Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Knitting and Reading

Funny how writing down things reveals a pattern. From time to time I have talked about the books I love and  now I notice that most of then have one thing in common - the story takes place in the writer's childhood environment. That is true for Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables (my favourite book ever!),  Rudyard Kipling's Kim and to my latest discovery Willa Cather and the two books I have read from her, O Pioneers! and My Ántonia. I suspect that there is something special in the way you are able to describe the surroundings where you spend your first years.

I get a serious travel fever when reading these books and after My Ántonia I have been a bit obsessed with Nebraska. Few years back I visited Jane Austins house in England and it was fun to see where she lived and how the world looked liked when she lived. Would love to make a trip like that to Willa Cather's home.

I have been reading so much the last year and that is all thanks to the e-reader I bought. It makes reading so easy. I don't like to buy books because I don't know what to do with them after I have read them and since I live in the Netherlands I can only borrow books in Dutch and I prefer reading in English. Also Dutch libraries are not free!

One other advantage of e-reder is that you can't really see how big a book is. So I read Anna Karenina (downloaded for free) by Tolstoy. If I had seen how big it is I probably would have thought that I have no time for it. It was so good! And for everyone who thinks it is only about the love story - it really isn't. There are other, in my opinion, more interesting stories and characters in the book. And then there are whole chapters about mowing. I can see how some people dislike that but I loved it and I think I will be rereading just those chapters.There is a review on goodreads that perfectly describes how I felt about this book.

Moving on to knitting. It is has been so cold here that it really feels like autumn (13 °C, 55 °F!) so I guess the best thing to do is to make a cup of tea, crawl under a blanket and knit. I started knitting socks to my husband that I promise to make him along time ago. Nothing too exiting but still fun to make.

Untitled
Officially started...
Joining Yarn Along

2 comments:

Laura C @ littleandlots said...

My daughter is named after Lucy Maud Montgomery (though my husband threw a fit and wouldn't let me use Maud for a middle name--and yes, I know she went by "Maud" not "Lucy"). I read Anna Karenina a long time ago, when I was 17, but I remember loving it. I have socks on my needles now too! I'll have to download a book and try to finish them up, I lack only one toe. :)

Carolina Ellis said...

I LOOOOOVE Anna Karenina.

E V E R Y part of it. I feel like that is one of those books I could read again and again and again.

I was surprised to learn that you prefer to read the books in English. You would love my house - we have hundreds of books ... Everywhere.

I have enjoyed reading all of your posts, Mari. I think you are a good writer and should investigate doing some creative writing. I think all the reading you do has made you a great writer. Start by writing something of your own childhood. Maybe in the next post, add a little bit more about your childhood. I would love to read it.

As I mentioned (in another post of yours), I have taken a long break from blogging. I needed it. Seeing your posts, though, stirs something inside me. I may go back to blogging.

On a different note - I have a friend who uses blogger and she can't get comments on her posts from iPad users (like yours used to do), I have trashed the email with those instructions to the fix that I sent you. If, by chance, you have them, will you send them to me so that I can pass them on to her?

I have to go. I have enjoyed my trip down Mari Lane. Imagine me waving at you from the top of my mountain. Enjoy what is left of your day.