Swallows and Amazons

Synopsis: To John, Susan, Titty and Roger, simply being allowed to use the boat Swallow to go camping on the island is adventure enough. But soon they find themselves under attack from the fierce Amazon pirates, Nancy and Peggy. And so begins a summer of battles, alliances, exploration and discovery.

Review: This was one of the few books that passed me by in childhood, I'm not quite sure why but I wish I'd read it then because I found it hard to disengage my adult brain. I was all the time thinking .. 'they shouldn't really be left to fend for themselves .. what on earth is their mother thinking? ... surely that's not safe .. what if they drown? ... oh crikey they've got matches' etc etc etc. When they went to meet with the charcoal burners and one of the men took them inside his tent I was nearly having a fit. Also my adult self couldn't quite get over how well behaved these children were and how well they got on together, no squabbling or punching to speak of, they were all very responsible and little Roger, who was seven, seemed to take it all in his stride when he was told that he wasn't quite old enough to do such and such or go so and so, surely he should have been prostrate on the floor, beetroot faced, kicking and screaming? Once, after learning that he couldn't go on a particular jaunt, he was told that he could lend them his torch and apparently that was just as good! These children weren't born they were sent directly from heaven. And so was the mother, she fell in with all their games, was happy to speak in gobbledygook (her being a native and all) and didn't moan at them once about catching chills or ruining clothes (though, she wasn't negligent .. she seemed to trust to their own good sense.)

Perhaps it's not so much that I've grown up, perhaps it's that times have changed and maybe the world was a much more simpler, safer place back when Arthur wrote these stories (1930's.) Certainly his stories are very reminiscent of Enid's who was writing at around the same time. Sensible children, enjoying the outdoor life with an adventure or two thrown in and lashings and lashings of food. It was only every time I came to the name 'Titty' that I became ten again .. I can't imagine that it was ever a good idea to name her that but if it was, it certainly isn't now. I was happier to call them by their crew names ... Captain John, Master Mate (Susan) Able-Seaman (Titty) and Ship's Boy (Roger).

I've only ever been to the Lake District once but it was glorious and it stuck in my memory so it was easy to visualise the landscape in which these stories is set. The four siblings set sail for 'Wild Cat Island' where they are to spend a few days camping but straight away notice that the island shows signs of previous habitation. Naturally this makes them a bit wary and they've every right to be because it's not long before they have their first confrontation with the crew of the Amazon ... the indomitable Captain Nancy Blackett and her sister Peggy. I loved Nancy, she seemed to immerse herself in the role of pirate whole heartedly and her speech was littered with salty expressions such as ... 'hang on to the mainsheet you son of a sea-cook' ... 'we've done them fairly brown' and lots of timber shivering and calling people 'galoot's'. She and Peggy seemed like such good fun and though the Swallows and Amazons are sworn enemies to start with (and war is declared) they soon become allies in their quest to lay siege to Captain Flint (who is really Nancy and Peggy's Uncle Jim.)

I absolutely adored all the little illustrations and maps, they really bought the story to life. I wasn't a very outdoorsy sort of child, far too frightened of my own shadow for that but these books are just perfect for encouraging children to explore the great outdoors and take part in pursuits such as sailing, camping, hiking and fishing .. far better than sitting in front of a computer/TV screen. Whether todays children would find the stories too tame and dated I don't know, they seem to be still enjoying The Famous Five which is encouraging.

The more I read of the story, the more I enjoyed it but I wish I had read it as a child.

Day Twenty Seven

Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending

Everyone knows I'm incredibly dense when it comes to working out plot twists, so nearly all books with any kind of surprise ending or twist always catch me out completely and I don't read a lot of mystery novels so I'm not used to trying to work them out (though I had an excellent grounding with the Famous Five books ... never worked them out either.) I was surprised by the ending of Gold by Dan Rhodes .. but then Alan has a completely different understanding of what happened than me and so now I'm not certain that I understood it correctly. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters was another one that left me confused because at first I didn't see there was a twist although the blurb on the back mentioned that there was one, and then, after someone else had given me a nudge (how many nudges do you need ) I did see it and it was like 'oh .. I see'. J.K. Rowling is a writer who has led me down many a garden path, I hardly worked out any of her twists ahead of time which was part of the deliciousness of the Potter books.

Day Twenty Six

Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something.

That would be 'Stuart : A Life Backwards' by Alexander Masters. I'm not the sort of person who will throw 'get a job' or 'you'll only spend it on drink/drugs' type comments at homeless people, I sometimes give money but it's random (you know, it depends on how I'm feeling and what change is left in my purse etc and, to my shame, it might depend on appearances .. I mean whether to me they really look homeless ) but I've never really thought about what might lead a person to be homeless or, once they are, how difficult it is to get themselves back into society (and how unappealing and hostile that society can be.) Reading this book opened my eyes to all sorts of issues that frankly made me uncomfortable.
We're all only four steps away at most, from becoming homeless, it could be caused by illness, divorce, debt, addiction, death of a loved one, violence in the home, nervous breakdown .. it's really easy to get there but hard as anything to get out again.

