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todayiamadaisy) wrote2017-07-01 09:06 pm
todayiamadaisy) wrote2017-07-01 09:06 pm
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Stolen halo
A combination of work/study/knitting while watching Masterchef has cut into my reading time this month. Also, now I think about it, I have three books on the go, which I don't usually do, and I'm not really enjoying any of them, so I'm just dawdling.
June books read
* Riddledom - David Astle (2016) ★ ★ ★
This is a book of 101 riddles — or actually, 101 riddles, plus a social and cultural history of each. Here is where you can find out what the New York Knicks have to do with the chicken crossing the road, how scholars deciphered Beatrix Potter's coded diary to reveal that Squirrel Nutkin was based on an annoying woman she met on a train, and the intricacies of translating word play into (or from) other languages. It's a fun book to dip into in short bursts. As an added bonus, there are question and answer riddles running along the bottom of each page for you to annoy and delight your loved ones, e.g. this unlikely mix of Friends and sculling:
Why did Courtney Cox?
Because Lisa Kudrow.
* Lolly Willowes; or, The Loving Huntsman - Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) ★ ★ ★
This was recommended to me on an "if you liked Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, you'll like this" basis. I liked Miss Pettigrew, and I liked this, and I can see the similarities, but I don't know that putting them together like that is helpful. It certainly set me up to expect something very different to what I got. Miss Pettigrew is full of froth and delight; Lolly Willowes is a wilder, earthier creation.
This is the story of Lolly Willowes, a middle-aged woman who finds her place in life. Most reviews I've read of this book give away the twist, such as it is, of how she does this, making it sound as though it's something that happens early on. It isn't. It happens near the end, and the whole book leads up to it. It's hard to talk about the book without it, though, so this is a friendly warning that if you read on, I will be giving away the ending.
The book begins in 1902. Laura Willowes is, at 28, a lifelong spinster who lives with her father. When he dies, Laura goes to live with her brother and his family in London, becoming Aunt Lolly to their children. It's a pleasant but dull existence, which Lolly tolerates for twenty years, until she gets a whim to move, alone, to a village called Great Mop. She settles in, gradually making friends with the villagers while noticing a few unusual things about them. Her favourite nephew, Titus, comes to visit, and horrifies her by moving to Great Mop too. Feeling that Titus is just the first of the family trying to drag her back to her old, stultifying life in London, Lolly, almost unwittingly, does the thing that finally frees her: She sells her soul to Satan and becomes a witch. In return, Satan gives her a kitten and gets rid of Titus by curdling his milk and chasing him with wasps. Cheers, Satan.
This is superior writing. In particular the scenes where Lolly abandons herself to the woods are beautiful. Parts of it are funny too (see: Satan's mundane evil). The book doesn't really know what to do with itself in the end - Lolly has a chat with Satan about the untapped power of women, then goes for a walk - but the journey to get there is quite interesting.
June books read
* Riddledom - David Astle (2016) ★ ★ ★
This is a book of 101 riddles — or actually, 101 riddles, plus a social and cultural history of each. Here is where you can find out what the New York Knicks have to do with the chicken crossing the road, how scholars deciphered Beatrix Potter's coded diary to reveal that Squirrel Nutkin was based on an annoying woman she met on a train, and the intricacies of translating word play into (or from) other languages. It's a fun book to dip into in short bursts. As an added bonus, there are question and answer riddles running along the bottom of each page for you to annoy and delight your loved ones, e.g. this unlikely mix of Friends and sculling:
Why did Courtney Cox?
Because Lisa Kudrow.
* Lolly Willowes; or, The Loving Huntsman - Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926) ★ ★ ★
This was recommended to me on an "if you liked Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, you'll like this" basis. I liked Miss Pettigrew, and I liked this, and I can see the similarities, but I don't know that putting them together like that is helpful. It certainly set me up to expect something very different to what I got. Miss Pettigrew is full of froth and delight; Lolly Willowes is a wilder, earthier creation.
This is the story of Lolly Willowes, a middle-aged woman who finds her place in life. Most reviews I've read of this book give away the twist, such as it is, of how she does this, making it sound as though it's something that happens early on. It isn't. It happens near the end, and the whole book leads up to it. It's hard to talk about the book without it, though, so this is a friendly warning that if you read on, I will be giving away the ending.
The book begins in 1902. Laura Willowes is, at 28, a lifelong spinster who lives with her father. When he dies, Laura goes to live with her brother and his family in London, becoming Aunt Lolly to their children. It's a pleasant but dull existence, which Lolly tolerates for twenty years, until she gets a whim to move, alone, to a village called Great Mop. She settles in, gradually making friends with the villagers while noticing a few unusual things about them. Her favourite nephew, Titus, comes to visit, and horrifies her by moving to Great Mop too. Feeling that Titus is just the first of the family trying to drag her back to her old, stultifying life in London, Lolly, almost unwittingly, does the thing that finally frees her: She sells her soul to Satan and becomes a witch. In return, Satan gives her a kitten and gets rid of Titus by curdling his milk and chasing him with wasps. Cheers, Satan.
This is superior writing. In particular the scenes where Lolly abandons herself to the woods are beautiful. Parts of it are funny too (see: Satan's mundane evil). The book doesn't really know what to do with itself in the end - Lolly has a chat with Satan about the untapped power of women, then goes for a walk - but the journey to get there is quite interesting.