BRITISH AUTHOR CHALLENGE MARCH 2015 - DU MAURIER & MIEVILLE

Daphne Du Maurier 1907-1989; writer of several novels which became famous movies. Rebecca, The Birds Don't Look Now and Jamaica Inn being cases in point.

China Mieville was born in 1972 in Norwich in the East Anglian area of England. Looks more bovver boy than bookist but has a very popular following among the more erudite of the fantasy fraternity and I am looking forward to making my own first acquaintance.

What I'm reading :

Honest truth is that I am not wholly sure!

For Mieville, I am dithering more than usual but it could be Embassytown to start.

I plan to read two things by Du Maurier:
Gerald : A Portrait &
The Parasites

What You're Reading :

I will try to keep track of what all of us are reading here.

Last month's thread for B.A.C. stirred up emotions a little overly. Everybody is welcome here and I can confirm I have only friends in the group and. I believe, not a single person I do not like; but please keep the discussion about the books as much as possible - no feuding please! I don't mind being berated myself but I do want this to be a place where all feel welcome to come and say their bit.

Daphne Du Maurier Bibliography (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Loving Spirit (1931)
I'll Never Be Young Again (1932)
The Progress of Julius (1933) (later re-published as Julius)
Jamaica Inn (1936)
Rebecca (1938)
Happy Christmas (1940) (short story)
Come Wind, Come Weather (1940) (short story collection)
Frenchman's Creek (1941)
Hungry Hill (1943)
The King's General (1946)
The Parasites (1949)
My Cousin Rachel (1951)
The Apple Tree (1952) (short story collection, AKA Kiss Me Again, Stranger - later republished as the Birds)
Mary Anne (1954)
The Scapegoat (1957)
Early Stories (1959) (short story collection, stories written between 1927–1930)
The Breaking Point (1959) (short story collection, AKA The Blue Lenses)
Castle D'or (1961) (with Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch)
The Birds and Other Stories (1963)
The Glass-Blowers (1963)
The Flight of the Falcon (1965)
The House on the Strand (1969)
Not After Midnight (1971) (short story collection, AKA Don't Look Now)
Rule Britannia (1972)
The Rendezvous and Other Stories (1980) (short story collection)

Non-fiction

Gerald: A Portrait (1934)
The du Mauriers (1937)
The Young George du Maurier: a selection of his letters 1860–67 (1951)
The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë (1960)
Vanishing Cornwall (includes photographs by her son Christian, 1967)
Golden Lads: Sir Francis Bacon, Anthony Bacon and their Friends (1975)
The Winding Stair: Francis Bacon, His Rise and Fall (1976)
Growing Pains – the Shaping of a Writer (a.k.a. Myself When Young – the Shaping of a Writer, 1977)
Enchanted Cornwall (1989)

China Mieville Bibliography

Bas-Lag series

Perdido Street Station (2000)
The Scar (2002)
Iron Council (2004)

Standalone works
King Rat (1998)
The Tain (2002)
Un Lun Dun (2007)
The City & the City (2009)
Kraken (2010)
Embassytown (2011)
Railsea (2012)

Collections
Looking for Jake (2005)

I am trying to read books for this challenge that I already have on my shelf, so even though I am a fan of both of these authors, I am going with My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.

I'm set with du Maurier's The Birds and other Stories and Mieville's The City and the City.

I have Jamaica Inn on the shelf, so will read that. I have tried Mieville once, having read Perdido Street Station. I said at the time I'd give him another go. Is it very wrong to have browsed the library catalogue and picked the shortest they had? In which case The city and the City is on reserve.

Hmm, I don't think I'll try du Maurier as I couldn't get into Rebecca when I tried it, but I've got Un Lun Dun, The City and the City and Perdido Street Station on my shelves so I'll definitely read one of those, depending on my mood :).

I read du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek last month so I'll probably give her a miss this time. I read her from time to time anyway.

I enjoy Miéville's work and will probably listen to The Scar which I think I have on audio. I'd recommend The city & the city for first time readers, the audiobook is really good.

>13 avatiakh: I'm glad to hear that the audio of The City & the City is good because I downloaded it from the public library the other day! I have it ready to start as soon as I finish Brideshead Revisited.

I have several unread du Mauriers in my TBR stash and, unless I change my mind, I'll be reading The Scapegoat this month.

I've got Perdido Street Station and Rebecca on my shelves waiting for me, but I need to read the February BAC's first! Eeek!

>15 scaifea: You can skip Waugh and Waters no problem Amber - it isn't compulsory!

