Quick Lit March 2019

Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for Quick Lit again. I envy the people who go on holiday and rack up a book a day - my reading is almost non-existent when we are travelling because I lose my usual slots of alone/ free time. But I did pick up loads of books for my son in the UK thanks to his auntie, plus a few for me (see a couple of literary photos of the trip below). Some were ones I had passed on to my nephew several years ago  - I was very glad to get some favourites back!

That might not look like many books - but my luggage limit was two cabin bags :)

Susan Wittig Albert - A Wilder Rose
I loved the Little House on the Prairie books, but I was never invested in Laura the author, so I am not bothered by the now generally-accepted idea that Laura's daughter, the professional author Rose Wilder Lane, extensively edited her mother's novels. This is the story of the mother-daughter relationship during the depression years, when the collaboration developed - to make a terrible pun, it was definitely not a bed of roses. It was very interesting to learn so much about Rose and the era, but the book read more like a fictionalised biography than a novel.

Elizabeth Gaskill - The Life of Charlotte Brontë

Another minor classic, to go with last month's Siddartha. It's notable for being the first serious biography of a female novelist by a fellow female novelist, and for helping start the Brontë legend. Don't expect a modern biography. The first part goes off on lots of tangents as Gaskill gathers the material that influenced all the Brontës' writing; I could not really get into it until about half way through when she settled into a more focused narrative, but then I really enjoyed it. But I'll be honest: this is probably more for hardcore Brontë fans or people with backgrounds in literature.

Literary-related photo: Tintern Abbey on my recent trip to the UK. Go - it's beautiful!

William Goldman - The Princess Bride
I was a little dubious about reading a novel with lots of authorial interjections, but I loved it. This swift-moving fairy tale of derring-do was a good antidote to the slower, serious biography of Charlotte Brontë. It's best described by the author: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes, Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles." I saw the movie (also scripted by Goldman) thirty years ago, so I can't remember enough to make a comparison. Like its premise, I agree it would be a wonderful read-aloud for a not too sensitive  - see list above - child of ten or so (without the authorial interjections).


Another vaguely literary-related photo to finish: my son eating a Bath bun on a day trip to Jane Austen territory. May spring bring you good reading!