Cornflower

Covers and prizes

    We talked about book covers here recently, but I'm back on the topic today, prompted by the really beautiful cover for the British edition of The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams (which I enjoyed enormously, by the way), and the fact that - and what madness is this? - the US edition has a different title (The Sister) and a far less distinctive cover. Why? Surely the pretty one wouldn't be mistaken for a lepidopterists' manual?
 


    Back to that in a moment, but meanwhile, here's some wrapping paper produced by the Bodleian Library from books in their collection - aren't these covers striking?



    "The Behaviour of Moths" has reached the shortlist for the Costa First Novel Award, and it's up against three other books, two of them featured and lauded here earlier in the year, (Inside the Whale and Child 44), so stiff competition there.
    Another favourite from the Cornflower bookshelf is in contention for a prize: I'm delighted to see that Linda Gillard's Star Gazing (which I wrote about here) has been longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. My fingers are crossed!

Cornflower Book Group 2009 : Volume 1

    








Our book group is a year old, and we have some exceptionally loyal and diligent members who have read all twelve books so far and even managed to post their comments while on holiday abroad ! - my thanks and congratulations to them for the efforts they have made, and to everyone who has contributed, however infrequently. We've found some cracking reads over the last twelve months and our discussions, despite the limitations of the online format, have really enhanced my appreciation of the books we've read. I'm finding the whole thing very worthwhile (just look at the response to our latest choice) and I hope those who have taken part, whether actively commenting or reading along quietly, feel similarly enriched.




   



As ever, choosing the next book is not easy and I have been agonising over this, trying to anticipate the response, tossing coins, toying with the idea of a poll, scrutinising lists of suggestions, discarding books because they don't quite 'fit'. But having due regard to the balance of our reading and the availability of the chosen book, I have finally decided and this time I've plumped for Anne Tyler's Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons.

     I've read only one of her books before (Back When We Were Grownups) and it impressed me very much, so I am looking forward to this one which covers the events of a day in the life of the eternally optimistic Maggie Moran. Anne Tyler's scale is small and intricate - she deals with the domestic, the everyday, the mundane even, but she brings to that a keen understanding of her characters and great skill at portraying them and their situations, and she can be very funny.
    I hope this will be just the thing for us to settle down with after the Christmas rush and that we can all get hold of a copy in time to talk about the book here on Saturday, 17th. January.
    As we enter our second year, a reminder that the group is open to everyone and if you feel like joining us you will be very welcome. Floreant centaureae!

The Tiger in the Smoke

   

The Cornflower Book Group's twelfth book and first crime novel is Margery Allingham's The Tiger in the Smoke. Often described as her masterpiece, it was the first Allingham for me and I came to her work with no preconceptions other than a strong recommendation from "one who knows"; this was warranted as I thought it was quite wonderful!

    There is much to say in the book's favour but I'll mention a few points briefly here and let everyone go further in the comments* as they wish, and for anyone who hasn't read it, a word of introduction: it's set in post-war London, features the famous detective Campion and his manservant Lugg but in secondary roles, begins with photographs sent to a young widow about to remarry which suggest that her husband isn't dead at all, and hinges on the premise that "one truly loves only the same man".

    The most striking thing about the book from the outset was how intensely realised it is - every detail has been clearly imagined, worked on, embroidered even, to provide a rich background to the story. It is terrifically atmospheric with the London smog smothering the city, blinding and deafening the protagonists, and its setting of the quaint, shabby-genteel St. Petersgate Square with the delightfully unworldly but clear-thinking Canon Avril is powerful and engaging. The Canon is a great character, a man of "selfless omnipotence" guided by a moral compass, and in stark contrast to Havoc, the master criminal, with his palpable aura of evil, and his underworld gang of misfits and lost souls. Combine them with the personal magnetism of Luke, the inspector, the quietly brilliant, steady Campion and a host of minor characters - occasionally a touch exuberantly sculpted - but all bearing the writer's clear fingerprints, and you have a fine cast.

