Random Jottings

Résistance - Agnes Humbert

Readers of this blog will know by now that when I love a book, I really love a book and I never let up in my constant mention of same.  I am doing this once again, quite unashamedly.  In my list of Books of the Year I nominated Resistance by Agnes Humbert as THE book of the year and as it was a foot note on my post, I did not want anybody who missed reading this list, not to know just how much I admire and love this book.  You will have to forgive my haranguing you but I just so want you all to be inspired by this amazing woman.

Barbara Mellor, who translated the book so wonderfully, has sent me the following quotes and I see I am in very elevated company indeed in my appreciation, all of whom put it so much more succinctly than I.

If you have not read this yet, then please do so.  It is going to take a mighty book indeed to match this in 2009!

• ‘Many fine, memorable and enduring books have been written about war and human conflict by eye-witnesses and combatants, winners and losers, but most of them stay in the field of harrowing testimony, of personal history, of fascinating documented fact. Very few indeed move beyond into the realm of literature … Agnès Humbert’s Résistance can now join that elite few’ William Boyd

• ‘Her narrative combines evocations of moments of intense suffering with vivid character sketches, ironic asides, snatches of dialogue and brave repartee to sadistic guards. She weaves all this together by inventing a narrative voice that is sober and testifying, sardonic and humorous, always precise … This is a beautiful and powerful work of literature’ Michèle Roberts, The Times

• ‘An astonishing work, almost unbearable to read in places, yet ultimately inspiring. It evokes horror and compels admiration … The diary gives us a remarkable record of life in occupied Paris and of the first stirrings of resistance … A remarkable book by a remarkable and brave woman’ Allan Massie, Literary Review

• ‘A timely translation … It is this ebullience, this unconquerable spirit that makes her diary stand out from so many other records of French – indeed European – resistance to Hitler and Nazism. She is such a fighter, such a character … Her personality bounces through every page of her diary … Humbert’s memoir will remain one of the most valuable testaments we have to Hitler’s policy of “extermination through labour”’ Carmen Callil, Guardian

• ‘Told with intelligent wit and without a shred of self-pity, this is a resolute yet quietly poignant testament not only to man’s capacity for cruelty but ultimately to the indefatigable human spirit of resistance.  Even writing about her darkest experiences, Humbert still conveys enough resilience and humour to make you want to stand up and cheer’ Waterstones Books Quarterly

• ‘Humbert was an unlikely candidate to lead the French in the fight against Hitler, but her bravery and will to survive have long been admired. This new translation will give greater exposure to her revolutionary wartime recollections’ Michael Taube, Financial Times

·    ‘Astonishingly vivid … Her ability to recreate in painstaking detail her days – as an activist, slave worker, freed prisoner and potential nemesis of the fleeing Nazis – transforms the book from honourable reportage into a remarkable work … Rooted in its time and circumstances, hers is both a timeless testament and a timely one’ Aamer Hussein, Independent

• ‘This is both a historically important document and a fine literary achievement … Barbara Mellorhas done a wonderful job as translator … The name of Agnès Humbert should now join the ranks of Lucie Aubrac and Violette Szabo, women whose bravery and dignity during the occupation deserves to be remembered for many generations to come’ Christian House, Independent on Sunday

• ‘A long-neglected memoir of the Resistance provides an intimate view of war … It is now translated for the first time in English, and one can only marvel at its 60-year neglect … Résistancehas flashes of self-deprecating humour, and its affirmation of human dignity instils a kind of joy in the reader … A marvel of luminous precision and restraint, Résistance, beautifully translated by Barbara Mellor, is a book of commemoration as well as a documentary’ Ian Thomson, Sunday Times

• ‘A superb account of a warrior in combat, based on a daily diary kept in Paris and written up after the war to give a graphic description of the years of captivity … [Humbert] showed an astonishing light-hearted courage. She and her comrades faced death almost gaily, accepting the fate they had chosen and glad to have made that choice. Resisters like her are a true elite, different from the rest of us’ Daily Mail

