Book-A-Day #10 | Latest Purchase

I had to choose this one because it's just so pretty! I must admit, apart from books for my course I probably haven't bought any books in the past two or three years (madness!). I recently bought this for one off my third year modules so have yet to read it. However, I'm a sucker for judging a book by a cover, so if this is not a quaint, pleasantly tea-filled novel I shall be disappointed!

What is your latest purchase?

Steph

Book-A-Day Catch Up | Days 1-8

(picture taken from google)

As it's December, and I really like getting nostalgic over my books as Christmas comes along, I'm going to be blogging a bit about my book-a-day choices. Obviously I'm a tad behind, but as I;m sure you can tell from my absence, I've been a little busy over the past week (aka I haven't really read anything, so don't have a great deal to tell you guys about!). So, until Christmas I'm going to do my best to keep up with this everyday, as well as posting reviews as often as possible!

Day 1: Iconic First Line

How could I not pick this?! Dickens is definitely up there in my top faves (if you haven't already noticed from my blog in general, you'll probably get to grips with the fact that I'm quite a fan of 19th C fiction in this post!)

Day 2: Last Read

It's my most recent review! Check it out here. This is my second time reading it, and although it's not one of my favourites, it's definitely a valuable read.

Day 3: On my Christmas List

Social media has gone crazy about this and I really feel like I'm missing out not having it .... maybe if I keep my fingers crossed (or get the book lover's dream of a Christmas gift - a Waterstones voucher!)

Day 4: For Chilly Nights

So cliche, I know, but hey - I'm an English Lit student - I'm allowed to love it. I've probably read this four .... maybe five times now and it probably gets into my top ten all time favourites. The setting really makes it perfect for a winter read in my opinion - I definitely feel thankful for central heating when reading it!

Day 5: Quintessentially British

Admittedly, my first thought when I saw this day was "Sherlock Holmes". However, I haven't actually read any, and don't even own any Conan Doyle, so Hardy was my next choice. He's effectively my favourite author - if anyone's interested in male 19th Century feminism I'd suggest going for Hardy. He actually makes an effort to create female characters that have their own personality (something, much to the chagrin of some of my fellow lit students, that I find certain female authors *cough* Austen fail to do *cough* Fanny Price)

Day 6: Something Everyone Should Read

(picture taken from google)

Sadly, I no longer have my copy of this book, BUT that does not mean it is not an incredibly valuable work of fiction. This holds so many questions for a modern audience: should all women have to be mothers? Can someone be born evil? Is a mother responsible for her child's actions? It also has the most surprising twist I've ever found in a book. Check out my post on it here

Day 7: Childhood Favourite

I was a bit manic on Enid Blyton as a kid - still own at least fifty of her works! This was my absolute favourite as a child - it was one of the first books I ever remember reading. and I must've read it dozens of times. It even made me want to own a farm when I was younger (a long forgotten dream). 

Day 8: It's a Mystery!

Despite my love for TV cop dramas like Castle and Hawaii Five-0, I'm really not much of a mystery fan at all. This is probably the only definitive mystery novel I've read in a number of years, if ever. It was short and punchy, and that was effectively why I enjoyed it.

What are some of your responses to the days?

Steph

Review of The Dubliners

Ashamedly I've avoided reading any James Joyce for as long as is feasibly possible whilst studying for an English Lit degree. My time was up this week, and I had to cave in the form of The Dubliners in order to get ahead with some module reading. Admittedly the book made me feel like a rather inadequate student - I knew there must be some meaning behind this quandary of characters and situations, but had few ideas as to what. So, after doing a bit of research and rereading over notes I took whilst reading the book (yes, I'm that type of lit student, urgh), I've come up with some ideas about my take on this book.

For the majority of the novel I had no clue as to what was going on. I felt like I was wandering in circles around this semi-fictional Dublin and couldn't escape from the inane repetition of reading about the lives of various seemingly insignificant characters. I actually got rather annoyed at this and in this way missed the point - I wasn't confused because I didn't understand Joyce, I was confused because Joyce wanted me to be. If that makes sense. He purposefully made the life of the key protagonist of each chapter seem mundane and repetitive because he was trying to make his readers realise that that is the nature of Dublin society. Take, for example, Eveline. She could escape her tragic, boring life to go to Argentina with her love. Yet she doesn't. And why? Like most middle class women living in Dublin at the time she is stuck in a rut of routine, and cannot escape without casting off all familial, traditional and supposedly moral ties to her formal life. 

All of the characters reside on the outskirts of middle class society, and in this way give a sort of overview of life in Dublin during this period. Thus, they don't really speak to the reader as individuals, but as a collective entity of different sub-sections of the middle class. We have the potentially violated young boy, the manipulative mother, the lover with lost hopes and the list goes on.

Now, as to whether I enjoyed it ... I can't say it's going to be in my top ten. or really anywhere near there to be honest. Although I appreciate the literary merit of the work as it was relatively important for the avant-garde movement, it wasn't something that I exactly lost the track of time with whilst reading. Saying that, it's Joyce, so it's obviously well written. It's also quite interesting because of the sheer range of lives that he provides perspective on.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x