What I've Been Reading | April 2015

One of my chief joys is reading; my local library is my friend. I have been making some attempts to read some of the items that have been on my mental "to read" list, and have been surprised to find I have enjoyed the experience this month. Without further ado, onto the books. All opinions are mine and if you agree or disagree, I would love to hear from you.

I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

I suspect this is a book I was meant to be read about 10 years ago - it has a youthful naivety about it that I feel would have been a perfect compliment to my mid to late teen years. Having read it for the first time now, in my late 20s, I feel more able to sit back and enjoy the pleasant wash of the narrative and the quirkiness of the characters, without entirely sympathising with their plights.

The story of Cassandra Mortmain and her unusual family are at the centre of the story; indeed, it is Cassandra's journal that the novel is taken from. There is er father, previously a literary genius and now a fading, slightly unhinged presence in the family home; her step mother, a previous bohemian muse, now desperate to claw back from of her previous sense of achievement and regain the love of her husband; Cassandra's sister, Rose, who is determined to use her beauty and wiles to escape from the claustrophobic poverty of the family home; and finally there is Stephen, the family servant/stray orphan, who is passionately in love with Cassandra, much to her chagrin.

Into this mix come 2 Americans, Neil and Simon, who proceed to turn the life of the Mortmain family upside down. Without giving too much away, this is a coming of age story for Cassandra; her innocence at the beginning of the novel is slowly turned to knowing and understanding, not without a share of sadness and heartbreak. The end is, in particularly, very moving.

The Outsider - Albert Camus

I picked up The Outsider because I know it is something I should read, and it looked short enough to get through in one sitting and out the other side with a greater sense of self knowledge. I was right. 

The story of a man who commits a crime without a seeming motive, who is subsequently judged by his community, not for his crime but for his emotional detachment and his previous behaviour is an interesting study in human behaviour, our reactions to it and the nature of justice. I could not conclude myself whether Camus wanted his narrator to appear to suffer with mental health problems, or to be simply somewhere  along the autistic spectrum. I would be intrigued to hear other's views on this one.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

When this came out a while back, everyone was talking about it and how brilliant it was. I picked it up a few times in book shops and read the synopsis, which did not lure me in. Odd, really, considering I enjoy fantasy, and magical historical novels are my bag. I loved Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell, for example. However, I saw this in the library recently and decided to give it a go.

I can honestly say I have not enjoyed a novel so much for a long time. I came away from the last page feeling dazzled and breathless, and devastated that the whole thing was over. The story is of a battle of strength between 2 magicians, in the setting of a Victorian circus - but it is so much more than that; it is a love story, a story about friendship and about what the definition of a home is.

I can honestly say that I enjoy good dialogue more than good description; I have been known to skim read long passages of description. You cannot do that with The Night Circus. It will capture you and pull you in, and it is beautiful. 

Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie

Another old story that I have wanted to read for a while - principally because I have enjoyed the Poirot adaptations on UK television and I whilst I have read some Poirot before, never this one. For some reason (perhaps due to the most recent adaptation being a much darker story and style), I was expecting something more in depth than the average Poirot novel.

On that front, I fear I was disappointed. This has a great story to it - which I won't spoil for you aside from saying that the Orient Express gets stuck in a snow drift and during that time, one of the passengers is murdered. Poirot, who happens to be travelling in the same carriage, must track down the murderer from all the other passengers in that carriage. There are secrets, lies and red herrings. The conclusion is magnificent for it's sheer ingenious audacity.

I feel it was missing the depth of moral dilemma that I was expecting, but that doesn't make it a bad read. It is an excellent read. After all, it is Agatha Christie. Somehow, though, I felt a little let down.