  My impression was that Margery Allingham directed proceedings as it were from centre stage, working out her plot and her characters' roles by intense mental engagement: no arm's-length manoeuvring from her, she's right in the thick of it, and the immediacy that brings to the novel is sharp. This does mean that on occasion she gets a little carried away, but I forgive her that because her writing has such a lithe, agile quality to it, and the whole thing is vivid and compelling and speaks of her enormous enjoyment in creating it. I hope everyone thrilled to it as much as I did!

    After this marvellous introduction to her work, I'm keen to read more, but meanwhile I see there's an audio version of The Tiger in the Smoke read by the most excellent Philip Franks.

(*If the new comments system is still defeating you, just put your thoughts on the book in an email to me and I'll set them in comment form).

 

Cold comfort food

 

    I'm not actually employed by the Jerusalem Artichoke Marketing Board (as you might think), but I do like that strange, knobbly vegetable very much and used it last night in a gratin. The original recipe comes from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook but I altered it slightly so it's my version which is given below. And would you believe it, every member of the family ate it (some of them even with pleasure...). But joking apart, this is very good indeed and comfortably warming for these cold days; no pictures of it, I'm afraid, but a suitably wintery tree from our walk last Sunday instead.

Thinking about the title of this post, did the Starkadders eat artichokes at Cold Comfort Farm? I doubt they did, too full of Adam's burnt porridge, but had Flora got them to scranlet Nettle Flitch or Ticklepenny's Corner for something other than swedes or beets, who knows?

Jerusalem Artichoke Gratin
(Serves 4/5)
About 4 decent-sized Jerusalem artichokes (approx. 12oz)
Similar quantity of potatoes
A little vegetable stock
Freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and black pepper
Cheddar cheese

Butter an ovenproof dish  - best done thoroughly or everything will stick and you'll need more than Adam's thorn twigs or even "liddle mop" to get it clean - and preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.
Thinly slice the artichokes and potatoes and put a layer of the two vegetables in the casserole, season and sprinkle with nutmeg, then grate on a layer of cheese (don't be heavy-handed here, I used the fine plane on the grater to give a covering such as of Parmesan on pasta). Repeat the layers until you have four in total, ending with cheese, then pour a little stock around the edge just enough to moisten the dish, not drown it. Cover and bake for about 40 minutes - I started mine off in the roasting oven and moved it down to the baking one after about 5 mins., then just before the end, take off the lid and allow to brown a bit. The vegetables should be soft but not gone to mush.

Re. comments - again

     Back to the vexed question of comments for a minute as I know that some readers are still having great difficulty with them. I'm conferring with Typepad who have been in to test the sytem for themselves and have found some perplexing anomalies. Until they have been dealt with, can I suggest that if you can't post a comment in the usual way, you send me an email (link at top right) giving me the name you want to appear under, your website url if you have one, name of relevant post, the text of your comment and whether it is a reply to an existing one, and I'll put it up for you.
    The comments are a very important part of this site and I wouldn't want to lose the vibrancy and interest they lend it!

Time, gentlemen, please

    

I was astonished to read Elaine's post this morning on how speedily she reads (do go and see what she has to say). This dovetails neatly with our thoughts on TBR piles, and presumably Elaine can look at hers and feel satisfaction that she can get through it - no matter how large - in little or no time, so no guilt and shame for her, unlike the Guardian man.
    There are two issues here, of course, one is how quickly you read, and the other is how much time you have available for reading. I am moderate in my speed, but reading to deadlines as I do means I arrange to devote enough time to what I have to do, if not what I'd like to do. I'm quite envious of friends who travel a lot on trains and can spend some of that time just reading - I am usually at someone's beck and call, my study door is always open, and the book has so often to be put down in favour of some other pressing task, but still, I recognise I read more than many people manage to do.
    On the question of time, the comments on this post raised the issue of finding time and I teased Peter the Flautist that in a philosophical sense, if not a physical one, that is possible. Time can be freed up unexpectedly, multi-tasking can achieve this, as can division of labour, but there are only twenty-four hours in a day and we often unwittingly squander them. Still, if anyone has any tips on maximising reading time, please let us hear them.

