84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff & It Started in Naples by Saul Cooper

Title: 84, Charing Cross Road (This link goes to Amazon)

Author: Helene Hanff

Page: 230 pages

Genre: Epistolary Fiction

Publisher: Sphere (2010), Paperback

First Published: 1970

 

In 1949 Helene Hanff, ‘a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books’, wrote to Marks & Co. Booksellers of 84 Charing Cross Rd, in search of the rare editions she was unable to find in New York. Her books were dispatched with polite but brisk efficiency. But, seeking further treasures, Helene soon found herself in regular correspondence with bookseller Frank Doel, laying siege to his English reserve with her warmth and wit. And, as letters, books and quips crossed the ocean, a friendship flourished that would endure for twenty years.

 

- Synopsis from book cover

My Thoughts:

Oh, how much I adore this delightful and charming little book! And not to mention witty and heart-warming too! Reading the exchange of letters was pure enjoyment and even though I have not even heard most of the works mentioned in the letters, I too share Hannf’s excitement in anticipation of her books being delivered across the Atlantic Ocean. A quick and seamless read, something a bibliophile would come to appreciate. Here’s to all the bookstores and libraries that shapes the way we are today =)

 

Title: It Started in Naples (This link goes to Amazon)

Author: Saul Cooper

Page: 143 pages

Genre: Romance

Publisher: Gold Medal Books (1960), Paperback

First Published: 1960

 

Mike Hamilton was that most American of Americans—the self-made man. A bachelor and a successful lawyer, he was a man of light heart but lots of Good Common Sense. At least so he thought until he went to Naples to wind up the affairs of his not-so-dearly departed brother. The most pressing of these affairs had resulted in an eight-year-old boy-a kid who smoked like a steam engine, swore like a sailor and charmed like a new-born kitten! To complicate matters the kid had a maiden aunt-or at least an aunt. And what an aunt!

 

- Synopsis from book cover

My Thoughts:

Another charming little novel based on the 1960 motion picture starring Clark Gable and Sophia Loren. When you hear the names of the actors, you’ll definitely know what’s in store for you—a classic romance! But this is not any typical romance, I can tell you that! What an enjoyable read. And what a charming city to fall in love in =)

[Review] The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Title: The Elegance of the Hedgehog (This link goes to Amazon)

Originally in French: L’élégance du hérisson

Author: Muriel Barbery

Translated by: Allison Anderson

Page: 320 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publisher: Gallic Books (2008), Paperback

First Published: 2008 (in English)

 

 

Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building on the Left Bank. To the residents she is honest, reliable and uncultivated—an ideal concierge. But Renée has a secret. Beneath this conventional façade she is passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her self-important employers.

 

Down in her lodge, Renée is resigned to living a lie; meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Palome Josse is determined to avoid a predictably bourgeois future, and plans to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday.

 

But the death of one of their privileged neighbours will bring dramatic change to number 7, Rue de Grenelle, altering the course of both their lives forever.

 

- Synopsis from book cover

My Thoughts:

The story is told in two alternating narrators, both among the few interesting characters I have read so far. 

Renée is fifty four years old, short, ugly, plump, a widow and a concierge. But despite her social status, she is a very cultured woman. She reads literature (Anne Karenina is her favorite), philosophy, enjoys art films, paintings and music.

Palome on the other hand is the daughter of rich parents. Despite her young age, she is a very insightful girl whose refusal to end up in a “goldfish bowl” resolves to her decision to set the apartment on fire and commit suicide. Her portion of the story was written in a series of journal entries known as “Journal of the Movement of the World” and “Profound Thoughts”:

“..if you commit suicide, you have to be sure of what you’re doing and not burn the house down for nothing. So if there is something on the planet that is worth living for, I’d better not miss it, because once you’re dead, it’s too late for regrets, and if you die by mistake, well, that is really, really, stupid.”    (page 33)

This book is jam-packed with titillating anecdotes on various topics; from the smallest things such as animal behavior to tea drinking culture to Anna Karenina to Phenomenology. And coming from a French philosopher cum writer herself, Muriel Barbery’s book is really a book about philosophy and the questions of life.

I love the writing style. The chapters are relatively short so you won’t feel too bogged down with the facts. From the beginning I know that I’m in the hands of a very erudite person who also can write! Some parts of the ending was quite predictable but rest assured that you will be moved by this story.

