Books, books and more books

Book review: Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

It's been a while since I couldn't let a book down. Weighed down by various (sometimes) tedious Austens or Stokers that would no let me have a good night's sleep, Evelyn Waugh's book was a well deserved break.

The novel was written in the 1930s and centres on the Bright Young Things, a sort of not-so-secret sorority in London between the two wars who had a very outrageous lifestyle and a sort of 'whatever' attitude to life.

As you can already tell, it's extremely amusing. Don't be put off the slightly strange allegoric introduction, it gets better and it makes sense as you go along. The novel was strikingly modern for the time but still the age-old romantic backdrop resisted. Although the focus shifts on various characters, the will-they-won't-they engagement of Adam and Nina keeps popping up. In their way there also appear a myriad of comic situations and strange characters that create the weirdest of situations.

If you have some sort of aversion towards overly descriptive books, fear not. This one is mainly based on dialogue, and, more interestingly, almost all of it takes place on the telephone. Perhaps it has a more gossipy tone which goes well with the otherwise gossipy novel; in fact, Waugh himself worked for the first social gossip column in English newspapers.

So, if you need a Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola-style pick me up book with humour but also a bit of a moralising message, this should be a contented on the list!

                                                                 Buy it HERE.

Wednesday flatlay

Trying to kill some of the mid-week blues? Or just feel like studying is a bit of a life-drainer, as I do? Here's an aesthetically pleasing pile of things I've loved in the past weeks.

Can we take a moment and swoon over this beauty? An 18th birthday present, I waited for 4 weeks (that's half a century in my patience-o-meter) to have it tightened but now it is, as Chandler would put it, 'perfection'. Plus, it's my first diamond ring and arguably the most mature piece of jewellery. Now I can trick people into thinking I'm engaged...I'm pretty sure that's what the sales person thought when he said 'Congratulations!'

Find it HERE.

One of the best finds of the winter sales season was this little gem of a perfume from Anthropologie. Originally though it was from an American brand called Ineke who have a really unique and fun (as this photo above proves) approach to their fragrances. I chose the Angel's Trumpet scent which is the most delicate floral, slightly sweet slightly fresh smell I've tried. And it doesn't smell like chemicals either, which is a big turn off when I buy perfumes. 

Find it HERE

My saviour of chapped lips. I'm almost too scared to say that this might be discontinued from the Lush range. It's a little (tiny actually) pot of crushed granulated sugar that tastes like chocolate and that leaves your lips flake free and covered in some miracle hydrating layer. What more can you want?

Ah good news! It's not discontinued and you can find it HERE

In the spirit of introducing you to exotic new things, here's the Romanian brand Herbagen that makes a slightly strange looking cream that leaves your face looking very pale but which, in hindsight, does the job pretty well!

Find it HERE.

Let's put some culture in the mix too! I've been enjoying Evelyn Waugh's sort of study/autobiography of the absurd behaviour and scandalous parties of the Bright Young Things of the 1920s. The subject and time period seemed very appealing and I wasn't disappointed. It's one of those get-up-in-the-morning-and-can't-resist-reading-it. And everyone needs one of those...

Find it HERE.

Finally, possibly the most exciting sale purchase. A Victoria's Secret robe in silk with the signature pink and white stripes. It was love at first sight for only 13 pounds and honestly, it boosts your confidence by 150%!

                                                                       Find it HERE.

Book review: La Mare au Diable by George Sand

What I like more than a book with natural-flowing narrative and 'panache' is one written by an author with a colourful life.

Surprise surprise, George Sand is the name adopted by Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, as you can guess, a woman. Any professional field before the 20th century was an uncharted and definitely unconventional territory for women so I am always intrigued to read and compare works by female authors during the 1800s and before. George Sand also ticks the box as she lived between 1804-1876.

