tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post8005158237593510171..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: Five From The Archive (no.2)StuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-70207863634748659352012-06-17T13:33:36.618+01:002012-06-17T13:33:36.618+01:00Aside from seconding The Book Thief, most of the b...Aside from seconding <i>The Book Thief</i>, most of the books I would recommend come from school reading: <i>The Silver Sword</i> by Ian Serraillier, <i>Goodnight Mister Tom</i> by Michelle Magorian, <i>I am David</i> by Anne Holm, <i>The Diary of a Young Girl</i> by Anne Frank. I could name a fair few from back then I wouldn't recommend as well. School set texts really concentrated on WW2 as far as I remember.<br /><br />Oh, but I do recommend <i>If This is a Man</i> by Primo Levi (not a school set text, though perhaps it should be). And I suppose you might class <i>Sophie's Choice</i> by William Styron (which I LOVED) as a WW2 book, though it only looks at the war in flashbacks.Nose_in_a_bookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07154323912093068113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-46316491195632951812012-06-13T01:44:37.796+01:002012-06-13T01:44:37.796+01:00Here's my Five for Five about WWII. Three are...Here's my Five for Five about WWII. Three are Persephones and one is an NYRB Classic:<br /><br />1. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak<br />2. Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes<br />3. The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton<br />4. Operation Heartbreak by Duff Cooper<br />5. Doreen by Barbara Noble<br /><br />Love your new feature!Karen K.http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-82650872157806275652012-06-09T12:10:04.051+01:002012-06-09T12:10:04.051+01:00I bought the Bates after reading your review, and ...I bought the Bates after reading your review, and must, must read it. And of course I love Mollie P-D, At Mrs. L's, Mrs. Miniver, and Nella Last too... so many wonderful options!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-28366891973475882992012-06-09T12:09:24.192+01:002012-06-09T12:09:24.192+01:00I know, my list could have been acres long! I did...I know, my list could have been acres long! I did intend to include the Delius, actually, when I came up with the list in my head - it must have got lost along the way. Thanks for your other recommendations, about which I know nothing (apart from Thirkell, of course.)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-63219644350259143992012-06-09T12:08:28.391+01:002012-06-09T12:08:28.391+01:00I love Henrietta, but I have to say I love the PL ...I love Henrietta, but I have to say I love the PL beyond measure!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-33363551291356903482012-06-09T12:08:11.969+01:002012-06-09T12:08:11.969+01:00Great choice! It's not what you'd expect ...Great choice! It's not what you'd expect from the title - much braver and daring than it sounds.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-58705963890853777272012-06-09T12:07:45.535+01:002012-06-09T12:07:45.535+01:00I have both of those, but haven't read them (a...I have both of those, but haven't read them (although have loved Minnie's Room, as well as One Fine Day) so thanks v much for bumping them up my tbr pileStuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-51108347194141753182012-06-09T12:07:15.883+01:002012-06-09T12:07:15.883+01:00Thanks for the tip, Alex, and I do hope you enjoy ...Thanks for the tip, Alex, and I do hope you enjoy Miss Ranskill - I think you will :)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-59850002328417398122012-06-09T12:06:53.808+01:002012-06-09T12:06:53.808+01:00A Virago of which I have not even heard!A Virago of which I have not even heard!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-65820371436485491862012-06-09T12:06:28.216+01:002012-06-09T12:06:28.216+01:00Love the Taylor, of course - and fully intend to r...Love the Taylor, of course - and fully intend to read the Green (especially having just read William Maxwell and Eudora Welty discussing it in their published correspondence)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-76330270120792042202012-06-09T12:05:49.568+01:002012-06-09T12:05:49.568+01:00Thanks for the recommendation - not one I even own...Thanks for the recommendation - not one I even own.