Lily's Blog

The Remains of the Day was published in 1989 by Japanese-British author Kazuo Ishiguro. I wrote a post on another of his books here.

The Remains of the Day won the Booker Prize in 1989 for Best Fiction.

It was adapted into an Academy-Award nominated film, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. I haven’t seen the film.

The book tells the story of Stevens, an English butler who has dedicated his life to the loyal service of Lord Darlington at Darlington Hall. The book begins with the butler receiving a letter from Miss Kenton, (now Mrs. Benn), an ex-employee of Darlington Hall. In the letter she describes her married life, and Stevens feels she hints at an unhappy marriage.

Darlington Hall has recently been sold to a new American Mr. Faraday. Stevens has difficulty adjusting to his new American employer. His efforts at bantering are touching.

Miss Kenton’s letter prompts Stevens to think about her possible re-employment at Darlington Hall, as they are now short-staffed.

Mr Farraday, encourages Stevens to take his car and go on a ‘motoring trip’, while he (Mr. Farraday) is away. Stevens decides to do this and go and visit Miss Kenton.

As the book progresses, Stevens ponders on various themes. On his loyalty to Lord Darlington, on the meaning of the term ‘dignity’, on his relationship with his father and on his relationship with Miss Kenton. The recollected conversations between Stevens and Miss Kenton show a professional friendship, which came close, but never dared, to cross the line to romance.

When they meet, Miss Kenton, now married for over 20 years, admits to occasionally wondering what her life with Stevens might have been like. But she admits that she has come to love her husband, and is looking forward to the birth of their first grandchild.

The question of her re-employment does not arise.

At the end of the book, Stevens focuses on the ‘remains of (his) day’ i.e., his future service with Mr Farraday.

The book is beautifully written and is hard to put down. (I’m getting a good few of these type of books recently!) It shines a wonderful light on a past life of English duty and service. One can’t but feel for Stevens and the missed opportunities his life of loyal service, has cost him personally.

Denis also loved this book and recommended it in his guest post. Thanks Patrick for introducing me/us to Ishiguro.

This was a very enjoyable and interesting read. Kati, a Hungarian friend gave me this book when I was in Budapest. It’s an English translation of the Hungarian novel, A gyertyak conkig egnek, originally published in 1942.

Márai was born in Hungary in 1900 and by the age of thirty was one of Hungary’s leading novelists. He was driven into exile in 1948 when the Communists came to power and banned his books. He lived first in Italy and then in America. Sadly he committed suicide at the age of eighty-nine.

In the novel, two old men, once the best of friends, meet for the first time in forty-one years. They dine together, sitting in the exact same places as at their last meeting, all those years ago. Later they sit in front of a dying fire, one of them nearly silent, the other, the host, slowly speaking. At their last meeting, in the company of a beautiful woman, an unspoken act of betrayal left all three lives shattered – and each of them alone. Tonight they talk of old passions and that last, fateful meeting.

I felt this book was beautifully written and found it difficult to put down. It gives a great glimpse of life in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The book was described by the Times as ‘Magnificent. A spellbinding story driven by intense passion.’ and the Observer, ‘Extraordinary. Elegaic, sombre, musical and gripping. An immensely wise book.’

There is a Sándor Márai blog, written by Erik Ketzan, a first-generation Hungarian-American. There I read that Jeremy Irons had starred in a stage adaptation of the book in 2005 and that a Hungarian film adaptation premiered in Hungary in 2006 at the 37th Hungarian Film Festival.

Márai wrote forty-six books in all. To date, five have been translated into English. They include: Memoir of Hungary, Casanova in Bolzano, The Rebels and Esther’s Inheritance. I am interested in all of them particularly Memoir of Hungary as it apparently provides an interesting glimpse of post World War Two Hungary under Soviet occupation. It was first published in the West, because it could not be published in the Hungary of the post-1956 era. One gets a sense of this period of Hungarian history when talking with Hungarian people.

A point of interest is that the Hungarian form of the author’s name is Márai (surname) Sándor (first name). The Hungarian style is always to write the surname first. I have got used to this with our Hungarian friends. I notice that the English translation of this book uses our convention however.