• ‘The book that moved me the most this year was Résistance, Agnes Humbert’s memoir of her stint in the French Resistance … A vivid picture of the cruellest of times, written with an astounding humour, courage and absence of self-pity’ Jenny McCartney, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year

• ‘Humbert’s book quickly became a classic in France, but has never previously been published in Britain. It is an astonishingly vivid testament to one woman’s bravery, humanity and sheer dogged resilience, and, more than any number of academic tomes, it allows us to understand the visceral reality of life in this torrid period of history’ Sunday Times History Books of the Year

• ‘With thrilling immediacy, this book guides us through the first stumbling steps of a disparate cell of writers, linguists, historians and social gadflies in Occupied France’ Tobias Grey, Washington Post Best Books of 2008

• ‘An artist’s eye, a woman’s tongue and a mischievous spirit add up to the most unlikely and vivid account of the ordinariness of evil’ The Times History Books of the Year

 Well, what are you waiting for......

Tuesday Thoughts

Had to think twice before I gave a title to this post - don't know about you but at this time of the year I tend to forget which day it is.  So the Christmas festivities are behind us and now we have the enforced jollity of New Year's Eve which I always avoid like the plague.  And yes I know, I am in full rant mode again. Sorry.  I shall be indoors nice and warm and raising a cup of cocoa to all revellers and wishing them a Good 2009 and good luck in trying to get a taxi home...

Quiet Christmas with daughter Numero Uno, chilling, chatting and eating and sleeping.  Kathryn went to her dad on Boxing Day and then stayed on as he was going to be on his own next day as the Second Mrs was visiting her family in Brighton.  Kathryn rarely has the opportunity to be with her dad on his own so I was more than happy for them to poodle off together and they went to see the film of Australia which they both loved.  Patrick dropped her off in the evening and popped in for a bit and it was so lovely to have a chat with him and we ended up talking about music, opera and Shakespeare and all sorts of things, and it was good after all the bitter years to be able to talk in this way.  He was pleased with the CD rom I burned of photos of the girls and in return brought round a few albums he had got of them when they were very tiny indeed which I had not got, so more scanning coming up and it was fabulous to see some of these pictures again.

Saw her off at the station on Sunday and got very wobbly - had got used to having her around and then off she goes, but that is the lot of parents so have to grin and bear it.  This morning daughter Numero Due and son in law dropped by and so spread the visits and the treats out a bit.  My mother is now back from her Christmas with my sister and bro in law so will nip over and see her later in the week and catch up on all the chat and gossip and take over her presents from grandaughters so, again, family visits and treats spread out a bit longer.

Have been reading other blogs and booklists etc and have enjoyed reading what others have chosen and taken note.  I have also joined a Challenge after saying I wouldn't but this is a Victorian Challenge and no way am I going to miss out on that one!  Other than that, in 2009 I have decided to just take books as they come which is what I did this year and it worked out very well.  I did have a think though and one theme which I will bear in mind, though not rigidly, is a re-read of Richmal Crompton and EM Delafield and others of the Persephone ilk which I have neglected a bit in the last couple of years.  Also, a very interesting post over on Justine Picardie's blog about E Nesbit has made me want to read her books again.  Watched The Railway Children over the holiday, of course, the remake this time with Jenny Agutter as the Mother but it still reduces me to tears.  Had totally forgotten that Michael Kitchen was Daddy my Daddy in this one, gosh I love that man.

So a rambly post today as I am just lolling around, reading and generally being totally slothful and grazing through Patricia Wentworth and Angela Thirkell and watching Hercule Poirot (got the whole series at a silly price at HMV) and doing some more scanning which is an ongoing project which is going to keep me going for some time.

Not back to work till next week. Bliss.

Au reservoir.

John Buchan

I sat down last night in dressing gown and bed socks, lovely and comfortable, and watched the latest version of The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, this time starring the rather gorgeous Rupert Penry- Jones as Richard Hannay.  Had not liked him much in the ITV version of Persuasion last year, probably because I thought the adaptation was dire, but found him very watchable in this.

