Reading again...

With a great deal of pleasure, I finished reading "The Stone Diaries" by Carol Shileds. It didn't matter one bit that I had read it before because I had forgotten enough about it to enjoy it all over again. There were so many interesting details in it that grabbed my attention, and the story was so well written, that I was not bored for one moment. It is no wonder that it got a Pulitzer Prize.

Once I started reading it, it was hard to put down and today I read for a long time until I had a sore rear end from sitting in my armchair. I can recommend this novel to anyone, but I have to warn you that it will spoil you for any novel you will try to read afterwards. I tried to start reading another author, but found it impossible. I was too struck down by reading the beautiful prose of Carol Shields.

I'm going to read "Dressing Up For The Cranival" next. She wrote that also and it is a collection of short stories. I'm happy to read anything by her and have to look on my bookcasereally well and find other work by her. I've gotten so used to her voice that nothing else will do at the moment.

What I found very encouraging is how much I enjoyed the act of reading and how lost I got in the novel to the exclusion of everything else. That hasn't happened in a long time. As a rule, I've become distracted and I have been unable to concentrate for any length of time. I used to be a great reader and I thought I had lost the ability forever

I'm very happy that my ability to get lost in a book has returned although I do have to add that I can't indiscriminately read anything. I am critical of what I read and the voice it's written in. I have to, in a way, hear it spoken in my head as if it's telling me the story. And there has to be a cadence to it with a rhythm and a natural flow. As if it's a song that's being sung set to music. Carol Shileds can do that.

I've got to go now. I've got to read. I don't have time to blog.

Ciao,
Irene