I came to Boston for a few days to see eldest and middle mouse. Friday afternoon while they were busy at college, I spent time at Harvard Square, in particular the Harvard Book Store.

Cambridge has a concentration of bookshops, including specialist bookshops such as; Schoenhof’s (foreign books), The Globe Corner Bookshop (travel books and maps) and Grolier Poetry Book Shop (yes, poetry), to name a few.

The Harvard Book Store on Massachusetts Avenue has been in business since 1932 and is across the street from a similarly titled university though not affiliated with it. It is packed with fiction and non-fiction books on every conceivable subject. It was rated ‘one of the world’s top shops’ by Forbes.com (2005).

Its crammed but well organised wooden shelves, accessed by rolling ladders, are stacked ten stories high with books. One gets a wonderfully claustrophobic feeling from the stacks and stacks of books.

A very different feeling to that one gets on Amazon, when buying with an ‘add to cart’ button!

Surfaces are covered is in all sorts of literary memorabilia

Not even the emergency door is safe

The new printing machine in the store really caught my imagination. Called Paige M. Gutenborg (great name), it prints books from a catalogue of about 3.6 million books, including titles from Google digital files and public domain databases, along with previously inaccessible works.

This machine prints library-quality, perfectly bound, 300-page paperback books in roughly four minutes. The books really are indistinguishable from paperbacks produced by publishing houses. I bought one of its products for a friend’s birthday, at a cost of $8.

This machine provides authors with affordable, flexible printing options as there are no minimum order sizes. The author retains full rights and complete control of their work.

Here was an example of one of the books it was printing while I was there.

Well the history of umbrellas is an important subject!

John and I looked up this title on the Harvard book cataloguing system, HOLLIS.
(Sangster, William, 1808-1888. Umbrellas and Their History – London, New York, Cassell, Petter, and Galpin [1871] – Available online as Gutenberg etext 6674, retrieved March 2005.)

Many books have been scanned to make them available. Here’s a copy of the Princeton Alumni Weekly from 1905!

The cutting room floor

So here’s a good opportunity to get that novel, cookbook, or whatever book that’s brewing inside you, into print …

Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler

This book tells the story of a year in the life of Liam Pennywell, a man just past sixty and recently let go from his teaching job. Widowed re-married and divorced, Liam is the father of three daughters, though close to none of them. Tyler describes Liam as a man who has learned to dodge issues and skirt adventure in life.

I found I needed to very much slow down to the pace of this novel. I wondered, would I find the subject matter depressing, but didn’t. This novel is very subtle and beautifully written.

Something occurs after Liam downsizes to his tiny out-of-town apartment that causes him to battle a temporary memory loss. He seeks the help of Eunice, an unusual 38-year-old woman. As their relationship develops, he very much questions his own life.

Recently, I read an interview with Sean Rothery, an 82 year old architect, artist, writer and climber. His latest book ‘Snow on the Equator: An African Memoir’ has just been published. In the interview he said, ‘The secret of a long life is to stay alive; to be engaged with life and never to sit back. There is no such thing as taking it easy – you might as well drop dead.’

It struck me that Rothery’s take on life is the complete antithesis of that of the main character in this novel. (I have to say I find myself very much agreeing with Rothery.)

Having read and enjoyed this book, I would be interested in reading more books by the same author.

When I get time!

I collect ‘books to read’. They are in a pile beside my bed. The right hand side is the ‘to be read’ pile.

I usually have a rough list in my head as to the order in which I will read books, but now it’s nearly getting to be ‘last added, first read’. Case in point is the book I read this month. I just got this book now from somebody who had read it and felt I might like it.

In your face by Lia Mills is the story of ‘One woman’s encounter with cancer, doctors, nurses, machines, family, friends and a few enemies.’ It’s written in diary form. I enjoyed this book because it’s well written, humorous and gave a candid account of her journey with oral cancer. Having read this book, I felt I liked Lia. She was my type of person, positive despite all that was going on, seeing humor in very unlikely places.