What I love about this story is its sheer fun and gung ho attitude. We have a code book, German spies, naval secret plans and what are the Thirty-Nine Steps?  In each film version I have seen, a forgettable one with Kenneth More, the Robert Powell version with him hanging from Big Ben and the original Hitchcock version with Robert Donat (which John Buchan loved but his wife did not), the Steps have a different significance and as I have never read the original I quite happily accept each version as it comes along.

The Beeb did last night's adaptation very well, lots of running across the Scottish Moors and swooping planes and vintage cars and a suffragette who turns out to be not all she seems to be, the bedroom scene which thankfully did not result in a full blown sex scene, though there was some very suggestive application of salve on burns on backs etc, and as I had not the faintest idea what was going on most of the time, I just sat back and enjoyed it.

Straight afterwards, over on BBC4, there was an hour long programme on John Buchan, who worked his way up from a lower middle class background to Oxford (where one of his contemporaries was HIllaire Belloc), via South Africa  to Governor General of Canada and then Lord Tweedsmuir.  It transpired that he had written and published five books while he was at Oxford (written purely as he did not have a private income from his parent so needed to make money) and, at the age of 24, had his name in Who's Who where his occupation was described as 'undergraduate'.

He was a popular author throughout his life, though he is now mainly known for The Thirty Nine Steps and, perhaps, Prester John and Greenmantle but he wrote  many more that I, personally, have never heard of.  The programme had interviews with Anne Widdicombe, Douglas Hurd and Frederick Forsyth amongst others who are huge fans and talked with great authority and love of his work.  This was interspersed with footage from the Boer War, where Buchan served in South Africa, newspaper articles and criticism of his output which was all extremely interesting and made totally unnecessary the usual footling about of the BBC who can never do a biography of anybody without hauling in the usual actors to portray the parts of whoever they are talking about at the moment.

Thus, each time something was being said about Buchan which could not be illustrated with an authentic film or picture, cue an actor sitting at a desk, dressed in full Edwardian rig and dipping his pen in ink and writing busily.  If a character was mentioned, cue actor dressed as character, looking portentous.  None of these actors say anything, at all.  If they did the BBC would have to pay them more than if they do not open their mouths and we all know the BBC likes to watch how it spends its money (Jonathan Ross anyone?  better not go down that route.....)

We were told that Buchan wrote 'the Thirty Nine Steps when he was suffering a bout of ill health with a duodenal ulcer' and guess what?  Yes, picture of dumb actor writing busily again, but this time in bed and drinking a glass of milk.  The inanity of it all is so infuriating I had to tell myself to calm down and just concentrate on the programme content which was fascinating.

After watching the film and then the feature on Buchan I feel a real curiousity about his work.  I have read none of his output and it seems there is an awful lot.  Part of me is thinking 'oh goody, if I lilke them just think how many I have got to keep me going' but I am not totally sure they will be for me.

Has anybody out there any thoughts on this or recommendations?  I really would be most grateful.

Thirty Glorious Years

 

Well, we all know that Virago is celebrating their 30th birthday this year and I had embarked on publishing photos of the old 'green' covers, or those that I had in my possession.  Somehow or other, I never got beyond five, other things seems to have intruded.

So I have put together photos I have taken of a small selection of my Green collection and using the wonderful collage facility on my laptop programme - here it is.

I know that marketing means that more modern up to date covers have to be produced for the books now published by Virago, but I do love these green ones, always a sure sign when searching in a second hand bookshop or at a sale that any spotted will be worthwhile owning even if you have never heard of the authors, which happened to me a lot.  I have discovered a lot of unknown writing in this way.

Also, I do find it slightly baffling that while new designs are in place for most of the Virago titles, every now and then and 'old' one creeps through as in the reprint last year of Elizabeth von Arnim's Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther which used exactly the same cover as my old, battered edition.

Ah, well strange are the ways of publishers.....

Merry Christmas

 

 A Peaceful and Happy Christmas to everyone from Random Jottings

Books of the Year 2008

I love doing this exercise.  Looking back over the lists and comments is always fascinating.  I have found it very hard to get this down to Ten Best Books which I try do to so am not going to attempt it this time, I am just going to write down those that stood out for me. 

