Monday 27 December 2010

Pym and putting my feet up

I've read a lot of Barabara Pym over the last few months and if you haven't had the pleasure of reading any of her novels, I strongly suggest you do. They're a gentle pleasure, mostly set in the late 40's and early 50s and including a large amount of vicars and women of a certain age but she is a very sharp observer of the small things that make up day to day to life and there is a very strong wit running throughout all of her work.
I remember a line in one of her last books "Quartet in Autumn", where one of the characters who is about to retire says something along the lines of "Well why shouldn't I knit, and listen to the radio, read novels and think about my clothes if that's what I want to do?" And having finally reached a quieter period after the last few frantic weeks of sorting out presents, dealing with the snow and Christmas, that, my friends, is exactly what I intend to do.

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