On the last day of the year, it has suddenly decided to snow. It is gray and dreary, and cold outside--the first of the white stuff we have seen all season. Not being particularly fond of big, noisy social gatherings, I am personally looking forward to staying inside where it is nice and warm and cosy. I have a stack of movies to choose from or an even bigger stack of books to keep me occupied for the rest of today.
As things have been hectic this last week, I never really got a chance to mention the last few books that I managed to finish. I always create these impossible to achieve lists of things to do on vacation, and while I didn't read as many books as I would have liked, I did manage to fit in lots of reading time nonetheless. I already mentioned finishing Sophie's Choice. I don't even want to say when I started this book (it simply got set aside--too many other distractions as always is the case). It is a long book to read (the sort with many pages of solid text), so I am very satisfied to have spent as many hours reading this book as I did during my vacation.
I also finished Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out. I wish I would have posted my thoughts on this when I finished it rather than now when it is pushed far back in my mind. I found the comments on Susan Hill's blog to be very helpful in sorting out my feelings. I really liked this book, but I am still not entirely sure what I think about it. I read that it is a satire on Edwardian society. Even though this was her first book, you can still see what an excellent writer she was. I think this sentiment was expressed by other readers, however, and I agree--I had a hard time warming up to any of the characters very well. Even after having completed the book, I still don't feel like I know what was going on inside Rachel Vinrace's head. I don't feel like I really know any of the characters. I think my favorite was Rachel's aunt, Helen Ambrose. The Dalloways are also introduced here, and I thought it was an interesting portrait of them. I plan on rereading Mrs. Dalloway, so I will be able to take this image of them with me when I do get around to reading it again. I have not yet started Night and Day, which is the next book she wrote and that Susan Hill's group was reading, but I hope to get into it once vacation is over and I am back to my normal work schedule. I also hope to dip into the first of her diaries as well.
I thoroughly enjoyed Jane Austen's Persuasion. I loved that she chose to write about "mature" love--though Anne Elliot is all of about 27--and second chances. At the beginning of the book, Anne is described as a faded beauty. She was persuaded by a good family friend to turn down a marriage proposal as the gentleman's prospects were not assured. But as Captain Wentworth, her former suitor, returns she seems to grow more lovely as the story unfolds. The scene at the end where Frederick passes her a note (to discover the contents you have to read the book!) is simply delicious. By the end even Anne's less than kindly father recognizes how Anne has blossomed. I do have one question. I bought the movie ages ago...this is the box mine came in. Who on earth are these people? Trust me, they are not in the adaptation I saw, and none of the ladies wore a dress like that!! I'm not sure what the marketers intended, but the back does display scenes from the movie at least!
I also read Charles Dickens's short novel A Christmas Carol. I have seen various movie versions many times, so the story was not any surprise. It is a delightful book to read at this time of year, however. His descriptions were really wonderful--well worth reading if you have never done so. I am hoping to read something else by Dickens next year, as this is the sole Dickens reading experience for me thus far.
I have squeezed in one last book for 2006. I highly recommend Michel Faber's The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories. If you did read The Crimson Petal and the White, this is really a must. If you didn't, go out and buy a copy as the book is wonderful and then get The Apple! Unfortunately it is not yet available here in the US, but go on and splurge and order it from the UK! It is a slim little volume (complete with one of those little ribbons in the spine to use as a bookmark), of seven short stories (I guess I did manage to read a book of short stories this year after all!). They were all very good, and you do get an idea of what happened to the characters in The Crimson Petal. My only criticism is that there are only seven stories and not more. Faber has a knack writing about these characters and in this setting!
I know I should get back to my current reads now, but I couldn't resist starting one more new one. I don't think I will finish it in the last couple of days of my vacation, but I will fudge a bit with it, and then get back to War and Peace and all the rest. I wanted something really different than all my other books, and I think I have found it with P.D. James's The Children of Men. The year is 2021, and the human race is infertile. The last baby born was 25 years ago. Sounds suitably creepy for the long, dark days of January, doesn't it? But I am kind of in the mood for something exactly like this. I will let you know how it goes. And this has been made into a movie by the way.
My last post of 2006! I hope everyone has a very safe and Happy New Year! See you 2007!