Meltintalle wrote:After seeing AJAiken's recommendation of The Outcasts of Time, I read that about a month ago and I also really enjoyed it! It was interesting to think about what changes and what doesn't in an hundred years, and also what you can see and do in just a day.
It is good. It felt, for something that's essentially fantasy, very realistic. I was on kind of a 'time travel' kick so I also read Matt Haig's
How to Stop Time which is about a man who's been alive for centuries, rather than travelling through time. I liked
The Humans so I was looking forward to reading this, but it was probably a mistake to read it so close to the other book. It had some nice details but a lot of it felt contrived. I was intrigued by the story, but the ending came all in a rush. A pity.
My grandfather lent me George Gissing's
New Grub Street, which is a semi-autobiographical account of writers trying to earn a living in London during the 1880s. It's very well written but rather depressing, as characters worry about the workhouse and how they are going to pay their rent and fall into melancholy, sickness, and despair. The light touches of romance kept me going, but in the end I wanted to throw it across the room. Perhaps, as a freelancer myself, it all was too close to home!
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby - I think the best thing about this book is the cover, but I liked the story once I got into the rhythm of it. The problem is that anything associated with Austen has huge expectations put on it, and (sadly) nothing can compare. I enjoyed learning more about the Austens, and other family members. I'm not sure how accurate it is in terms of how they are represented, though.
I really enjoyed reading Graham Robb's
The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe, which uncovers some of the mysteries of the Celtic civilisation. This book is stuffed with all kinds of explanations and diagrams which, to summarise, show there is a pattern to the layout of Celtic places. Though some historians seem unsure about Robb's claims I think a lot of it makes sense. We already know that the orientation of buildings was important, and he takes this further by extending these solstice lines across Europe to see where they fall. Again and again, Celtic settlements and holy places line up along these ways. What's especially fascinating is how he compares the trajectory of Roman roads with these Celtic sites, and how it's clear that the Romans built on top of pre-existing routes. A really good read.