At the start of 2008 I decided I was not going to embark on any plan, I abandoned all Challenges, tempting though they were, and made up my mind I was going to just wander around, pick up and read what I fancied and see what I found.  That is what I did and I have thoroughly enjoyed this relaxed attitude. 

I have also spent a lot of time in 2008 re-reading and rediscovering books, many of which I have not listed and because they do not make this particular list does not mean I have not loved them or thought they were excellent - I am putting books discovered and never read before only in this 2008 choice.  I have placed a sentence or two about each book but if you want to read my posts on the various books, just click on the title and, if my hours spent this afternoon on the laptop have not been wasted, you should find yourself at the correct post.  So here goes - in no particular order:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer. A sheer delight from start to finish and a one off to be cherished as the author sadly died before this book was published.  Epistolary novel and destined to be a classic in my humble opinion.
• Resistance - Agnes Humbert.  I have raved about this wonderful story of life in a German labout camp after Agnes Humbert was found guilty of running a resistance group in Paris after the German invasion.  Witty, wise, and moving
• Becoming Queen - Kate Williams.  Story of the young Victoria and a portrait also of her ghastly raffish relations.  Great read which fairly rattles along.
• Book of Love - Sarah Bower.  Loved this almost as much as Needle in the Blood.  All about the Borgias and yes OK, they probably did bump off a diner or two, but this book is so much more. Loved it.
• Peony in Love - Lisa See.  Not expecting to enjoy this but did.  Gorgeous writing about life of a young girl in China and fascinating customs and traditions.
• Taint of Midas and Messenger of Athens - Anne Zouridi.  A discovery and another find sent to me by Bloomsbury.  Mysterious detective, the Fat Man, appears in the islands of Greece to right wrongs and punish wrong doers.  But who has sent this mysterious messanger?
• Resistance - Owen Sheers.  The Germans have invaded England and one morning all the women in a Welsh valley awake to find their menfolk have gone and they have to face the invaders on their own.  Gripping.
• Great Western Beach - Emma Smith.  Discovered this author when published by Persephone. Story of her childhood and her parent's unhappy marriage. Magical and I loved it.
• An Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett.  No need to say anything at all about this book. It is by Alan Bennett and that says it all.

• Ekaterinburg: Last days of the Romanovs - Helen Rappaport. If you can read this without weeping I shall be very surprised.  Essentially, a humdrum family who would have been happy living in the Home Counties and looking after the house and garden, but who happen to be the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, the awful final days of their lives will move you. It did me.

• Daphne du Maurier - Margaret Forster.  One of my favourite authors writes the biography of the author of Rebecca. Insightful, superbly written and I found it totally absorbing. 

• Letters of Noel Coward.  Sheer delight from start to finish.  I am a huge fan of the Master and always will be.

• Cathedral of the Sea - Idelfonso Falcones.  Stunning historical novel set in 15th century Barcelona and read by me just before visiting that city. Huge glorious read and I loved every single word of it.

• Over - Margaret Forster.  The more I read of Margaret Forster the more I feel she should be more appreciated.  The story of a family split by the tragic death of a child and trying to come to terms with it.  Masterly and moving.

• Mothernight - Sarah Stovell.  First novel by this author published by Snowbooks.  You read it, knowing that underneath the surface something not quite rightsis bubbling.  Story is centred around the mysterious death of a baby and effect on all around.

• Ithaka and Troy - Adele Geras.  Written for the younger reader but can be read by adults with huge enjoyment.  This one did.  I have always loved Greek history and the Iliad and here we have the story of children and teenagers set in this historical background which brings to life the day to day difficulties of living under seige and portraying such famous figures as Achilles, Hercules, Odysseus and Penelope, amongst others, as real people.  Great stuff.

• Star Gazing - Linda Gillard.  I think Linda gets better with each book she writes. Main protagonist is a widow, who is blind and also lost her child when the heard of her husband's death. Think that sounds a bit much?  Well, it isn't.  Spiky, witty and tightly written and with a heroine who loves Wagner - well, a shoe in as far as I am concerned.

