Arbie's Unoriginally Titled Book Blog
It's a blog! Mainly of book reviews.
Currently reading
Reading progress update: I've read 238 out of 384 pages.
What Every Woman Knows
I don't really want to spoil the plot of this play at all. It's about a plain-looking woman who is under-estimated by everybody, written when the women's suffrage movement was under way but not yet successful and published first in the year 1918 - when women first got the vote in Britain. It's depressing how relevant this play is a century later.
I found it delightful - far better than either The Admirable Chrichton or Peter Pan (and I liked both of those). Gentle comedy based on a preposterous initial incident leads to an examination of gender roles and questions particularly, what men value as compared to what they perhaps should.
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Reading progress update: I've read 48 out of 818 pages.
There's a hint of Poe in the story of the Saratoga Trunk.
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Reading progress update: I've read 16 out of 360 pages.
"Veduta" = "View": a painting or print, usually large, usually a cityscape, possibly some other type of vista. Pl = Vedute.
Never come across the term before starting this book.
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Reading progress update: I've read 181 out of 384 pages.
Maggie is 27 and unmarried! On the shelf! The horror!
Reading progress update: I've read 12 out of 360 pages.
I got this 1/2 price when I visited the Gemalde Gallery in Berlin last year. Caneletto made a big impression on me when I first saw him in the National Gallery, London, way back in the earliest days of my visiting fine art museums, as an undergrad.
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Reading progress update: I've read 865 out of 1220 pages.
There goes the other shoe! I guessed one of these two revelations.
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Reading progress update: I've read 169 out of 384 pages.
I am looking forward to finding out What Every Woman Knows.
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Reading progress update: I've read 858 out of 1220 pages.
And the shoe drops! With only the final 1/5th to go, something concrete happens! Colour me surprised. Austen can always pull out the unexpected - at least to me.
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Silver: Light and Shade, Catrin Jones, Vanessa Brett
This is a cleverly designed little catalogue for an exhibition of silver work over the centuries, showcasing the wide variety of designs, techniques and uses silver can be put to, outside the realm of jewelry. If you admire skill, elegance and innovation, you'd have loved this exhibition.
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Reading progress update: I've read 32 out of 48 pages.
Unlike the whopping book by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths that I read a while ago, which was focused on contemporary silversmithing, this exhibition ranges from the present to several centuries ago.
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Reading progress update: I've read 34 out of 818 pages.
And the Prince is back - but in Paris, not London, and no longer in disguise.
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Reading progress update: I've read 853 out of 1220 pages.
Still mysteries surrounding Jane Fairfax - and I wasn't expecting the abrupt decease of Mrs Churchill.
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A Streetcar Named Desire
Half way and I'm thinking, "This isn't as good as the other two of his plays I'm acquainted with," then, within a few pages it takes a turn for the more - dramatic! Then it becomes more brutal and more affecting and more gripping - I raced through the remainder. It's a grim story with Mitch the only significant character who comes out of it looking at all decent. The others are morbidly fascinating and superbly written.
Reading progress update: I've read 18 out of 48 pages.
Very well designed book. I'm not a huge fan of the decorative arts but high quality silver-work is proving to be an exception. Plenty of it was shown in this exhibition.
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