Tag: http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – Not Me!
Having spent more than 30 years avoiding Virginia Woolf (I read her as a teenager, but failed to understand her writing, and consequently didn’t like it at all) I approached Mrs Dalloway with trepidation, but I needn’t have worried – I loved it, and I can’t believe I’ve spent so long being scared of Woolf. It…
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An Australian Fairy Tale
Lesley hates her name, and decides to change it at the first opportunity. The first opportunity comes when she gets a job as a Sales Assistant (Temporary) at FG Goode, Sydney’s most prestigious department store, and she transforms herself into Lisa – but still looks like a badly dressed, under-nourished child. Lisa, as we must…
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The Solitary Summer in July
Well, it’s mid-way through July already, so I thought I’d take take a quick look at the month’s happenings in Elizabeth von Arnim’s wonderful The Solitary Summer, which has an unexpectedly serious note. In her first entry (for the first of the month), she waxes lyrical about sweet-peas, which are her favourite flowers, after roses.…
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A Whirlwind Weekend in Paris
Weekend in Paris, by Robyn Sisman, may not be great literature, and it may be fluffy, but it is great fun, very enjoyable and, best of all, it’s about Paris! And therein lies its strength, because it really does conjure up the atmosphere of the city, leaving you with a kaleidoscope of images and impressions…
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Farewell Victoria
My vintage Penguin waspublished in 1945, and hasa dancing Penguin logo,used for a short period. Farewell Victoria, by TH White is a paean to bygone era and must, I think, have been something of a curiosity, even when it was first published in 1933. It’s interesting for its record of rural customs in Victorian times, and…
The Book Trunk 