I remember hearing her story in an interview on radio when the book was published in 2007.

She has had two previous books published, Another Alice (1996) was nominated for the Irish Times Irish Fiction prize and Nothing Simple (2005) was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.

What really struck me about this account and from my own experience of a close friend’s cancer journey last year, is that one needs a back-up army of family and friends to help someone in their cancer journey. Little things like, someone to drive the person to and from daily radiotherapy sessions. People who will be okay no matter what goes wrong, delays at the hospital, ‘accidents’ en route etc. It’s a big ask, but a needed ask. The other thing is that this ‘journey’ goes on for quite a long time. The ‘army’ need to be able for the long haul, marathoners not sprinters.

I wonder what do people do who just aren’t as fortunate to have this back-up. I remember a few years ago being in as a day case in a Dublin hospital. Because the procedure involved a general anaesthetic, I was asked on the day, who would be bringing me home. In my case, Denis was with me. I overheard the lady in the next bed being asked the same question and she said taxi. They said no she couldn’t. She explained she didn’t know anyone she could ask, this being a work day, people were at work. That struck me as really sad. They left her to find someone or else she couldn’t have the procedure done that day. As it happened I ended up being admitted. I don’t suppose they have sufficient beds to leave that as a fall-back option.

I’ve always felt that life is is one big ‘merry-go-round’. One gives, and one receives though not necessarily involving the same person. ‘What goes around, comes around’ is so true. My attitude is that people need to be ‘good givers’, but also ‘good receivers’. Some people are good at one, but not the other. Some people are very comfortable giving but very uncomfortable receiving help.

Enough philosophising, I hear Julia and Julie calling!

Two books up this month.

The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gale is a bittersweet love story revolving around the events of a single day. It is a beautifully written book about a dutiful daughter who returns from her stylish independent life in Paris to take care of her elderly mother. She then runs into the now married, love of her student days. They grapple with the dilemma, do they grab this second chance at happiness or do they do the right thing. It’s a great story of mortality, memory and the difficulty of being good. I read this book in a day and enjoyed it immensely.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell is a fun read, and good if you are interested in cooking. Cathy reviewed this book here and that’s what brought me to it. It tells the story of Julie Powell in 2002 cooking her way through all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s 1961 book, ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ and writing a blog about the experience.

When buying Julie & Julia, I also bought the book My life in France written by Julia Child (the author of the 524 recipe tome above) with Alex Prud’homme, but have yet to read this. (Both books on special offer!) The latter book focuses on Julia Child’s life in France, in the years 1948 through 1954. I mention the second book because the film Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep, really covers both books. The film depicts events in the life of Julia in the early years of her cooking career, contrasting her life with Julie’s as she cooks her way through the recipes, during that single year.

I’ve read mixed reviews of the film, one saying it’s really two films poorly stuck together. Apparently this is the first film based on a blog!

One could be forgiven for getting confused between the Julie and the Julia!

Julie’s book gave me an idea. I’m going to try and cook (or assemble) my way through the Avoca Salads book, 44 recipes, I’ve just counted them. This might get help me get past page one. I have made page one’s salad loads of times, because we love it. My project wont have any tight deadline like Julie’s 524 recipes in 365 days. Who knows we might find another page to get stuck on!

I’ll report in a future blogpost!

Men watch out, you have been warned!

And I thought I would get a lot of reading done while on hols.

But I didn’t.

I did manage two.

The first was ‘Handle with Care’ by Jodi Picoult

This was an interesting read about a child with Osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. Her mother took a case of ‘wrongful birth’ against her obstetrician who happened to be also her best friend. I enjoyed this book because of many of the issues covered. However there were too many coincidences and at 507 pages, I felt it could have been shortened, without losing impact.

Tommy then picked up and read this book. He reviewed it here.

At the end of this book, I was interested to see, three further books recommended. Seems I am into this genre.:
‘My Sister’s Keeper’ by the same author. I have read this and enjoyed it. This has just been released as a film.
‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ by Kim Edwards. Read and reviewed here.
‘Family Pictures’ by Sue Millar. Better add this to my list to read, which keeps growing longer.

