Yesterday I gobbled up Elizabeth Ironside's A Good Death, an entertaining read -- WWII, French countryside, the Maquis, the Resistance, returning War hero aristocrat, lots of good food and MURDER. Yeehaw.

I was reluctant to start this novel with some 700+ pages. It turned out to be one of the best of the year. Remarkable in the way the writer represented the various factions, ideologies and realities. Gobsmacked was I.

Perfectly lovely reading so far.

The perfect writing and language presents as easy and casual but adds up to art. A bit annoyed (predictably) by the short-story format, however.

This is starting very strong for me.

Only a few pages into this. It's clear the author isn't a 'writer' but that's part of the charm to be sure, so far.

Reading this now. Seems at first take, in any case, to be more of an outline for a novel than the thing itself. After all, it was abandoned by the author himself. But there's interesting stuff here so it's easy to persist.

Of all of Lessing's fiction, this novel likely is most closely autobiographical although that matters not much. What does matter is how very fine is the reading and it's pretty damn spectacular.

This is Doris Lessing's first novel and it is finest kind however painful, and it is.

Going slowly but enjoying it.

This fizzled out on me. I finished it but regret I did.

So far so good. I can tell it's going to get spooky, though.

This is an odd bit (only 160 pages) of book Jim and I picked up in Point Reyes Station a couple of years ago and only now got around to reading. First, it's gorgeous with wood-cut type illustrations. Second, there's a bit too much physics involved for my taste (makes me feel ignorant and, of course, I am). Nevertheless, what an entirely different, fascinating and wondrous book. Keep in mind, this is targeted at muscians in a technical way regarding tuning but the writer is so fine he exceeds his bounds.

This is a mostly academic book (lots of footnotes, dissertation-size biliography) but is so well written a relative ignoramus such as I am can delve deeply and interestingly. So doing.

This continues to divert and entertain. Sadly there are few pages remaining for my delectation. But, turns out this novel is the first in a trilogy so I expect this won't be last I've read of this pig and his human cohorts.

Influential folk here recommended "The Pig Did It" by Joseph Caldwell. I'm halfway through it and having the finest old time you can imagine. The dialogue, repartee, Irish lilt and la in the language combined with the beautifully invoked setting is marvelous. Loving this book thanks to those here who know who they are.

Here's the first paragraph:

"Aaron McCloud had come to Ireland, to County Kerry, to the shores of the Western Sea, so he could, in solitary majesty, feel sorry for himself. The domesticated hills would be his comfort, the implacable sea his witness. Soon he would arrive at the house of his aunt, high on a headland fronting the west, and his anguish could begin in earnest."

I'm having such fun so.

There are, more or less, three different stories in this novel -- two are fetching and one is eh. It doesn't go anywhere, either. So, no recommendation from this quarter.

Delightful book. Fagan is skilled indeed.

Average read; unsatisfying ending.