Dickens Readalong!

Since my best friend decided she really wanted to read some Dickens, but just never found the time to do it I suggested we do a readalong - which I was totally inspired to do by the fabulous Bex at An Armchair by the Sea. (I seem to be recommending other book blogs daily now!) She's organising a readalong of The Pickwick Papers from mid-November till Christmas, which I would have loved to take part in if uni wasn't killing me right now. Literally. (Glaring misuse of the word literally right there ...)

ANYWAY, even though I think I can't manage five chapters a week (pathetic, I know!) I think I should be able to do about two, which is what we've agreed on. So we're going to read at least two chapters of Oliver Twist every week! Wooohooo - expect some Dickens blogging in the future!

In other news, I've read a fair bit of The American over the last few days (because uni sucks and I never seem to be doing stuff I'm actually going to get marks on) - so hopefully there'll be an update on that soon too! I think I'm going to do a post on some of the characters - especially Newman!

And finally, there's a really interesting article in the guardian that I've read today - Princeton University Press seems to have published the Grimm fairy tales in their original, first edition version ... i.e. the bloody, violent, sexy version. It's quite jarring to know how brutal these stories really were - but also fascinating. For example, Rapunzel actually got pregnant by her prince and that's how Mother Gothel found out about her man visitor. And there seems to be a story in which a mother actually killed her daughters and ate them because she was so hungry ... 

You can have a look at it here: Grimm brothers' fairytales have blood and horror restored in new translation. 

See you soon!

Meme - The Book Blogger Memory Challenge

A meme today! I got this from the fabulous blog What Red Read, which I positively devoured over the last few days ... whenever I took a study break that is! If you're into books like me and enjoy reading reviews you should definitely check out her blog - it's fantastic! But let's get started with the meme!

"The Book Blogger Memory Challenge"

The rules are as follows: answer the ten questions without using any sort of reference material (that includes the internet and your bookshelves). And then of course you're supposed to tag a couple of people if you feel like it! (At least that's the way I tend to interpret it!)

Okay, so ready, steady, GO!

1) The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

I won't lie, it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to think of this book!

2) How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Preeeeetty sure there's a dragon on the cover ... and I only recently read this, so if there isn't, my memory really is worryingly bad.

3) Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

Admittedly, I haven't read this book, so I can't know for absolutely certain that it really is about a character named George ... but I'm going to go out on a limb here ;).

4) ???

It's said that Smith is the most common English surname ... and yet I really can't think of a single author whose surname is Smith. FAIL D:!

5) ???

The sad thing is, I actually have read a book about travelling through Australia ... but I really can't remember the title! As soon as I've posted this I'm going to check this out, because it's really bugging me ...

6) October Quickenings

Strictly speaking this isn't a book but a Merlin fanfiction that I read ages ago ... but I tend to take the view of a very wide defintion of literature. (Fingers crossed I got the month right though!)

7) Das Silberne Schwert by Ralf Isau

Do swords count as knives? Because I'm a 100% sure there's a sword on the book cover of this novel!

8) One Day by David Nicholls

Who else could not help but think of a hundred Friends episodes for this one? Dear tv obsession, NOT HELPING!

9) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling

That was an easy one :P!

10) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Also easy ;)!

And done! Now I'm off to check on all the mistakes I made - if anyone else would like to do this, consider yourself tagged!

Henry James - The American (1/?)

A couple of days ago I started reading The American by Henry James. Here's a quick plot summary for all of you who haven't read the novel, but are still interested in this post:

"[The American] is an uneasy combination of social comedy and melodrama concerning the adventures and misadventures of Christopher Newman, an essentially good-hearted but rather gauche American businessman on his first tour of Europe. Newman is looking for a world different from the simple, harsh realities of 19th-century American business. He encounters both the beauty and the ugliness of Europe, and learns not to take either for granted. The core of the novel concerns Newman's courtship of a young widow from an aristocratic Parisian family." (Wikipedia)

I'm about seven chapters into the novel now and so far I'm really enjoying it. There were a couple of slow places, admittedly, like when the main character goes travelling through Europe in the fifth chapter (I really can't deal with page long descriptions of people travelling - it tends to bore me senseless, unless there's some dialogue to break up the descriptive bits). Overall, however, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed reading this novel so far, and here's why:

1) The representation of the French language

With regard to the language, I'm fascinated by how James manages to give an impression of the French language through the French characters, even while translating what they're saying into English for the benefit of the reader. He does this really cleverly by not writing perfect translations of their parts of the dialogue - rather, he seems to be choosing words which are near equivalents in English and French, while simultaneously trying to mimic the French syntax wherever possible.

