Random Thoughts on the bookshelves in my bedroom...

The people who abridge books must be blind to beauty. How else could someone read the first 100 pages of Les Miserables and then edit out some of the most beautiful prose in literature? I wonder if it's the prose or the mini-story that's being told, but I cried at the end of the Jean Valjean/Monsieur Bienvenu episode.

I recently read an essay on the types of literature you should read before bed. Basically the criterion were that it should be interesting, but not too interesting, and not any nonfiction that might call you to action. The author’s pick was Anthony Trollope. I had never really thought about the books I read in bed before, other than the fact that I didn’t want to read a murder mystery, but his advice is very true. The night I read Dr. Thorne by Trollope, I could go to sleep relaxed and content (there is something wonderfully soothing, and yet so alive, about his writing). The next night I read That Hideous Strength, and felt noticeably less comfortable. I’ll stick to reading that in the day.

There is something very wonderful about a story that can cross time periods and/or genres without losing its power. North and South is a Victorian version of Pride and Prejudice (it’s not the same, but it has several similarities), but is almost equally good in a completely different way, and quite a page-turner. Jenna Starborn is a sci-fi version of Jane Eyre. The author tells the story pretty much event for event, but it’s quite enjoyable light reading, if not the excellent quality of the original (it’s main fault is not being quite original enough...there’s a Victorian feel to it still despite the interplanetary and technical setting), and would probably be a good way to get a modern teen interested in the real book.

I have two bookshelves in my room. One is only three shelves, and is most of the books from our library that I want to read in the near future. It has about 130 books on it. The other is full size and is two-thirds my library books, and one third books I own or have already read and there because I want to reread them. I cannot look at them without a title jumping out that I am dying to read. How lovely to be a bibliophile!

I’ve read eight books this month, and they are almost all on the same theme. Let’s see if you can guess it:

The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter
The Oxford Guide to Word Games by Tony Augarde
The Black Dudley Murder by Margery Allingham
More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
Q’s Legacy by Helene Hanff
A Landscape With Dragons (reread) by Michael O’Brien
A Passion For Books edited by Harold Rabinowitz
Great Books of the Christian Tradition by Terry Glaspey

I have picked up That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, which is the final book in his space trilogy, for the fourth time. The problem is, I’ve never actually finished it. The other two books I’ve read three times each, and each time I finished Perelandra, I picked up THS. But after 50 pages, I always couldn’t finish it. It seemed so English college drama, and not science fiction or fantasy at all. Well, I’m halfway through now and it’s getting much more enjoyable. Maybe I just needed to pick it up at the right time.

Speaking of the right time, I’ve been thinking a lot about timing for books. In my reading life, I have read books at the wrong time. I read Pride & Prejudice when I was 11, and could only remember the character names and the plotline of the first couple chapters when I picked it up again at 13 and loved it. I tried Rob Roy when I was twelve and couldn’t get past the first few pages..I’ve since been able to finish it easily. I used to only want to read fantasy...now I’m hooked on Victorian lit. There are certain of my non-bibliophile reading friends that I wouldn’t recommend certain books to, even though I love them. It’s not that they aren’t great books, but I don’t think they’d appreciate them. You don’t start off reading classical lit with Trollope or Dickens, because long character novels are something you can only really enjoy when you are a more mature reader. And there are other books that must be savored when you are young (C. S. Lewis would disagree, though). It’s a delicate system, but a useful one when you understand that it’s there.

I finally got Purring Piggy to start Cotillion. How much more wonderful is a shared book! So far, we both agree that it would make a great movie. I think most of Heyer's books would. They've got lively and hilarious dialogue (some great one-liners in every book), a twisting plot, interesting characters, and a plot and scene style that seem almost designed for film adaptations. I think they would definitely be as enjoyable as a Jeeves and Wooster film, especially The Grand Sophy and Cotillion, but also A Civil Contract (one of her more serious ones actually), The Unknown Ajax, and Powder and Patch. Filmmakers, however, never make the films I'd like to see (when will there be a remake of The Barchester Chronicles?). But the books are still delightful, though, and that's always a comfort.