Thursday 9 September 2010

A holiday to cure my 'consumption'

This is just a quick post to explain the unintentional blogging break. The last two weeks have simply flown by into nowhere it seems and I haven't been very well so have been holed up in my bed feeling very sorry for myself and watching rubbish telly and reading easy crime novels. I am still peaky and currently have no voice at all, well I have a croaky, squeaky sound that is just ridiculous.

Anyway, that is the reason I haven't been writing (or reading much). The end is in sight though and I am cheering myself up with the fact that I have booked a week in Italy at the end of September; for a much needed rest. We are going to Bologna and the Cinque Terre (see above) and I cannot wait. Apart from A Room With A View what other books are set in Italy and constitute a 'must read'?

In the meantime - normal blogging will resume.

13 comments:

  1. Cinque Terre is amazing!! It is the most beautiful spot on earth - make sure to go for lots of long walks. Also there is a really good bookstore in nearby Levanto if you run out of books :-)
    Anyways books set in Italy: go for Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose", something by wonderful Dacia Maraini or "The Leopard" by di Lampedusa.

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  2. How lovely - and how very nineteenth century to be "autumning" on the continent... I have heard such good things about Cinque Terre as well. Get well soon and have a good time. Books: if you are in a Forster mood you could try Where Angels Fear to Tread.

    happy holidays
    Hannah

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  3. I second 'The Leopard' which is superb. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is also beautiful and melancholy.

    I've read and enjoyed 'All Our Yesterdays' by Natalia Ginzburg and 'The Things We Used to Say' looks good as well - both concerned with Italy during the Second World War.

    I could mention Henry James... but wouldn't he fall into your hated nineteenth-century category?

    I hope you feel better soon.

    Helen

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  4. I hope you feel better now. Happy holidays !

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  5. ah italy! *sigh*
    i love 'under a tuscan sky' - book and movie - the movie's perfect when you're feeling a tad blah...
    wishing you a speedy recovery in time for your trip :)

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  6. Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim - wonderful and set not *too* far from the Cinque Terre.

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  7. Poor you! I hope you are all better soon, ready for your lovely holiday! :)

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  8. Ah that would explain you not replying to my email then. :)

    Poor you. BUT Italy sounds amazing. And well deserved. Though don't spend all your pennies! You need to have enough for a flight to New York remember!

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  9. Dear BB, What a delight to fall across your wonderful weblog.

    I am sorry to learn that you have been unwell and do hope that you are feeling more yourself, Whatever, a little time recovering does give one an excuse to spend more time reading, if an excuse is needed. I see that you too admire the work of Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Bowen, et al. In fact not so very long ago I used an image of EB against a background of Bowen's Court to illustrate a posting.

    Hay-on-Wye is, indeed, a booklovers' haven. I used to visit often as I had dear friends living very close by at Clyro where EO ran a most interesting gallery in Ashbrook House, the house once lived in by Kilvert. Sadly, since her death a year ago the gallery is no more, the house having been bought by the Baileys of home and garden fame!

    I am signing myself as a 'Follower' so as not to miss future postings.

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  10. Poor you - sorry to hear you haven't been well. The thought of a holiday in Bologna and Cinque Terre is bound to get you up and about in no time however!

    As for books set in Italy - how about Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner?

    Get better soon.

    Jeanne
    x

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  11. The Enchanted April!!!

    I hope you are fully recovered now.

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  12. I agree with Enchanted April and Room with a View. I would add to that EM Forster's first novel Where Angels Fear to Tread. Frances Mayes Under the Tuscan Sun. It is non-fiction and better than the movie. And for something totally modern, an easy read and perhaps bordering on chick-lit, try Laura Fraser's The Italian Affair. It is all sun and fun and love. A great read.

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