biblioprotasis

March Roundup

Everything I read, paused, or didn't finished.

To read I usually just pick a book and go with it. I don't follow any plan, nor do I organize a work selection. This has naturally created a pattern, in which my book choices are affected by recent readings, driven by curiosity, feelings, or suggestions. I guess we could call this the domino effect, which is always interesting to observe at the end of the month, and see the route these reading choices have traced.

The month of March was comprised of very diverse readings: new discoveries, a long classic and some titles I didn't finish.

Starting with the unfinished section (they are fewer)

  1. Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome

This book comes after Three Men on a Boat. Similarly to the first one, Three Men on the Bummel is about three friends, who want to take a break from their tiresome daily routines, and go to the Black Forest in Germany.
I kind of knew what to excpect, since I have read the first book and actually liked it. Jerome's humor is prominent in both books, although in the second one not all the "funny" moments reached me. I found myself often losing interest and feeling indifferent to what was happening.
The way the book is crafted might not appeal to everyone, for there is a constant interchange between the main plot and side stories from the past. This can be boring, if there is no real necessity to do so.

  1. Depedency by Tove Ditlevsen

This book is the third volume in the The Copenhagen Trilogy. It's Tove Ditlevsen's autobiography, and features different stages of her life: from childhood to later years.
While reading the previous two volumes, my liking of the overall biographical work decreased progressively, and I ended up puting this volume aside. I had trouble following Tove Ditlevsen's choices and way of thinking without feeling annoyed, despite her captivating writing.

  1. A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr

I really wanted to like this book, for it seemed the perfect read: a war veteran spends a month in the English countryside to restore a church's mural. Before trying to dive into it, I imagined the beautiful sceneries, the calm atmosphere and, why not, the exploration of philosophical ideas that time spent in nature can evoke. However, my expectations were not met, as I stuggled with the writing, and eventually quit reading it, feeling quite dissapointed.

The longest book I've picked so far

At the very begining of the month, I finally decided to venture into The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
The book mainly follows Edmond Dantès, a man who is imprisoned after being falsely accused, and spends many years in a cell before getting out and seeking revenge. Undoubtedly, the story is promising: it has a lot of elements that make a book stand out. The way Dumas writes and crafts both the plot and its characters is extremely smart.
However, it's a long, long book, which reading becomes automatically an investment: the first book's edition was published in 18 volumes, following, for instance, Dicken's publishing way, when authors were payed by the word.
Although afraid of the story's length, I immersed myself in it and ended up halfway through it. At that point I paused the book, getting overwhelmed by revenge's bitter taste. Once I'm ready again, I will continue it.

More books (successfully read!)

(Special mention to Kazuo Ishiguro, who magnificently completed the month of March.)

  1. The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

This story follows Valancy Stirling, an unmarried woman who lives with her mother and her aunt. Feeling like an outsider and being ill-treated by her family, she seeks refuge in her imagination, in the Blue Castle, where she can truly be herself. Some unfortunate health news from her doctor drive Valancy to finally stand up for herself and set boundaries to her abusive relatives. In the meantime, she reconsiders her life choices and starts living in her own terms.
Although cheesy and repetitive at times, there are some lovely nature descriptions, alongside funny scenes. It's overall a wholesome and sweet read.

  1. The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

The book features Florence Green, a widow who decides to open a bookshop in the small English coastal town she resides. For that she secures a loan and buys the Old House—a long time neglected property. In the meantime, Violet Gamart has her own plans for this place, wishing to transform it into an art centre, and tries to convince Florence to change her mind, unsucessfully. This story doesn't depict a cute little bookshop, nor does it follow the ordinary pattern of goal-struggles-achievement. It's a societal critique on the way people use money and power for their interest, which Penelope showcases quietly in just some chapters.

  1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

An original combination of Dicken's and Austen's elements: Gaskell created a story that revolves around the harsh reality of industrial, Victorian England, adding a romance aspect to it. The Hales, a family leaving in the South, are forced to move to the North, after Margaret's father decision to leave the Church. In there, Margaret will meet people from different classes and will face situations she is not familiar with at all. This will challenge her inner strength, hastily making the transition from a young woman to an adult. Gaskell's writing is good, although the overall book didn't stuck with me much.

  1. Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol

This is a short story written in a diary format, from the collection The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol. It follows a civil servant, who progressively loses his sanity. As always, Gogol's witty writing is highly perceived in the text, as well as his social criticism on political corruption and class superficiality.

  1. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen

This is the first volume of the Copenhagen Trilogy that features the author as a child, and the one I preferred. As I mentioned previously, it's an autobiography, which depicts the early life of Tove: born in a poor family and living in a impoverished neighbourhood, she realized her vocation as a poet and thus dreamt big. This volume is about family relationships, trauma and early memories.

  1. Youth by Tove Ditlevsen

In the second volume of the Copenhagen Trilogy, Tove is older and begins to work. In the meantime she tries to find the means for her poems to be published, while widening her social circle. Adulthood, jobs, friendships, and romantic relationships are featured, all of them taking place in Tove's background, while she still follows her main dream.

  1. Love from Paddington by Michael Bond

This is the 14th book in the Paddington series. It's a retelling of some stories mentioned in the previous books, all written in a letter format that Paddington sends to his Aunt Lucie. It's wholesome, cute and funny, just like this bear!

  1. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book's story takes place in England, somewhere after the fall of the Roman Empire—very far away from our times. It follows an elderly couple that goes on a journey to meet again their son, but they don't remember much of him, or of anything else, for that matter, only fragments: a mist surrounds them, a kind of fog that affects and conditions their memory. There are knigths, warriors, ogres, dragons, and other kinds of creatures, making this book quite fantastical, although it deviates from the genre. I cannot reveal more—I will just recommend it to you, for Ishiguro has this unique way of writing that discreetly deals with a range of issues, filled with emotional depth.

Note: No AI was used to write this post. Only my partner's valuable help to spot little mistakes.