Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy for our monthly book reviews. On reflection, there seems to be a slight philosophical/ spiritual slant to the past month's reading, whether inspired by chickens or monsters. Hope one of these inspires you, too!
Rumer Godden - Black Narcissus
A small group of British nuns leave their mother house in India to found a new mission in a disused palace among the Himalayas. But, caught up in no man's land, in a place between heaven and earth, and a building that seems to retain the spirit of its amoral foundation, each sister finds herself confronting personal demons. The theme of the 'civilised' Westerner who finds everything she believes called into question when confronted by a strange, 'permissive', culture is nothing new, but in Godden's hands it is fresh and compelling - I was hooked.
James Runcie - Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death
James Runcie, it turns out, is the son of late Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, who, coincidentally, is the only Archbishop I have ever met in person, when he visited my school back in the eighties. Shameless name dropping apart, my point is that this author knows the Church of England and its priesthood intimately, and that shows through warmly in this collection of short detective stories featuring Sidney Chambers, canon of Grantchester and reluctant detective. On the other hand, he seems to know the 1950s less thoroughly, because he is annoyingly quick to give Sidney modern sensibilities on moral questions. I declare it very entertaining, but not illuminating. I believe it is a TV series now, but I haven't regularly watched TV since, well, Robert Runcie was Archbishop of Canterbury.
Alice Walker - The Chicken Chronicles: Sitting with the Angels who have Returned with my Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agnes of God, the Gladyses, & Babe [audiobook, read by Walker]
I kept my own flock of chickens (and ducks) up until we moved a year ago, so I completely get Alice Walker's Chicken Love. This short memoir explores how her decision to raise a flock of chickens, something she had not done since childhood, unexpectedly leads to her understanding her past and seeing the present in a new light. It's a wide-ranging and candid reveal of Walker's life, art, and opinions, and based on her blog, so ideal if you want something you can digest in small chunks. I suspect that hearing it in Walker's voice was better than reading it, though. I found it fascinating, but if you think the only good chicken comes fried or roasted, and anyone who is a "Chicken Mommy" is a little crazy, this might not be for you.
John Gardner - Grendel [audiobook]
It's tough when you are simultaneously suffering an existential crisis and the urge to bite off heads - that seems to be the gist of this retelling of Beowulf from the point of view of its most famous monster. Following Grendel's stream of consciousness through various philosophical positions (with a zodiac theme thrown in for good measure) made this a challenging listen - unlike The Chicken Chronicles, it might have been better on paper. Ultimately, I just could not get into it, as there was no one to empathise with. I think it was Gardner's intention that the reader is unsettled and unable to pigeonhole Grendel as man or monster, but for me, he did not quite pull it off. But while I am on the topic, in contrast, I wholeheartedly recommend Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I bought this at a church fete because of all the hype - and then didn't open it for months for the same reason (I don't tend to like popular books, or epistolary novels). But I am glad I did, because it had a tone I loved (light, witty) and eccentric characters you could root for (unlike Grendel). Briefly, author Juliet falls into accidental correspondence with a group of people who found solace in their impromptu literary society during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. When she travels there to gather more information, she finds much more than the story (and friendships) that she bargained for.
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