The Sea and the Silence

Every once in a while, a novel comes along to remind us readers that writing is far more than putting words down on paper….it is a craft.  Peter Cunningham’s historical novel, The Sea and the Silence, is one of those books.

Set amid the political upheaval that followed the Irish War of Independence in the early half of the 20th century, Cunningham takes the delicate threads of one woman’s life and weaves them into a delicate yet masterful tapestry that reveals not only the historical time period, but how it impacted those who lived through it.

The story is broken into two parts:  the first gives us Iz, a local landowning patrician’s daughter who finds herself in a somewhat loveless marriage to a cheating, careless husband.

The fragile strands of her marriage are softly exposed.  So slowly and sedately is the story set up that the reader is quite unaware of the roller coaster ride they are about to embark on in the second part of the story.  And it is this second portion of the novel that reveals Cunningham to be a master of his craft as he returns in time to Iz’s life before her marriage and how she arrived there, through the chaos of the Irish fight for autonomy and independence.

Cunningham’s format echoes the sedateness of the first half of the novel:  quotation marks around dialog are done away with altogether, replaced with dashes.  Rather than serving as a distraction, this technique merely enhances the story.

And what a story it is….tragedy, great love, political upheaval…all wound up in one short novel.

If Irish social history interests you at all, we highly recommend you give this novel a shot….you won’t be disappointed.

Is Your Local Bookstore Closing?

By now we suspect everyone has heard that Borders Books has filed for bankruptcy after losing $168 million in 2010. 

They’ve hired a company called Hilco to come in to liquidate and close 200 Borders stores around the U.S….that’s a lot of book store employees out of work, folks.

Want to know if your local Borders will still be around?  Go here and see.

In the meantime, find a local bookstore in your town and go buy a book from them this week, please.

Huh?

Every once in a while, if you’re observant, you’ll find a little gem hidden within those inflight magazines airlines foist on you.

In this month’s Hemispheres (courtesy of United Airlines), you’ll find an interview with famed shoe-man Manolo Blahnik in which he states:

My parents read to us every night – from trash like Gone With the Wind to classics like Cervantes or Balzac.

This from a man who makes shoes that suspiciously resemble a salmon.

Food for thought.

How to become a literary snob….

Okay, maybe not an actual snob.  But editions can matter even for the casual reader. Yes, the story within is the same, but certain editions – especially for the classics – are meant to enhance your understanding and reading enjoyment and it can be worth your time to seek out these editions.

Take, for example, the New York Public Library Collector’s Editions, produced by Doubleday.

These versions of well-known classic novels are delightfully augmented with unique material which makes the text of the novel more understandable and much more enjoyable.

Each edition includes a biography of the author, as well as uber-cool facsimiles of the author’s original letters, diaries, drawings and rough-drafts. 

page of the original manuscript of Sister Carrie

Also included throughout the text are drawings and/or photographs of many of the settings found in the novel which is a fabulous way to understand the era in which the novel was produced…..in other words, you’re getting a bonus history lesson.

An advertisement for the play in which Carrie makes her debut in Chicago in the novel Sister Carrie

The books used to be available for purchase at the New York Public Library back when they were first released in the mid-1990’s, but these days you’re going to have to find them at a used books store (you can find a full list of the publications here).

So if you’re going to force yourself to read a classic (and admittedly, we all profess to want to read them), you can induce a coma by slogging through reading this:

Or you can actually learn about the book and suffer less enjoy your time spent reading by hunting up a New York Public Library Collector’s Edition.

Congratulations….now you’re a book snob.