Books as Presents.

I am always happy to receive books as presents. I think it's a thoughtful present to get someone.
For the last few years, I have exchanged books with one of my friends at Christmas and on Birthdays, now at times we have specifically asked the other for a book, but mostly we have left it to the other to gauge their reading interests. Is this playing with fire? I have a somewhat eclectic reading taste to say the least, and will as the name of my blog suggests read most things. Obviously the lines to get drawn at times, a certain well known Vampire Quartet being one example.
This Christmas was no exception to the randomness. I was given a copy of Haruki Murakami's new book IQ84 , and a book about the Women who were married to the Lake Poets. Could you get to books more further apart? (Expect both books to appear in a blog post at some point.)
I have also been delving into the world of Charles Dickens, as he seems to be just about everywhere you look at the moment, and reading some of his Christmas stories. A particular favourite has been, The Goblins that Stole the Sexton. This short story predates  A Christmas Carol, and again the central protagonist is shown the error of his ways through otherworldly beings. In some ways having discovered this story I prefer it, but it also gives you an insight into how Dicken's developed his stories. This lead me onto The Mystery of Edwin Drood, that is Dickens unfinished novel. Having recently studied this at University, it is fairly fresh in my mind. The edition that I used had Dickens notes in the back, for the unwritten chapters. The BBC, have decided to film Edwin Drood, and offer an ending to it. (I hope they use the notes and stick to the plot...) I wondered if it would detract from the story to have an ending to it. Is the ending we fill in, a better one? What is the mystery? Is Edwin murdered? If so, by who? I'm not sure what ending I'd want to see. Any ideas?

Christmas in Novels

 The festive season is now well and truly here ! Not least as I finish University tomorrow for Christmas holidays.  I was talking to a friend over lunch today about being beyond excited about being able to read what I want to read, and take a bit of time doing so, before the new term begins. This lead us on to the subject of  Christmas in novels.

The opening lines of Little Women ( Louisa M Alcott 1868) ' "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug." are arguably one of the most famous references to it, and managed to withstand the damage a more recent film did to the novel ( yes I know , adaptations again ), but also paints a vivid picture of the American Family during the Civil War. Alcott herself is a fascinating figure, not least because of her affiliations with the American Bloomsbury Group. A group of authors living in a seeming Utopian society ? What's not to like ? Of course there was drama, and to a degree the Little Women series of books has been speculatively called a semi-autobiography. I'm not sure how convinced I am by this argument. I'll save the theoretical arguments about this for another post.

Of course if I'm going to talk about Christmas in Novels, A Christmas Carol ( Charles Dickens, 1843) needs to be, in the very least acknowledged. Dickens, ever the showman, even goes as far at to whimsically rename chapters, staves. Yet the story of the repentant Scrooge, seems to be the one that stays with us. Even the Muppets had their own take on this. Is it the idea of redemption ? Or is it the idea of peace at Christmas. The fact that 'Scrooge' managed to find it's way into everyday vernacular is testament to the popularity of the novel. 

And for a more off the wall, but in my opinion just a valid , Christmas tale ..... Hogfather ( Terry Pratchett , 1997). Hogfather could be Santa Claus' aggrieved brother ? Hogfather is 'removed' shall we say, as he does not fit in with the auditors view of how Discworld should be (Not at all dissimilar to Plato banishing the Poets from the Republic? No? Just me then) Death ends up standing in for Hogfather, whilst Susan battles the fiendish Mr Teatime to rescue Hogfather from a pile of children's teeth. 

Christmas seems to creep into Literature in many guises. These are the most obvious I could think to for now. I do, however, like the Victorian imagining of Christmas, and although gifts were exchanged , it was a lot less commercial than it has become. The emphasis was on the family, and people coming together, maybe this accounts for the popularity that A Christmas Carol still enjoys?

Adaptations

I'll get this out there now . I generally hate adaptations of novels, yet I still invariably find myself watching them, and getting more and more annoyed as the film goes on. Why do I insist on doing this ? I have a sort of twisted faith that it may get better as it goes along - that rarely happens, or in some random and crazy way the director, producer and scriptwriters actually show 'so yeah, we um sort of maybe read the book, once, when I was 12 or something, abut this is what I thought it should be like' Those are the films whilst infuriating, somehow keep my mind ticking over for days and days.
Having recently rewatched Sally Potters 1992 film of Orlando,it again struck how much of a curious interpretation of events it was, compared to the novel. I liked the film, don't get me wrong, Tilda Swinton as Orlando has to be one of the most inspired castings, (I'm less convinced by Billy Zane , slimly little critter) who else could pull off the androgynous Orlando so well ?  But the film plays with the narrative and changes things.Whist I'm on my rant can someone please explain to me what that singing cherub is at the end ? It  baffles to say the least, and it messes with the ending, of 'The Oak Tree' it ceases to be the end of the circle. Does this make it a better story ? Or does it make it a whole new one ?

Hello / Greetings !

It struck me a while back, I read a lot, and I mean a lot. Whilst studying ( most of the time ) for my degree in you guessed it Literature, I still seem to be finding the time to read anything that looks a bit interesting, and devour it in usually one sitting. So in my infinite wisdom I decided I'd start a blog, mainly about the stuff I read, and maybe other stuff that I find amusing. I have a weird sense of humour that way..... and you can bet if I'm writing on here a lot, that means I have deadlines ..