Monday 19 October 2009

Howards End is on the landing


It was with much anticipation that I awaited my copy of Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. I'd read a number of pre-publication reviews, tried and failed to get hold of my own review copy, and then had to deal with the vagaries of the post in Oxford at the moment. The book finally arrived on Tuesday, and I "saved" it until the next evening to entertain me while my boyfriend was out. In fact. I didn't manage to save it that long, and started reading it on Wednesday lunchtime.

I'm sure most book bloggers are familiar with the premise of the book. Susan Hill realised one day that she had many unread books on her shelves, as well as many books on her shelves which she wanted to re-read. So she gave herself a year where she would not acquire any new books (with the exception of borrowing academic books from the library and books that she had to review for work) and read just from her shelves. Howards End is on the landing is the result of this book.

The book covers a wide range of themes to do with books, bibliophilia and reading. She talks about poetry, about the short story, about children's books, organisation of books, the "dregs" and authors both famous and more obscure. She writes about encounters with authors, so the book is as much a memoir as an exposition on books. I was pleased to see the weight given to a book that I recently love - The Rector's Daughter by F.M. Mayor. She also discusses current issues such as the growth of the e-book reader and whether this can ever overcome the joy of the book as an object (it won't).

I identified with much of the book. I felt less bad about my recent purchase of two copies of Diary of a Provincial Lady after learning that Hill has three different editons of the complete Thomas Hardy. And I did like the beautifully printed dust jacket which was fitting given the emphasis given to books as objects.

However, while I was delighted by the different topics and content and Hill's writing style, I was left feeling a little disappointed by it. The chapters were very short and didn't really run on from each other. Hill only introduced the thread of "what if I could only have 40 books to read for the rest of my life" towards the end of the book, which I felt might have been better introduced near the beginning. I felt that perhaps this would have worked well as a blog, or series of journalistic artices which were then brought together in a book. It just didn't really work as a book for me. Controversially, I wonder if this is why it has appealed so much to bloggers, because the content is in the bite-sized format that we are used to.

I was relieved that Paperback reader was not effusive about this title; I had wondered when reading it if I had missed something, and delayed my review to see if I changed my mind. I hadn't. Nice as a book of anecdotes but not the literary volume that I was anticipating.

21 comments:

  1. I liked this a lot and actually enjoyed disagreeing with some of Susan Hills thoughts and would love the chance to discuss them with her.

    It has made me want to read lots more books about books and writing though, I think Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood may have to be purchased by me very soon.

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  2. This is all very interesting, it appears there are two camps of thought on this title. My copy should be arriving in the next couple of days and I can't wait to experience it for myself. Great review!

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  3. Simon - yes, I would actually like to chat with Susan Hill, she did come across as interesting. I have not read any of her novels but I am keen to.

    Darlene - I hope it doesn't get held up by postal strikes. It is so interesting to see what people are saying about it!

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  4. I really did love this book. Like Savage, I loved finding points of disagreement as well as so much I agree with...it felt so much like a conversation that I did talk to the book on a couple of occasions. But I won't be writing a review yet because as I turned the last page, I opened again to the first page and started a reread.

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  5. There are most definitely two camps. For such a highly-anticipated book, this was a let-down (much like The Little Stranger was). I think from now on I may wait for the dust to settle before I even buy let alone read a book that has been championed like this one; I am annoyed that I let myself be caught up in the hype for it to come back and bite me.

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  6. Like I said to Claire I am now worried I will be disappointed as I had the same expectations from this as you. I am glad you were both honest as sometimes when everyone else has raved about something you do feel reluctant to be negative about it and strike out against the popular opinion. For me the subtitle of 'a year of reading from home' suggests talking about the books she read and the process and struggles of just reading books in the house rather than buying them...clearly that's not what this is about. Oh well. I will read it anyway and form my own conclusions, but I do think I will end up feeling a bit cheated too by the sounds of it.

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  7. I feel that I fall slightly between the two camps; I did enjoy it, but I was just disappointed as it wasn't quite what I anticipated as a book.


    Like Book Psmith I could imagine dipping back into it again, just not reading it straight through. Maybe I should have planned to do this from the start and it wasn't intended to be a "straight through" book.

    I agree about the perils of books being championed, but I discovered this on the Waterstones website and had pre-ordered it before I read anyone's reviews. It's the first time I've preordered something without having seen a copy/read about it first.

    Anyway, with the non-essential spending plan I am back to the library; perhaps that is another good reason for the library!

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  8. Oh, of course, I forgot that you had sent me an email about it weeks ago! Even then it appealed but due to my own book-buying ban I didn't preorder it until I allowed myself to believe the hype ;). I wish I had stuck to the ban but at least I don't now miss out on all the chat.

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  9. As an aside Claire, that is what I anticipate being most difficult about the ban - reading about books and wanting to join in. Waiting for 6 months for a library copy just doesn't cut it.

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  10. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't love this as much as you had hoped. I managed to avoid the hype of this ne, so am quite pleased to hear that I am not missing out. Thanks for the honest review.

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  11. Wow this book is everywhere at the moment! I'm sorry to hear it didn't live up to your expectations.

    I love books about books but since reading the review of it in The Telegraph I'm not sure this one is for me. Given my literary taste and nationality, the fact that Hill apparently doesn't have much time for either Austen or Australian fiction aren't points in its favour. Then again, as Simon has pointed out, part of the enjoyment of such books is disagreement.

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  12. Jackie - it is disappointing when you have been looking forward to somehting for a while. Maybe I need to be surprised by something that has been languishing on my TBR instead.

    Devoted reader - I still think it is worth reading, it was just not quite as good a read as I had hoped.

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  13. If I hadn't already read Claire's review, I'd have thought it impossible that any book blogger wouldn't love this - but you've both back up your views well, so I have to believe you! Maybe it is the expectation vs. the actual book. I did think she spent most of her time wondering what she would read in her year, rather than actually commenting on the re-reads or new reads themselves, but I loved it none the worse for that. Sorry it didn't win you over, Verity.

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  14. Thanks Simon. I think I enjoyed it more than Claire but it wasn't the read of the year that I was expecting! (In fact, as Claire has said the same thing happened with Little Stranger).

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  15. My copy has arrived, hoping to get to it sooner rather than later but will do some skimming tonight.

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  16. Thanks for the honest review, everyone seems to be divided over this one!! I really want to get a copy as I have fallen in love with the front cover and I like the idea of the book too.

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  17. Are there not more often than not two camps about a book - the pros and the antis ?
    I am surprised if anyone expected it to be their 'read of the year' though.
    Good wishes
    Susan Hill

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  18. Darlene - it is the sort of book you can easily dip in and out of so hopefully you can fit it in.

    Dot - it is a beautiful cover

    Susan - thank you for commenting. I felt that actually I fitted somewhere between the two camps; as I wrote in my review there were many things that I liked very much.

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  19. I too had mixed feelings about this so am glad to read that others felt similarly. I enjoyed reading most of it but am not sure I'd want to go back to it much, unlike my other favourite books about books. The cover is really lovely, but who is the strange author whose book is illustrated on the back ...?

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  20. I had no intention of buying this book before I saw it, but when I picked it up found I didn't want to go home without it, mostly because of the short chapter format which suited my mood and needs exactly now that my serious reading time has been curtailed,I wonder how I would have felt if I'd sat down to read it in big chunks.

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  21. For me early delight gave way to a fair amount of frustration. Still enjoyed it overall, but it sure wasn't what the first chapter suggested.

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