Hard Light (Michael Crummey)

Twenty-One Cardinals (Jocelyne Saucier)

Late Nights on Air (Elizabeth Hay)

The Best Laid Plans (Terry Fallis)

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)

Yes, this is a positive review :)

Miss Emily (Nuala O'Connor)

I received a free copy of "Miss Emily" by Nuala O'Connor from Penguin Canada. Although I don't typically accept free books as they're often not the type of thing I would read, the premise of this one sounded interesting. Unfortunately, it wasn't really my kind of read.

The beginning of this book is a little cliche. 17 year old Irish girl, Ada,  sails for the United States. She has all the typical delusions about what America will be like. She moves in with an Aunt and Uncle and finds work as a maid. (I think I've heard this story before . . . )

Near the middle it takes a turn for the better when Nuala throws in a unique plot twist involving sexual assault. The novel goes from purely historical, to a work that deals with contemporary issues.

Unfortunately, then we get a cliche ending. If you like basic dime-store historical romance this is the book for you. I was expecting more from this novel, and I just didn't get it. For a novel about Emily Dickinson, it lacks sophistication. I expected a work with greater depth.

The Fetish (Alberto Moravia)

The Fetish is the forth work I've read by Alberto Moravia, but it's the first collection of short stories. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. The stories in The Fetish aren't bad, but they didn't particularly blow me away. Moravia's short stories are like shorter, less developed version of his novels.

His novels, like The Empty Canvas and Two, are so good because he has space to develop his characters and his ideas. In his short stories, we get only a hint of an idea. Yes, all the stories end with kickers that reveal something about the characters, but compared to his novels, they lack a wow factor.

I will, however, point out two of my favourite stories in this collection: "Appointment at the Beach," and "The Misanthrope."

"Appointment at the Beach" features a young married couple who arrive on the shore to spend a day together. Almost immediately, they see a group of locals gathered around a body that's been found. The husband wonders at his wife's sudden sadness. He encourages her to have fun and forget about the dead man, but she refuses and lashes out at him. A twist at the end reveals a kicker. She knows the mysterious dead man on the beach. She had planned to meet him there.

"The Misanthrope" features a young man who goes driving with an acquaintance and two young women. He's judgmental of and can't stand any of his companions, but eventually realizes that it's not their fault, but rather his.

Sweetland (Michael Crummey)

Recent Reads: Translated Fiction

Eva Luna (Isabel Allende)

Conjugal Love (Alberto Moravia)

A few weeks back I read The Empty Canvas by Alberto Moravia and made a video about it. I enjoyed it, and the author, a mid-twentieth century Italian writer intrigued me, so yesterday while browsing in the library I picked up Conjugal Love, a novel by Moravia which was published in originally in 1949, and in English in 1951. 

Conjugal Love is a slow-paced examination of a man's relationship with his life. The first chapter is beautifully written. As the reader I said, this is a man in love with his wife. 

Silvio, our narrator, is a man of wealth and leisure. He doesn't work, but he's always hoped to be a great writer. As he approaches middle-age he realizes that if he could only find love and become a writer, he would be happy. He finds love in Leda, a woman of wealth who, after divorcing her husband a few years earlier has lived alone and enjoyed many lovers. Silvio quickly realizes that Leda wields a lot of the power in their relationship. 

They marry, and Leda persuades Silvio that they should go to their house in the country so that he can write his novel. 

First and foremost, this novel is about love. It's about the relationship between Leda and Silvio, and the compromises they make to allow it to work and to stay in love.

 Leda is a strong, independent woman, who, for the most part I can respect and admire. It's refreshing to read an older novel and find a female character who is neither helpless nor evil. Her only weakness (if you choose to look at it as a weakness) is her sexual desire. 

Sex, or a lack of sex, also play a significant role in this novel. Artistic passion and sexual passion are portrayed, especially for Silvio, as being very similar. 

If you enjoy mid-century literature, I'd definitely recommend giving Conjugal Love a read. 

Burmese Days (George Orwell)

Yeah, so I didn't really like this novel . . . 

Of Love and Other Demons (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

The General in His Labyrinth (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

Galore (Michael Crummey)

The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)

The Empty Canvas (Alberto Moravia)

Top 5 Favourite Canadian Novels