The second book was ‘Leaving the World’ by Douglas Kennedy

As stated in the Observer, ‘Kennedy cannot help but write grippingly’ – exactly my opinion. The story opens on thirteen year old Jane Howard promising her parents, she would never marry, nor have children. (Famous last words!) Life doesn’t always turn out as planned. The book follows Jane’s life, her falling in love with her supervisor at Harvard, (liked the Boston bit), her subsequent marriage and the birth of her daughter. Life becomes very tough for Jane and the book was hard to put down as she searched to make some sense of the remnants of her life. The effect of the wrongful arrest (Jane’s opinion) of a man charged with the abduction of his child, forces her on a mission, culminating in her re-entry into ‘normal living’.

There were some nice lines in it:
Quotation from Mencken’s ‘A Little Book in C Major’‘Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that somebody may be looking.’

‘Then there was the state of my mother, looking ever more withdrawn and battered by the world’s indifference to her.’

I enjoyed this book.

Youngest mouse and I go to America for a few days, for an appointment with his surgeon in Minneapolis. Might even get some reading done on the trip!

Okay I have to admit it, June reading has been poor, poor in the sense that writing blogposts has eaten into reading time.

As a wife, mother, worker outside the home, etc etc, I don’t end up with a lot of spare time. I also like to spend some of what spare time I do have, exercising. In a recent post commenting on his first blogging anniversary, Ferdinand von Prondzynski wrote: My approach to the blog has been simple enough – I’ll spend between 10 and 15 minutes a day on it, no more. He writes approximately 400 words on a variety of topics daily.

I would love to know his secret, because it takes me much longer!

This month I did two reading activities:
a) Bought books for upcoming holidays, book tokens are always a great present!
Best Love, Rosie by Nuala O’Faolain. This is the book which has been published since her death in May 2008
Handle with Care Jodi Picoult
Brooklyn Colm Toibin
The Whole Day Through Patrick Gale
Leaving the World Douglas Kennedy
The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro

b) I did read Designer Genes by Emma Hannigan this month. I bought the book because I had heard a tiny bit of her interview on Ryan Tubridy and thanks to Steph, who posted a link, listened to the full interview. Steph also reviewed the book here. It was also reviewed here.

I have a keen interest in health issues and so was interested in reading this book. The story is a work of fiction based on major surgery undergone by the author.

I admire the author’s bravery as evidenced by her interview on Ryan Tubridy. Emma Hannigan found she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene, which meant that she had an 85% chance of developing breast cancer and a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer. She really did try to take control of her own health by having preventive surgery. The surgeries including the removal of both breasts (and subsequent reconstruction), ovaries and fallopian tubes. Her journey was not easy. I loved her openness and feel she has done a lot of good in sharing her story. In fact her story went further than that in the book. Despite having had preventive surgery, Emma went on to develop cancer and had chemotherapy and yet more surgery. She is thankfully now well, though still undergoing preventive treatment.

Whilst I found the description of her journey very interesting, I didn’t really enjoy the ‘novel’ part of this book. Basically the story is of the journey of two women, one reflecting the author’s journey. I found the plot too simplistic.

In addition, whilst in the early part of the novel the mother’s tests (before her daughter undergoes testing) and her reaction to its positive result are described, the mother soon gets forgotton. Even though she too carries the defective gene, we don’t hear any more of what happens to her – her dealing with the reality of carrying the defective gene, her screening. Once her purpose is served in the plot, she is forgotten.

Plus there were quotations at the start of each chapter which I just did not get the point of, example Chapter 49:
Blood Bath Bake
Fillet ovaries and fallopian tubes. Measure six pound of pain. Add to abdomen. Garnish with nausea and a good coating of fear.’
I like humour even in the depths of desperation. I didn’t find her quotations witty at all. In fact I skipped them altogether and just now opened the book randomly to pick an example.

In conclusion I have very mixed feelings about the book but admiration for the author.

