Sunday Afternoon Reads

As a child, I despised Sundays. The homework I inevitably hadn't completed would be pushed to the forefront of my mind, weighing me down with each passing hour, and living in a tiny rural village in the middle of Nowheresville, there was absolutely nothing to do. Festering in front of the television seemed the only feasible option, with the old reliable, and almost melodic, soundtrack of lawnmowers, washing machines and peeling vegetables playing in the background.

That was before I discovered the simple joy of Sunday Afternoon Reading. It begins with the newspapers and their mountainous piles of dusty printed black ink, glossy magazines, and the additional sections that no-one ever reads. This takes me at least an hour, and I scour the limitless pages intensely (most articles are admittedly left unfinished). After this ritual is complete, finally, out come the books! - (and the tea, biscuits, obligatory pet on lap, etc).

What could be a more pleasureable experience than a mild sunny Sunday, with little background noise except for domesticated hums and twitters from nature, a comfy sofa, steaming hot drink, the occasional brisk walk, and a bloody good book in your hand.

I imagine myself lounging elegantly like the lady in this Monet picture, but in reality, I'm covered in dog hair and wearing the last available clean clothes. But by God, in my head I'm almost there! I digress...

If I had to choose a specific style of novel to pour over on a Sunday afternoon, it would hands-down be Miss Austen. I have definitley been influenced by the BBC's Sunday evening coverage of antique collectables, jolly 1950's midwives and little postcard villages filled with gossipy bonnet-wearing women.

Who else indulges their literary whims on a Sunday afternoon? And what reading materials do you find best compliments it?

And how could I not mention...

Happy birthday to Mr Charles Dickens, who was born 200 years ago today! Even the Google Doodle has been in on the celebrations;

Earlier this week, I read that an author named Ruth Richardson has done some detective work on the people that lived within the vicinity of 10 Norfolk Street (Dickens' old home in London, now renamed), and noticed some huge similarities with the residents there and some of his book characters. Apparently there was a trader called William Sykes who lived in the area at the same time, as well as a workhouse and numerous pawn shops that may have inspired Dickens while writing Oliver Twist, and many other names which held a stark similarity to those of his famous book characters (such as two traders called 'Goodge' and Marney'... reminiscent of 'Scrooge' and 'Marley', perhaps?!) Ruth's findings have been included in her new book, which is called Dickens and the Workhouse: Oliver Twist and the London Poor. It's a new addition to my Amazon wishlist!

So, dear friends, what are your favourite Dickens novels, and which ones are on your Amazon wishlists?!

And finally, here's another link to end the day with; a photo album of the various locations described in some of Dickens' works (try to remove images of pasty-looking tourists in polo shirts and litter laden Pret a Manger's from your minds, and instead think of smog, horse driven carriages and ladies selling flowers in the street, à la Audrey Hepburn).

So bottoms up, and drink a toast to the writer who still manages to captivate millions! Hip hip!

P.S: Has anyone heard any updates on the so-called Charles Dickens theme park that was supposed to be in the making (somewhere near Kent, I think)? I swear I'm not making it up!

Feedback Tip for Aspiring Writers

Have you finished pages and pages of writing, and found that you're in desperate want of some constructive, unbiased feedback? Perhaps you're too shy to give your work to those around you (I'm definitely guilty of it), or have hit a bit of a block and need some honest truths about your writing style?

I was recommended this website by a friend. It's called the Page 99 Test; a simple tool to help unpublished writers get some much-wanted feedback on their work, under the premise that reading the 99th page of a book can quickly determine whether you will enjoy it or not.

But be warned; as you will so often read, as a writer it is crucial to maintain a professional detachment from your work. I am still learning this skill, and I don't find it easy. Therefore, I suggest that some of you proceed with caution - one bad review can be enough to knock someone's confidence for months, or even make them stop writing entirely. I have had some nasty comments about my work on this site (I suppose it's easier to be more brutal or mocking when hiding behind a screen anonymously), but I have also been given valuable pieces of advice from it, which I think has improved my writing style overall.

So I will leave it down to you to decide if you are ready for whatever this website can throw at you. If you do get negative reviews, don't be disheartened; the original manuscript for Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone was rejected 12 times before it found a publisher!

What's the worst piece of feedback you've ever been given about your writing, and how did you let it affect you; was it soul-crushing, or life changing?

George Whitman, 1913-2011

This is almost two months overdue, but I only discovered yesterday that George Whitman, founder of the Shakespeare & Company bookshop in Paris, passed away on the 14th December 2011.

I was extremely saddened to hear of his death, as to me, he seemed to represent almost magical qualities; his profound love of literature, and of people, appeared to transcend even the glimmer of a bygone era, and seemed only to exist within the pages of the novels that he so fervently read throughout his life.

If anybody has visited Shakespeare & Co (right opposite the Notre Dame in Paris... I stumbled across it in 2008 quite by accident), then I'm sure you'll agree with me, that to call it an 'Aladdin's Cave' doesn't even begin to describe it! Books on the floor, books on the chairs, books on tables, outside the shop, next to the sink, on top of the piano (which, incidentally, had a large sign attached to it saying 'PLAY ME')... books EVERYWHERE. I felt like a child on Christmas day! Of all the books and all the words contained inside that shop, 'organised' probably wasn't one of them! I emerged two hours later, breathless with awe and with dust covering my hands, as if I'd dived head-first into a pool of pages and paddled around happily, completely intoxicated and bemused.

I'd heard that if you were in the shop at 4pm on a Sunday, then George would invite you upstairs for tea and cake. I'd also heard that if you turned up on his doorstep, he would offer you a mattress from underneath the bookshelves and give you free lodgings, provided that you helped out in the shop for 2 hours a day, and read a book every day also (and after research, I've found all these things to be true!) George seemed to have lived, through my naive eyes, a wildly poetic life; living with a Mayan tribe, travelling on foot across the American continent for seven years, and has shared "tea and a pancake" (to quote the shop's website) with many prolific writers who came to visit Shakespeare & Co (including, I've read, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway and Arthur Miller). I did spot him on one of my visits to the shop, during a reading by Breyten Breytenbach, but of course, I was too shy to approach him!

I'm aware that I've been babbling on for a while now! I can't even begin to describe how inspiring I've found George Whitman's approach to his work, life, and treatment of others. If you have the time, please do read these obituaries by The Telegraph and The Guardian, here and here. If I could leave you all with a question, it would be; have you ever visited Shakespeare & Co before, and what were your impressions of it? If not, then tell us about an exciting bookshop discovery you've made on your travels!

I will end with the W.B Yeats quote, which is painted above the door in the upper floor of the shop; "Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise."

Thank you, George.

Welcome, potential members of the Tree community!

Welcome to The Literary Tree project! My aim is to pass words between hands, and ideas between minds, from all over the globe. I want to encourage a like-minded community of book lovers, writers and readers, and what better way to do so than through sharing our books and thoughts with each other?

Like me, do you despair at the amount of finished (or even unread) books you have languishing in boxes or gathering dust on your shelves? Do you have the urge to spout on and on endlessly about your obsessions with a new fictional character, but not sure where to turn to? So much love, words and ideas going to waste! So I devised this project, in the hope that no good book gets left unloved, and that we can all share our literary passions with one-another more easily.

The objective of this project is simple: once you finish a book, tell us about it! Then arrange to swap your book with another member of the project, for one they have also just finished (or even left unfinished... I think we're all guilty of this!)

I hope you will join me in the quest to get everyone reading! Our efforts may only be small, but one novel alone could have been someone's lifetime labour of love, and I want to be able to spread that.

Thank you, and happy reading!

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.  ~Chinese Proverb