There's a piece in the book about a baker who, rather than let the homeless people eat them, would deliberately spoil his cakes, by spitting on them or whatever, before throwing them in the bin. Now I can understand that maybe he didn't like them hanging around his shop late at night but what sort of world do we live in when we would rather throw good food in a bin than give it to people who need it?. I've worked in coffee shops before and the amount of food waste was criminal, not only could it be used to feed the homeless but those on low incomes too.

I would find it difficult to sit and chat to someone I didn't know (and what's more hubby would kill me) but I am trying in small ways to do a little bit more .. like buying someone a hot drink or food etc and I do want to do more once I've figured out how I can help. There are a lot of homeless people here which shocked me when I moved in last year because the area is quite posh (perhaps that makes them even more visible) so I found the book pertinent and it answered a lot of my questions.

Skippy Dies

Synopsis: 'Skippy and Ruprecht are having a doughnut-eating race one evening when Skippy turns purple and falls off his chair'. And so begins this epic, tragic, comic, brilliant novel set in and around Dublin's Seabrook College for Boys. Principally concerning the lives, loves, mistakes and triumphs of overweight maths-whiz Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate Daniel 'Skippy' Juster, it features a frisbee-throwing siren called Lori, the joys (and horrors) of first love, the use and blatant misuse of prescription drugs, Carl (the official school psychopath), and various attempts to unravel string theory ...while at the same time exploring the very deepest mysteries of the human heart.

Review: A very emotional read and an unexpectedly sad one because somehow I was expecting it to be a light hearted book and though it is hilarious it's also quite melancholy and unsettling.

The story revolves around a bunch of boys boarding at Seabrook College, a catholic school in Dublin .. in particular fourteen year old Daniel Juster or 'Skippy' as he is called (and yes, he is named after the kangaroo.) Well, Skippy dies, the title tells us that and the story actually starts with his death during a doughnut eating competition with best pal Ruprecht but it would seem that, despite appearances, Skippy hasn't choked on one too many doughnut's, in fact on closer inspection, he hasn't even touched them but he has scrawled a dying message in the jam .. so what was wrong with Skippy? The story then zooms back a few weeks and we rejoin Skippy during that last term as he heads towards his fateful last day and then we continue on to see the effect his death has on those around him.

Now this is not Hogwarts, this is a far more realistic tale of boys boarding so be prepared for raging hormones, lewd talk, substance abuse, bullying, jealousy, violence, sex addiction and everything in between (including string theory!) The story is not just about the boys though, it also focuses on the teachers of Seabrook, in particular the history teacher Howard 'the Coward' Fallon .. a man struggling in both his school life and private life .. and the girls at nearby St Brigid's convent, especially the girl that captures Skippy's heart ... Lori.

It really is a stunning book, multi layered and always interesting. It's not for the easily shocked because it's fairly raw in places and harrowing and there is a fair bit of graphic content but it doesn't feel gratuitous .. it feels real and honest. The school is being run by acting principal Greg 'the Automater' Costigan, a layman (the principal Father Furlong is in hospital recovering from a heart attack) and his ruthless ambition and forward thinking make him appear both tyrannical and corrupt .. his value's are all target driven and market led but like a lot of literary monsters he provides most of the comedy. The rest of the teachers are a mixed bunch, some of them, like Howard, hope to make a difference and are well meaning but some are sadistic and .. well, let's just say that it's a catholic school with catholic priests teaching .. you can probably guess where he goes with that.

It's a big doorstep of a book (unless you read it in the three chunk edition) and very ambitious but I didn't find it a trudge, it's a real page turner. It's a coming of age story and you do feel that at it's roots it's fairly close to the truth which is a terrifying thought. There's a large cast of characters but it's the boys that steal your heart .. especially Skippy, a boy whose life is spiralling out of control to the apparent obliviousness of everyone around him.

The book also inspired me to start reading Robert Graves's book Goodbye to All That (books leading to books again.) I already had it on the shelf but my interest was piqued when Howard used the book in his classes about WWI.

Day Twenty Five

Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most

When I read Northanger Abbey I really related to Catherine Morland because I have a bit of a vivid imagination and am always getting into scrapes because of it. Also because, especially when younger, I was easily led astray and influenced by others. The one thing she didn't have (though I didn't used to, perhaps she's developed one to rival my own) that I have in abundance is a terrible temper .. it doesn't happen very often but when it does pheweeeeeeee .. I stomp about and slam doors and go out for walks in the rain without a coat on .... not in a romantic Marianne Dashwood type of way but in a terribly spoilt Catherine Earnshaw 'I will make myself ill and die and then you'll be sorry' sort of way .. luckily, nobody takes the slighest notice of it or me.

