Posts tagged with “luck”

16 January

The Secret Scriptures

07:44 AM
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One could be forgiven for thinking that this book might fall into the Dan Brown/Da Vinci code “genre” to go by the title, but you’d be wrong.  There is a narrative device of two journals which alternate and one of these is necessarily hidden away and secret.  Perhaps secret is the wrong word, but there is a big “secret” which is only revealed towards the end of the book.  It is hard for me to talk about plot specifics without revealing this secret without “spoiling” the plot.

I was really quite taken with the way this book covers the sweep of an entire century, yet does so in a very engaging way by literally covering the life story of a woman from the last century to this.  All this in the context of Ireland.  There always seem to be questions I am left asking myself after reading a book, and I think the more of them I have usually is a pretty reliable indicator as to how good the book is or at least how much it engaged me.

For this book one question was if Sebastian Barry were Irish and another was whether he started the book with the ending in mind and some sort of plot outline.  For the former a quick google has revealed that he was Dublin born and is indeed Irish, as I expected since the book is immersed in Irish culture and history which was one of the reasons I so enjoyed it.  This also enabled me to learn a lot of history and background both of the troubles and of the recent revelations of abuse cases endemic in Ireland and a few other island nations (such as the island of Jersey where a residential childrens’ facility apparently had many many historic abuse cases).

As to where he started his planning of the book - well Google is less revealing of course and we can likely only speculate.

But this does lead me to the last thing I am curious about, which is how many readers are surprised by the final “twist” to the plot.  As the interleaving narratives progress we are left wondering if they will overlap in any other way than their perspectives on Roseanne’s life (it is told in the first person from the beginning and in third person from the end).  The third person is not the narrator per se, but another character in the book.  I found this plot device immensely satisfying and it gave Mr Barry a lot of opportunity to show what a fine writer he is.

To conclude - thoroughly recommended!  And please please do leave a comment to let me know if you were totally surprised as you finished the book or if you, like me, had intimations as to what was to be revealed before it was!

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14 July

Reading or not!

04:37 AM
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Readers or random visitors might notice there have been less writings here of late.  At first this did not mean there was any less reading on my part, it was largely due to my new job with community technology.  Lately though I have actually been reading less, and not because of any shortage of quality writing which I wished to read.  I guess it is just the way life goes sometimes.

In any case the most recent choice of my library book group was “Fascination”, a collection of short stories by William Boyd (writer).  I am thoroughly enjoying the collection, which seem to have a common theme of sexual obsession or misbehaviour.  Needless to say it is the leading men who are shown in the worst light, by and large and there is plenty of sexism in the work.  There also seems to be an interesting subplot connected with brain damage and similar dysfunction.  The stories are a varied bunch exhibiting many forms of writing, as one of the group members commented sometimes it feels a little as if the author is “showing off”.  I’m still enjoying them thoroughly though even though I had only read the first three when the group met yesterday, and I’m also happy to say that I made a modest saving by purchasing the book online for my ereader, which was also more convenient and has enabled me to carry them around with me more easily too.  Ideally the library should have had enough copies, but sadly that seems a rare event with our more interesting and contemporary choices.

The previous selection was a contrasting work by Carol Shields whom I mistakenly believed to be a Canadian (apparently she was actually American).  Arguable the choice is one of her best known works, The Stone Diaries.  This book I failed to finish entirely despite renewing it three or four times.  Someday I shall return to it because it is a fantastic read.  I had not realised it was a book I had not read, thinking I had already enjoyed all her works, this made it feel really special.  Another interesting fetaure of the book is that it includes a set of illustrations and one is never entirely certain if one is reading a work of fiction or not.  During book group I found that it really is fictional and the photographs are of Carol Shields own family and suchlike, included with their permission.  Parts of the book take the form of diary entries, btu this does not spoil the narrative flow in the least as it charts the life of Daisy Goodwill.  One of the unforgettable images in the book is the one where as a newly wed her husband, somewhat intoxicated, sits at a window in France on the first evening of their honeymoon.  He suddenly sneezes and, without any pause, falls from the window to his death.  She never talks of this except to her best friend years later, and even then she does not tell how she reclined on the bed for a further minute or two before moving and allowing things to continue.

I found the character of her father fascinating, he was a man who lived a life with many changes, from his beginnings as a mason to his later success as a magnate and businessman supplying quarried limestone across America.  I guess this is partly where the books title comes from.  It’s possible I shall return to make a brief blog entry on this work whenever I finish it, but that may not be for some time.

Since it is the summer the next months meeting is one where we shall have a poetry selection, each member bringing several to read and discuss.  I guess this time reading will nto be a problem, so I have another month to finish the short stories.  I am hoping that going forwards I shall not allow a dry patch in my reading to cause a further bearth of Blog entires.  The next one may well be something on a Spiritual theme, which I have not made for a while, or perhaps drama if I can get to the theatre.  In any case, I enjoy making these posts and should hope the intervals between them are days or weeks rather than months in future.  So watch this space for developments.

I know aalready my chosen poems for the month shall be by Gerard Manley Hopkins because he is the favourite poet for the woman I love.  Perhaps this time she will chose to pass comment too!

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13 November

Elgar really was quite the man

04:41 PM
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Another day of synchronicity and luck - too many to mention.

Must be the full moon.  In any case it has led me to find a CD with some Elgar and his third (unfinished) symphony recorded there.  Also to sell a fifth ticket for my performance on Sunday!  It will be highly unusual but quite pleasant to have not only my daughter, but grannie and two cousins plus her mother in the audience!  I wish I had a little more time to practice - but shall make the very best of it.  I had to catch myself singing passages like “Glory to him” when I was out shopping, at least I managed to hold back on the FFF parts!

I am so very impressed with the scoring by Elgar.  Although the poem on which the “Dream of Gerontius” is based becomes a little turgid in the middle parts the musical arrangement never does!  I am so looking forward to this if we have good soloists.  Stefan has assured us they are excellent and no reported illnesses (unlike Matlock, where the soprano dropped out) so all looks set.  Final rehearsal today before the last on the day.

This piece is by far the most difficult I have had to sing to date, but also the most rewarding.  I recommend it to anyone with an ear for singing and any choristers especially.

At the Matlock concert in the pub after someone asked why it seems as if the Jews have the best jokes and the Catholics the best music.  I think I know… It took a while to think about it over a number of pints then inspiration struck!  They are the ones that had the money to build the cathedrals and holy spaces with the cool accoustics and sheer scale to hous orchestras and choirs - so anyone wanting to put on a big show got an “in” if their piece fitted with Catholic ideals - and there we have it.  If anyone wants to chip in on that - feel free to comment!

PS I say again - comment on Blog Action Day reprise below - I shall add this PS until it drops off the page… or if no more comments come there I shall also count any others on the page at closure for the amount I donate… so any comment on or above that post will work; speak up and help the poor!

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