What other author are you reading at the moment?

[Katharine]

Ohh, sounds nice, I haven't got that far yet.

[Judith Crabb]

A few months ago I read 'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman. Encouraged, I thought I would try one of his adult novels and started 'American Gods'. I try to read without preconceptions, like jumping in at the deep end of a pool. No reviews, introductions, even blurs on covers. For a while I was totally bemused - out of my depth - and then suddenly it was as though I had suddenly started swimming. I don't know but probably the word 'immersive' covers my experience. As with a lot of fiction it made my thinking a bit clearer, this time on the subject of gods, the idea that humans create the gods they need, when they need them, and those that survive are constantly being recreated. Today new gods are likely to to be celebrities on whom the devotees can lavish qualities they aspire to and admire. Often these new gods tend to be short-lived when rumours of their personal shortcomings surface. (These are my observations not Neil Gaiman's, who, though writing about gods, is certainly no preacher.)
Once I finished the noveI I found out that Gaiman is English and that this genre-bending book won awards in various diverse categories. I'm not surprised.

[Judith Crabb]

Both life and reading (I've separated the two for no good reason other than I've had to add reading onto my life as an optional extra, even though I know it has been a necessity) have serendipitous moments. Reading Kenneth Slessor's 'The Old Play' last night was one of them. Among the finest poets Australia produced last century Slessor had a breath-taking linguistic and intellectual command. Back in the fifties his more accessible verse was anthologized in school text books with names like 'New Song in an Old Land'. 'The Bushranger' was a great favourite - 'Jackey Jackey gallops on a horse like a swallow...' yes , a swallow because this horse 'can fly down waterfalls and jump through ceilings'. Just why last night's reading was serendipitous will have to wait. I realize that I should be on my way to somewhere else....

[Katharine]

"The Mystery of Katharine's Missing Books". Maybe sombody could write it up into a story.

Well one mystery has been solved. It wasn't a case of a missing book, but a 'senior moment'.

The Agatha Christie book I was searching for was in the 'read' section of my bookshelves. I keep a spreadsheet of what I've read and the date, and for authors such as Agatha Christie, I have a separate spreadsheet which I also make a note on. For some reason, although I'd entered The Thirteen Problems on my main spreadsheet, I hadn't made a note on the Agatha Christie one, so when I looked at it to see which book was next to read, it was still showing up. I now need to look for Peril at End House instead.

[Boatbuilder]

Maybe your spreadsheets should be linked to cross-check data, Katharine, so that when you update one, the other updates accordingly. Now I am assuming you are refering to something like Excel spreadsheets on your computer.

[Katharine]

Yes it is Excel, and I think I did once learn how to do cross referencing, but have completely forgotten now.

Not sure it's really worth trying to re-learn though just for a few books.

Peril at End House duly located, although for some reason I picked up Evil Under the Sun at first, not sure how I got those 2 titles muddled.

I have now read the first couple of pages, and am alternating that with Peter Duck and a Ladybird book on Oil.

[Boatbuilder]

Yes it is Excel, and I think I did once learn how to do cross referencing, but have completely forgotten now.

Not sure it's really worth trying to re-learn though just for a few books.

It's never too late to learn, Katharine. I'm still learning at my age, as I use Excel a tremendous amount.

...... and a Ladybird book on Oil.

Don't let the 'Stop Oil' protestors know that, otherwise your house will become one of their targets.

[Wolfgang]

Peril at End House duly located, although for some reason I picked up Evil Under the Sun at first, not sure how I got those 2 titles muddled.

Maybe you wanted to (re)watch the Peter Ustinov film desperately.

[Katharine]

Ha ha - could be.

Actually I'm not sure if I've ever watched that one all the way through. I do know I've seen Death on the Nile a couple of times.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Both life and reading (I've separated the two for no good reason other than I've had to add reading onto my life as an optional extra, even though I know it has been a necessity) have serendipitous moments. Reading Kenneth Slessor's 'The Old Play' last night was one of them. Among the finest poets Australia produced last century Slessor had a breath-taking linguistic and intellectual command. Back in the fifties his more accessible verse was anthologized in school text books with names like 'New Song in an Old Land'. 'The Bushranger' was a great favourite - 'Jackey Jackey gallops on a horse like a swallow...' yes , a swallow because this horse 'can fly down waterfalls and jump through ceilings'. Just why last night's reading was serendipitous will have to wait. I realize that I should be on my way to somewhere else....

Do let us know why it was serendipitous, Judith!

[Judith Crabb]

Thanks for the prompt, Anita. Why did I find the sequence of reading 'American Gods' before 'The Old Play' serendipitous? Slessor's technical expertise and brilliant imagery are probably enough, but sometimes I wonder about meanings. This time it was obvious that Slessor, like Gaiman, was using the old gods to say something about the perennial condition of humanity, the endless (so far) repetitive nature of the generations as we all assume the parts in plays of our own making. Slessor's gods are terminally bored with it all, they've seen it all before, while we upbraid this godly audience for their disinterest, their refusal to get involved. The poem ends with this plaintive request from us performers:

You that we raised To the high places,
With painted eyes And cloudy faces,
You that are named But no one finds,
Made out of nothing By men's minds -
Be true to us, Play us not false;
Be cruel , O Gods, not fabulous.

You were our statues Cut from space,
Gorgon's eyes And dragons face;
Fail us not, You that we made,
When the stars go out And the suns fade.
You were our hope Death to bless -
Leave us not crying In emptiness.

Gaiman in his monumental novel about America is doing a lot more than Slessor is in his poem, but his novel opened the door for me to the meanings of 'The Old Play'. Serendipitous for me.
n.b. To save space I made two lines into one, the capitals indicate this.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Judith. I like the lines from the poem, and it does feel gratifying when one reading experience illuminates another.

[Chrissie777]

I'm finishing "The Note" by Angela Hunt which was adapted into three TV movies with Genie Francis. The TV movies are a lot better than the book.

[Chrissie777]

I write it down in the book when I've read it. Due to a lack of interesting new novels there are more than 1.000 old books that I intend to keep and reread every few years, so I simply make a note on the first page/frontispiece.
Moreover, I have a book journal (I later found out that Daphne DuMaurier established one as well when she was young) in which I write every book that I have read since 1967 (the year I started writing a diary).

"The Mystery of Katharine's Missing Books". Maybe sombody could write it up into a story.

Well one mystery has been solved. It wasn't a case of a missing book, but a 'senior moment'.

The Agatha Christie book I was searching for was in the 'read' section of my bookshelves. I keep a spreadsheet of what I've read and the date, and for authors such as Agatha Christie, I have a separate spreadsheet which I also make a note on. For some reason, although I'd entered The Thirteen Problems on my main spreadsheet, I hadn't made a note on the Agatha Christie one, so when I looked at it to see which book was next to read, it was still showing up. I now need to look for Peril at End House instead.

[Chrissie777]

I've read Rebecca several times, Chrissie, and find it very atmospheric, but I haven't tried any of the related books.

I'm in the middle of "Rebecca" now and it's just wonderful.