Listing, slightly

[trishtrash]

[x-posted to trishtrash / 90in09Posted as proof of geekiness, rather than proof of reading prowess: my full list of books read in 2009, rated for your edification. I've reviewed these in past entries, as I've read them, but if you want a synopsis, opinion etc, on any of them, feel free to ask

Comments

[birdgirl_1107]

*beams* Thanks for friending me back. You made my day. And I'm delighted to be your second birdgirl - I knew there must be some others on LJ when I had to get numeric with the username. And how geeky is that ...

I stumbled on Regeneration by accident as well. Did you know it was made into a movie? I think it must have gone straight to video (back in the day when it was video and not DVD) but I was so captivated by the story - Wilfred Owen's Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori is a favourite poem of mine - that I ferreted out the book. I'm sure you can imagine my delight when I realized it was the first in a trilogy!

I'm impressed that your record is fairly even for 2010. Your example will inspire me! And thank you for the recommendations; oddly enough, I read both of them in 2008. It was the second time around for Villette and I'm so glad I re-read it as I enjoyed it much more than I did when I was younger and longing for a second Jane Eyre. Have you read Shirley? Also a 2008 read but one that was new to me - I'd been rather neglecting Charlotte for Anne and Emily.

The Woman in White had been on my TBR list for years. I don't know what took me so long - I gobbled it up along with The Moonstone and The Law and the Lady. All of which have made it to my TBRR list - to be RE-read. It's getting to be almost as long as my TBR list ...

[trishtrash]

I heard it was a film from the nice man in the bookshop when I went in to get the sequels and couldn't resist saying 'have you read this?' in tones of awe. The info has been ferreted away at the back of my mind until I can ask someone who's seen it whether it's a well made film... ?

I think I've read all the other Brontes; I only know that I was surprised to find one I hadn't read, and doubly shocked to discover it was excellent; Lucy Snowe is by far my favourite romantic/period fiction character now :) Outstripping even Count Fosco who had taken that post just the week before, ha. I can't figure out what took me so long, either. Everyone recommended TWIW to me O_O

Are you in the US or the UK or somewhere else entirely, btw? I tend to default to assuming people on the internet are in the USA, despite living in the UK myself, and having a f-list full of Europeans so I thought I'd ask now rather than, five years hence, ask you what it's like where you live only to discover you're in Worcestershire, and right around the corner :)

[birdgirl_1107]

I saw the film many years ago so my recollection of details is a little hazy. I quite enjoyed it, but then I have a weakness for "costume dramas" and anything set in WWI or WWII. I remember that I thought the casting was excellent, even after I'd read the book. No big Hollywood names, which is so often a turn-off for me. I'd definitely say it was worth seeing, if you can lay your hands on it; I've never come across it again since that first viewing.

Lucy Snowe is a marvelous creation. The first time I read Villette I didn't appreciate her properly. And I was much too young to understand her love for the professor. He is not the typical "romantic" hero - too old, too odd (in looks and character), and too intellectually and psychologically complex to fit the role of the handsome young prince. But now I can see how compelling he is. How his vitality calls to her own. Oh dear ... I think I've just added another book to my TBRR list!

I only wish I was around the corner in Worcestershire! I'm across the pond, in Ontario, Canada. I'm afraid the early colonists were not the most imaginative bunch (their creative faculties no doubt dulled by the necessity of being hewers of wood and drawers of water) so I live in a small city (pop. approximately 32,000) called Stratford, home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. And I was born and raised about an hour from here in the city of London on the banks of the river Thames. I kid you not. It caused no end of confusion when I lived in Montreal, Quebec, where everyone sets their sites on Europe. I'd watch people's eyes light up when I said I was from London, only to dull dismissively as I added the qualifying Ontario. ;)

[birdgirl_1107]

Oops. That should be "sets their sights" not "sets their sites"! I'm generally much better with my homonyms. ;)

[trishtrash]

*snorts* Thames = too funny. If it's any consolation, Ontario, Canada seems quite fabulous (lit. from fable - if I haven't been there, how can I be sure it exists? rofl!) from a British perspective :) It's wonderful that our culture is so respected in other countries, since we ourselves take it so much for granted most of the time. I've been to Stratford (this continent) once *makes a note to go again* - I've spent a bit more time in London, but not a great deal. The metrop. is too damn busy for me!

One of my friends in the states is always telling me that she finds the thought of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales, exotic. To people who know Merthyr Tydfil (birthplace of Steam railways, and my hubby, and home to various in-laws), this is mildly hilarious, although it is admittedly one of the doorways to the Brecon Beacons National Park.

I was passionate about the Prof. when I read Villette, but I'm pretty sure he'd have been my type as a younger reader, too - I always shoot for character over conformity. Hercule Poirot, Severus Snape ... my fictional crushes leave most other people with O_O face.

[birdgirl_1107]

quite fabulous (lit. from fable - if I haven't been there, how can I be sure it exists?) LOL. Brilliant!!

I'm with your friend from the states - anything about Wales seems magical to me. I once spent a summer trying to properly pronounce the Welsh "prophecy" from The Grey King by Susan Cooper. I still have the last two lines memorized after *gulp* 20+ years. I'll spare you an audio recording ;) although no doubt your hubby and in-laws would find it hysterically funny!