In many ways, I associate her with Colette, another French female writer I admire and from whose oeuvre I've read 'Le ble en herbe'; they both had quite rebellious lives in terms of going against societal norms and in many ways their works tackled issues such as the role of women, sex and etiquette. However, she's much more gutsy than Jane Austen so I guess one could argue that women's voices in literature (and not only) was getting louder by the decade.

George Sand had numerous love affairs, including one with famous musician Chopin, and wore trousers and smoked cigarettes... how fabulously modern of her! No doubt though she acquired many enemies along the way and I would think their perception of her as a person took over her professional merits, especially when Flaubert said that 'Comme femme, elle inspire le degout; comme homme, il donne l'envie de rire' (As a woman, she suggests distaste; as a man, he makes us burst with laughter).

'La Mare au Diable' is considered her best work by many and is definitely one of the best known and I was recommended it as a similar read from the point of view of the narrative style with Guy de Maupassant which I still love to this day. The odds were promising and I certainly wasn't let down.

Although the start is a bit slow, I appreciated the introduction and how at the beginning, Sand addresses the reader directly. The story all starts from a Holbein etching of land workers and throughout the book, values such as honesty, hard work and humility are highly praised. Again, I love me some social commentary.

The narrative is pretty simple and spans over 2 days, mapping the development of the relationship between Germain, a 28 year old widowed farmer, and la petite Marie, a 16 year old girl. Along the way, you'll meet archaic language -which I found fascinating in French-, legends, snobbery and inner turmoil, all of which make for a great plot when combined with Sand's sharp storytelling.

There were two episodes that really stood out for me, so much so that I had to use my highlighter on them :

'L'art n'est pas une etude de la realite positive; c'est une recherche de la verite ideale'
'Art is not a study of an optimistic reality but a quest for the ideal truth'

'[...] elle ne se sent pas pressee de devenir la servante d'un homme, quand elle peut comander a plusieurs. Ainsi, tant que le jeu lui plaira, elle peut se divertir'
'she doesn't feel the need to become the servant of a man when she can be in control of many others. And after all, as long as the game amuses her, she can have some fun'

Book review: Christian Bobin's 'Un assassin blanc comme neige'

When I was in Metz a few months ago, a trip to the bookshop resulted in a slight shopping spree as to be expected. I picked up this title without knowing what to expect, intrigued by the cover, the title and to be quite honest, the large fonts inside. 

It's not an easy read. While it's quite short, the book is like poetry in prose form. The imagery described is so profound and has such symbolism that you have to read it twice or thrice to feel like you have understood its meaning. 

That being said, there is no story. At first, it seemed like a diary of crumbles of life that had an impact on the writer. However, as you read on, it seems more like a collection of thoughts and ideas, some contained in only one sentence. 

It's trully beautiful though and I felt so much satisfaction when I found some of my own thoughts printed in black and white in beautiful french, thoughts I maybe wouldn't have been as brave as to formulate even in my mind but they are universal truths that we either don't see or don't know how to express. 

I'll leave you with a few extracts that have really impressed me, so you can get a feel of the book:

'La modernite est une guerre menee contre la vie dont l'issue ne fait aucun doute: les ames sont trop anciennes pour pouvoir mourir un jour.'

'Modernity is a battle against life whose outcome is uncontestable: souls are too old to be able to die in one day.'

'En une seconde je sais ce que pourrait connaintre un lievre qui - pousse par cette panique qui arrondit toujours ses yeux - traverserait sans s'y arreter cette jungle odorante : il ne prendrait conscience qu'apres en etre sorti d'avoir ete au paradis des lievres.'

'In one second, I can know what a rabbit will feel when, driven by the panic that always dilates its' eyes, it will have crossed this perfumed jungle without stopping: it is only after it left that it will be aware of having been in the rabbits' paradise.' 

'Il y a sans doute quelque part dans le ciel un cimetiere des nuages. Comme ses tombes doivent etre merveilleuses!'

'No doubt there is a cemetery for clouds somewhere in the skies. How magnificent must their tombs be!'