evelyn_b

What I've Finished Reading

Circus Shoes by Noel Streatfield: a beautifully simple juvenile novel from 1939. This book loses no time at all at any point. From the first sentence, "Peter and Santa were orphans," we know exactly where we are and what to expect. Peter and Santa are raised by a snobbish aunt on a low budget, whose upbringing leaves them poorly educated, burdened by a vague superiority complex, lonely, and devoted to each other. When they are eleven and twelve she dies, and to avoid being send to separate orphanages, Peter and Santa run off in search of their uncle, a clown and "artiste" with Cob's Circus.

Because of their eccentric upbringing, Peter and Santa have no idea what to expect from life in the circus. Their uncle is a decent guy, but he can't understand why his niece and nephew are so prim and ignorant, and he isn't used to being patient with children. They meet the other circus children, who are an international bunch, though only the Germans have irritatingly meticulous accents (and a trained seal named Hitler, though this is mentioned only once and never comes up again). Late, but not too late, they learn to get on with people who are different than themselves, to work hard at things they enjoy, and to try again when they fail. Will their gruff uncle let them stay on after the end of the season? What do you think?

Nothing could be more predictable or more completely charming. The watercolor illustrations are unspectacular, but fit in perfectly with the coziness of the story. The title is a non sequitur, as thisbluespirit pointed out, it was changed to fit a series pattern (with Ballet Shoes and Tennis Shoes, though I don't think it's actually part of a series other than "books by Noel Streatfield about children who learn to do things.") Nothing significant happens around shoes, though Peter and Santa do get their own practice clothes eventually. This book had a Christmas 1939 inscription to a girl from her grandfather, so I added my own inscription and date on the next blank page and sent it to my own niece and nephew as a gift. It's in good condition and there are several more blank pages at the beginning, so with any luck it'll survive to see a third round of regifting.


What I'm Reading Now

In an unexpected twist, everything I'm reading right this minute is non-fiction except for The Last 4 Things (poetry) and my temporary favorite nemesis, Finnegans Wake (inescapably prolonged stand-up comedy dreamscape). Yes, I am going to finish Finnegans Wake in 2018! It's been a long road, as the Enterprise theme song says, getting from there to here. It's been a long time, but my time is finally near.

( A couple of books: )

What I Plan to Read Next

The 99 Novels are back! City of Spades by Colin MacInnes and The Assistant by Bernard Malamud are with me today in my living room, waiting to be read! And I gave up waiting on ILL and have just gone ahead and ordered The Golden Virgin by Henry Williamson, so eventually that will be here, too.

If I decide to join osprey_archer in her 2018 reading challenge, the "classic I've been meaning to read" will be The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell.

What I've Just Finished Reading

The Golden Road is so much better than I remembered, though none of the humor is as laugh-out-loud funny as it was when I was ten, and Smug Middle-Aged Beverly is still a little intrusive. I wish the shadow of death had been handled a little differently -- I don't object to its presence; it would have been too unrealistic to set a book in 19th-century Canada and not have anyone die young. But there are some Marked For Death clichés that I'd rather see averted than not.

The characters are great, though, and I think I appreciate the structure a little better than I did. The Golden Road and The Story Girl have a stronger focus on "ordinary" characters and their interactions than a lot of other Montgomery novels. The outsider perspective on the Story Girl makes it easier to appreciate her as a member of the family, and the rest of the group on their own terms

Felicity is, as I've said, my favorite: vain, stubbornly conventional, beautifully competent, unimaginative and hard-headed but not malicious. She'll bake the best pies in four provinces and rule the Missions Society with an iron hand. I love how easy it is to see the King family and their friends as adults in a future L. M. Montgomery novel. And while I'm normally not a fan of LMM's childhood-sweetheart romances, I am 100% rooting for Peter to realize his dream of becoming Mr. Felicity Craig.

What I'm Reading Now

( Titus Groan and The Group )

Plus the diaries: most recent is Eliza Ann Chipman, a very earnest, pious Christian who married a widower with eight children; she could be the Murray's young stepmother in Emily of New Moon. Her diary is more of a prayer journal, where she upbraids herself for not doing something extraordinary for Christ. She is always letting it go for years at a time, then coming back with a self-exhortation in much the same terms as ever.

What I'm Going to Read Next

A book was recommended to me called Some Words of Jane Austen, and in the first few pages there were two quotations from Love and Freindship that made me laugh out loud and for a very long time. So I will have to read Love and Freindship sooner rather than later. Luckily, the university library has all the Jane Austen anyone could want.