[Teaser Tuesdays] The Time Machine

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two "teaser" sentences from that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! You don't want to ruin the book for others!
* Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week’s teaser comes from The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Synopsis from Goodreads:

When the Time Traveler courageously stepped out of his machine for the first time, he found himself in the year 802,700--and everything had changed. H.G. Wells's famous novel of one man's astonishing journey beyond the conventional limits of the imagination is regarded as one of the great masterpieces in the literature of science fiction.

 

“The question had come into my mind abruptly: were these creatures fools? You may hardly understand how it took me. You see I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be incredibly in front of us in knowledge, art, everything.”

 

- Page 31

Mailbox Monday [8]

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, and hosted by The Bluestocking Guide for the month of June.

 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

 

I’m so excited to receive my first package from The Book Depository recently. Loving those free bookmarks too. Three weeks worth the wait!

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum:  "Anna Brandt is eighteen years old in 1939. In her hometown of Weimar, Germany, where relationships between Germans and Jews are outlawed, Anna and the man she loves are committing the crime of race defilement." "When Anna is forced to flee the home of her father, a Nazi sympathizer, she takes refuge in a bakery owned by a Resistance member. Soon Anna is making pastries for the officers of nearby Buchenwald while also making "special deliveries," risking death to bring bread to the camp's inmates." "Then she is noticed by one of Buchenwald's highest-ranking officers. And everything changes." Five decades later, long after Anna has emigrated to Minnesota, she still refuses to speak of her wartime experiences. Anna's daughter Trudy has only one clue as to what they might have been: a family photograph featuring Anna, Trudy, and the Obersturmfuhrer. Haunted by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins a deeper investigation of the past and not only finds a chance for redemption but unearths the heartbreaking secret her mother has kept for fifty years.

The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene: May 1940. Fleeing a glamorous Manhattan life built on lies, Claire Harris arrives in Paris with a romantic vision of starting anew. But she didn't anticipate the sight of Nazi soldiers marching under the Arc de Triomphe. Her plans smashed by the German occupation, the once- privileged socialite's only option is to take a job in a flower shop under the tutelage of a sophisticated Parisian florist. In exchange for false identity papers, Claire agrees to aid the French Resistance. Despite the ever-present danger, she comes to love the enduring beauty of the City of Light, exploring it in the company of Thomas Grey, a mysterious Englishman working with the Resistance. Claire's bravery and intelligence make her a valuable operative, and slowly her values shift as she witnesses the courageous spirit of the Parisians. But deception and betrayal force her to flee once again-this time to fight for the man she loves and what she knows is right-praying she has the heart and determination to survive long enough to one day see Paris again.

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard: An engrossing literary thriller of intrigue and conspiracy. When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother. When Luca's death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family's past. Unbeknown to Jon, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds himself in a fight for his life and those of his new friends.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Some people say Anna Karenina is the single greatest novel ever written, which makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color. But there is no doubt that Anna Karenina, generally considered Tolstoy's best book, is definitely one ripping great read. Anna, miserable in her loveless marriage, does the barely thinkable and succumbs to her desires for the dashing Vronsky. I don't want to give away the ending, but I will say that 19th-century Russia doesn't take well to that sort of thing.

The Diplomat’s Wife by Pam Jenoff: How have I been lucky enough to come here, to be alive, when so many others are not? I should have died.... But I am here. 1945. Surviving the brutality of a Nazi prison camp, Marta Nederman is lucky to have escaped with her life. Recovering from the horror, she meets Paul, an American soldier who gives her hope of a happier future. But their plans to meet in London are dashed when Paul's plane crashes. Devastated and pregnant, Marta marries Simon, a caring British diplomat, and glimpses the joy that home and family can bring. But her happiness is threatened when she learns of a Communist spy in British intelligence, and that the one person who can expose the traitor is connected to her past.

All synopsis from Goodreads.

[Review] The Painted Veil by W.Somerset Maugham

Title: The Painted Veil (This link goes to Amazon)

Author: W.Somerset Maugham

Page: 213 pages

Genre: Classics

Publisher: Vintage (2001), Paperback

First Published: 1925

 

 

 

Kitty Fane is the beautiful but shallow wife of Walter, a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong. Unsatisfied by her marriage, she starts an affair with charming, attractive and exciting Charles Townsend. But when Walter discovers her deception, he exacts a strange and terrible vengeance: Kitty must accompany him to his new posting in remote mainland China, where a cholera epidemic rages…

First published to a storm of protest, The Painted Veil is a classic story of a woman’s spiritual awakening.

