The Read Everyone of the 1000s of Books We Own Project continues.
Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham
This book was a tough read. The story kept my interest but the writing could have been done with a lighter touch. Nobody wants to read a book filled with simple sentences, but conversely trudging through paragraph length sentence after paragraph length sentence is a slog. You need to mix it up a little. Based on just this novel which isn't fair, Allingham was a good writer but no Steinbeck or Hemingway.
A nice thing about being alive right now is through social media, you can share what you are reading with your friends. I have been using Goodreads to keep track of the books I have been reading. My friend Joanne Countryman noticed I was reading this one. She loves the Campion books, which inspired me to keep reading to the end.
Arriving at seems to be around the middle of the Campion books, I have some curiosity regarding the story arc of Albert Campion, but I have a 100s of other books on the shelves to finish before I go looking for more.
There is a little bit of a mystery of where this book came from. Maureen tells me this book isn't her's. Normally there are clues as to how a book came into my possession. There is no price tag nor a used book store stamp on it, so I have to assume it was bought new. Since I never heard of Margery Allingham or Campion before reading this book, I find it unlikely I bought this book for myself or as a gift for Maureen. Maybe it was a gift (my brother perhaps?).
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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2 comments:
Allingham wrote this story when in deep grief after the death of her father. It draws on childhood memories but these are so far concealed that it wasn't until I read her books in chronological order and was writing her biography that I felt that I understood what was going on. She also experienced an unexpected infatuation at that time - just as Campion does. Dancers has now become one of my favourites among her novels.
Thanks for commenting and the interesting backstory Julia.
I recently did a multi-year project to read Agatha Christie's books in chronological order. Just as I getting sick of her writing, she got really good in her 40s.
Does Allingham's writing get less dense as she gets older?
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