7 Things I LOVE about Books 

Marian, over @ Classics Considered, has ‘challenged’ me to list 7 (oddly specific!) things I love about books. After MUCH musing on the topic as well as sleeping on it here they are: 

1. As a lifelong fan of the English language – the only one I can read in – I do love discovering new words. Mostly I can get them from context and their similarity to other, known, words but sometimes I need to look them up and LEARN things! FUN. 

2. One of the pleasures of reading Classics is coming across ODD spellings of words and realise that the accepted spelling of things is a VERY recent phenomena. That alone is interesting to contemplate. 

3. Most of the time characters in books are there to move the story, the narrative, forward and that’s about it. Even when they excel at this function, they’re pretty much pawns being moved around the board by the author who, to mix my metaphors here, are clearly pulling their strings. But sometimes, rarely, you come across a REAL character who is clearly above the string-pulling business and is, mixing again, the captain of their own ship/story. It's as if the character is living the adventure and the ‘author’ is simply documenting it. I LOVE that so much it's difficult to put into words and I’ve probably only come across that sort of thing a handful of times.  

4. One thing I discovered recently – this year in fact – was how much I really enjoy animal characters in novels. I don’t mean in Fantasy or even SF where the animal is a character in the story just like the humans (and aliens) around them, but an animal as we would recognise them. In both Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov (where the penguin - Misha - was an important plot element) and The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley (where the octopus – Albert – was very much a side character) I loved the way that the creature was a REAL person despite not being human and being mute. Both characters had personality and a well-earned place in the story.  

5. As I’m always looking for things to learn and new avenues to explore, I always like it whenever a novel presents a person, place or event that was previously unknown to or unconsidered by, me so I’m prompted to dig in the archives looking for non-fiction books on the subject/topic. It's ONE reason why my TBR is HUGE.  

6. I’m one of THOSE people who will drop a quote at the drop of a hat. Which means that I look out for them and ‘collect’ them whenever possible. Sometimes they’re from movies but also from books – fiction & non-fiction. Then all I need to do is wait for the appropriate moment and DROP it.  

7. I suppose, like most people, I often think that my ideas and perspective on the world is unique to me. Afterall, I’m unique, right? So, when I read a passage in a book that I could well have written which EXACTLY matches my beliefs, my thoughts and my deepest philosophical ideas it knocks me – metaphorically at least – off my feet. There’s almost nothing better than to discover that an author who might be LONG dead, from another country, has had the very same thought as you and that it has come into your life. LOVE it. It almost makes you believe in Fate. 

Happy Birthday: Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today.

Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father John was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years, he returned to school before beginning his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed readings extensively; was a tireless letter writer; and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education and other social reforms.

Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, a publishing phenomenon—thanks largely to the introduction of the character Sam Weller in the fourth episode—that sparked Pickwick merchandise and spin-offs. Within a few years, Dickens had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most of them published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense. The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's podiatrist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her own disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features. His plots were carefully constructed and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor would individually pay a halfpenny to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.

His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every creative medium. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1853 novel Bleak House, a satire on the judicial system, helped support a reformist movement that culminated in the 1870s legal reform in England. A Tale of Two Cities (1859; set in London and Paris) is regarded as his best-known work of historical fiction. The most famous celebrity of his era, he undertook, in response to public demand, a series of public reading tours in the later part of his career. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social or working conditions, or comically repulsive characters.

Impressive from Ukraine (no surprise) and Finland.... I thought Poland would be higher though...

Just Finished Reading: Paris Noir – Capital Crime Fiction edited by Maxim Jakubowski (FP: 2007) [332pp] 

As a LONG time fan of noir movies, I couldn’t help but pick this one up. That plus I’m a confirmed fan of French classic crime novel and am quite fond of the city in question too! This was a collection of 18 short stories all based in and around the city of Paris. Being noir (dark!) and modern they contained a wide range of crimes, drugs, some (not too explicit) sex and a scattering of swear words (again nothing particularly outstanding). The general tone was oppressive, hopeless, dark – as you might expect.  

