Girl reading by Katie Ward is a collection of short stories that interweave women, books and art in various ways. Here you can find my thoughts on the first two stories.
The third story “Angelica Kauffman, Portrait of a Lady, 1775” is about a woman and how she deals with the loss of her (female) lover.
Not sure whether I liked this one or not. I did feel like I have to read on to find out how the story ends, so I suppose this is a good sign, but in general I have not much time for people who shut down the way Maria did. And the ever present dead lover isn’t something I particularly liked.
During the course of the story my thoughts about the nature of the relationship changed quite a bit; it seemed happy, but at the same time full of trouble and little jealousies. Somehow this reflects my ambivalent feelings about the story itself.
The fourth story “Featherstone of Piccadilly, Carte de Visite, 1864” was strange. I didn’t get it.
Twins with psychic talents whose lives went into two different directions is an interesting topic, but nothing was ever spelled out properly, everything was only hinted at, and I had no idea what the deal was. I found it rather confusing than boring. However, I liked the atmosphere and especially the descriptions of how a photograph was taken. Quite a difference from today indeed, and rather inconceivable to us for whom snapshots of everything and everybody are a standard.
I still don’t see where the novel comes in. Three more stories to go, we are moving into the 20th century now.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT OF THIS BOOK? HAVE A LOOK AT:
- Read, what Caroline is thinking about Girl Reading.
- Judith told me she has given up the book, she is not a big lover of short stories. Too bad, as I was really looking forward to her thoughts on the book.
I liked the story about the twins but it has a lot of similarities with Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry which is much better. I liked the atmosphere a lot but not necessarily the characters.
I found story 3 somewhat confusing. Do we really know that she is dead?
Caroline’s last post ..Literature and War Readalong July 30 2012: Black Rain – Kuroi Ame by Masuji Ibuse
On the fourth page of the story Maria thinks that she must not frighten Frances, because she seems to have forgotten she is dead and she ought not remind her of it. I am pretty sure this was meant literally. Also I think Maria’s behaviour and the reaction of others would indicate it.
I haven’t read Her fearful symmetry but have read a synopsis and it does sound similar.