What makes good literature?

I have been pondering this question for the last few weeks and still have no answer.  I remember starting the Da Vinci Code and not being able to get passed the second page as I just found the writing so dire.  I certainly know bad literature when I read it!


I am currently reading a Man Booker Prize short listed novel and I can not stop mulling it over in my mind.  There is absolutely no doubt the author is an artist with words.  The vivid descriptions, particularly of unpleasant smells, are phenomenal and make me gasp.  Boy, can she write!


However, the writing also contains oddities that have me confused.  The odd (non) sentence added in which doesn't flow with the rest of the novel...yet I'm sure there is a reason for this considering the control the author has in other parts.  Are they thoughts thrown in by the now older narrator? After thoughts?


On top of this, there are significant changes in the style of writing at different points of the book.  One section is particularly slow going and slightly laborious.  Normally I would think that this would mean I couldn't class it in my idea of good literature.  But, and this is where I am rethinking...the style always completely reflects the setting and scene.  So for example, in the section I just mentioned, the characters are on a long, slow, laborious journey by ship.  Has the author then, consciously shaped the style of writing to reflect what is happening to the characters and instil in the reader an appreciation of the characters' feelings?  Is she placing me directly in the shoes of her character? In which case, it must surely be classed as an example of great literature.  It certainly works when we feel a character's joy and pain but does conveying laboriousness and a sense of time moving slowly push a reader to far?


I am made to think yet again with the graphic description of an act that, we, in our twenty first century, comfy cultural westernised world, find unacceptable and immoral.  However, the author has NOT set her book in the current day but in the historical past, most likely the Victorian era (judged from the strong Dickensian feel).


I know that some readers have found this scene upsetting and have been critical in their reviews of the detailed description and its graphic nature.  However, as uncomfortable as I was reading it, I could only appreciate it for the realistic depiction of the scene and for the author not pandering to this century's expectations and instead remaining in the time frame of which her novel was set.  Surely she deserves only praise for this consistency?  It certainly can not be easy to cast off the conditioning of our own cultural upbringing to write a novel based on another!


Anyone who has read the book, may well guess what it is but I have chosen not to reveal the title yet as I have yet to finish it.  Once I have, I will write a full review.  By this time I hope to have decided on where I would place this novel.  For now I am left questioning every time I pick it up and read a few pages.


Surely an excellent novel should make us question our judgements and make us think? Or should an author leave us in no doubt as to their excellence?

Appreciation of Reading

Well who would have guessed it? As soon as the half term was over, it was full on again with the teaching role and this blog lay neglected, tucked in a corner of my mind, desperately trying to battle its way forward but weighed down under lesson planning and marking. Before anyone wants to say anything about the holidays that teachers get, I still worked everyday, I just had a bit of time in the evening to do something for me.  Easter is already looking very full of marking.  Typically I get 5-6 hours sleep a night and still am not on top of anything in the job or my home and feel I am always neglecting my own two children.

Quite frankly, I found myself feeling incredibly resentful that I was left with no time for my reading and could not  go to the book club I was going to join as I had not been able to read the book.  This meant I missed out on meeting the author and having those nagging questions answered.

I then read a quote about appreciating the gift of reading; it asked you to imagine life without it.  This made me think and think hard. I suddenly realised how much I am still reading.  I still read to both my children even though the eldest is 11 and a very competent reader.  We are reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy a few pages at a time and I am often taken aback by the descriptions it contains.  Utter poetical beauty.  I am also reading yet another Jacqueline Wilson number with my 8 year old daughter (this is the third on the trot by the same author!).


On top of this, I am teaching Of Mice and Men and A View from the Bridge, have just finished teaching Lord of the Flies, am reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with another class and will shortly be reading another novel as yet undecided with a Year 7 class.  They may not be my choices and are mostly literature I have read time and time again but I should recognise this privilege.


My own daughter struggles with reading as does the occasional high school student and I see how difficult life can be for them.  I must be more appreciative of those special times I get to read to others and of the precious minutes I have for my own reading, even if I tend to fall asleep exhausted after only a few lines!

Inspiration for writing...almost!

So I returned to Linghams to collect my book order (which took only 24 hours to arrive) and duly checked out their coffee shop.  How can I describe the experience? It felt a little like entering a time warp which didn't take you back in time but instead to a parallel world in which time stood still for a little while!

There was live piano music, gorgeous puddings and a relaxed atmosphere.  Sat on one side of me there was a group of ladies "at lunch", tucking into their paninis.  On the other was my inspiration. The sweetest little old couple who were themselves trying to find a word to fit the atmosphere.  Their suggestions were "cosmopolitan" and "continental".  They had been surprised to discover they could indulge in a couple of teeny bottles of red wine with their meal and were clearly loving their lunch trip. The waitress was very attentive, taking their orders and checking they were okay but shortly after, Mrs A as I will call her, disappeared for a few minutes and returned to tell her husband "I've ordered...well I can't remember what I've ordered now...but I've ordered something".  I couldn't help but laugh.  