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-85355139579527314842012-06-08T08:18:56.187+01:002012-06-08T08:18:56.187+01:00What a great list. I've read & enjoyed the...What a great list. I've read & enjoyed them all. I'd second the suggestion of Mollie Panter-Downes' short stories. Also At Mrs Lippincote's. Also Fair stood the wind for France by H E Bates. Requiem for a Wren & Pastoral by Nevil Shute, Snow Goose by Paul Gallico & Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther would be other suggestions. Also Nella Last's diary.lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-92095798386918773762012-06-08T02:40:40.083+01:002012-06-08T02:40:40.083+01:00Another excellent selection, Simon! I've only...Another excellent selection, Simon! I've only read two of these - <i>Suite Francaise</i> and <i>Henrietta's War</i> (which I didn't particularly love) - but the other three are all on my to-read list. I bought <i>Miss Ranskill Comes Home</i> last autumn, immediately read the first chapter, and realised I was going to adore it but then wasn't the right time to read it. I am really looking forward to returning to it but there's something very exciting about knowing you have a fabulous unread book waiting for you. <br /><br />As for what titles I would suggest, that's a dangerous question with this theme! Books written or set during the war make up far too much of my reading. I adore Angela Thirkell's wartime novels, could not have done without Kit Pearson's "Guests of War" trilogy when I was growing up (about the experiences of a brother and sister evacuated to Canada during the war), think <i>Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman</i> by Friedrich Christian Delius is brilliant, and cannot praise <i>Earth and High Heaven</i> by Gwethalyn Graham (dealing with anti-semitism in Montreal during the war) highly enough.Claire (The Captive Reader)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07430380065718826213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-16321606579437837082012-06-07T10:36:14.672+01:002012-06-07T10:36:14.672+01:00I should have said (lurgy affecting brain...) that...I should have said (lurgy affecting brain...) that I also second the Elizabeth Taylor and Henrietta, whom I MUCH prefer to the Provincial Lady, as she had a much nicer husband! :o)Pennyhttp://svh2.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-70311870243606978562012-06-07T10:33:33.956+01:002012-06-07T10:33:33.956+01:00Thanks for this list, Simon. I'd been wonderi...Thanks for this list, Simon. I'd been wondering what to read next, after just finishing (and loving) Housebound - I'll pop over to read Christine's review in a moment... I recommend Good Evening, Mrs Craven, too. Anyway, I've now taken A House in the Country down off the TBR bookcase and am about to refill my hotwater bottle and head back up to bed with it. (Some sort of lurgy at the moment... :o( )Pennyhttp://svh2.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-42073126499389344932012-06-06T16:55:27.658+01:002012-06-06T16:55:27.658+01:00What about Mollie Panter-Downes' collection of...What about Mollie Panter-Downes' collection of short stories, Good Evening, Mrs Craven? Lovely, understated, bitter-sweet tales about the people who didn’t fight, but kept the home fires burning and tried to maintain a degree of normality? Or Winifred Peck's House-Bound (which I've just finished and reviewed), about Rose, who decides to keep house herself because she can't get servants.Christine Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814026435889782750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-48379970202760801682012-06-06T11:26:30.268+01:002012-06-06T11:26:30.268+01:00Ooh, excellent. Miss Ranskill is on my Classics Cl...Ooh, excellent. Miss Ranskill is on my Classics Club list and I've only seen one other review. *click*<br /><br />The best book I've read so far on WWII was non-fiction. It was Leo Marks' haunting Between Silk and Cyanide about working for SOE and writing and breaking codes for British agents in France. Marks is eloquent and honest about the experience and I'd always wanted to know more about him after falling in love with his code-poem The Life That I Have.Alex in Leedshttp://www.alexinleeds.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-41220992795041306282012-06-06T11:25:45.698+01:002012-06-06T11:25:45.698+01:00A Fine of 200 Francs by Elsa Triolet - a nice Vira...A Fine of 200 Francs by Elsa Triolet - a nice Virago edition!Kaggsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348319724492250546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-41284554607092631302012-06-06T06:46:36.347+01:002012-06-06T06:46:36.347+01:00At Mrs Lippincotes (E Taylor), Loving (Henry Green...At Mrs Lippincotes (E Taylor), Loving (Henry Green).harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04470091985662379182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-22012038971441723322012-06-06T02:06:09.955+01:002012-06-06T02:06:09.955+01:00Can't have WW2 books without Gravity's Rai...Can't have WW2 books without <b>Gravity's Rainbow</b>.<br />Nice idea - if I ever build up an archive like yours I might try this.Séamus Dugganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574186409184247059noreply@blogger.com