Second Readings and First Editions

A recent book about books and a new whodunit with Brontë references:

Second Readings
52: From Beckett to Black Beauty
by Eileen Battersby
Liberties Press
ISBN 9781905483815

With an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Richard Ford, this book extends Eileen’s “Second Readings” series which originally featured in The Irish Times. With 52 classic novels – one for each week of the year – plus an extensive essay by Eileen on why stories matter, there is guaranteed to be something for every fan of literature. Second Readings is sure to be a very popular Christmas gift for every book-lover.
Second Readings is a collection of 52 pieces by Eileen Battersby in which she has selected and re-read classic novels and written a brief summary and critique of the books.
Why do we read? Why do we re-read? Why do some novels live in the imagination and summon us back time and again? How do Wuthering Heights, The Lord of the Rings and Black Beauty continue to wield their spells? These are among some of the questions that shape the journeys undertaken in Second Readings.
From America to Ireland; Russia to Brazil; Germany to South Africa, Second Readings is a celebration of reading and breathes new life into well-known and long-forgotten novels. Isn’t there a book you always go back to, or one that you always meant to read but have not got around to yet?
There are some surprising choices: Orwell’s Coming Up For Air features, instead of 1984 or Animal Farm; or The Lord of the Rings but not Finnegan’s Wake – although Ulysses is there. Yet this is literary appreciation without an agenda. And while there may be no Henry James, no Victor Hugo, no Flann O’Brien it is only a question of capacity as opposed to criticism. Certainly, there will many discussions prompted by the variety and breadth of what has been included and there is plenty to attract the widest range of readers, with The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne; All Quiet on the Western Front; Wuthering Heights; A Confederacy of Dunces; The Great Gatsby; and The Picture of Dorian Gray among the 52 selections.

The Irish Times published an extract which confirms that not only Wuthering Heights is revisited but also Jane Eyre:

Just because you already know the story it doesn’t spoil the re-reading; you still cry when Ginger dies in Black Beauty (1877), the shadows still dance in the flames at the end of Jane Eyre (1847). On the second or third reading the mechanics of the writing begin to assert themselves; this is when the language is tested, the imagery is deconstructed, additional symbolism appears. Novelists know the tricks, and describe the characters, summon the images, evoking mood and atmosphere. (...)
Although Emily Brontë may not be trying to instruct us in Wuthering Heights (1847), she does teach us all about the power of story when it is driven by an ungodly, destructive passion.

The Brutal Telling (Armand Gamache Series #5)
by Louise Penny
Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN-13: 9780312377038
Chaos is coming, old son.
With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness. No one admits to knowing the murdered man, but as secrets are revealed, chaos begins to close in on the beloved bistro owner, Olivier. How did he make such a spectacular success of his business? What past did he leave behind and why has he buried himself in this tiny village? And why does every lead in the investigation find its way back to him?
As Olivier grows more frantic, a trail of clues and treasures— from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word “WOE” woven in it—lead the Chief Inspector deep into the woods and across the continent in search of the truth, and finally back to Three Pines as the little village braces for the truth and the final, brutal telling.

Categories: Books, References