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!

The Four Month Challenge - Part Three

5 Point Challenges
Read a book by an author you've never read before
Read a book with a one word title
Read a book with an animal name in the title - Cat Stories by James Herriot
Read a book with a proper name in the title - Tyler's Row by Miss Read
Read a fantasy

10 Point Challenges
Read an 'Austenesque' book
Read a book with a two word title - Dog Stories by James Herriot
Read a book that is part of a series - Farther Afield by Miss Read (Fairacre series)
Read a book about a real person
Read a mystery - A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15 Point Challenges
Read a book written in the 60s (any century)
Read a book with a number in the title
Read a book by an author born in March, April, May or June - Miss Read, 17 April 1913
Read a book with a three word title - Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Read a book by an author with three names - The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

20 Point Challenges
Read a book with over 500 pages
Read a book with a four word title
Read a book by two authors
Read a book written in the 70s (any century)
Read a book that has been number one on the NYT bestsellers list

All James Herriot Great and Small

In the fourth grade, my friends and I would set up a makeshift vet's office during recess complete with an index card box with our patient's names and afflictions, a couple of stuffed animals, our pencils doubling as syringes and thermometers and a clipboard to hold our charts. I wanted to be a veterinarian and my parents demonstrated their support of my dream by giving me a copy of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. Over the next few years I attempted to read this work but could never get past the first 50 pages. I still don't know why and spending the last week immersed in his Cat Stories and Dog Stories has not helped to shed any light because I absolutely loved these two collections. Cat Stories is a bit shorter than Dog Stories (which is filled with 50 canine tales) and both are illustrated (Cat Stories with wonderful watercolors by Leslie Holmes). I know so little about cats that reading Herriot's stories along with Miss Read's Tiggy felt like receiving a crash course in feline nature where as growing up around dogs I felt an instant affinity towards the characters in Dog Stories. I read a couple of the dog stories to my oldest and she begged me to stop because they made her sad. There is that aspect to both of the books...the loss of a pet and Herriot telling of sicknesses that he could not cure...but what mostly comes through is the great importance our pets have in our lives and how they become one of the family. I just can't recommend these two books highly enough and because most of the stories are taken from his classic series chronicling the life of a veterinary surgeon I will be giving All Creatures Great and Small another try.

On an aside, I am posting more sporadically as this new year progresses and this will continue to be as we are welcoming some new changes on the homefront. There are just never enough hours in the day it seems and while I want to keep up on reading my favorite book blogs, I will be moving towards a once monthly post reviewing books I have read and progress made in challenges. I will continue to participate in events like the 24 hour read-a-thon and Persephone reading week, and of course, the You've Got Mail challenge is still on. So don't be alarmed if it is more quiet at Book Psmith than it already is:)

Exceeding Expectations

That's it! It's done, and I hate that it is done. I am feeling quite petulant towards Dickens at the moment. I mean if he can give 800 plus pages to his other works, why not equal time to Pip. The story is over when it is over, I know...but I could have stayed with Pip and Joe for another two weeks...and Herbert...and Mr. Jaggers...and Wemmick...even Estella.

So I am shirking from any desire to write a proper book review. I don't want to synopsize it, don't want to analyze it, don't want to sum it all up. What I did want the entire time I was reading this masterpiece, was the chance to discuss these characters as if they were real people. Great Expectations is the perfect read for a group and I recommend, if given the chance, not reading it in a vacuum.

Dickens is genius when it comes to creating characters. There are too many that he renders lovable when my instinct is to turn away in disgust. How else could it be that I developed tender feelings toward Magwitch? I cursed Miss Havisham, as Pip did, but I couldn't help being intriqued and wanting to return to those rooms and that cake. And how many times did I want to slap Pip for the way he treated Joe? But it was Wemmick I couldn't get enough of. His philosophy regarding 'portable property' was almost slimy but I was taken from the moment Pip is welcomed into the Castle and the reader witnesses Wemmick's transformation. He must have been a character that inspired Wodehouse's writing as evidenced by Wemmick's use of 'the aged relative' as a term of endearment and the shortening of words to the first letter. The love and respect that Wemmick exhibited towards his father most certainly affected Pip as they did me.

Whatever my expectations were of Great Expectations, Dickens exceeded them. The thing about Dickens is often the reputation of his works proceeds my actually reading them. So I knew a little about the book...somebody named Pip is looking back on his life and there is a creepy lady who wears nothing but her old wedding dress and it is supposed to be some kind of masterpiece...but there was so much I didn't know that made the story completely unexpected. I mean this book has everything...heartbreak, romance, mystery, suspense, violence, redemption, and humor (I can't forget to tell you that there are parts of this story that are laugh out loud funny). And what I find most meaningful about the work is how Dickens expertly forces the reader to think about the 'big issues'. What does it mean to be good? What are the true riches in life? What is love? Can a person truly be redeemed and how does one attain redemption? What of forgiveness?

So, yeah, this is me gushing. It rarely happens but when it does I can go on and on, so I will restrain myself and ask, have you read Great Expectations, and if you did, did you want to gush too?

p.s. As part of the Read the Book, See the Movie challenge, I attempted to watch the 1998 Masterpiece Theatre adaptation starring Ioan Gruffudd but abandoned the movie about half way through the three hours. It was so not a match for the way I had envisioned the story as it unfolded in my mind's eye and I just didn't enjoy it the same way I did the book.