pickOh my, this was bonkers in the best possible way! I had no idea where it was going or why! But who cares? It‘s hilarious, thoroughly entertaining! I hope when I am 92 I am this insightful! I have some friends and we always talk about living together when we are much older on an estate and this book is now the benchmark for that dream. How did I not know anything about Carrington previously? Her life, art and writings. What an extraordinary woman!
My copy of The Hearing Trumpet arrived and well, my finger slipped when I placed the order so Down Below and The Skeleton‘s Holiday arrived with it… oops?!
I kind of want all the editions of The Hearing Trumpet tho - so I may haunt some used books websites… the cover art is just that good.
pick♥️ this so much that upon finishing the audio, I bought the paperback. What‘s not to ♥️ about a story centring on 92 year old Marion that has multiple mentions of a 110 year old mother with a keen interest in sports?! Marion is rich in friends - it‘s Carmella that gifts her the hearing trumpet & how that transforms her world! I never knew what to expect with this book (other than the murder, that I saw coming) but oh such (delightfully weird) fun!
Almost let my loan expire but decided, no - I could totally finish this in 2 days, I should give it a go!! & HONESTLY best decision, I‘m obsessed with this book actually.
I‘ve got no idea where we are going but I‘m loving the journey - it just went off on a tangent about a nun - whose portrait hangs in the dining room of the institution where the book takes place & I‘m excited to see how that comes back round to fit in with the main narrative.
panThis was not the book for me. It‘s a strange, dark story with repetitive scenes from the perspective of a narrator frequently in an opium haze. At least that‘s how it seemed to me. I also think I missed aspects due to differences of culture & translation. I feel there‘s much more symbolism than I‘m aware of.
📷: Gandalf kept me company during my #HammockReading this evening.
#translated #1001books #Reading1001 #TBRTakedown April 2025
We are nothing but perpetual animals. What‘s the use of these huge fragile enthusiasms, these dried-out leaps of joy? We know nothing but dead stars; we look at faces; and we sigh with pleasure. Our eyes turn aimlessly, hopelessly. There‘s nothing now but these cafés where we meet to drink these cold beverages, these mixed drinks, and the tables are stickier than these sidewalks where our dead shadows from the day before have fallen.
