laide for a number of reasons:
1. It’s a French term
2. We all know someone who could be described as such
3. The main reason: I tend to be drawn to works and things that could be described aptly as Jolie laide. Things that exist outside the classical rigours of symmetry and proportion prescribed as beauty, thereby making them all the more compelling.
In my mind, the term even applies to literature. One of my favourite novels is the "Life of Pi." I have only been able to read this work once, even though I loved it. With its ending and the denouement, I am unable to read the lifeboat scenes again. It was horrific visualizing the lifeboat with animals let alone with human counterparts. Beautiful, but certainly not of classic proportions. But I digress already.
Instead, I plan to blog brief thoughts with no attempt to write pretty prose, but rather create a forum for book discussion and musings...
I was reviewing lists recently -- I love lists -- and noticed that I had stated that I would post a blog this year.
First hurdle: what to call my blog?
Southern Exposure? That's what I called my Web site (it has never been uploaded)
Southern Belle? I'm getting too old to be a belle.
Southern Mama? I do enjoy being a Mom but I'm not a Mama
Instead, I have opted for Jolie laide for a number of reasons:
1. It’s a French term
2. We all know someone who could be described as such
3. The main reason: I tend to be drawn to works and things that could be described aptly as Jolie laide. Things that exist outside the classical rigours of symmetry and proportion prescribed as beauty, thereby making them all the more compelling.
In my mind, the term even applies to literature. One of my favourite novels is the "Life of Pi." I have only been able to read this work once, even though I loved it. With its ending and the denouement, I am unable to read the lifeboat scenes again. It was horrific visualizing the lifeboat with animals let alone with human counterparts. Beautiful, but certainly not of classic proportions. But I digress already.
Instead, I plan to blog brief thoughts with no attempt to write pretty prose, but rather create a forum for book discussion and musings...