- Synopsis from book cover

 

My Thoughts:

This is my first Maugham experience, a rather enjoyable one. Can a story be written in a style so direct and simple but holds a message so powerful that it captures its reader’s emotions at the same time? This book is one of those.

I sometimes shy away from classics because I feel that the language is a bit hard to read: I usually got lost in the middle of a long sentence and had to go back to the beginning and re-read. But the writing style of The Painted Veil makes the reading seamless so I can concentrate on the story and the emotions it evokes.

Raw emotions put you in the shoes of the characters. Not only did I relate and sympathize with Walter but with Kitty as well, although her attitude in the beginning was repugnant. Upon finding out Kitty’s affair, Walter gave her a Hobson’s choice to follow him to a remote mainland China (and risk death by cholera) or suffer the humiliation of divorce, which in the 1920s was still unacceptable. Here we can see the development of Kitty’s characteristics, how she grew out of her own wrongdoings.

Maugham wrote amazingly of a woman’s perspective and his understanding of women was as though the book was written by a woman itself. I thoroughly enjoy reading this book.

Most reviews I read saying that the movie is better than the book and even though I have not seen it yet, I think reading the book before hand makes you appreciate the movie more. I’m going to find the movie and see it for myself.

Theme Thursday [8]-Male Person

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursdays)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

Theme Thursdays is hosted by Kavyen @ Reading Between Pages.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loving this book!

 

 

 

… now listen, Frankie, it’s going to be a long cold winter and I babysit in the evenings AND I NEED READING MATTER, NOW DON’T START SITTING AROUND, GO FIND ME SOME BOOKS.

 

- Page 53, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

[Review] The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Title: The Distant Hours: A Novel (This link goes to Amazon)

Author: Kate Morton

Page: 670 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Pan Macmillan (2011), Paperback

First Published: 2010

 

 

Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long-lost letter arrives one Sunday afternoon with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret.

 

Evacuated from London as a thirteen-year-old girl, Edie’s mother was chose by the mysterious Juniper Blythe and taken to live at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe family.

 

Fifty years later Edie, too, is drawn to the castle and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiancé in 1941 plunged her into madness.

 

Inside the decaying castle Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

 

- Synopsis from book cover

 

My Thoughts:

The Distant Hours is a recent novel and much anticipated novel by Kate Morton. Believe me, I have been waiting anxiously for the paperback edition to come out and read it as soon as I got the hold of the copy. I declared The Forgotten Garden as my best book in 2010 and though The House of Riverton was just an OK read for me, I have huge expectations on this one.

With the tradition of its predecessor The Forgotten Garden, this book has all the elements that I love in a gothic novel—a dilapidated castle, books/literature, dark family secret and eccentric/mysterious characters. And as with the other two books this novel takes places in the past (WWII) and in the present. In the past we are introduced to the eccentric Blythe sisters; Persephone, Seraphina and Juniper as well as their father Raymond, an author of children's book called The Mud Man. In fact this novel started off with an excerpt from The Mud Man which in my opinion successful in setting up the mood of the story. In the present we have Edith "Edie" Burchill who became connected to the now elderly Blythe sisters through The Mud Man and her own mother who stayed with the sisters during the evacuation in the World War II. What transpired was the uncovering of a decades-old secret shared by Edie's mother and the Blythe sisters.

But unfortunately after the disappointment I had with The House at Riverton, this book fell short of my expectations again. Kate Morton is a gifted and imaginative writer and it is undeniable that she possesses great skills in conjuring up the "gothicness" (if there's a word) of the story.

I feel that the story dragged on too long—just like her earlier novels, its a whopping 600+pages!—that sometimes it became quite a bore. However I enjoyed the story about the past more than the present particularly because I found Edie to be quite annoying. The present was told in Edie's voice—which of course a more intimate reading experience—but she lived in her thoughts too much it seemed like sometimes she's blabbing away.

If there's one thing that is lacking, it is conversations/dialogues and connection between the characters. But had this put me off Kate Morton's writing... I reckon it would be no. The effect of The Forgotten Garden is still too great for me so I hope that she will realize that a good story doesn't have to be too lengthy :)