Review: Dubliners by James Joyce

Yes, that's right. I'm finally biting the bullet and dipping my toe into the world of James Joyce. I've been warned many a time not to bother reading the likes of Ulysses and A Portrait of the artist as a young man... but I like a challenge. And, chances are, if someone tells me not to do something, I'm probably going to go ahead and do it anyway, especially when it comes to reading! I decided that Dubliners, which has been sat on my shelf since it was a possible A level text, would be a great introduction to Joyce given that it's fairly slim, with only 250 pages to get through.

I began reading this when I had a couple of hours spare on a train and managed to get through 50 pages. I despise starting a new book on public transport because my attention span can be incredibly poor in busy environments, but I gave it a go. As suspected, I didn't get into it, failed to grasp the point of the text, and was confused as to why - four chapters in - I hadn't crossed the same character twice. It wasn't until I got home and picked it up again a couple of days later that I realised it was a collection of short stories... which makes so much more sense!

As someone who never reads short stories (apart from Tales of Beadle the Bard, of course) I found the structure of the collection quite difficult to get my head around. I found that the stories never felt finished, and that I never knew the ending, or fully understood the messaging. After a bit of investigation, I discovered that this was Joyce's intention. The protagonists of the collection are a range of adults and children who stand on the edge of middle-class society. The short stories were intended for the inhabitants of Ireland in the early 1900s to see themselves, and the problems of the lives they were living. An observational piece, Dubliners creates a cynical, and quite negative, snapshot of Dublin just after the turn of the century, depicting the mundane routine and the desire to escape it.

The stories themselves are beautifully written. The wording is simple but effective, and flows in a way that encourages the reader to feel at one with the ordinary characters featuring throughout. Joyce's narrative style remains detached, as though he was simply sat on a bench describing what he was seeing in Dublin, but not passing judgement himself.

Once I understood the context of Dubliners, I was able to appreciate the value of the collection not just as a selection of short stories, but as a potential historical source. Overall, I think it's a really perceptive piece of fiction that creates an image of life in early twentieth century Ireland. However, I will hold my hands up and admit that I didn't read the last short story as I was a little bored by this point, but I'd read enough of the collection to appreciate it's purpose.

I think I'd like to try some more short stories, so if you've any to recommend, do let me know!

Thanks for reading x

Review: Jamaica Inn

I've had an extremely long love affair with Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, which I read when I was around the age of 16 . I distinctly remember reading the novel in three days (or thereabouts) whilst nestled in a cosy log cabin in The Lake District one rainy summer as I just couldn't bear to part with it before I'd reached the end.

Not long after this, I visited Barter Books in Northumberland; coincidently, this is my favourite book shop in the world, but that's a whole other post! Because I'd loved Rebecca so much I picked up every Du Maurier book I could lay my little hands on, along with countless other purchases.

Fast forward several years....

At the end of 2015 I picked up Jamaica Inn from my bookshelf and finally settled down to read. It's the first novel I've read in a long time that inspired me to write an essay not dissimilar to those I would've done at uni, and to want to share my thoughts on it with everyone who will listen. So, basically, that's what I'm doing here.

Jamaica Inn is an incredible novel. With the same gothic feel of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea, this enchanting tale tells of how Mary Yellen adapts to living with her Aunt and Uncle on the remote moors in Cornwall following the death of her mother. A feisty, brave young character, she discovers that trouble is afoot at Jamaica Inn, and sets out to discover for herself why travellers no longer stop at the once very popular resting place. Her controlling Uncle bullies her and her Aunt into secrecy over his wrongdoings, but fails to remember that Mary is very strong willed and determined to discover the truth.

As with any good classic novel, this one covers  religion, morality, feminism, romance and offers a historical context to a contemporary reader. However, there were a few comments from Mary herself that contradicted the feminist nature of her character, which I'm assuming is a sign of the time of writing.

People often shy away from reading classic books as they assume they'll be challenging and boring, but I rarely read a modern book more compelling or well written than any by Du Maurier.

Have you read Jamaica Inn? Anyone else love Du Maurier's work as much as I do?

Thanks for reading x

Book Review: The Miniaturist

Ok, so I'll start by admitting I'm a little late to the party with this one, but I read The Miniaturist on my holidays and OH MY GOSH! What a book! 

Honestly, my first thoughts didn't go much further than 'this is weird'. Unlike most people, I read the prologue (which is worth reading at the end of the novel too, everything makes much more sense then) and it involved a miniature house, a woman and a grave. Yep. Good start.

Obviously, I read on as the prologue had filled me with intrigue and expectation; I really wanted to see where this strange start would take me. Set in 17th Century Amsterdam, this is a novel which covers ground, that, to the best of my knowledge anyway, isn't a widely covered period of time in fictional writing. The story of a young girl, Nella Oortman, who marries to escape from poverty is the basis of this strange and compelling novel, but it soon takes a very different turn to how you imagine.

Despite this being Jessie Burton's debut novel, it is a sure sign she is one to watch in the future! Her novel is incredibly well written, using such beautiful and powerful language to tell such a heartbreaking tale. Although I wasn't originally sure that it would be the kind of book I know I like to read (I usually like happy endings for a holiday read) I was so intrigued by what would happen that it would have been rude to ignore the copy sitting on my shelf for much longer.

I love historical fiction, and although I'm not sure whether this falls into that typical category, the novel comments on so many historically perpetual themes that it was hard for me to shy away from loving it. Burton successfully covers race, gender, relationships, class, and attitudes towards work, identifying with them in both historical and modern relevance.

In case you've not picked up on it yet, I can't wait to see what Burton creates next. I'm going to compare her a little to Harper Lee, in that she is a gift to the literary world. Like Harper Lee, Burton is skilled and imaginative enough to create a magical plot full of suspense but one which simultaneously comments on social issues. It takes a beautiful writer to achieve that, and I would love to see The Miniaturist become a classic in years to come.

Have you read The Miniaturist? Did you love it as much as I did?

Thanks for reading x

P.S. I've also just been reading Jessie's blog on her website, and it's just as beautifully written as her debut novel. If I could write half as well as Burton, I would be an incredibly happy girl! The link is here if you would like to see it for yourself: http://www.jessieburton.co.uk/the-miniaturist---the-road-to-publication.html