    And lastly, Litlove's comment on Elaine's post makes mention of brain waves while reading - I'd like to know more about that - and this article talks about perceptions of time, but suggests we close our books in order to stop time passing so quickly! (I'm afraid I'm off to re-open The Behaviour of Moths which so far is very good indeed..)

Re. comments

     For anyone having trouble reading and leaving comments in the new system, clicking the 'Permalink'  at the foot of the post seems to help. I'm in touch with Typepad about this, but that may be a temporary solution.

Books and cakes - 12

     Making a cake to go with The Tiger in the Smoke for the Book Group's "virtual afternoon tea" this month proved to be an interesting challenge. There is almost no food mentioned in the book, so lateral thinking was required. I toyed with the idea of doing something that would have been on offer at a Lyons Teashop (the menu, still current in the post-war period of the book, apparently, can be seen here), and I can imagine Lugg or Luke tucking into a Bakewell tart. But I felt we needed a more creative interpretation of the novel than that so veering away from cakes this time, ladies and gentlemen, I offer you Lapsang Chilli Truffles, courtesy of Eat, Think and be Merry.   I thought the sophisticated, modern edge would appeal to Meg, and Geoffrey might find a box for her at Fortnum's, perhaps. Lapsang Souchong has a most distinctive smoky taste, and the cayenne pepper provides the tiger's bite, hence "The Tiger in the Smoke"!



    Rushing to photograph them before the light went I had difficulty getting quite regular shapes as the mixture hadn't been chilled for long enough. I gave them a dusting of cocoa powder instead of the recipe's suggested milk chocolate coating (which I'll try later) for that reason. Though still soft, they taste wonderful, and go very well with a cup of Lapsang.

When I'm 64

     Simon's post yesterday sent me off to read this article about TBR piles, but what a bleak view the writer takes. He talks about " [confronting] the tyranny of the to-read pile head-on.
Bibliophiles everywhere will be only too well acquainted with the demons of guilt and shame that such explorations would conjure. The to-read pile is more than just a physical stack of books: it's a tower of ambitions failed, hopes unrealised, good intentions unfulfilled. Worse still, it's a cold hard reminder of mortality. Already, I have intentions to read more books than I can hope to manage in a normal lifetime. How will this pile of books taunt me when I'm 64?"
     Oh dear!
     We've talked about this subject here before but I don't see my modest collection of books-in-waiting (currently 49) in that light at all, in fact it's quite the opposite - a reminder of all sorts of interests taking me in different directions and feeding a rich inner life, treats in store for later, some to discover when the moment particularly suits, others to revisit. I'm talking about the books physically present in a designated place, not those (and there are over 300) on my wishlist, to be acquired as and when I can justify getting more, but even then although there is a vast amount I want to read and know I never shall, I don't feel overwhelmed or diagnose some failure of stamina or spirit in that I've read A, B and C and not X, Y and Z.
     Having read more this year than ever before, and further to that, reading about more books than at any time previously - hence the 300 - my appetite is whetted, not dulled, and I view the whole business with a kind of idealistic realism. As to the coming years, well, in (almost) the words of the song: "will you still need me, will you still read me, when I'm 64....." We shall see, but meanwhile, there's no lack of will, just - as Simon says - lack of time, so choices have to be made and priorities respected.
     Does anyone feel tyrannised or shamed by their unread books, or are we all just happy to read where the literary road takes us and forget the routes untravelled?
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re. the new comments system (see "Newefangel" below), I think the 'threads' form is good, but if you are having trouble posting please let me know - you can email directly using the link at top right.

