More Reading At Outpatients

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well last Monday I was at outpatients with my mother. And as per usual there was the wait, and then another wait, and then another wait. And in the meantime I read. Some of these books were started before we went into the hospital and others were finished afterwards but they all bar the first had the outpatients reading vibe upon them.

Romance of Roman Villas (The Renaissance) by Elizabeth Champney then. When I started this read I said I didn't know what it was going to be. Now that I've finished it I can truly say nothing has changed. I wasn't really sure whether I was reading a historical novel, or a biography or art history. One moment the Borgias were being discussed. The next there were quotes from William Morris. My head hurt.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell was the next read. The good thing about this was that it's definitely a novel. And..... well.....that's it.

Written to be published in a magazine between 1864 and 1866 whilst this was (though obviously decades later) in a Jane Austen manner it was nowhere near as good. As regular readers will know Jane Austen is for me in that group of writers that comes in that neutral "literary Switzerland" territory.

Elizabeth Gaskell is however (based on the books I've read) more moving into the D H Lawrence blog villain category. Possibly this is to do with the reputation of North and South (which I haven't read) as a social novel in the Dickension mould. Wives and Daughters is anything but. Inconsequential is the best word I can describe this....and the most kindest.

A Hero Of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov is another book which I didn't like, Essentially a collection of tales with the overall arc surrounding them all I can say is that I suspect I would have enjoyed it more if I was Russian.

So now it's a biography of Robert Burns by John Sharp. Let's hope I like it better than this lot.

Until the next time

On Books: Including With Regard To William Morris How You Cannot Judge A Book By Its Wallcover

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

William Morris then. Socialist wallpaper guy. Hero of his era. I'm left-wing too.

But let me give you a secret.

His wallpaper designs? Of those I've seen. I don't like them. Suspect my grandmother would have though.

And of course my opinion is absolutely right. As is yours if you disagree. Because what you want to be put onto your walls. Be it wallpaper or in my preference paint is entirely up to you.

Now the point of all of this is that when I woke up at four o'clock in this Monday morning. Unable to sleep further. Worried about my mother. Not knowing for sure when I can return to Wales from Essex exile (though 27th Feb taking her with me to complete her recovery seems the most likely). Well that's the moment when I grab my Kindle to find out that the next book was his book Hopes and Fears For Art. And I'm not

It is not a bad book. Actually for a subject I'm not all that interested in it had it's moments. He doesn't like bankers, has views on art that the majority can appreciate and his comments on the effect of trade on Indian art exports is an interesting snippet in itself.

Not the sort of book I should warn that when you realise you've nodded off after swiping a few pages you can plough through regardless. You have to go back. Still it's a good read. And the version I read didn't have any illustrations of wallpaper...which is a help.

Sometimes reading a book without knowing the background is fun. Sometimes though it's a waste of time. When I downloaded Harbours Of England (published 1856) by John Ruskin it was because a) I heard about him and b) it was free.

However essentially what this book is about is Ruskin talking about certain paintings of John Turner. Paintings that I probably have seen but have never noticed. It could be the greatest piece of art criticism ever but it was wasted on me.

The next book is Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas. Suspect I'll be able to get into it a whole lot quicker.

Until the next time.