I started The City & The City already this morning because I feared that otherwise I couldn't do all my planned March reading, and now it turns out to be such a page turner that I'll have to hide my Kindle tomorrow or it will be finished before March begins. :/

>16 PaulCranswick: NO! No skipping allowed!! (See this is why it's dangerous for me to participate in challenges...)

I'm very excited to be meeting China Mieville in March with The City & The City and visiting with an old friend in Daphne du Maurier in Hungry Hill. Both are coming off my shelf and very happy to be noticed.

I am looking forward to reading my copy of The City & The City for the March BAC!

I'll read Der Apfelbaum by Daphne du Maurier but I won't read any Mieville.

I'm racing my way through Un Lun Dun and absolutely loving it. Can't believe I've never read it before, it's just my kind of thing. Thanks for giving me the nudge, Paul!

I've only read one Miéville before, which was The City & The City, which I found excellent and want to eventually reread. Like Kerry (>13 avatiakh:), I listened to the audio version and also highly recommend it. For this challenge I'll be listening to Railsea, which I also have on audio, though I'm also tempted to get Perdido Street Station which has been on my wishlist for years, but I'll see if there's time to fit it in.

I'm already a fan of Daphne du Maurier and have so far read Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and The House on the Strand. For this challenge I'll be reading Jamaica Inn and The Scapegoat if there's time.

I've got King Rat on my Nook and Jamaica Inn on my shelf so I'm all set to go.

I'll be reading The City & The CIty and Rebecca. I would also like to still get to Brideshead Revisited, which I did not manage to squeeze into last month's reading.

My review of Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/188310#5076510

The short review is I absolutely loved it!

I came here looking for recommendations for Mieville, who I've never read but heard a lot about, and I appreciate everyone's saying what they are planning to read or have read before. I'm going to take the advice of >13 avatiakh: and read The City and The City.

I think I have a couple of unread du Maurier around here somewhere, so I'll read whichever i can find. I read Rebecca many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think I'm going to re-read Jamaica Inn for DuMaurier. I actually was torn between it and another one for my DuMaurier re-read.

For Mieville, I checked Un Lun Dun out of the library the other day. I'm apprehensive about it because this is definitely not "my type of book," but I'm going to give it a try.

>23 Smiler69: Pleased as punch to see you here my dear.

>26 lunacat: Wow that was quick, Jenny, it must be god.

>28 thornton37814: I am another needing help with Mieville, Lori. I will probably listen to the consensus too.

I'm putting down Rebecca for this challenge, even though I read it last month (I had to for my OU course). And I'll be reading Embassytown for China Mieville, who I should mention is one of my favourite authors. The City and the City is one of those books that I think everyone should read - as soon as possible - actually preferably today - in fact everyone who has not read it should go out THIS VERY SECOND and buy a copy! Myself and J went to an author talk by him a couple of years ago and I can confirm that in person his manner is nothing like his photo suggests. He seems very 'nice', and just incredibly well read.

I finished King Rat last night; it wasn't bad, but it never really clicked for me. I'll give The City and the City a try and see if I like that one better.

I have The city and the city on order from the library, so I will be able to comply with your instruction, just not today...
I read Perdido Street Station and while it was not at all my usual thing, I did intend to try something else by him. Hoping it has slightly fewer expletives - that was the only thing that felt a little bit unecessary.

Just starting Rule Brittania by du Maurier.

I'll be trying The House on the Strand and Embassytown if time permits. Both are outside my comfort zone.

Will be watching with interest how China Mieville fares .... am ever so slightly fan boi .... if work slows down may try to read one as well myself.

see many have started with The City & The City great entry for the unintiated

It'll be a favorite of my early teens Frenchman's Creek and The City & the City for me this month. I'm looking forward to them both!

I have Rebecca for Daphne du Maurier and Perdido Street Station for China Mieville lined up for March. Let the reading begin! :)

I will be reading Rebecca this is a book which I have had on my reading list for some time. I am going to try to read this one book, and if I get time will read one of the Mieville books. I am pressed for time this month and so it might be that I won't get both read.

For those of you are interested. Back in 2013 there was a group read of Rebecca. The link to that discussion is below. It is marked as a dormant thread on LT, but you can still look at the comments from that discussion.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/153950

There was also a group discussion of Un Lun Dun back in 2013. Here is the link for the dormant thread for that discussion.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/160910

>38 benitastrnad: Rebecca is one of my top 5 all-time favorites.

I read The Flight of the Falcon some years ago. I loved it. I read Rebecca only last year, so I'm thinking of reading Jamaica Inn for this challenge.

I've not read any China Mieville before- does anyone have a recommendation for what I should read first?