I remember Charles Dickens did this really well in A Tale of Two Cities too, and as someone who speaks a little bit of French I find it hugely entertaining to read these lines in English and yet feel like I know exactly what the characters are saying in French, too. It's like the written equivalent of a French accent (if that makes any sense). Here's a taste of it:

"Monsieur is constant; I understand perfectly. It's a rare virtue. To recompense you, you shall have your picture on the first possible day; next week--as soon as it is dry. I will take the card of monsieur." And she took it and read his name: "Christopher Newman." Then she tried to repeat it aloud, and laughed at her bad accent. "Your English names are so droll!" (The American, Chapter I)

Now, "droll" means funny or comical in both English and French (although it's spelled as "drôle" in French), but I'd argue that in this context it would not be the natural choice for native English speakers (I'm not a native speaker myself, so please correct me on this if I'm wrong!). If I had to translate what the French lady is saying in this paragraph, I'd go for "funny" instead - mostly because in French "drôle" is the word commonly used for all things funny, so it has a much less specific usage than the English "droll". Deciding to go for the English word "droll" in spite of this has two effects: 1) It immediately draws attention to the "foreign-ness" of the speaker, 2) It gives the reader an idea of the language that's really being spoken here. Honestly, I just love it! I find it so clever!

2) The interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds

As anyone who's gone travelling or read travelogues before will know, encountering cultures that are different from your own can lead to many (and often quite funny) misunderstandings - and the book does not shy away from telling the reader about some of these. For example, there is this one great moment in the first chapter which features an elderly French gentleman, Monsieur Nioche, telling the main character, Christopher Newman (an American), about his recent misfortunes, which have left him quite desolate:

"'Do I understand you to say that you have had reverses?' asked Newman.
'Reverses? Oh, sir, misfortunes - terrible.'
'Unsuccessful in business, eh?'
'Very unsuccessful sir.'
'Oh, never fear, you'll get on your legs again,' said Newman cheerily.
The old man drooped his head on one side and looked at him with an expression of pain, as if this were an unfeeling jest." (The American, Chapter I)

This is such a classic moment of American optimism clashing with European pessimism, I really can't help but smile when reading this. It's perfect - there's the European gentleman, really just looking for someone to agree with him about his awful lot in life, but then he meets the optimistic American, brought up to view the world as his oyster. Of course there's bound to be some confusion here, and I'm really laughing in equal measure at the Frenchman's hurt expression and at the American's bewilderment. It's fantastic.

I hope I'll be able to say more about this novel as I read on, as there's lots more to say about it - it all just depends on my work load for uni, which these days really seems to be getting a bit ridiculous. See you soon though I hope!

Quotes

James, Henry. 1877. The American. http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/the_american.html. Accessed: 03.11.2014.

Wikipedia. The American (novel). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_(novel). Accessed: 03.11.2014.

Ford Madox Ford - Parade's End (Article)

Since I'm obsessed with Parade's End again right now (I just can't help myself - it's such a good story!) I thought I would share an article in the guardian with you that Julian Barnes wrote about it in 2012 - it's really good. He delves deeply into the minds of Christopher, Valentine and Slyvia and he's fantastic at describing the psycholgical element to the story. So if you've got the time, it really is well worth a read!

Article (guardian): Julian Barnes: a tribute to Parade's End

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Speckled Band (Sherlock Holmes)

Sherlock Holmes today – my favourite detective of all time! 

  

There's a really interesting programme available on Radio 4 Extra right now (link below!). It's an adaptation of the story “The Speckled Band” and I find it fascinating for a number of reasons:

a) It's from 1945.

b) There's an introduction by Arthur Conan Doyle's son, Adrian Conan Doyle, which precedes the story.

c) Sherlock Holmes is voiced by Cedric Hardwicke - who, would you believe it, is the father of Edward Hardwicke, the actor who played Watson in the Granada TV series in the late 80s to 90s!

Let me just expand on point b) for a bit ...


Introduction by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s son

This is extremely fascinating, because he delves into the creation of Sherlock Holmes by his father and addresses some of the theories that have been proposed by this point in time. What’s amusing is that he seems quite piqued by most of these:

“Who was Sherlock Holmes? Since the death of my father this question has often been renewed, and in this connection I regret to add that on one or two occasions some gratuitous nonsense has been written on this subject by persons possessing no factual knowledge whatever."

