2 for A Century of Books

The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns

"...if she had been a dog , my father would have destroyed her."

 Alice lives with her cowed and frightened mother and her brutal, sometimes violent father (the vet) in a bleak London suburb. The only joy in her miserable home life are the stories her mother tells of her childhood in Wales.
After her mother's death and the arrival of a wicked stepmother Alice leaves home to care for the mother of a friend and there is hope that she will at last be able to lead a normal life and find happiness.

The Vet's Daughter has been on my Classics Club list since the beginning - I've read many posts about it and it's always intrigued me. After reading it I am reserving judgement on Barbara Comyns as I think I need to reread this one or try something else.
I loved the first part. Alice's narration has a unique voice, the writing is simple but wonderfully descriptive , the story is both heartbreaking and horrifying. It does have a fairytale quality and I wanted the happy ever after ending.
I began to feel unsettled .... " ...and I felt a strange homesickness for no home I'd known.'... when I read those words which gave me a sense of where the story was going and I only skimmed the end chapter so I could say I finished it.
Not the right time for me to read this.

The Classics Club
A Century of Books (1959)

Danger Point by Patricia Wentworth

Miss Silver is returning home from a holiday when a very distressed and frightened young woman jumps into the compartment of her train. Mrs Lisle Jerningham , a newly wed heiress has overheard a conversation that questions the circumstances of her husband's first wife's death and wonders how long it will be before Lisle herself suffers an 'unfortunate accident'.

A promising beginning which sadly never lived up to the promise. Lisle is such a passive and colourless heroine it's impossible to care about her fate and when it's obvious who the villain is.... only one thing is left. The pleasure of Miss Silver's company!
But she doesn't make another appearance until over halfway through the book and when she does takes very little part in solving the case. 
Disappointing! 

A Century of Books (1942)

Famous Last Words & Joyce Carol Oates

7th March, 2012 I wrote "I am promising myself that this is the very last time I attempt to finish a JCO. Those I've started before I haven't finished, haven't liked them at all and I have the feeling this much acclaimed author is not for me but we'll see."

30th March, 2012 I wrote "I give up on this author!!

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat but it is not something I like to do especially when it comes to books and well-recognised authors that everyone likes except me. So it might have been in the spirit of 'never, ever, ever , ever give up' that in November of 2013 I picked up The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates from the library shelf.

It might be the spectacularly lurid cover had something to do with it as well!
I couldn't resist what sounded like a mix of Gothic horror - supernatural curses, vampires and all - and historical fiction. Set in Princeton in first decade of the 20th century it features some very interesting real life characters - Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, Jack London and Upton Sinclair.
I had to eat my words - I really, really liked it!

So searching for R.I.P. reading I was happy to respond to the Evil Eye's beckoning glance and bring it home. Very different from The Accursed this short book of 216p contains four novellas, four chilling tales of love gone wrong. What makes them so frightening is they begin as ordinary, everyday sort of situations.
Love that begins with happiness and hope for the future...

• a vulnerable young woman becomes the fourth wife of a prominent intellectual.
• a shy teenager is thrilled with her first boyfriend.
• a spoiled frat boy is angry his parents won't pay his debts.
• a woman reveals deeply buried secrets to her lover.

How do these people cope when things go wrong? What is the worst that could possibly happen? This is where Ms Oates takes the reader and the truth is while it might not be the norm these terrible things do happen.

Dark,compelling and disturbing reading! I liked the sharp, concise prose JCO uses to full effect in these novellas and I think I will explore more of her shorter works before tackling any more of her chunksters.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX

Revenge by Yoko Ogawa

Eleven individual pieces that together create an exquisite whole.

The first page: " It was a beautiful Sunday. The sky was a cloudless dome of sunlight. Out on the square, leaves fluttered in a gentle breeze along the pavement. Everything seemed to glimmer with a faint luminescence: the roof of the ice-cream stand, the faucet on the drinking fountain, the eyes of the stray cat, even the base of the clock tower covered with pigeon droppings.
Families and tourists strolled through the square, enjoying the weekend. Squeaky sounds could be heard from a man off in the corner, who was twisting balloon animals. A circle of children watched him, entranced. Nearby, a woman sat on a bench, knitting. Somewhere a horn sounded. A flock of pigeons burst into the air, and startled a baby who began to cry. The mother hurried over to gather the child in her arms.
You could gaze at this perfect picture all day - an afternoon bathed in light and comfort - and perhaps never notice a single detail out of place, or missing."

but then as this first story ends...

" The bell in the clock tower began to ring. A flock of pigeons lifted into the sky. As the fifth chime sounded, a door beneath the clock opened and a little parade of figurines pirouetted out - a few soldiers, a chicken, and a skeleton...............and then, from the door, an angel appeared, beating her golden wings."

An interruption, jarring and discordant, a danse macabre disturbing the peace - this is the pattern of each of these eleven short stories.
Reading them is like sitting alone beside a quiet pond enjoying the peace yet knowing that beneath the calm surface dark undercurrents swirl and menacing shapes threaten to break the surface at any time.

The eleven short stories, which can be read alone, unite to create a novella. Each story follows on from the one before, linked through recurring images and motifs, while simultaneously introducing new characters and themes. Death walks in many guises and all of the characters, none of whom have a name, have to deal with grief, loss and loneliness. How they do this becomes increasingly bizarre but somehow always remains in the realms of possibility.

The deceptively simple prose is stunning - dark and incredibly beautiful. It ends as it began and I just wanted to start reading it all over again. There are phrases that haunt me - " I could only watch and wait until she ate through her sadness."
I do need to mention that if you like a linear narrative, strong plot, definite characters and a gift-wrapped ending then this is probably not the book for you.

I think it will be the book of the year for me. 
Love, love, loved it!

Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder

hosted by Aarti@BOOKLUST

Also linking to RIP IX