Seeing this couple together was simply gorgeous: the way they spoke to each other; appeared to be living each minute; enjoying themselves and laughing freely.  I think for me, it was the best example I have ever seen of romance and true love.  I hope my life is like that when I am their age!

However, they were so compelling and the atmosphere so unusual that I am sure there is a story to be written in there somewhere.  It has been a long while since I felt the urge to write.  Normally for me, it is an emotional response, a way of healing deep wounds.   But I do feel the urge to pick up a pen and write thanks to one elderly and unknown couple. 

Lingham's - A Personal Service

Today I ventured up the Wirral to visit this local independent book shop with a big reputation.  I was not disappointed! One of my personal favourites was the classic books section in which I spotted some contenders for my shelves of bookporn!

            

I didn't get chance to try out the coffee shop within today but hope it will be part of my next visit in a couple of days time.  The leather seats dotted around will also require testing!

It was unfortunately more of a business trip today, preparing for my lessons over the coming months.  A found a couple of great guides and the staff were incredibly supportive when I ordered another, even pulling up the picture of the front cover so I could check it was the right one.

The bookshop also has a book club that I hope to be able to occasionally attend and seem to have regular author visits.  In fact there was one this evening which sadly I was unable to attend.  To add to the community hub feel within the shop there was a notice board letting shoppers know what is on in the area.  An excellent idea!

To top off the first class experience, I returned to find a reply to a tweet I had sent them a couple of days ago.  They hoped I had enjoyed my visit and they remember ordering my book today :-)  Yes Lingham's I have thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will now be a regular customer!

Bookporn

I suffer badly with bookshelf envy.  Everyone else's always appears to look better than mine. I have been accused at times of being a little OCD about the arrangement of books but still I never seem to get it right.  I make sure I put the matching sets together, in alphabetical order of course (really it makes life so much easier), with series of books together and then start using the size order method so the largest are on the outside working to the smallest in the middle.  Different shelves tend to be dedicated to different types of books whether it be children's, modern, possible teaching options, to read etc.  I even ensure all the books are pulled forward to the edge of the shelf so they appear to be of the same depth.

Okay, so the randomness of the children's books and the way they grab them and put them back does not help.  Or the way in which my daughter will use books as building blocks.  However, I want some bookporn in my own house rather than just admiring other people's pictures, particularly when a search on this topic can pull up some other "interesting" alternatives! 

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/414044007_4ab74cff21.jpg

What I want is something along these lines:

http://www.simoneleblancinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/books_pearson.jpg

 http://img3387.imagevenue.com/loc578/65689_booklover_6_122_578lo.jpg

So, in an attempt to achieve my slice of the porn world, I have decided: 

1. Children's books to be kept on their own separate shelving units.
2. Stop buying so many books and try using the library or my Kindle instead.
3. Spend the money I have available for books on those a little more special e.g. those I really enjoy, box sets, beautifully designed covers
4. Pick up second hand, oldy worldy books that are more quirky, hold character and that heavenly musty, dusty, old book smell!
5. Ensure a minimum of one book shelving unit is mine and mine alone and no little hands are allowed to touch!

How do you arrange your books?  Do you have a particular way or does any old way suit you?

Celebrating Charles Dickens

Here is one of the two delightful Charles Dickens collections currently available from Penguin. My bookshelves are extremely jealous! They have been produced as part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.  I personally think they are delicious!

My own celebrations


Teaching:
I have today, been composing my own little celebration in memory of Dickens.  With a few weeks to fill with my year 7 class, I felt it would be a great opportunity to share with them some classic literature as well as having some fun.  I remember learning about how Dickens novels were published whilst studying for my Literature degree.  This small piece of information had a dramatic effect on my feelings for the author.  I suddenly understood and appreciated his visual feast of caricatures and I saw his work afresh.  Great Expectations went on to become one of my all time favourite books.


So yes, this is exactly what my little year 7 class will be learning about!  They will be introduced to a few of the characters, become detectives to discover what makes a Dickensian character and then finally create their own modern version.


As well as learning a little history along the way, I hope they will also grasp the relevance to today's society.  Fingers crossed for some gruesome, dodgy bankers!


Personal:
I have been promising myself for sometime that I would read Dickens' collection of works.  No mean feat. With teaching and being a mother taking up all the waking hours and minutes, zilch progress has been made.  However, I feel the time is now ripe!  I know I certainly won't be alone.  For my time schedule, tackling a huge pile of them this year would be disastrous so I'm hoping to read three or so and I have Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist in front of me now.  Which to choose?!


You?
How do you feel about Charles Dickens as an author? Have you read many of his books? Have you joined the celebrations in anyway?  Please feel free to add your comments.

Literary Light

Well teaching has proved to be much tougher this term in a new school.  Much, much tougher than expected.  I need to keep my love of literature alive and ensure I indulge in its delights however busy life may get. Times are  hard for many, including my family, and this blog will be my own personal light at the end of my tunnel.