In the Pergola by Oscar Bluhm
Karl Rove has a summer reading book club…nope, no words for that. As much as I love my summer reading, one has to know where to draw the line.
Happily, The Telegraph has come out with even more summer reading suggestions so that I won’t become desperate enough to be tempted by Rove.
Is Shirley Jackson a great American writer? Laura Miller, my favourite columnist at Salon.com, ponders the legacy of Shirley Jackson. Like most readers, I am familiar with Jackson because of her short story “The Lottery”, which absolutely terrified my Grade Eight class when we read it. I have never read anything else by her, despite Simon T’s championing of We Have Always Lived in the Castle – I find the title sinister enough to scare me off. However, even for the ignorant masses, this is a fascinating article, giving just enough biographical detail to interest me in both the writer and her work.
The art of slow reading – by now, you will have heard from a number of sources that the internet is making us dumb. Frankly, I completely believe that – when they review the decline of our civilization, surely the odious lolcats will feature. As with all doomsday prophecies, there has been a reactionary movement, a call to turn away from computers and back to pages of written text. Preaching to the choir here, obviously, but I couldn’t resist. My attention-span online is significantly shorter than when I have a physical text in front of me, but so often that’s because I’m eager to get my internet things done with so I can get back to my book.
The Captive Reader 
I always expect books recommended for summer time to be lighter in fare. Perhaps some fantasy, romance, or something of the like, and so to see lists such as the one from The Telegraph has me questioning if I misunderstand the implied search by the masses for those summer reads. Admittedly, I’m quite comforted to see books that seem to have a rather intense plot and/or subject matter. Thanks for sharing.
I think everyone’s idea of summer reading is different, but then no two readers ever have exactly the same taste. Personally, I reach for the fluffier stuff in the winter, when the weather is most depressing, and will delve into heavier topics during the summer months, when the sun and warmth make it easier to shake off depressing or upsetting themes.
That’s a good idea. I’m thinking I’ll try that this coming winter. Such bleakness certainly seems cry out for a bit of levity.
Thanks so much for the Shirley Jackson link, my answer is ‘yes!’ In fact she’s my favourite American writer, I think (champion, champion, champion!) *do* give We Have Always Lived in the Castle a go sometime, I think you’ll love it.
I’ve placed a hold on it at the library and will soon get to try it for myself! From everything I’ve heard, both from you and others, it does sound like something I will enjoy. Fingers crossed!
Ooh, that Telegraph list was great, it helped me find another fun Victorian novel, Diary of a Nobody! Now I just have to find it as our silly library does not carry it.
(Maybe we could meet up again sometime in August?)
It is a particularly fine list and I’m glad it provided inspiration for you!
And yes, I would love to get together in August!
I love (Shirley Jackson and) Laura Miller–and absolutely agree that I’d reach for Shirley Jackson over Roth or Mailer if I were stranded in a cabin. I’d read Roth and Mailer eventually, with much griping, but Jackson would be by far my first choice.
I love that painting and wish I could find a postcard or print of it. I only hope it wasn’t 95F wherever that girl was as she would have been wilting in that dress! Thanks for the links–I have to agree with Simon about Shirley Jackson–she’s wonderful. I can never decide whether I prefer We have Always Lived in the Castle or The Haunting of Hill House. She’s all around good and I need to read more of her work.
The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson is also very, very good. I was quite shocked by the relevance of the story, even now. I’ve grown to like Jackson’s blunt language; that’s what makes her work so effective, I think.