Hannah Hutchins

Archive for the ‘What I'm reading...’ Category

Ok, since I last posted I’ve read Scarlett Thomas’s The End of Mr Y, which I found interesting and frustrating in almost equal measure, and now I’m rereading Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha.  I love going back to old books, things I’ve read before.  It’s comfort reading, revisiting familiar territory.   Tea and cakes all round.

I’m a big Atwood fan – Alias Grace, Cat’s Eye, The Blind Assassin, The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake (I am traumatised by the pigoons) all stand on my bookshelves, and Wilderness Tips and The Penelopiad both visited briefly from the library.  The Tent is a bit different, described in the blurb as ‘fictional essays’, it reads a bit like incredibly eloquent and well crafted journal entires (what else would one expect of Atwood’s journal?) Imaginative, quick, short and sharp – I love it so far.

Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales… This is a gem of a book, strange and funny and fascinating.  The artwork on both the cover (by Roxanna Bikadoroff) and inside (by Corinna Sargood) is striking and beautiful – I particularly like the cover, it reminds of something that I can’t quite put my finger on…

I also like the way the stories are grouped, into categories such as ‘Clever women, resourceful girls’ or ‘Good girls and where it gets them’.  The country of origin is noted for each tale; Norwegian, Greek, Innuit, English Gypsy, Russian, to name but a few.  Each story is like a little whispered treat from a wise old Nanna, and you feel you must listen carefully to every word.   The next one I’ll be curling up with is The Resourceful Wife (Indian Tribal).

My new read… I’ll keep you posted!

Finished Depths at last!  Good opening, really hard middle, good ending, in the fact that the despicable central character got his comeuppance…but really, he was so unpleasant that it was a struggle to keep reading to see him meet his end.  It’s well written, or I wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction to the characters created, but Mankell’s world is so bleak.  Not recommended if you’re looking for a touch of escapism in your reading…

This is what I’m reading at the moment – quite hard going, and not a particularly pleasant read, but can’t leave it unfinished…