February slips by...

February slipped by in a flurry of teacherness - meetings, photcopying, pd. So the resolutions of writing here, writing my novel and not letting work dominate failed miserably. Perhaps March will be more balanced. Still, I am loving teaching context writing - especially to my year 11's. Its making me think about writing and this is helpful. I also loved presenting at VATE - it was challenging and fun working with grown-ups.

AS a reader I have flipped through four books. Three by French mystery writer Fred Vargas.
The first was Seeking Whom He May Devour. What an ominous title! I had been reading admiring reviews of Fred's quirky French thrilers all over the place. The story begins at a gentle pace, ambling around the countryside with the sheep and the wolves but builds to quite a exciting and surprising conclusion. The characters are very real in their flaws and grace despite mostly living out their plan B of life, especially as regards, disappointment in love. From time to time there are quite delicious sentences such as this one "She had a steady static relationship, standing four square like a farmhouse table, a simple wholesome love scrubbed squeaky clean every day". This one was my favourite of the three I have read as the characters were so realised. The connections and parallels in their yearnings lent the book an elegance. The two other books I read were Have Mercy on us All and Wash this Blood Clean from my Hands.

February's reading treasure was a book called Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt. She is such an interesting writer. I had read her book What I Loved a year or two ago and it was soul wrenching. So deeply, terribly sad. Sorrows also charted this territory of sadness but in a gentler way. Erik the main character is living out a year of mourning after his fathers death. His life has many of the challenges of mid life - adjusting to life as a single person post his marriage breakdown and accepting his identity as it is reflected back at him through others. Erik's relationship with his sister Inga is his most nurturing, but in the course of the book he makes attempts to rebuild his romantic life one through fantasy and one through a tentative real world relationship. Sir's writing is so understated and lovely. Her understanding of people is also layered and perceptive. I think this book would be well worth reading again, for the writing.