Edition three: literary nostalgia
Hello! Welcome back to Wildfell Book Club. I hope you are all keeping safe.
Laurie Lee is on the cards this week, alongside a brilliant poem which asks us to reflect on one of this year’s most challenging months. Have a good week and keep reading.
A note from the editor:
Last week, I finished reading Evelyn Waugh’s seminal novel, Brideshead Revisited. The book got off to a good start but fizzled out at the end. This is not to do down the novel. It is full of beautiful descriptions of summer and youth and details the transition into maturity with poise and elegance. I don’t blame Waugh for the novel’s ending. It almost appears as though he became so involved in his characters that he found it difficult to let them go. This evident emotional attachment is something to be admired, not criticised. Waugh’s characters are fully formed people rather than two-dimensional props to be used to pass comment in a wider narrative. Such a novel requires a second reading. So I’m sure I will return to Brideshead, like the protagonist - Charles Ryder - but for now, onto the next chapter.
Megan - EiC of Wildfell
Article of the Week:
Nostalgia is a running theme in this week’s newsletter. In this feature, Max Walker remembers walking in the Pyrenees coupled with a reflection upon the evocative writing of Laurie Lee. It’s a beautiful piece and is accompanied by a wonderful illustration from our resident illustrator - Alex Abadjieva - read it here.
Creative Writing of the Week:
In her poem, April 2020, Maddy Tinson reflects on what was a particularly bizarre month for all of us. Maddy captures that moment with a perceptive grace. You can read her poem here.
Book Recommendation:
A couple of weeks ago, I re-watched the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility. I felt nostalgic for that feeling of discovering the story for the first time. Sense and Sensibility is my favourite of Austen’s novels. The story tells of the Dashwood family, exiled from their former stately home by an unpleasant step-sister, who find themselves living in a cottage in Cornwall. From the romantic and stubborn Marianne to Eleanor’s sensible yet protective demeanour to the innocent and loyal Meg, the Dashwood sisters are, in my opinion, Austen’s most compelling characters. If this novel doesn’t sound quite up your street, I invite you to revisit a novel you read a long time ago and loved. Imagine that you are reading it again for the first time (easier said than done).
If you have a book you would like to add to recommend to our readers, email editor@wildfellzine.com with a short description of the novel and why we should read it.
Image: mscogsworthy via creative commons
Knowledge corner:
While not strictly literary, this review of HAIM’s new album - Women in Music Part III. is really brilliant. Accessible and nuanced, it gave me a new perspective on one of my favourite bands. (From the New Statesman). Read it here.
This article from The Guardian reiterates my newfound reading philosophy. Life is too short to read a book you’re not enjoying. Don’t feel that by not getting to the end you’re a failure. Read it here.
I have been listening to BBC Radio Three’s The Essay this week. A stand-out episode was this reflection upon Egyptian Satire, something I knew relatively little about. You can listen to it here.
Interview of the Week:
This week’s interview is with Charlotte Hattrell, an editor at Wildfell and one of our two social media managers.
Who is your favourite author and why?
At the moment it’s Peter James - a crime fiction author. His Roy Grace series (following Superintendent Detective Roy Grace) is particularly impossible to put down. The first book, for example, involves a failed stag night prank in which the groom-to-be is left buried alive in a coffin, apparently unbeknown to anyone. It’s very gripping!
What are you currently reading?
Fatherland by Robert Harris.
Would you recommend it so far?
Yes, absolutely. It’s set in the 1960s in an alternative world in which the Nazis won the Second World War and became the hegemonic power of Europe. It’s fascinating to see how history might have unfolded had certain events played out differently.
What genre of book to you keep returning to?
Historical fiction. Generally, those that focus on the world wars but I’ve also dabbled with both the nineteenth century and Tudor England! I love how historical fiction can provide an insight into a period of history in a way that academic books often can’t, particularly if it involves an in-depth focus on one or two characters and their interaction with their historical worlds.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which book would you hope to have packed?
A Little History of the World by Ernst Gombrich - sorry, more history again, but I did study it at uni! You can never get bored of the entire history of the world (albeit in a condensed format). Of course, being stranded on a desert island and reminded of what I’m missing in the outside world might be slightly painful…
Thanks for tuning in to Edition Three of Wildfell Book Club - we’ll see you next week for more bookish content.