Now, to turn to something a bit different. I could tag this onto the current month's discussion, but honestly, it's not really about
Passing, but much more about what people like to read.
As most of you know, I read a fair amount of genre fiction -- Space Opera, hard SF, MilSF, Mysteries, and even a fair bit of Fantasy (though
not zombie anything), and I enjoy most of this, finding it excellent escapism, with often a good deal more underneath, should one care to look. However, I sometimes find myself wishing for a somewhat better level of writing, especially after some of the more juvenile (writing quality) fantasies.
Other times, I find myself reading a book that has "impact", such as this month's New Leaf Book Club selection,
Passing, where the message and the story are powerful, but the actual writing is fairly simplistic. Perhaps intentionally, to avoid getting in the way of the message, perhaps simply because it's the author's first book. Regardless, I do sometimes look for something to read that is not challenging, but is also well written, and witty.
The very last book I read in 2017,
Long Summer Day, by R. F. Delderfield, perfectly exemplifies that kind of book. It's not deep or challenging, but it's not fluff either, and it is extremely well written. To quote
Books and Bookmen
Quote:
:
"It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well".
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Now, first and foremost, as an author I can think of few things that could be said about me that would make me more chuffed. What a lovely thing to have said about you and your writing!
Secondly, part of the appeal of
Long Summer Day is that it
isn't challenging or trying to make a point. It's a quiet summer's country day, and my favourite read of 2017. It certainly isn't The Great English Novel, but it very much is a great English novel.
I'm glad we read
Passing this month. But I'm quite tempted to nominate
Long Summer Day for our April book, even though it's too expensive in the U.S. (but not in the UK or AU), and it's fairly long (>600 pages). It has little chance of being selected for those reasons, but for those who care about well written books, I highly recommend it. FWIW, see my review
here on MR.
So, what do others read when they're looking to up their reading game, but not looking for deep social impact? I confess to reading Trollope, Galsworthy, and even Patrick O'Brian when I want a break. How about you?