The theories he seems most annoyed by are the ones claiming that Dr Joseph Bell served as the inspiration for the great detective (which actually is still one of the most popular theories circulating today, I believe), and those that claim that Arthur Conan Doyle's writing was influenced by Edgar Allen Poe. Basically, he seems to argue that Sherlock Holmes sprung solely from the imagination of his father and was in fact based largely on Arthur Conan Doyle himself. He gives loads of evidence for this too, e.g.:

•  Arthur Conan Doyle seems to have worked as a detective himself, particularly after he became famous for writing the Sherlock Holmes stories.
• As with Sherlock Holmes in the stories, Arthur Conan Doyle received threats on his life, most notably one by a criminal whom he had put into prison.
• He was able to deduce people's professions and characters from their clothing and manners in much the same manner as Holmes. 

He does give some credit to the inspiration that was provided by Dr Joseph Bell at one point, but says that it only helped foster what was already innate in his father: namely his abilities to deduce and the use of cold reason to solve problems.

  

Anyway, I just find it fascinating to listen to a recording of someone who obviously must have known Sir Arthur Conan Doyle very well! And it’s an interesting point of view on the subject! You should definitely have a listen to this if you have the time – it’s only like 5 minutes of the entire programme, and it’s right at the beginning!

 

Why I love this story - AKA a collection of awesomeness 

I have to admit, “The Speckled Band” is probably one of my favourite Holmes stories. I love locked room mysteries, and this is a particularly thrilling one because I don’t think I could ever have guessed the solution.

Besides that the story also has a number of brilliant moments in it, like when Holmes wakes Watson up early in the morning:

It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits.

"Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she retorted upon me, and I on you."

xD Holmes is such a child there! 

 

Watson: *blearily* “Huh-whaaat?”

Holmes: “I’M AWAKE. If I can’t sleep, neither will you!”

And almost as an antithesis, there is a really sweet moment later on, when Holmes really seems to worry about Watson’s safety:

"Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger."

"Can I be of assistance?"

"Your presence might be invaluable."

"Then I shall certainly come."

"It is very kind of you."

These two <3. Sometimes, they just really kill me with their subtle love for each other!

So if you haven't read it I really advise you to either go and listen to the story on Radio 4 Extra, or to read it in some form or other! I'm going to provide a link to the story below ...

Have fun!

Links

Radio 4 Extra Programme 

The Adventure of the Speckled Band (hosted on classiclit)

If you'd rather read it in print, I think this story is part of the short story collection "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (Waterstones)

Review: How to be a Pirate

I have to admit I enjoyed the second book much more than the first one - even though I did have much fun reading the first installment, too. But here's what made How to Be a Pirate just that little bit better:

- Hiccup, the hero of the story, discovers a few hidden talents of his, and the reader gets a glimpse of the great leader that he will eventually become. I love the slow development in these books - it really feels like watching Hiccup gradually mature, it's not at all rushed, and yet Hiccup still gets his occasional moments to shine.

- I liked Stoick much better in this book - he seemed to care more (obviously) for his son, and the way he fought to rescue him from the Skullions was really touching.

- The plot just fit together really well - it's like in Harry Potter, when Harry will pick up something seemingly insignificant early on in the book, which will then turn out to be the clue to solving the mystery at the end. I love it when authors make their readers pay attention to their writing!

To sum it up: I loved the book from (almost) the beginning (it was a little bit slow to pick up) and would definitely recommend it to any child (or adult!) who wants to have some reading fun.

Neither here Nor there - Travels in Europe (Chapters 1-5)

Journey Preparation (Summary)

'Neither here Nor there' details Bill Bryson’s haphazard journey through the Europe (well, some of it) of the 1990s.

(My words - it gets to the point, I feel. ;))

Or, perhaps better phrased:

'In Neither here Nor there [Bill Bryson] brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before.

'Whether braving the homicidal motorists of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and eyeballs in a German restaurant, window-shopping in the sex shops of the Reeperbahn or disputing his hotel bill in Copenhagen, Bryson takes in the sights, dissects the culture and illuminates each place and person with his hilariously caustic observations. He even goes to Liechtenstein.' (via amazon)

Setting out on the Journey (Review) 

Yesterday I started reading Neither here Nor there (my first book by Bill Bryson – yaaay!) and to get one thing right out of the way: I’m enjoying it so far. Quite a lot actually.