We have racist cops beating up immigrants in ‘Bar Fight’ by Jason Starr, teenage drug gangs fighting over turf in ‘The Lookout’ by Marc Villard, another group of teenage buskers getting in way over their heads in ‘New Shoes’ by John Williams, secrets left over from the Occupation in ‘The Redhead’ by Cara Black and sleazy business deals in ‘Paris Calling’ by Jean-Hugues Oppel. 

By far the strangest story – and I have no idea how (or why) it made it into the collection – was ‘The Flaneur of Les Arcades de I’Opera’ by Michael Moorcock. Although, largely, based in Paris this didn’t really (at all!) fit the noir definition. It was, indeed, far more fantasy with just a hint of science-fiction. Those familiar with Moorcock’s work would have immediately recognised a host a familiar avatar of Elric (complete with possessed sword) and Jerry Cornelius. The plot revolved around a group of Nazi terrorists – the survivors of the failed invasion of Poland – attempting to regain power using supernatural objects taken from various places in the larger Multiverse. So.... a VERY different and unexpected story from the rest of the collection. I couldn’t help but wonder if the editor knows Moorcock or if he was under some kind of contractual obligation to him to explain its insertion. However, apart from being a fun (if rather ODD) story it did prompt me to look at my own Moorcock collection and muse on re-reading some of them. I’d also been thinking recently about getting back into the fantasy genre so this might be an opportunity to do both. We’ll see how it goes! Maybe its the Universe/Multiverse trying to tell me something.... [grin] 

Overall, this was a solid collection of (mostly) crime related stories in a much darker ‘City of Light’. He’s apparently collected a similar set of tales based in London and I’ll be looking out for that. I’m also aware of a whole set of classic and modern tales of crime from cities across the world which could be an easy win for my fictional travel project [muses]. Again, we’ll see. Recommended if you’re looking for a bit of darkness in your life.  

Seems OK to me....!

Absolutely PERFECT!

Just Finished Reading: A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift [53pp] 

This consisted of five short articles of which ‘A Modest Proposal’ was the longest. As the author was writing in the early-mid 18th century several things immediately jumped out at me. First was the sometimes-odd spelling. As far as I know, what we now regard as modern ‘correct’ spelling is a comparatively recent affair. I’ve noticed this a few times in Classics including some very odd spelling in works of Jane Austen. Personally, I like the fact that such things are left in unchanged. The most prominent difference between ages is the seemingly random use of Capital letters (for emphasis?) and what seems like the overuse of punctuation. None of that makes for a smooth or fast read – although you do get used to it in longer novels. I used to struggle with older text styles but, after some effort, started to actually enjoy it. 

The first thing I enjoyed here was a short – 3 page – piece called ‘A Description of a City-Shower' which amused me with the descriptions of public behaviour during a random downpour. I particularly liked the observation of women ‘shopping’ without any intention of buying anything just to get out of the rain. As someone who has done exactly that it all felt very modern and normal. 

The titled ‘Modest Proposal’ was a piece of political satire that, I imagine, was quite harsh at the time and still, even after around 300 years, managed to retain at least some of its dark humour (or that might be me to be honest). I can certainly imagine the political ‘elites’ reading it, chuckling, and then thinking twice about it – just as the author no doubt intended.  

Whilst interesting for a number of reasons, this brief booklet doesn’t really ‘translate’ well over the centuries. I’d be the first to admit that my knowledge of Britain in the 18th century is limited (to say the least) so I definitely missed some of the charged rhetoric aimed at people who I’ve never heard of before. I think also that the power of political satire, looking back so long, seems a pale imitation of what we’re used to today. Or maybe our satire is just less sophisticated or subtle. One thing this slim volume has done is to prompt me to read more about the time it came from – so that’s a win, I think.  

Welcome to February - we MADE it! This is one of my favourite months here at SaLT as its Love & Relationships Month. So, get ready for Romance with, of course, a Cyberkitten *twist*.