Recent reading

[luzula]

Summer Will Show, by Sylvia Townsend Warner (first published in 1936)
Ack. I expected to love this book from the summary: "a Victorian wife travels to France in 1848 to confront her husband's charismatic mistress, only to fall for the woman herself and be drawn into the revolutionary struggle." This has to be good, right? And I mean...it is good. I love the writing; it's just beautiful. But the book doesn't quite grip me, and I can't put my finger on why. : ( Perhaps because there's a distance in it where I wanted it to flare up and be passionate? I dunno. It did grip me more towards the end. Still, it's an interesting book, and may work better for someone else, so I do recommend it to your attention.

Also, let me quote you this lovely implied sex scene (or at least I can't read it any other way):

"But you will stay?"

"I will stay if you wish it."

It seemed to her that the words fell cold and glum as ice-pellets. Only beneath the crust of thought did her being assent as by right to that flush of pleasure, that triumphant cry.

"But of course," said Minna a few hours later, thoughtfully licking the last oyster shell, "we must be practical."

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Thoughtfully kicking the last oyster shell FTW

Have you ever stumbled across a compendium of "elliptical sex scenes"? I imprinted on Dorothy Sayers' "very nice tigers indeed" the night before Harriet & Peter's wedding.

[luzula]

Hmm, nice tigers? I am not sure what that has to do with sex, but I'm sure it makes sense in context. : )

[jesse_the_k]

Sayer's Wimsey/Vane books were major comfort reading (and rereading) when I was young. The one where they marry — Busman's Honeymoon — has this coy description of their first sexual encounter (although both of them have publicly had lovers before)

begin quote Too much experience to be surprised, and too much honesty to pretend not to understand. She remembered what had happened four days earlier. He had brought her home after the theatre, and they were standing before the fire, when she had said something--quite casually, laughing at him. He had turned and said, suddenly and huskily:

"Tu m'enivres!"

Language and voice together had been like a lightning-flash, showing up past and future in a single crack of fire that hurt your eyes and was followed by a darkness like thick, black velvet.... When his lips had reluctantly freed themselves, he had said:

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake the whole zoo. But I'm glad, my God! to know it's there--and no shabby tigers either."

"Did you think mine would be a shabby tiger?"

"I thought it might, perhaps, be a little daunted."

"Well, it isn't. It seems to be an entirely new tiger. I never had one before--only kindness to animals". quote ends

[luzula]

Hee. That is a pretty metaphorical sex scene. : )

[antisoppist]

I've just added you because I have been laughing at "but of course we must be practical" all afternoon.

[luzula]

Hi and welcome!

I swear the post I just made was not tailor-made to your apparent interests (Swedish-English translations and folk songs). I'd been thinking of making it for some time. : ) Funny coincidence, though.

[antisoppist]

I'd just been reading your reading posts and thinking that was a lot of things I would like to read. Swedish Folk songs are a bonus :-) I've granted you access because a lot of my talking about Scandinavia is locked in case my clients find it. If that stuff is interminably boring, I can take it away again, no hard feelings.

[luzula]

Pretty sure I'd find stuff about translation interesting? I do a little Swedish-to-English translation for the environmental organization where I'm on the board (mostly press releases and web pages and that kind of thing). I quite enjoy it. Is Swedish a native language of yours, or a second language, by the way?

Giving you access as well, although I entirely understand if you skip TMI-laden posts about unrequited love from someone you just met. *facepalm* I promise, I don't post about that kind of thing very often.

[antisoppist]

No, no, I have every sympathy for unrequited love and sometimes it just needs wallowing in.

I'm native British English but studied Swedish at university and then went to teach English in Finland and now translate from Swedish and Finnish. My spoken and written Swedish are dreadful these days because the only exchange I ever have is "vad handlar det om, hur många ord och vad är det för leveransdatum?"

[calvinahobbes]

OMG THAT IS AMAZING! (You probably knew I would love that.) *adds book to list*

[luzula]

I did think of you, yes! : ) I'll bring it along to a meet-up and you can borrow it.

[butterflyghost]

Published in 1936? How did it get by the censors!

[luzula]

Well, there's no actual sex in it? The scene above is as close as it gets, aside from one other scene where it's obvious that they sleep close together in the same bed. I guess you could read it as platonic if you wanted...

[butterflyghost]

Hee! I suddenly want to read everything she has written. lol

[luzula]

Well, I really recommend Lolly Willowes, which I read before this one, and I also have The Corner That Held Them, which is about nuns in a medieval convent, on my to-read list.

[feroxargentea]

thoughtfully licking the last oyster shell

Ah ha ha *terrible fit of the giggles*
I can't read that as implied sex, not at all. That's just sex, dammit :D

[luzula]

You're probably right. *g* Glad it could amuse you, anyway.