Archive for August, 2010

Following on from my previous blog post “What’s Your Summer Read?” I promised to tell you about my summer read - so here it is. I love books that evoke a place or time so vividly that you feel that you are right there. It’s even better when I know a little about that place or time where the story is set — in such cases, my own memory or knowledge adds another layer of texture to the experience of reading.

I’ve recently been enjoying the memoir and history, by Adam Nicolson, grandson of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson. He writes about his family home with a tangible passion, evoking his childhood in this famous house – or rather, castle. The place is, of course, more than just his family home: it belongs to the nation through the National Trust, and all of us who visit it. In some small way, whenever any of us visit National Trust properties, strolling about the grounds and grand rooms, wondering what it must be like to live in such places, we all take part of those places away with us in our own memories and snapshots and souvenirs. So the story of Sissinghurst feels familiar to anyone to has been there and also to bookish types like me who’ve read about Vita and Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury set - and also new and fascinating by revealing an insiders view of these people and of this famous place.

Part of what makes the book intriguing is the behind-the-scenes glimpses we are given to the Nicolson family relationships. We see Nigel Nicolson (Adam’s father) as the well-known literary figure but also as a father and husband who could not easily bond with his wife and children. We also get to share in what it was like to grow up in the private family areas of this historic national treasure – just what National Trust fans want to hear about!

Nicholson also tells the story of his vision for reviving a working farm is part of the historic Castle and Gardens — and the challenge of making that vision a reality. The Castle and Gardens blong to the National Trust and he and his family are merely the donor residents who have a right to live there rent-free. He has to bring the National Trust and also the Sissinghurst management and staff on board to his plan and the journey is fraught with tensions and conflicting values. He describes difficult meetings and tense conversations with everyone involved. It takes a kind of courage, I think, to write about these less than noble aspects of people that you have to live and work with!

The book also offers a brief history of the National Trust and discusses the philosophy behind what the Trust does. It gives us a view into the workings and philosophies of that body behind the frontage of its well-kept heritage buildings and landscapes, which I found interesting and also amusing – especially in his throwaway comment that many of the Trust’s founding members were gay…

I also enjoyed the evocations of Kent and the history of its landscape. The descriptions made me want to get out of London right now and head on out to the woods and meadows of the Weald.

I would say that this has been a perfect summer read, combining history, family drama, the struggle to realise the vision and also beautiful descriptions of a gorgeous part of England.

Although – I should confess that I didn’t exactly read the book. It was read to me – as you know, I’m a fan of audiobooks and this one was read perfectly by Jeremy Clyde. I could be taken away to Kent and Sissinghurst as I did the ironing, sat on the bus, or just stared into space…

You can buy the audiobook from :

Or, if you prefer the actual physical book, Amazon.co.uk has it:

You can also find out details about visiting Sissinghurst on the National Trust website.

photo: thanks to alh1, from flickr.com (CCL)

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a keen e-book fan for their space saving qualities and the fact that you can make the text/ font larger for more easy reading. Along with audio books, e-books are beginning to become my number one format of book consumption.

At the moment, I’m reading e-books on my various PCs using the Mobipocket desktop reader and also the Kindle PC reader, which are both free applications. They are great for reading books while I’m munching at my sandwich lunch at my desk at the office, say, or sitting in an armchair with my laptop on my … er.. lap. But a more easily portable device would be great for commuting and lying down to read.

So, I’ve been watching the e-book reader battles over the last year or so between different devices and manufacturers. I’ve discussed the various pros and cons of the myriad of devices elsewhere on this blog. (See Going Shelfless and a href=”http://www.fusionview.co.uk/2009/10/a-thousand-books-in-my-pocket/”>A Thousand Books in My Pocket)Recently, the main battle seems to have been between the Kindle and the iPad. I’ve been quite taken by the Kindle over the iPad because it’s smaller and lighter. At the same time, the iPad is a multi-function device and having a colour touch screen makes the whole user interface so much more attractive.

The downside of the Kindle - up till now - was that you could only get it by ordering from the USA. But in the last week or so, it has finally come to Amazon’s UK store. It comes in cheaper than the iPad - £109 for the WiFi versionand £149 for the WiFi and 3G.

Here’s a YouTube video review of the Kindle, which shows how thin it is!

You can also add notes and upload pdfs as well as surf the net (albeit in a limited way). There is a text to audio feature which can read the books to you (though I expect a computer generated voice might not be the most soothing of ways to digest a book..!).

So if you’re in the UK and fancy getting one, you can click here to go for it… [You’ll need to pre-order it cos it looks like the first shipment is already sold out!]

I was having lunch with a friend the other day and the talk turned to our upcoming summer holidays. She was off to Norfolk for a week with some friends and a convoy of all their children. They were packing bicycles and kayaks and everyone was excited about having trips on the water and cycle rides on the flatlands and hikes across fields. But, my friend said, a part of her just wanted to veg out on a sun lounger and read the pile of books she’s had by her bedside now for months.

We talked about how much we loved having a good book to absorb us. She laughed, “Are you like me? I just don’t want to be disturbed. Never mind the kids. Never mind Pete (her husband). I just want them to go away so I can just get on with my book…”

Doesn’t it make you wish you were a kid or a student again? With all those long summer holidays - weeks and weeks of nothing to do but read and read? Nowadays, in our busy grown up lives, we all seem to have to squeeze in the pleasure of reading on commutes or in the few minutes before we go to bed.

Flashing through my mind are memories of many summers I’ve passed over the decades and the books that defined those long hot weeks. In my next few posts, I’m going to be blogging about those books and the times of my life that they conjure up for me.

For now, I’ve already started on my summer reading list and thoroughly enjoying it. I’m cheating a little as it’s not quite accurate to say that I’m reading my summer books - I’m actually listening to them: as audiobooks downloaded from Audible. I make sure to get the Unabridged versions so I get full value for money and also the full efforts of the author. Being read a story is one of the loveliest pleasures in life and I’m basking in the indlugence. I’ve ploughed through a few since spring and today, I’ve just started on a perfect summer book - and I’ll be blogging about what that is in a few days…

What I am more interested in knowing right now is: What’s on your list of books to read this summer?

~~~

Photo: thanks to Matt Seppings on flickr.com ((CCL)