The problem with most travel writing – particularly when it’s deemed to be ‘funny’ by the 100% (and don’t you dare doubt it!) objective criticism at the back – is that it’s often ... well … not funny. Like, at all. Actually more often than not it’s downright dull.

Well, not in the case of this book, thankfully. So far I’ve honestly found it an enjoyable read, with some passages even making me laugh out loud. (And believe me, I know that’s one of those oft-repeated never-true phrases on the back of book covers as well – but it’s honestly true for this book! Well, either it’s true or I have a weird sense of humour. Possibly both.) But to give you guys a taster, this is a (very accurate!) description of traffic in Paris:

‘This is what happens: you arrive at a square to find all the traffic stopped, but the pedestrian light is red and you know that if you venture so much as a foot off the kerb all the cars will surge forward and turn you into a gooey crepe. So you wait. After a minute, a blind person comes along and crosses the great cobbled plain without hesitating. Then a ninety-year-old lady in a motorized wheelchair trundles past and wobbles across the cobbles to the other side of the square a quarter of a mile away.

‘You are uncomfortably aware that all the drivers within 150 yards are sitting with moistened lips watching you expectantly, so you pretend that you don’t really want to cross the street at all, that actually you’ve come over here to look at this interesting fin-de-siècle lamppost. After another minute 150 pre-school children are herded across by their teachers, and then the blind man returns from the other direction with two bags of shopping. Finally, the pedestrian light turns green and you step off the kerb and all the cars come charging at you. And I don’t care how paranoid and irrational this sounds, but I know for a fact that the people of Paris want me dead.’ (p. 56-57)

… Okay, maybe that wasn’t laugh out loud funny for anyone who hasn’t experienced the madness of Parisian drivers first hand – and believe me, they really are mad. But my other choice would’ve involved bird poo and I want to retain at least a sliver of quality on this blog. At least for the first post.

It's not only an entertaining read though, but a rather educational one as well. Here are some things I have learned in these first few chapters, in no particular order:

• Dear Lord, do I hope Bryson was kidding when he wrote about the time it took to fly from the US to Europe in the 1970s - because if he wasn't ... then travelling to Europe must have taken around two weeks’ time, I kid you not O_O! Can that be right? I need to look that up … but if it’s true ... wow. God, I was going crazy this summer on the flight back from Beijing, which took around eight hours! So either claustrophobia didn’t exist in the 70s or planes back then must have come equipped with full-sized gyms. I’m putting my money on the latter.
• Hammerfest must be the coldest and dreariest town in all of Europe. It certainly sounds like the most isolated one. And the coldest. Have I mentioned the coldest? One thing I will definitely do though, if I ever get to go there:

   ‘I was about to turn back when I noticed a sign pointing the way to something called the Meridianstotten and decided to investigate. This took me down a lane on the seaward side of the headland. Here, wholly exposed to the pounding sea, the wind was even more ferocious. Twice it all but picked me up and carried me forward several yards. Only the toetips of my boots maintained contact with the ground. I discovered that by holding out my arms I could sail along on the flats of my feet, propelled entirely by wind.’ (p. 31)

     Now, how cool is that?? :D I’d be tempted to bring an umbrella to see if I could have a brief spell at being Mary Poppins (although I suspect instead of Mr Banks, I’d end up paying Poseidon a permanent visit).

•  I’d never heard of the Thomas Cook European Timetable – but it certainly sounds like a fascinating book. I wonder if it’s still around … maybe they’ve put it online by now, seeing as 'Neither here Nor there' was written in the 90s. To be honest though, I wonder how effective it really is/was – anyone who’s ever tried to plan a train journey through multiple European countries will know what I’m talking about xD. You just can’t. Trains are always delayed, or don’t stop at the stations you want them to – and then, when you have to change you typically get either five minutes or five hours for it. Fun times. (Actually it really is rather fun – if you’re not prone to temper fits when things don’t go your way and you end up stranded in a town you’d never even heard about ;)).
• In the 90s Paris spent 58 pounds a year a head on street cleaning, whereas London only spent 17. So, either the British are just cleaner or there has been a massive investment in the cleaning staff over the last two decades, because I don't see London as a particularly dirty city. O_O 
• Parisians have been perfecting the art of lunatic driving ever since the 18^th century – which puts the fact that poor Pierre Curie was run over by a carriage into a bit more perspective for me. 
• And finally: Brussels … oh Brussels. 

So, to conclude: I love this book so far! 

Quotes from:

Bryson, Bill. 1991. Neither here Nor there. Black Swan: London.