Newefangel

     Using a very old word meaning being eager for novelty or taken by something new, I have adopted what looks like an all-singing, all-dancing comments system. I'll try this for a bit and see if it works, and I can go back to the old system if that's preferable, but would you mind leaving a few 'test comments' on this post just so that we get the hang of it? It should work in 'threads' - so let's hope there are no knots, else this will turn into 'new fankled'...
      Random topic to start us off: which book do you hope to get for Christmas, or which book that you already have do you hope to get time to read over Christmas?

Back to work

 

 

We've had a very full weekend and an enormously enjoyable one, but today it's back to auld claes and porridge, in a manner of speaking, and there's reading to be caught up with.
    I'm well on with Margery Allingham's The Tiger in the Smoke for the Book Group discussion this coming weekend, but the postie has just brought several things to add to the TBR pile, and very good they look.

 

     First up is The Gate of Air: A Ghost Story by James Buchan, described as "a fireside spine-chiller of Victorian vigour and conviction and an exploration of a disturbed modernity" - intriguing stuff, indeed. I see that the author is the great-grandson of John Buchan, and writes with reverence and affection of pigs, an animal I'm keen on and which he keeps (and a further digression, he mentions in that article a wonderful dish involving pork, Agen prunes and Vouvray which I've cooked from time to time). But back to the point, and the unfolding of the tale of Paradise Farm for which the first few pages of the book have really whetted my appetite.
     Next is Susie Vereker's Paris Imperfect, a romantic novel about an Englishwoman in Paris, and first impressions of this suggest a sparky book, funny, bright and pacy. Clio is twice-divorced but craves stability, particularly for her son, Alex, so she puts up with the perfectionism and criticism of her French lover Philippe, but then she meets....No more until I've read it!
     Last of the latest bunch is The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams; "gothic" and "gripping" say the reviews. Set in a crumbling mansion from which moth expert Ginny rarely ventures out, this tale of two sisters looks very promising indeed. 

Sticky situation

   Today's post proper is coming up soon, but I wanted to mention briefly a company which gets the Cornflower award for excellent service.
    To cut a long story short, I needed some stickers, the sort commonly seen on car rear windows. They had to be custom made at very short notice, and happily I discovered the extremely helpful Car Sticker Co. who did exactly what I wanted at reasonable cost and in double quick time. This is not an everyday purchase, I know, but should you ever require such a thing, I can recommend them!

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside...

 

 

....especially when it's as empty as this stretch of the East Lothian coast was today!

Botanics - December

Today has been a crisp day, cold and clear.


 There were no flowers to see on our walk, but many leafless trees catching the sun.



Welcome stillness amidst hectic activity.

Dr. Cronin's Bookcase

   

 

    Browsing in the charity bookshop the other day I picked up two novels jacketed in the distinctive yellow of Gollancz, one of them proclaiming "Cheap Wartime Edition on Thin Paper"! Both were by A. J. Cronin, one of those names from the past, vaguely familiar but now largely forgotten. Cronin is probably most famous as the creator of the marvellous Dr. Finlay's Casebook, required viewing - in black and white, of course - in our house when I was young. Its depiction of the life of an idealistic country doctor, his couthy housekeeper Janet and his sage, bluff senior partner Dr. Cameron entertained us and rang very true (my grandfather was himself a country GP and as like Andrew Cruickshank's Dr. Cameron as anything).
    But of his other work I know little, though names ring a bell. What of The Citadel and The Keys of the Kingdom (the two books I looked at but left in the shop)? Both are still in print, and I see there was a film of the latter starring Gregory Peck. Does anyone read them - or, say, The Stars Look Down much nowadays? Given his popularity in his heyday, Cronin's books sound perfect material for an article in Slightly Foxed (I don't recall their having been featured already) and perhaps an interesting discovery for a lot of us. I may pop back to the shop and see if they are still there.