Hi all, thanks to our recent fabulous weather, we had a wonderful meeting on the patio of the Deep Run Hunt Club to discuss Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and have a pre-Thanksgiving feast of amazing dishes brought by our group. Such fun, and it was absolutely beautiful looking out over the fields on a sunny day. Let's do that again sometime soon!
Our group was pretty split on this book and it seemed to depend on the medium used. The audio listeners really loved the book but the traditional readers were not so impressed. Despite its being recently named as one of the best books of 2020 by the New York Times, I admit to being one of the disappointed readers. Most of the audio listeners though were enthusiastic, so much so that it seems the lyrical language and rather interesting pacing worked better in that format. I will give it a try as all the glowing reviews have heightened my interest again.
In the reviews, and in our discussion, particular passages really resonated and overcame what might be described as a florid style. The explanation of how little Judith came to be infected, through the Morano glass blower and a fancy dress by way of a rat was memorable. Also, the early romance of the unnamed young Shakespeare and his Agnes in the apple shed was quite a strong, although not so believable impression.
All in all, the response was more positive than negative and indeed, the writing was beautiful.
And so, on we go to our Christmas meeting. We have not yet set the time or place, hoping to get ideas from you all about what might work. It would be fabulous to get a good turnout, what circumstances and timing will allow you to attend?
Let me know!
In the meantime, Dorie Greenspan (a living cookie legend) has created an Armand Gamache lemon merigue cookie in his honor. I can't wait to make it, and I bet you can't either. Here is the link:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021686-lemon-meringue-cookies
If you get blocked, don't despair, I have it printed and if you wait a bit, the NYTs will eventually let you see recipes again.
No comments:
Post a Comment