Comments on: “Howard’s End is on the Landing” by Susan Hill

By: Steph

Steph — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:50:20 +0000

I suppose I might gain some insight if I actually read her book, but I don’t see how one can pan an entire country’s literature. I mean, honestly, what’s not to get in Canadian or Australian writing? After all, L.M. Montgomery and Douglas Coupland are both Canadian authors and yet not anything alike… so I guess I just don’t see how one can universally say writing from one country isn’t for them. It’s just really odd to me.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:03:02 +0000

Steph and Amy, I too find it hard to identify with someone who doesn’t get Jane, but Hill states it that way–that she doesn’t get her, not that she actively dislikes her. Ditto for the Australian and Canadian lit–she just doesn’t get it. The main thing I remember her noting about book bloggers is that they tend to read fast, and she advocates reading SLOW. She’s also in favor of less computer for more reading time, so not in the same frame as most book bloggers. But she’s well and widely read, and has interesting things to say on many authors, so even if her tastes didn’t mesh with mine, I enjoyed it. Also, it’s a really lovely little book with a good cover and pleasing size for the hand.

After the recent 15 project, I def. see her point about fast reading. I know I didn’t get as much out of some of those books as if I’d read them at my leisure.

By: girldetective

girldetective — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:57:43 +0000

WL, US kids aren’t as familiar with Blyton as UK kids. They’re like Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys, but better written because they weren’t assembly written. I have one book by her that I loved as a child, Five Caught in a Treacherous Plot (in UK it’s Five Get into Trouble). I just went to look at it, and found another girl’s name inscribed on the inside. I recall her from 3rd or 4th grade; I wonder if I permanently borrowed that book from her?!? Well, she’s not getting it back, now. I’m just going to assume she told me to keep it. I read her about the same time as I read the Trixie Beldens.

By: weirleader

weirleader — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:29:45 +0000

It was a surprise to recognize the name “Enid Blyton” mentioned above; I hadn’t thought of the name in years, and I believe I’ve only read one book by her (The Castle of Adventure… had to look it up), yet I still recall the author.

The brain is a strange thing. I suspect it’s been nearly 25 years since I read that book. But I seem to recall enjoying it!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:19:26 +0000

Loved it too, though I could not possibly agree with her assessment of Jane Austen.

By: Steph

Steph — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:30:24 +0000

I remember when this book was first released over in the UK because it started popping up on all the Brit book blogs. At first I was really intrigued because it sounded exactly like my kind of book, but then the more I read, the more wary I became. Some reviewers felt Hill was quite dismissive of book bloggers in general, and I remember being rather put-off by the idea that she pans Jane Austen as well as both Australian and Canadian fiction in their entirety. As a Canadian Janeite, I’m not sure which of those I find more offensive!