i am currently reading a novel called 'morality for beautiful girls' which is the 3rd in the series of books by alexander mccall smith which are set in botswana and centred around the middle-aged female proprietor of the 'number 1 ladies' detective agency'.
in some ways it kind of doesn't seem to be 'the kind of novel that i'd usually read' if that makes any sense (not that i'm a voracious reader of novels relative to some); but somehow this series has got me hooked, and this is the fourth in the series that i have read. that's right, i got my hands on & read the 4th before the 3rd - i know, it's kind of like reading 'voyage of the dawntreader' before 'the lion, the witch & the wardrobe' (which i did at age 10 or 11, and i've turned out ok i think).
somehow these novels - all of which i have borrowed from my sister-in-law - and the curious tales told therein just seem to flow, and reading them seems relatively effortless & rewarding. but they're not pure pulp stuff either, in my opinion. i know i find the seemingly incidental (yet neither infrequent nor insignificant) insights into life in botswana interesting in part because i have some botswanan (batswana) friends who studied at university here in australia & have since returned home. but over & above that, they just strike a chord with me in some way that i can't adequately explain at present.
perhaps it's something to do with the rather timeless descriptions of, for example, appreciating the colour of the sky, or the sounds, smells & life rhythms, of central southern africa around dusk; or of resolving an issue or sussing out a person's character over a cup of bush tea (which i believe is rooibos tea - hich is good stuff incidentally).
anyhow i think i'll have to leave it at that for now; except to add that i generally agree with the sunday telegraph quote on the back of the book which claims that 'this is art that conceals art'. i perhaps cannot fully grasp right now the full ramifications of that statement, but i gotta agree with the gist of it, at least. the fact that these books have sold well (and i believe they have) doesn't detract from their appeal in my eyes.
and there ends another book-club with fergal.
~
in some ways it kind of doesn't seem to be 'the kind of novel that i'd usually read' if that makes any sense (not that i'm a voracious reader of novels relative to some); but somehow this series has got me hooked, and this is the fourth in the series that i have read. that's right, i got my hands on & read the 4th before the 3rd - i know, it's kind of like reading 'voyage of the dawntreader' before 'the lion, the witch & the wardrobe' (which i did at age 10 or 11, and i've turned out ok i think).
somehow these novels - all of which i have borrowed from my sister-in-law - and the curious tales told therein just seem to flow, and reading them seems relatively effortless & rewarding. but they're not pure pulp stuff either, in my opinion. i know i find the seemingly incidental (yet neither infrequent nor insignificant) insights into life in botswana interesting in part because i have some botswanan (batswana) friends who studied at university here in australia & have since returned home. but over & above that, they just strike a chord with me in some way that i can't adequately explain at present.
perhaps it's something to do with the rather timeless descriptions of, for example, appreciating the colour of the sky, or the sounds, smells & life rhythms, of central southern africa around dusk; or of resolving an issue or sussing out a person's character over a cup of bush tea (which i believe is rooibos tea - hich is good stuff incidentally).
anyhow i think i'll have to leave it at that for now; except to add that i generally agree with the sunday telegraph quote on the back of the book which claims that 'this is art that conceals art'. i perhaps cannot fully grasp right now the full ramifications of that statement, but i gotta agree with the gist of it, at least. the fact that these books have sold well (and i believe they have) doesn't detract from their appeal in my eyes.
and there ends another book-club with fergal.
~
posted by fergal at 4:18 AM
1 Comments:
"art that conceals art" -- I like that.
Post a Comment
<< Home