I am doing the 75 Book Challenge for the first time this year and I thought the British Author Challenge would be a fun twist on my reading list. I have had my eye on China Mieville as a author to read for some time, so I have gone ahead and gotten The City & the City out of a local library to read. For Daphne Du Maurier I thought it would be interesting to avoid her more famous titles and try one of the other books from her list, so does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks to Paul for hosting, organizing and posting the author bibliographies.

Ralph

>40 jll1976: If you don't read speculative fiction, then I would take The city and The city route as many here have

>42 roundballnz: And if I do read speculative fiction?

>41 ralphcoviello: The first of her books I read (having read all of 2!) was Mary Anne a fictionalised account of a female ancestor who rose from lowly beginnings to the peak of society. Certainly sparked enough of an interest for me to want to read for more of her work.

>41 ralphcoviello: Thank you Ralph. Lovely to see you over here and a hearty welcome into the group.

It looks like I will start with King Rat today for Mieville as I couldn't be bothered to hunt down The City and the City which is housed somewhere atop my wardrobe and I am coughing and spluttering too much to enjoy climbing up there to look.

>43 jll1976: If you do then, While Perdido street station is often referred to as his best work, its a real wrist-breaker, but I loved Embassytown .... depends on time you have to read

>45 PaulCranswick: Interesting choice .....

>46 roundballnz: Thanks. They both look interesting.

I hope the people who will be reading Miéville end up liking his books as much as I do. They might take some getting into/used to because the worlds he create are so different from ours, but they're absolutely worth it. I've read The City and the City my favourite so far) and Railsea and would love to get to Kraken but I don't think it's likely I will. Not this month.

I'll be reading Jamaica Inn and if I have time, something by Mieville. He is totally unknown to me and that's appealing.

I'm planning to read The House on the Strand - I've read Rebecca before, so this will be my second du Maurier.

And for Mieville I'm currently reading The Scar - after reading Perdido Street Station earlier in the year, and Kraken and The City & the City last year. Really loved The City & the City, it's my favourite of his so far.

Thanks for continuing the BAC, Paul, and for the reminder that we are here for and about the books.

I plan to read The City & the City and Rebecca. I can't believe I've never read the latter so it's time to rectify that!

Der Apfelbaum by Daphne du Maurier


BAC March

This was a fantastic reading. It's the story of a man who was haunted by an apple tree. The man's wife died a few moth ago. He is living on the countryside in a big house. A housekeeper and a gardener are the only persons who keep the everyday chores going. He didn't feel sad that his wife died. On the contrary he felt very happy to do what he wanted to do. In his big garden were several apple trees. One of them, which was the closest to the house, seemed to be dead since many years. There hadn't been any blossoms nor fruits in ages. Therefore he told the gardener to chop the tree down. The gardener wasn't compliant to fulfill the task because he discovered some blossoms and asked for giving the tree another chance. In fact the tree got more blossoms than any other of the apple trees and got also a load of fruits. Everybody loved the fruits but not the owner.
There were more incidents during the year which I won't write due to not spoil the outcome. It's a story which I can strongly recommend. It is fast-paced and very gripping.

Finished Frenchman's Creek by Du Maurier yesterday. I've owned this copy for decades and apparently never finished it. For me it was kind of a 'meh' read as I'm not a huge fan of pirates. Glad to have finally read the whole thing at last, though and now I am free to indulge myself in one of her books that I really like if I can manage to fit it into the month.

Need to order The City & the city from library now...

I finished Jamaica Inn today. This is my first DuMaurier and I was very impressed with her writing. Her descriptions of the moors and the mountains around them, and the empty and barren land around the Inn, brought a real sense of atmosphere. The heroine, Mary, is a strong character, intelligent, resourceful, and fearless. But the plot seemed weak to me. I saw every twist and turn coming, the other characters behaved just as you would expect them to, and there were no real surprises. The only excitement came from situations where Mary was in physical danger and these were well written. I'm going to try one of her other books just to compare.

I finished The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier this evening. I didn't love it as much as Rebecca or The House on the Strand, but it's still very good. It's a doppelganger tale different from any I've read before, with a strong sense of time and place in post-WWII France.

Thanks to Helenliz for the Du Maurier recommendation of Mary Anne and to Paul for the warm welcome!

I will be reading Perdido Street Station sometime this month.

^Bodmin Moor

"There was a silence on the tors that belonged to another age; an age that is past and vanished as though it had never been, an age when man did not exist, but pagan footsteps trod upon the hills. And there was a stillness in the air, and a stranger, older peace, that was not the peace of God."

-Jamaica Inn

Du Maurier is sure a mood-setter, isn't she? I am over a 1/3rd of the way in and I like it so far, but she is a bit gloomy. I don't recall Rebecca being this dark.

