Reading Life: 12th February 2018
Posted 12th February 2018
Category: Reading Life Genres: N/A
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I’m reading three books at the moment and they are all superbly written which is rather wonderful. Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s Americanah, Jessie Greengrass’ Sight, and Edith Wharton’s The Age Of Innocence.
I’ve been surprised by the Wharton. I knew it would be good because I’ve heard as such before, but the slight humour and spot on commentary was a great discovery. I’m taking it slowly; with the handful of different characters and all the information proffered upfront there’s a fair amount to remember, particularly as I started the book during a lazy afternoon. I’m using my Kobo, which is almost a novelty; I put it away a while ago when I decided to concentrate on physical books (I’ve tried, but I can’t read ebooks one after the other), and found it when clearing up.
Having read the first several chapters I found myself wanting to read up about Wharton herself and spent a few hours doing so. Hers was an interesting life; she was part of the high society she wrote about and travelled extensively. When the war reached France she decided to remain there and help rather than return to America. The house in Massachusetts, that she designed, is now open to the public and in a manner that I recently found at Avebury Manor – you can sit on the furniture and interact with objects and so forth.
Americanah is less of a priority simply due to the length. I’ve a need for shorter books at the moment but don’t want to stop reading it entirely. I’m glad for my reluctance to make notes in books because if I wasn’t reluctant most of what I’ve read so far – a few chapters – would have been scribbled over.
When my Dad told me a few weeks ago that he was planning to watch Wild that evening, I remembered I hadn’t yet seen it. I bought and read Strayed’s memoir before the film’s release so that I could watch it in context but while I did read the book I forgot the second part of the plan. So I sat down to watch the film myself and got about 20 minutes in before calling it a day. It was the inner monologue that did it for me. I’ll try again at some point but I’m not sure I’ll get through it. I liked the book enough – it wasn’t great but it was far from bad – but the film’s execution of it could perhaps be better.
In non-book news I’m still knitting avidly, and finding it to be a good companion hobby to reading. I can’t listen to music when reading, for example, but I can when I’m knitting. I’m finding irony in the fact that knitting doesn’t feel anywhere near as productive as reading but there’s a lot of satisfaction in a finished piece. I’ve completed the jumper I was making for my nephew – with help at the end as trying to sew it all together was making me want to abandon it – and started something in a thicker yarn so that it’d be quicker to knit. I definitely prefer having finished to being in the midst of making.
What are you reading and, if you’ve seen Wild, what did you think of it (whether in context with the book or not)?
February 12, 2018, 4:48 pm
I’ve not read the Edith Wharton and it’s one I’ve aways felt I should. I’m currently half way through my first Terry Pratchett.
February 12, 2018, 11:01 pm
I saw Wild, but didn’t read the book. The movie was kind of meh; not my kind of thing. Perhaps it was Reese Witherspoon that I didn’t find convincing and not the topic per se.
February 13, 2018, 5:41 pm
Charlie, I am really pleased to her you are enjoying Edith Wharton’s The Age Of Innocence, as I put it on to my new Classics Club list :-) I am currently reading The Dragon’s Blade: The Reborn King by Michael R. Miller and Christian non-fiction The Case for Grace by Lee Strobel. As for Wild, I haven’t read the book but I loved the film.
February 19, 2018, 12:39 am
Oh, I need to read more Edith Wharton! I read one of her books — a lesser one — some time ago and liked it absolutely miles more than I expected to. So I think when I read one of her proper books (we read The Buccaneers, which I believe was unfinished), I’ll love it even more.
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February 12, 2018, 4:17 pm
Wild was fantastic, and close to the book. I’m currently reading a classic, The Bridge on the Drina, and the upcoming Go, by Kazuki Kaneshiro