Spring is coming...

Hello Spring! 

Francoise Sagan

I've gotten a little obsessed with Francoise Sagan at the moment and the melancholic atmosphere and disillusionment she evokes in her books.  Her style reminds me a lot of Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night and also another book set in 1920's Paris by a woman author that I can't remember which is really bugging me.  (Reviewers also often link her as having similarities to J. D. Salinger which I'd agree with.)  I've just reread La Chamade (1965) and it spurred me to finally buy Bonjour Tristesse (1954) for 99p off Ebay which is on its way to me.  It was published when she was 18, and I should probably have read it before La Chamade, especially as it is supposed to have influenced Simon & Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence' which I love. 

The copy of Bonjour Tristesse I have bought is so pretty as well, which I am a bit of a sucker for:

Hopefully I can watch the film adaption of it soon after as well from 1958: 

Jean Seberg as Cecile in the film adaptation of Francoise Sagan’s, Bonjour Tristesse.

When I read Bonjour Tristesse it reminded me of how little I have read recently, but also how little I have really enjoyed a book in a long time (sleeping over reading has been taking priority).  Luckily since then, whilst waiting for Bonjour Tristesse, I have sunk my teeth into Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami and am loving every second of it.  It's been a long time since I have chosen reading over sleep on the train (which is awful really).  I won't ruin it but the book has talking cats in it, one even likes opera and BMWs.  Another great book from the last few weeks I have enjoyed is The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides third novel, which I felt like I was waiting for forever.  I didn't feel overly concerned about the characters within this book and although I do keep recommending because of the effort that is put into research for the book I did find the characters slightly unbelievable and one dimensional.


Now I am waiting with great anticipation for Audrey Niffenigger's third novel The Chinchilla Girl in Excile and Donna Tartt's third novel untitled as yet to be released in 2012.  Hurry up 2012!

Graduation dress

I got my dress to graduate in, huzzah! 

November

Hello!  I have now finished my M.A. and have returned to the world of full time work.  I really miss my M.A. so have begun volunteering at National Trust Properties and local archives (but more about that in another post!) I miss the rummaging around in archives, and finding out secrets from the past.  I think I will have to try fill this in my weekends and evenings with book reading and museum/gallery visits.

My visit to Salcombe in Devon was amazing, but went so fast!  We stayed in a house on the sea front called Pitchford House (how nice is the kitchen!)

I loved that house.... we are going again next September!  There were stone steps onto a huge balcony that over looked the bay where we could drink coffee and eat Tom's birthday cake and watch boats go past.  I don't know if it was so idyllic because the weather was so so hot (hot weather in England in October!) but I can't wait to go back. 


 
 


 

Since finishing my M.A it is a little weird getting used to the fact that my evenings and weekends are mine again.  I am slowly realising that I can do whatever I want in this time.  There’s so much I want to do but I think I will split it over different posts (I want to go away at the weekend more, read more, watch more films, cook more!)  Firstly I want to start going to the cinema again more to see really great films.  Recently I have seen:

      

   

(I only managed to watch about thirty minutes of Snow Town.  It was too violent/sadistic for me... I'm not saying it isn't a good film I just couldn't keep watching it). 

In the next two weeks I should be seeing:

 

 

I can't wait!