The Long View, a novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard
This was recommended, as I was looking for a novel written mid-20th century and by a woman, in marked contrast with my normal reading material. This book was written in 1956 and tells the story of a woman whose life was compromised by the English middle class belief at the time that, unless a woman persisted to the contrary, it was her role to devote her life to marriage and children. The main character is portrayed as not possessing the strength of character either to resist this fate nor the ability to enter into it with any enthusiasm.
Howard uses the unusual technique of presenting the action of the novel in reverse chronological order. So we see the main character Antonia at the beginning in middle age, with an initially domineering, then uncaring and totally independent, husband and adult children who are presenting her with their own actual or potential relationship problems. We then see her at three previous stages in her life, as a young mother, as a newly-wed and as an unhappy teenager in a bullying and unsupporting family. This way of presenting the story is not like a flashback in a film, where the whole plot is not yet fully revealed. Instead, it gives the novel a sense of hopelessness: as we read on, we know that things do not improve for Antonia. Her fictional fate is already pre-determined.
There is a compelling aspect to this novel that explains the author's high reputation as an English novelist. ❤❤❤❤
F X Velarde by Dominic Wilkinson and Andrew Crompton
A very nicely presented monograph of this interesting architect (1897 - 1960), who was associated with the Liverpool School of Architecture for many years. His main commissions were church buildings for the Roman Catholic Church in the north of England and London. Most still survive, in various states of use and repair; some are local to here, on the Wirral.
Velarde's style is individual, with influences from Scandinavia and mid-20th century neo-classicism, involving fine brickwork, both inside and out and unique and colourful decoration. Many of his churches have towers and rooflines that clearly identify his work.
The authors provide not just a well documented account of Velarde's life but also present a strong case for his better recognition and the preservation of his remaining work. ❤❤❤❤❤
St. Alexander's, Bootle (demolished)
English Martyrs, Wallasey
No Little Plans: How Government Built America's Wealth and Institutions by Ian Wray
A series of essays by the author on the surprising (in comparison with what we are led to believe about American state-free wealth creation) contribution successive US governments have made to the successful development of federal infrastructure. The essays cover the railways, highways, space exploration, national parks among other topics and demonstrate how the private sector was unable on its own to initiate the kind of massive projects that took place without a significant input from government. This contrasts with the situation in the UK, where many, if not most, infrastructure projects have developed from entrepreneurial and business initiatives, even in the presence of a radical regime (Great British Plans by the same author).
As in the earlier book, the writing is compelling and brings to each of the individual topics both well-researched and interesting anecdotal material. ❤❤❤❤
In praise of shadows, an extended essay by Junichiro Tanizaki
This is an essay on aesthetics by the famous Japanese novelist (1886-1975), in which he attempts to explain the clear distinction between Japanese and Western architecture, primarily through observations on the domestic environment. It was written when the author was in his 50s, atlhough it has the air of the writings of an old man as he deplores the inability of Western architecture to recognise the value of light and shade.
Current Western architects and designers would disagree now with his thesis as some of these principles are now regularly applied to the best examples of contemporary Western architecture and design. ❤❤
Under the Volcano: a novel by Malcolm Lowry
This iconic and groundbreaking book dates from 1947. Although it quickly went out of print, it is now considered a masterpiece of modernist literature and is seen as a major influence on writing in the 20th century. I could see its possible influence on recent novels like Paul Beatty's The Sellout, for example. The complex writing style with its multiple literary allusions makes a challenging read (it took me several weeks), as does the theme: a semi-autobiographical glimpse of only 36 hours in the life of a British consul in a small Mexican town. His life and relationships are dominated by his hopeless dependence on alcohol and much of the narrative takes the form of the drug-induced imagery of this extraordinary day in his life. Real and imagined circumstances and characters merge and the underlying theme of his relationship with his estranged wife and their ultimate fate are never fully resolved in a conventional sense. It seems to me impossible to read this book without it leaving a lasting impression and it is not hard to see how subsequent writing has been influenced by it. ❤❤❤❤❤