Sorry you haven't been well. Teeth! They are God's little joke!
I think everyone is feeling glum at the moment - it has been a very long winter.
The good thing about reading a book like this is that it represents the human condition so well. She shows us that we are not alone in these feelings and yes, courage is the key. I often think that if I am feeling fearful of the future. as Dylan Thomas said "Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light"! I also relate to the idea that small pleasures can bring a disproportionate amount of pleasure.
Thanks for a really enjoyable read. The extracts are marvellous.
Love this – a meditation on Anita Brookner that is also, and probably more importantly, a meditation on matching reading material to mood. Sometimes the depressing stuff must be avoided when one is feeling down, but sometimes, strangely, making the match between a down mood and a sad book allows our own sadness to come out – gently, held by the understanding words of a trusted imagination.
For me, Anita Brookner is one of those women writers who is quintessentially a superb stylist — and yields intimate details of women’s lives with quiet dignity, masterful prose, and understated elegance. Never ostentatious, she sparingly provides crisp and clear narratives to wonderful tales, with a unique writer’s touch that I thoroughly enjoy. Heartily recommend reading any of her novels, and her writing is a treasure, without exception! And like fine wine, they can be revisited and enjoyed with keener understanding each time!
I think it was Laura, who mentioned a new biography of Anita is in the works, and I can’t wait to read it. I’m a fan of her prose, but I don’t think I am strong enough to read it now, though I did enjoy Charlotte Wood’s The Weekend and Amanda Craig’s Three Graces, both novels about old (properly old, not middle-aged) women, ageing and mortality. Thanks also for the poem, which I didn’t know.
Loved this. I find a clear-eyed view of ‘age, and then the only end of age’ strangely comforting, however bleak it may seem to some. There are so many Brookner novels I haven’t read, I must revisit her.
Sorry you haven't been well. Teeth! They are God's little joke!
I think everyone is feeling glum at the moment - it has been a very long winter.
The good thing about reading a book like this is that it represents the human condition so well. She shows us that we are not alone in these feelings and yes, courage is the key. I often think that if I am feeling fearful of the future. as Dylan Thomas said "Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light"! I also relate to the idea that small pleasures can bring a disproportionate amount of pleasure.
Thanks for a really enjoyable read. The extracts are marvellous.
I enjoyed the poem too.
Visitors is a PARTICULARLY depressing one as I recall... she is truly fearless! Lovely to read about her.
Thank you for the delightful poem, much-needed antidote to the genteel gloom.
Love this – a meditation on Anita Brookner that is also, and probably more importantly, a meditation on matching reading material to mood. Sometimes the depressing stuff must be avoided when one is feeling down, but sometimes, strangely, making the match between a down mood and a sad book allows our own sadness to come out – gently, held by the understanding words of a trusted imagination.
For me, Anita Brookner is one of those women writers who is quintessentially a superb stylist — and yields intimate details of women’s lives with quiet dignity, masterful prose, and understated elegance. Never ostentatious, she sparingly provides crisp and clear narratives to wonderful tales, with a unique writer’s touch that I thoroughly enjoy. Heartily recommend reading any of her novels, and her writing is a treasure, without exception! And like fine wine, they can be revisited and enjoyed with keener understanding each time!
It’s ages since I read any Anita Brookner, too, and never Visitors. I’m intrigued to read it now. It sounds brutally honest!
I hope you have a perkier February, Sarah.
I think it was Laura, who mentioned a new biography of Anita is in the works, and I can’t wait to read it. I’m a fan of her prose, but I don’t think I am strong enough to read it now, though I did enjoy Charlotte Wood’s The Weekend and Amanda Craig’s Three Graces, both novels about old (properly old, not middle-aged) women, ageing and mortality. Thanks also for the poem, which I didn’t know.
I enjoyed The Weekend too and would recommend. About to look at Three Graces.
I, too, read somewhere of a Hermione Lee biography-something to look forward to!
Soon be Spring Sarah!
Thanks for an interesting essay Sarah .
I think I'll put it on my re-read list.
I really loved the Ann Drysdale poem! Such perfect insouciant defiance.
It's wonderful, isn't it. The cork's slow squeaky kiss.
I love that poem! '...one more Adam up his sleeve...', what a wonderful daydream in the garden with a little glass of something smooth...
Loved this. I find a clear-eyed view of ‘age, and then the only end of age’ strangely comforting, however bleak it may seem to some. There are so many Brookner novels I haven’t read, I must revisit her.
I think sometimes there can be a sense of collective gloom and that in itself can create unity.
A lovely read Sarah and best of luck with the dentist.
It's been a decade or two since I read any Brookner. A reminder of why I enjoyed her writing so.
Timely; a shit week for many! Though spring cannot be far...
Good to read and inspiration to reread