Finally read a book which ended a spell of being tongue tied. Nick Hornby writes a series of magazine columns about reading; what he bought; what he read; and what else happened in his life. A funny mix of mundane and reflections on reading. He likes to read and he also likes music, soccer, drinking and somehow in an amusing way works all those interests into columns. The charting of how one book liked or otherwise leads to the next seems familiar.
And on my reading list
There's been a mini festival of Alain de Botton. What's not to like? He's funny, likes Proust, and is intellectually interested in love.
Kiss and Tell is an early novel (Macmillan 1995). Alain, in first person, is writing the biography of his girlfriend. A very biased history, based on Isabel's memories and shifting revealing of the facts. The author studies her writing, past, friends, cooking, as if she is the subject of an in depth biography. That makes her sound peculiar, whereas this is a fairly standard love affair and two quite ordinary people.
So many questions about this book. Is it non fiction. There are photos documenting the life story of Isabel. Is she made up? Or is she real, and how did she ever agree?
p233 Alain's best guess for a personal ad for Isabel...
Young, beautiful but doesn't usually think so woman, not used to filling in such boxes and thinks people who do should make friends with their neighbours, eats carrots at bus stops, tired of having maso-chistic relationships, loves gardening, good driver, bad at programming videos, prefers margarine to butter, flirts with the idea of throwing in her job every Monday (dull job, doesn't wish to be judged on it, so won't mention it, avoids the subject at parties, and suspicious of those who don't), quite tidy apart from the kitchen. Hates gherkins, gangster films, Milton, the Rolling Stones, putting out the rubbish bins on Tuesday, too many bones in fish, getting to bed past midnight during the week. Sometimes loves her parents, swimming, gossip, picking something big out of her nose, Bob Dylan, orange juice, Vaclav Havel, reading in the bath.
A.B. Yehoshua Friendly Fire. A Duet. 2007 Harcourt Inc
Heard the author interviewed on the Book Show. Set in current day Israel touching on the war and societal tensions this is mainly a story about a husband and wife who have been married for 30 - 40 years. Written concurrently from both points of view, like a duet. The wife goes to mourn her sister with her brother in law, travelling alone to Africa. The husband stays at home and continues his life and work, but finds himself made busy by the requirements of the wider family. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, they seemed real and flawed. The gentle symbolism is very deftly handled.
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