Patrick recommended Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in a comment on a previous post. The Sunday Times rated it ‘the year’s most remarkable novel’ and it was runner-up for for the 2005 Booker Prize. (beaten by John Banville’s The Sea). Told through the eyes of Kathy, now thirty one, the story is a recollection of her schooldays and the years after finishing at Hailsham School. Eventually we discover the fate that awaits Kathy and her classmates. The book tells of the friendships and relationships which develop in this strange setting. Never Let Me Go is an unusual book and took me a little to get into, but I was so glad I persisted. Well worth reading.

The outcast by Sadie Jones is a good read. This novel was shortlisted for the 2008 Orange Broadband Prize for fiction (awarded for the best original full-length novel by a female author published in the UK in the preceding year). ‘The Outcast’ was set in 1950’s rural England and tells the story of Lewis Aldridge, a young boy who becomes an outcast in his local community. The story winds around a drowning, church on Sunday, excessive drinking, lunch parties, self-harm, arson, cocktails at six-thirty … It tells of how events shaped Lewis’s life. This is Jones’ first novel and I hope she continues to write.

Tenderwire is the second novel by Irish writer Claire Kilroy. It tells the story of Irish violinist, Eva Tyne living and working in New York. It describes her search to become the owner of a rare violin of dubious origin and the effect the violin subsequently has on her life. Beautifully written. I haven’t yet read her debut novel, All Summer, but it’s on my list.

My problem it to make enough time for reading, roll on the holidays.

I have decided that each month I will try to do a post of books I have just read and really liked.

‘Notes from an Exhibition’ by Patrick Gale is described by Stephen Fry as ‘… complete perfection’. The story chronicles the life of Rachel Kelly an artist of some renown. Rachel is a whirlwind of creative highs and anguished, crippling lows. All her life she has battled manic depression. She is something of an enigma to her long-suffering stoic husband and four children. Rachel is found dead in her studio, leaving behind some extraordinary new paintings. The book pursues the relationship between mental illness and creativity and decribes in chronological disorder, Rachel’s life and the lives of all those close to her. I loved this book.

If I was to decribe the books I like, it would be those about the human condition. Sometimes the extremes shed more light.

Anyone who teachers or has children is secondary school should read ‘Testimony’ by Anita Shreve. Testimony tells the story of a sex scandal at a private school, Avery Academy in Vermont. The book opens with the headmaster watching a video given to him by one of his staff. While the headmaster is shocked and repulsed, he is also desperate to contain the outfall so that it does not tarnish the school’s excellent reputation. But we, the readers, are told at the outset that the explicit video produces ‘… something very like radiation sickness throughout the school, reducing the value of an Avery education, destroying at least two marriages [...], ruining the futures of three students, and, most horrifying of all, resulting in a death.’

The story is told from the viewpoint of some 24 different characters. It sounds crazy to have so many voices, but the method works.

I have just counted Anita Shreve has written thirteen books and I have read all of them. What I like about her is that the books are easily read in a day or two. She has a great ability to write an entertaining story out of an often simple premise. While her books share similar themes, usually love, loss and family relationships in a New England setting, no two books are alike.

I previously mentioned ‘The Secret Scripture’ by Sebastian Barry. I finished it and it was really excellent. The ending is very unexpected and I don’t want to comment any further for fear of spoiling it for anyone. (I was in the denist’s chair when this book was being discussed on the Ryan Tubridy book club on radio and I had to make a big effort not to hear the ending. Didn’t want to spoil it for myself.)

I am currently reading ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro as recommended by Patrick and will cover it next month.

Because time is precious I hate wasting time on a ‘bad’ book. I give a book 100 pages and if I’m not enjoying by that stage, then I feel I am ‘allowed’ to give up on it. Life’s too short and all that. That’s why I like recommendations. When I run out of reading material, I often ring two friends (sometimes from the book shop) to get recommendations. They both read voraciously. Another good source is other books written by authors I have previously enjoyed. Recommendations from readers of this blog are also very welcome.

I hate the fact that I often forget about books I have enjoyed. I think writing about them here in the blog will serve me as a good record.