Five a day

 

    If I could read five books a day, think how quickly the piles would dwindle, but failing that I can at least introduce some of those I have waiting.

    From the top, the new novel from Peirene Press (whose Beside the Sea I read recently): Maria Barbal's Stone in a Landslide features a distinctive narrative voice and tells a life story in just over a hundred pages.

    A wee bit longer at a mere 914 pages (excluding introduction and notes) and a change from all the new books is Dickens' Bleak House which I won from Oxford World's Classics via Twitter. The London fog, the endless case of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce ... but truth is stranger than fiction, and I'll digress for a moment to tell you that I saw in the press last week that a case in which I was the instructing solicitor in the very early stages, has finally settled - only some twenty years after advice was first sought (and our client won!).

    Next comes The Water Theatre by Lindsay Clarke (have you read his Whitbread-winning novel The Chymical Wedding? I haven't, but it sounds intriguing). The new book is set in Umbria, where war reporter Martin Crowther returns to the small village of Fontanalba to track down two friends from his past, and where events will "shake the ground of Martin's life".

    The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli is "a tremendously evocative debut novel" about a photojournalist covering the Vietnam war; it's a love story, too, and a book with relevance to contemporary wars. "Quietly mesmerising" was how the New York Times described it.

  Lastly today is The Obscure Logic of the Heart by Priya Basil, a novel whose characters must choose between following their religion and the dictates of their heart, family ties and romantic leanings: "a devoted Muslim daughter, a secret relationship, an impossible dilemma...".

    I look forward to reading all of them.

Comments

[Danielle]

If I could read just one a day I might be happy. Unfortunately I'm just not fast enough though. But I would love to make a bigger dent in my piles. I have to admit I started Bleak House a couple of winters back and made it about half way through and just got stuck. I picked it up again last week thinking the timing might be right to finish, but after reading the chapter I got stuck on, I can see why I got stuck. I know if I can just get past this slow section I can get back into the story....I'm curious to see how you get on with it--maybe I can get some inspiration from you to continue! I loved the BBC adaptation however!

[Susan in TX]

I've long wondered why putting them under my pillow doesn't work...you know, having the stories enter the brain by osmosis while one sleeps and still be able to enjoy them? :)
When you figure out how to read them 5 at a time, you simply must share with the rest of us. Obviously, I jest, but I did so empathize with the sentiment! Looks like a good list. I, too, have Bleak House sitting on my TBR shelf. It's just so BIG. :)

[Simon T]

Ah, reading five a day would be nice... but if one of them is Bleak House, then I'm sure I'd never manage it! I must join in the 24 hour readathon next year.

[Tui]

Bleak House is my most favourite Dickens. It's big but it's wonderful.