Day Twenty Four

Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read.

This sounds a bit like the same question as 'most underrated' so one answer would definitely be Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke another would be Gold by Dan Rhodes .. it's a simple story but just so enjoyable, everybody I have lent the book to loves it.
The classic that I wish more people would read is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez which is just a triumph of imaginative writing .. and last but not least, I wish Nancy Mitford's books were more widely read.

Virginia Woolf

Synopsis: As the nephew of Virginia Woolf, Quentin Bell enjoyed an initimacy with his subject granted to few biographers. Originally published in two volumes in 1972, his acclaimed biography describes Virginia Woolf's family and childhood; her earliest writings; the formation of the Bloomsbury Group and her marriage to Leonard Woolf. Compelling, moving and entertaining, Quentin Bell's biography was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize. It is a fitting tribute to a remarkable and complex woman, one of the greatest writers of the century.

Review: I was so thrilled when I found this biography of Virginia in a local junk shop that I didn't study it properly. I was more than half way through reading it (and I was thinking .. 'he's going to have to cover an awful lot of ground in the second half') when my suspicions were aroused and I took a good look at the cover ... nothing was printed on the front bar the title and the author but on the spine the dreaded words 1882-1912 appeared, meaning that this was the first book of a two volume publication .. oh fiddlesticks!!

It's really frustrating because the chances of me getting the second volume to match are slim, I will either have to buy the two volume set (just to read the second volume) or the more modern one volume publication .. unless I am lucky enough to find the second book when I go book rummaging in the future. It's all the more annoying because I enjoyed it so much and was looking forward to reading about her at her most interesting (I.e. her writing years.)

Anyhow, back to the book itself, Quentin .. who is Virginia's nephew .. writes with great frankness and wit. It's clear he knows his subject well and you feel as if you are getting an insiders view. He says, in the foreword, that Leonard persuaded him to attempt this biography and that in itself gives you confidence that he must have been deemed worthy of the job. He doesn't treat his subject with kid gloves though, the portrait he paints of Virginia is an honest one, she could be difficult, temperamental and snobbish but she was also shy, sensitive and incredibly loyal. His account of her childhood is fascinating, she was a natural storyteller ('words, when they came, were to be then, and the rest of her life, her chosen weapons',) and also a natural clown earning herself the lifelong nickname of 'goat' but her life was peppered with tragedies, insecurities and ill health which all had their adverse effect. One of her greatest good fortunes, I think, was marrying Leonard .. up until then the only man she could ever see herself marrying was Lytton Strachey and that, I imagine, would have been disastrous (not least because he was gay) but Leonard seemed the perfect mate for her (if any man could be.) This first volume leaves off just as Virginia, after much soul searching, has agreed to accept him, Quentin calls it the wisest decision of her life (though whether it was Leonard's is up for debate .. that is I'm debating it .. I'm not quoting the author here.)

I found the book really readable, Quentin has an engaging, confidential style that makes this biography more than just a recounting of people, dates and places. There's no doubt that it's a fascinating time in history and Virginia along with her family and friends must be among the most fascinating people of the age. They lived pretty unconventional lives and were deemed quite shocking, though it all seems quite tame to begin with .. mere tales of unchaperoned girls who refuse to dress for dinner. As the decade progressed though their behaviour grew more licentious and there are tales of Virginia swimming naked with Rupert Brooke and Vanessa having sex in public (though Quentin regards this as unlikely .. but then, he would .. it's his mother!) But it's not all scandal, it focuses every bit as much on Virginia's mind and imagination (which was 'furnished with an accelerator and no brakes') and her constant struggle against mental illness. There are some great recollections and anecdotes such as this exchange which took place in a lodging house in Cornwall (and credit must go to Quentin here who has furnished the tale with his own words.)

'What's the pudding?' asked Virginia.
'Mount St Michael's Pudding, Miss.'
Virginia's imagination took fire; she saw how it would be and seeing could not but describe her vision. Her exact words are lost; but there was something about a soaring convexity of chocolate surmounted by a castle of dazzling sugar, battlemented, crenellated, machicolated, crowned with banners of crystallized angelica and at it's feet a turbulent ocean of lucent jelly, flecked with creamy foam and graced by heaven knows what sweetmeats fashioned to resemble vessels, mermaids, dolphins, nereids .... For Virginia's relations the chief interest in listening to this inventory lay in the face of the serving girl, who stood amazed by Virginia's eloquence and appalled by the knowledge that she would, in a few minutes, produce a steamed pudding, not unlike a sandcastle in shape and texture, parsimoniously adorned with a dab of strawberry jam.

I couldn't find a large enough picture of the book front but there were plenty of pictures of the painting which adorns the cover which is by Roger Fry so I used one of those instead. Even though I only read the one volume, I felt I understood her more and it made me feel bold enough to walk straight to the bookshelf and pluck down To the Lighthouse and begin upon it before I became rational again.