The Girl Booker

The Girl Booker

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Deadly

The Deadly Space Between was deadly. I am technically still reading The Woman In White but I needed a fix of something a bit less turgid* so I turned to Patricia Duncker with The Deadly Space Between. I've been working my way through her work and this one wfrom about 10 years ago was just republished. I love her writing so much; I like to describe it as a British, toned down version of magical realism. Nothing really crazy ever happens in her work, but always just enough to make you feel a little uneasy, and a little unsure of where the boundaries of reality in her world lie. It keeps you guessing. I find A.S. Byatt similar in that way.

I actually lost time reading this book - went back to bed for a 10 minute read and when next I looked at the time it was two and a half hours later! I am hesitant to say anything else about why it gripped me so much; I think that speaks for itself. I've read some wonderful stuff in the last few months but I can't remember the last time I got so absorbed that I forgot the real world.



*Not that it is completely turgid, just a little slow moving and dense to read all the time

Friday, June 3, 2011

Not Just Books

I want to post a bit on stuff I am currently reading, but I am struggling a little in the book department. I am reading The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins). So many people mentioned it to me in the space of a two week period that I felt I had to read it. If I believed in Signs From God then this would have had to be one. If this is the case, then I think God is a little peeved with me right now. To be perfectly honest, I am enjoying the book in a lukewarm way, but (probably because it is so long - 600 odd pages) it feels just like when I had to read something for Uni or school. The sense of duty outweighs the sense of enjoyment, and possibly mars it a little too. I will definitely finish it, and write a 2000 word essay on it when I'm done.

I am also reading the latest issue of Dumbo Feather. Dumbo Feather is a mook (half magazine, half book) which comes out 4 times a year. This is the first issue under a new editorial team. As always, it is brilliant and I love it and the only thing I could possibly say against it is that some of the white text on coloured background is too hard for my grandma eyes to read. It's like an anti-glossy. The interviews and articles are about life and art and ideas. People like midwives and stylists and apple growers have been profiled and interviewed in the past and, for me, it is always inspiring.

Other things keeping me distracted from my homework of The Woman In White include Frankie magazine, my electricity bill, and the New York Times Most Emailed articles.