I discovered recently that the Roald Dahl Story Company has officially started commissioning new books “inspired by” Dahl’s characters. I guess there are only so many ways you can repackage the few books he wrote, and the next logical step is to start churning out official fanfic. It’s just another of their decisions in recent years that I find a bit disappointing…
Two more library books done and dusted this week!
First was Miranda July’s All Fours, which I’d been waiting for months to read. I expected this to be sexxxxy; instead I just found it gross and sad. It didn’t help that I went in with a certain amount of identification as a middle-aged perimenopausal woman, but I found the main character really dislikeable and selfish. Which is fine; women can be jerks. But I found myself just not wanting to be in her head. There were multiple points where I found myself literally going “EWWW!” and cringing. I didn’t find any of it sexy, at all.
The second was The Story of a New Name, the second of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels. This one I loved. It continues the story of Lena and her friend Lila as they follow very different paths – the former finishing high school and going to university, while the latter enduring a marriage to a man she hates. It has cliffhanger moments that made me gasp out loud – that ending!! – and others that had me shaking my head in sadness. (Ugh, the night beach scene on Ischia.) And it’s so incredibly specific, which oddly makes it feel more universal. I think I identified most strongly with Lena’s feelings about going away to college, and her anxiety about never quite fitting in with people who came from intellectual families or those with generational wealth. She achieves more success than anyone ever expected, but it isolates her from the world she came from. Even her accent marks her out as not belonging in either place. (Yeah, it me.) And Lila – my heart breaks for her while she also infuriates me. I love her stubbornness and her survival instinct… and I get that the options for an uneducated Neapolitan woman in the 1960s were limited, but she could also be heartless and cruel. I was stunned by her choice on Ischia. It led to so much heartbreak. And of course, there are no good men in these books. None. Every one is a brute in his own way, trampling and using the women around him. Is that because of the culture in that time and place? Or is that really what it’s like? Did I somehow end up with one of the only good ones, or is there a latent brute lurking there too?
Obviously I need something lighter as a chaser now, something with characters that I actually like and who give me hope for the world!
Guess who just passed her RAS volunteering interview? I will officially be volunteering for half a dozen shifts at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show. I told my friend Jody that I was going to do two shifts in the “Farmyard Nursery” and she was like, “Did you think that through?” 😂 But really, it was that or the Poultry building, and I’m not a big fan of chickens…
Be sure to let me know if you’ll be visiting on any of these days!
Tonight was The Crafty Pint Presents: Ale Trail Blind Tasting Face-Off at Hopsters. We tasted twelve different beers. “You need to re-set your nose!” Rodd said. “Best way is to smell your own arm.” WHAT?! And yet by the end we were all doing it. 😂
After Hadestown we popped into the State Library to check out the Peter Kingston exhibition. It’s well worth a visit! Afterwards we wandered the other galleries and peeked in at the students in the Mitchell Library Reading Room.
I also couldn’t resist swinging by the Shakespeare Room, since Tim Richards mentioned it in his newsletter recently.
Called my Representatives and Senators again, this time to ask them to oppose HR 740, the “Veterans Access Act,” which will contribute to dismantling the Veterans Health Administration. I told them that my grandfather James Harter proudly served in the US military on multiple tours of duty, and at the end of his life support from the VA was vital. HR 740 will be detrimental to the health care of over 9 million US military veterans, and for a nation that says they care about veterans, that’s completely unacceptable.
If you’re an American and care about this issue, I urge you to call your representatives too.
I finished the second of Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels today. This passage at the end brought unexpected tears to my eyes. I’m going to need some time to sit with this.
As big fans of Finns, Swedes, and sauna in general, how could we not love this? They even wear the sauna hats! (Now Rodd is sad and second-guessing our decision not to put a sauna in the garden.)
My name is Kris. I’ve been blogging since the 90’s. I live in Sydney, Australia, and I spent most of my career in the tech industry.
No AI used in writing this blog, ever. 100% human-generated.
This is one of those ones I just can’t remember (haven’t used it enough). Can do it when I look…
so funny hhh
Really excellent. It’s had a Much extended run here so who knows!
Special thanks to Matt Hinrichs for the site logo!
3 responses