In my re-reading I have spent time with Dickens and George Eliot as well as reading unfamiliar, to me at any rate, works by those two authors, namely Little Dorrit (which I read alongside the terrific BBC dramatisation) and Janet's Repentance, one of the beautifully produced Hesperus books.  I am currently going through my umpteenth re-read of all the mystery novels of the incomparable Ngaio Marsh, re-read many of the Georgette Heyers (had some gorgeous editions sent to me by Sourcebooks Inc in the USA which are just so lovely to look at as well as read); gobbled up quite a few L M Montogmery books - not the Anne ones but her other stand alone stories, my favourite of which is the Blue Castle and have also spent many happy hours lolling in the bath reading Mills & Boon.

My discoveries of 2008.  I am currently enjoying a read of all the Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth.  Not great literature, the plots are very similar and this is particularly noticeable when you are reading them en masse as I am (probably not to be recommended), but they are set in the 1930's and 1940's and fall into the category of 'cosy' murders which sounds an oxymoron, but we all know what we mean and I am having great fun with them.

And now I come to my find of the year - how have I lived so long without discovering the joys and sheer bliss of the Mapp and Lucia books by EF Benson?  They have passed me by and I can only assume this was mean to be so that I would have the total pleasure of reading these relatively late in my reading life and, therefore, enjoying and savouring them all the more.  Utterly utterly divine, I was totally captured by these hilariously, funny, witty books and devoured them in one sitting.  Honourable mention must be made of Tom Holt who wrote two books in this genre and in my opinion, did it seamlessly, and Guy Fraser-Sampson who produced Major Benjy and promises more.

My choices are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction but for my Book of the Year is easy to choose.  It is a book that moved me tremendously and make me feel humble and uplifted all at the same time.  This is Resistance by Agnes Humbert.  Bloomsbury kindly sent me copies for a draw here on Random and Barbara Mellor, the translator also donated signed copies and it was one of the biggest entries I have ever had on this blog and delighted that it was so.  A stunning book and, without sounding too cliched though I suppose I will, a testament to the human spirit.

I look forward to more wonderful reading in 2009.

Photo of the Day

   

Taken in New York in 2007

Photos, collages and pressies

As I have mentioned on Random I have spent quite a few weekends sorting and scanning old photos and playing with them on the Picasa programme on my laptop. Well worth downloading this from Google - it is totally free and enables you to upgrade, crop, sharpen, lighten and do all sorts of wonderful things to old photos.  Some of the pictures I took of the children nearly 30 years ago have come up beautifully.

It was with a pang that I realised that I had all the photographs of the family and children, which I had swept up with my leaving my marriage and family home and felt really conscience stricken that my ex has no record of the children at all.  So, I have spent a some time loading up photos and burning them to a CD so that he will have a slide show of his two daughters from birth right up to a few months ago. The Picasa programme also allows you to create a collage of lots of photos so have done this, printed it off and inserted it in the CD as a cover.  I have also done two other CDs, this time with photos of moi contained therein, for Kathryn and Helen and I am delighted with the fact that the technology to do all this is at my fingertips. 

Now that I have finished all this, I really must spend the evening wrapping up pressies and generally getting cards up and a few feeble decorations out -I must not allow myself to sink totally into Scroogedom which I have to fight every year.

Then up early in the morning for final bits of food shopping, want to avoid doing this on Christmas Eve, as it is a nightmare, and I have a stack of books and DVDs (Daughters have already intimated that more DVDs will be coming my way) to watch and read and am looking forward to a quiet Christmas Day with Daughter No 1 who says all she wants to do is 'eat, talk to you mum and chill'.  I think that sounds pretty good to me.

Strictly Wonderful

Met up with friends last night to watch the final of Strictly Come Dancing and boy what a terrific final it was - I have watched this show since episode one of Series One and have to say that this one was the best ever from the point of view of ability.  Natasha Kaplinski, winner of Series One, was in the audience and she said that she would have never made it beyond week one now as standards are so high, and she is right.  What is such fun about this show is watching the improvement week after week of those taking part, and the way confidence grows.   This year it was Lisa Snowden, who most people thought would be out very early on, she was gawky all over the place and no style at all, and yet here she was in the final turning in a stunning performance.   Last year Letitia Dean, one of the obligatory East Ender celebs which the Beeb seem to feel must appear in each series, arrived, overweight, unhappy after a divorce and breakdown, totally lacking in any sort of self esteem and she was lucky to be teamed with Darren Bennett, who always seems to me to be an absolute sweetie, thought as a tough professional, I am sure he cannot be all sweetness and light.  No matter, she got better week by week and though she did not make the semi finals, by the time she left, weight had been shed, confidence blossomed and she was transformed into a beautiful happy woman.

