Bloodorange
I'm a GoodReads user testing new waters after the serious website changes. I mostly read fiction, usually Anglophone classics/ modern classics; I like nonfiction (mostly social and cultural history), good fantasy and graphic novels. For guilty pleasure, I read advice and how-to books.
I made at least two reading resolutions recently; 1. read less, live more; 2. read books which give me more pleasure. I have poor filters, and books I find stylistically pleasing tend to be depressing, so I need to do something about that; if you think you know a book that is very well written, but won't make me weep, please drop me a line.
Jean Rhys : Life and Work
I intend to read through it section by section, in the order I will find most convenient ([b:Wide Sargasso Sea|481558|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348923924s/481558.jpg|142647] sections first, then [b:Good Morning, Midnight|144073|Good Morning, Midnight|Jean Rhys|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348078030s/144073.jpg|138995], then [b:Quartet|144070|Quartet|Jean Rhys|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348351992s/144070.jpg|2070952], then probably chronologically).Table of Contents:
Part one: Life, 1890-1927
* Dominica, 1890-1907 - traces the connections between Jean's birthplace, her family history, and her writing.
First steps, 1907-1912 (NOW READING)
The interval, 1913-1919
John, 1919-1924
Ford, 1924-1927
Quartet
Part two: Work, 1928-1939
Leslie, 1928-1930
After leaving Mr Mackenzie
Leslie, 1931-1934
Voyage in the dark
Leslie, 1935-1939
* Good morning, midnight - With its analysis of themes of vision, hatred as a quintessential part of self in a Rhys' heroine, humour, and the complete ineffectiveness of Sasha's actions (even intentions), this chapter is making me appreciate things I failed to appreciate in GMM (and the name is llegion). Not as complex or well structured as essay on WSS, in my opinion, but very useful if you work on GMM.
Part three: The lost years, 1939-1966
War, 1939-1945
Max, 1945-1957
* The writing of Wide Sargasso Sea, 1957-1966 - very suspenseful; writer's block, illness, alcoholism, old age. This part is really intense, and involves Rhys neglecting or hitting her invalid husband to vent her frustration that because of him (and many other factors, to be truthful), her writing does not get done. And the story of her greedy literary agent? A veritable thriller!
* Wide Sargasso Sea - a very good, systematic analysis of WSS; can be too biographical to some (Antoinette's emotional problems are invariably said to reflect Jean's problems. Which might be true, but repeated ad nauseam. Still, such is the biographer's prerogative.)
Part four: The last years, 1966-1979
Life, 1966-1975
Death, 1976-1979
J
