April - Part I

I had intended to write each book in its own post, but a hectic week in London and a trip to Italy has ruined that plan for at least the first half of April.  So instead of one I post five.  17-21.

#17 - I have finally read the engaging "The History of the English People 1000-1154" by Henry of Huntingdon.  150 pages.  If the name doesn't scream READ ME!! I don't know what does.  I am being a bit sarcastic, especially for one the better medieval history/chronicle books.  How can you not turn the page when Henry I dies from eating eels, even though he knows they are bad for him.  Apparently he loved that food despite his inability to digest it.  Another king, Edmund, went to privy to relieve himself and an assassin was hiding inside the toilet and as the king relieved himself he proceeded to stab the king in the privates and bowels.  This was a disgusting book, but also includes some funny anecdotes.

#18 - Stuart Little, 131 pages.   A nice little children's novel that doesn't really have an ending, which is satisfying.  I liked how the book didn't feel it had to conclude itself neatly.

#19 - I have finally read Winnie-the-Pooh (161 pages) by A.A. Milne in preparation for the new animated feature.  Looking forward to the film, especially as it looks a bit creative from what I've seen of the trailer.  A nice little book full of loosely interconnected stories.

#20 - "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. 337 pages.  I have heard so many things about this book as being quite possibly one of the best novels ever written.  It has been hyped more than Shakespeare and now I have read it.  It was a great book, a very good book in its own right, but despite all that it has that recommends it I struggle to see it as in the top ten best novels.  I could have done without all of the recommendations.  I loved this book, but not as much as it was recommended to me.  Does his sound awkward?
Also, it might only be me, but every time the old manservant Joseph speaks I smile.  I found that character infinitely humorous, and I wonder if Emily also thought that way about him.  Anyways the first 30-40 pages of the novel I was laughing pretty hard.  It might be that Cold Comfort Farm was still fairly fresh in my mind and that comic novel colored my initial reaction.  Of course the laughing stopped when Lockwood had his ghost dream.

#21 - "Across the River and into the Trees" by Ernest Hemingway.  220 pages.  This was the most mediocre book of a considered great writer that I have read.  I didn't really like this one, but I dutifully finished it.  The most interesting thing about the book was what was written on the cover:

"The most important author since Shakespeare" - The New York Times Book Review.

Now that quote is a conversation starter!  Let me count the writers...