My favourite, Austin, was voted out a few weeks ago much to my disappointment so I had to switch allegiance to Tom Chambers which was not difficult as he is such an engaging character and boy, what a natural dancer.   The judges seemed to consistently under mark him and it would seem, from the Strictly message boards that others felt the same, while they consistently over marked Rachel Stevens who they seemed determined to propel into the final.

After the fiasco of last week's voting feelings were running pretty high, but the BBC quite rightly showed the public voting figures of the semi final and it was clear that Tom had the support of the public which he really needed as a stumble in his first dance this week put him down low again and I really thought he had blown it.

Well, I will not bore you with a blow by blow account of it all, but in the end the final result is always, but always decided by the show dance.  When I heard that Tom and Camilla were dancing to If they Could see me now from the show Sweet Charity, I knew we would be in for something terrific and we were.  He came out onto the floor with the style and grace of Astaire, no higher praise as far as I am concerned, and that was it.  I knew he had won then and there.  Stunning.

So a lovely evening.  And the reason?  Very simple.  A great show, full of fun, drama, humour, entertainment, exemplary and gracious behavior from all contestants, extra dances from the professionals and a line up of past winners, glitter, excitement and, not a Jonathan Ross moment in sight, viewing figures are going to be huge.

The past winners danced to 'Let me Entertain you' and that is what this show did in abundance.

Great stuff and I loved every moment.

Friday thoughts

Well I left the office today and got onto the train happy and secure in the knowledge that I don't go back now until 7 January.  A couple of judiciously chosen days on holiday, combined with my Wed-Fri working has given me almost three weeks at home and I am just so happy and contented tonight.

Have had a really busy week, lots of tidying up and getting bills out and just tiny tasks, nothing huge but they all take time and I am glad to be home.  Have just watched tonight's edition of It Takes Two which I had taped, featuring the three finalists of Strictly Come Dancing tomorrow night.  After all the hype, the tears, tantrums, overmarking, undermarking, John Sargeant, arguing judges, conspiracy theories, cock ups, et al I have a feeling that this final is going to be the best one yet.  I have my own particular favourite but in all honesty, I cannot put a pin between the three of them and I have no idea who is going to win.  Whichever couple it is, will be a worthy winner.

One thing that has always irritated me about the show is the fact you have some couples dancing a Latin dance and others a ballroom so comparisons are very difficult to make.  In the final, for the first time, we have all three dancing a fox trot which means that comparisons CAN be made and I think they are all going to be beautiful.  I am going round to a friend's house for supper and we will sit and watch it together, generally scream and shriek and behave in a juvenile manner and have a thoroughly good time, and my elder daughter is throwing a Strictly Party with her house mates up in Leeds and they also anticipate a good time.  Love or loathe this show, it is one of the most watched and reminds me so much of the days when Saturday night 'telly' always had variety shows and was fun.  I honestly think this is why it is so popular because it is old fashioned entertainment.  Not sure the BBC really understand that concept however....

I have a few little bits of shopping to do, some visits to make over the next few days, finishing scanning and sorting photos to burn onto CDs for family presents, lots of books to gobble up and the next few weeks are going to be fun.

And today really delighted as I recieved my copy of the latest edition of NewBooksMag and there, for the first time, I am in print.  My article Regarding Henry, all about Henry James, is in this edition, complete with pic, the lot.  I am thrilled to bits and to add to it all, I have been asked to be the Wednesday blogger featured on The Book Depository home page, hopefully next Wednesday.  

What can I say except 'I'm ready for my close up Mr de Mille'

I am having a good day!