Now it's true that I should be writing something intelligent about One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich right around now or, failing that, at least something faintly amusing and postmodern about Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. But this week Esther and I went shopping instead:
No, your eyes do not deceive you: the first ten installments of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series (yum!); ten Gabriel Garcia Marquez novels, including the wonderful, life-changing Love in the Time of Cholera; two Persephone Press books; three Viragos, including the much-recommended Precious Bane by Mary Webb; plus a Toni Morrison, a Rider Haggard, a Mark Dunn, a book about pigs and the Covent Garden Soup recipe book (to go with our new blender!).
There were a number of temptative factors. Firstly, the...*cough*... Book People. I know we shouldn't. But how do you resist ten books for £10? How?!? And secondly, Fossgate Books. I'm not sure how we managed to live in York for 18 months without discovering this absolute Eden of a secondhand shop - ramshackle, yes, with books piled every which place and a stairway determined to pitch you to your certain death, but blissful. The proprietor knows his small presses and seems to handpick his secondhand fiction, culling off the well-thumbed thrillers and multiple copies of Dan Brown and Maeve Binchy, and cutting straight to the literary chase. The Leonora Carrington is especially rare, and it isn't often I see Persephone Books secondhand - he mentioned that he always bought them up as soon as he saw them. Good man. A place to frequent methinks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On an entirely different note, I see that Zadie Smith is exhorting us to be better readers and less cynical critics in The Guardian Review, singing us the old tune about writing/reading being a two-way street and about 'failed readings' from hasty critics. I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I can't help but smile and reminiscence about our interchange about On Beauty back in May 2006 in which I considered the reviewer's duties to an author:
'to engage with the written word thoughtfully at a visceral level, to question its values and its purposes, and then to *write* back. Sometimes writing back involves sharp opinions and sharp words. No doubt it involves being critical and, certainly, it always involves being honest.'
I think perhaps her 'tips' have a particular relevance (or non-relevance, depending on how you view them) in the blogging world, where opinions are made, disseminated, galvinised and changed so quickly. Or should I say so hastily? Perhaps I shall think on this some more over the next few days and post on it particularly later in the week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, and before I forget! The lucky recipient of my extra copy of Master and Commander, as decided by the guinea pigs, will be...Margaret. I will be dropping you a request for an address in the next few days. :-)
~~Victoria and Esther~~