Keeping Good Company

James Herriot was not in favor of a biography being written about his life but told his son, Jim Wright, if it should be done, it should be done by him. Following the great vet's death and after much deliberation, Wright set down his father's life in The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. I only read about half the book as I skipped over any parts that retold episodes from Herriot's books. I purchased the set of his books and look forward to reading them soon but did not want the element of surprise to be compromised by first reading the stories in Wright's memoir. So for now they occupy shelf space next to Wodehouse which was really the only choice after reading this: "On the lighter side, P.G. Wodehouse was [Herriot's] number one author, and the Jeeves Omnibus his favorite book of all. He read and re-read this book throughout his life, the antics of Jeeves, Bertie Wooster, Young Bingo and others invariably rendering him helpless with laughter." On the heavier side, was Herriot's love for Dickens. Wright writes that his father had read the entire works of Dickens by the age of fifteen and how he collected his father's cigarette coupons in order to send away for 'the works of Dickens in 16 superb volumes for 10 shillings.' Wright goes on to talk about his father's general love for books and how his home was 'always bulging with books'...I love this kind of stuff.

The most fascinating part of this book deals with Herriot's rise to fame and how very little, if at all, the money and the notoriety changed him. His integrity was such that when he was advised by others how to avoid paying 80% of his earnings in taxes, he declined to do anything that would compromise his commitment to his family or take him away from his beloved Yorkshire. This book reinforces my growing impression of Herriot having been an extraordinarily exceptional human being whose character one feels inspired to emulate and why I am so attracted to his books and other authors like him. One tribute by Mary Ann Grossman included in the book best put my feelings in words: 'But there's something else in Herriot's writing that I can't quite articulate, a glow of decency that makes people want to be better humans.' In my opinion, perfectly articulated.

This 'glow of decency' has me picking up one Miss Read after another starting with Tyler's Row, onto The Caxley Chronicles and currently reading Farther Afield. For some reason, I was not looking forward to Tyler's Row which accounted for my short Fairacre break but of course once I started reading I hated to put the book down. Tyler's Row is put up for sale and the new residents from Caxley look forward to restoring and renovating the rundown cottages into one abode. Unfortunately the second phase of remodeling will have to wait until their feuding tenants choose to vacate the premises. This little gem reminded me of the continuous frustration felt by the Blandings as they embarked on a similar venture in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. I completely adored Hodgins' book but was grateful to Miss Read for being kinder to readers by offering more hope to the Hale's than Hodgins did the Blandings.

The Caxley Chronicles consists of two Miss Read books: The Market Square and The Howards of Caxley. In the introduction, Read explains that although she intended to continue with this series, her time and attention were fully given over to the demands of her Fairacre and Thrush Green series. Upon finishing the entwined stories of the North and Howard families, I seriously contemplated how I would have been fine with one or two less installments from Fairacre if given over to Caxley but any misgivings were replaced by my starting Farther Afield which finds Miss Read (the teacher) seriously injuring herself in a fall and being nursed by her best friend, Amy. The two will soon travel to Crete and I am not sure I would have wanted to miss this adventure in exchange for a third or fourth Caxley book.

So thanks to Miss Read, I have completed the Typically British Reading challenge. Not making much progress on any others but I feel lulled into a sense of possibility when I see nine more months of the reading year stretching ahead of me. Perhaps I am being as naive about challenges as I was about my commitment to a year long book buying ban. Initial failure took place a few days into the ban but that failure pales in comparison to my lack of restraint in procuring books this past month. I am feigning guilt at this point because nothing brought me more pleasure than adding several more Miss Reads to my collection, a Nonesuch Dickens edition of David Copperfield, two books by Austen, the entire set of Herriot's tales, two of the six Barchester chronicles by Trollope, seven Virago classics found at a library sale and a reference guide to Victorian literature. On top of these, I entered for a chance to win the complete set of Wodehouse books published by Everyman...that's 70 volumes...not rummy in the least. I found out about the contest at Rochester Reader's blog where I encourage you to go if you would like to know more as well as visit her post which offers details on raising funds to save and restore Dickens' chalet.

So that was my end of March reading. I can't complain...it was all wonderful. Looking forward to April, I know there will be more Miss Read and possibly the first in Herriot's series along with some Beaton to kick off the Cozy Mystery challenge. The Brothers Karamazov is also a possibility. Until next month...happy reading!