I'm having a hard time settling down with a book. I just finished The Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander. It was an enjoyable read--definitely better than the initial book by Alexander. It's easy to read easy books. By easy I don't mean that the book is in any way simplistic, just a page turner. It was easy for me, once I got into the story, to just lose myself. So now I need to decide what to concentrate on. I know I am notorious for having lots of books started, but in actuality I do like to have just a couple that I am reading in earnest--otherwise I really would never finish anything.
I think I need to work on my "required reading". The next Slaves of Golconda group read is Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier, which we will be discussing May 31. I have been having uncertain feelings while reading this book. One thing is for certain, I think this is definitely a book that is going to have to be read twice. I am only a third of the way into the story, but it is not being told in a traditional manner. The narrator, John Dowell, is telling us what occurred between him, his wife (both Americans) and a British couple during their years vacationing together in the German spa town of Bad Nauheim before the First World War.
The story is not coming out in a linear fashion. I am wondering if Dowell can be considered an unreliable narrator? I do think he is telling us the truth (at least at the moment), but it seems as though his interpretation of events might just be colored by his relationship with the other characters. I'm not sure--I'll have to see how things go. I'm afraid to read any criticism before finishing the book, as I don't want the end to be spoiled, though I do sort of already know how things are going to turn out. I'm also wondering if anyone else gets to tell their side of the story? I can say that I like this style of writing very much even if I am having second thoughts about John Dowell. I'm not entirely sure I like any of the characters, but it is unfair to judge them when I am only seeing them though the eyes of one man. I think this is an excellent example of a novel that is very character driven--I am getting a sense particularly of what "the good soldier", Edward Ashburnam was like. I did read that "It is generally agreed that Ford's The Good Soldier is one of the masterpieces of modernism, a major experimental novel of enormous historical and artistic interest."
I am also trying to salvage my challenge reading. I have only finished one book for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge, though I did finally start Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad. It's been a long time since I have read anything by her--how could I have forgotten what a great author she is? There is only about a month left. Can I fit in three more books (even if they are short?) and one play? And then there is the Reading Matters book choice for June that I really want to read, Peter Carey's Theft: A Love Story! Maybe after this summer the only challenge I will do is one I set for myself--read the books on my own bookshelves, and in no particular order!