I just Pearl-ruled Un Lun Dun. I am not going to try another book by Mieville. I read through all the descriptions of books available to me. This one was the only one I thought I might possibly have a chance of enjoying. I tried it. I didn't like it. I'm giving up!

I read Un Lun Dun last year and didn't like it at all.

I've read Un Lun Dun a couple of times when my son was in the being read to stage, and loved it, especially the very inventive use of fantasy combined with the setting of a very real London. Particularly loved the idea of a pet milk carton, and litter having a life of its own. But saying that i think it is very much a children's book rather than a YA book.

>62 SandDune: I didn't think about this when I read Un Lun Dun a couple of years ago, but your mention of a pet milk carton just triggered a memory. When I was a child, we used to drink Pet milk. It came in a carton, so there were lots of Pet milk cartons in our refrigerator. :)

It's "too long" for a children's book if it is more that than YA. I don't think many children will pick up 400+ page books.

I have ditched the idea of Perdido Street Station and - on account of all the positive words about it from above - have gotten The City & the City instead. Three chapters in, am really liking it.

>46 roundballnz: Like Alex, I'd put Perdido Street Station and Embassytown (very ambitious!) up there among my favorite Mievilles. The City & The City would be my tops.

I ended up enjoying Jamaica Inn after an uncertain start. Quite the interesting finish.

I think that Mieville is a strange author. I read Un Lun Dun and can say that it was not my favorite children's fantasy. There were lots of puns in the work. Puns about almost everything, including the Pet milk. My favorite characters were the black and white bishops. However, cute as all that was it wasn't enough to carry the book. I also think that it was very culturally specific and many of the puns were not things that children in the U.S. would be able to recognize. I decided I was not going to judge Mieville by this one title but I have not been in a hurry to read more of his work either.

>68 benitastrnad: I'm not a fan of Un Lun Dun, Benita, although I know lots of folks are. Not reflective of his other work, IMO.

>64 thornton37814: We read it when my son was around 8 or so and he certainly loved it and went on to read it several times himself. I suppose I'd class that as children's?

>68 benitastrnad: I love culturally specific books rather than generic ones, and this is perhaps why Un Lun Dun appealed to me. It seemed to be set in a real London rather than a sanitised one. Incidentally, I don't think that we had Pet milk in the UK (at least I'd never heard of it) so that particular pun might be completely coincidental!

Pet only seems to produce evaporated milk now. It's sold in tins. They were still making home deliveries when I was a child. I'm not sure if you could ever buy their regular milk products in stores.

I think I'm going to give China Miéville a miss. I've never thought he was likely to appeal to me, I've read lots of reviews, and my daughter just gave me her impressions of The City and the City (she didn't think I'd care much for it), so I will pass, feeling no guilt. I think I'll probably re-read a DuMaurier favorite, as I've read most of her novels already. The House on the Strand or possibly The Scapegoat, which are two I haven't visited with in many years.

>72 laytonwoman3rd: I really liked The Scapegoat, but it isn't quite as good as my memory of The House on the Strand. I'm not sure I'll ever want to reread The Scapegoat, but I'll definitely revisit The House on the Strand someday.

I noticed I had a copy of Castle Dor by du Maurier. I won't have time to read it but has anyone read it? She completed an unfinished manuscript by Arthur Quiller-Couch at the behest of his daughter after he died.

I've never 'erd ov neiver ov 'em.
The authors that is, trying on my best pommy accent there. In case you didn't catch that :)

Sitting down to a long (got home about 1 in the morning) work meal last night with some of my team, some UK lawyers and some local lawyers. Got to chatting about books with the lawyer to my left. His favourite book? The City & the City. He has great taste in books!

Enjoying both my March reads - Jamaica Inn and Perdido Street Station. Not progressing as fast as I'd like due to real life intrusions.

>71 cbl_tn: When I first moved to Morristown, there was still a Pet Milk facility. It's still there, but the name has changed to a different milk company which probably bought them out.

Well I finally managed to get King Rat finished after a few days of torrid activity in RL.

Here is my review from my thread :

King Rat by China Mieville



Date of Publication : 1998
B.A.C. Challenge March

I was the Pied Piper of Hamlyn in a school play 37 years ago but I don't recognise him in this.

Interesting premise of someone being half-man and half-rat specially devised to face-off the Pied Piper and lead the rat kingdom to the promised land. Maybe it was a lack of imagination on my part but that idea failed to get me overly excited.

Without spoiling the story I think it was a fundamental weakness that Saul (our hero) accepted his newly discovered condition with such aplomb after twenty over years as a seemingly normal human being. I know if someone popped along and informed me that all this while I was really the son of a giraffe, I would take a little convincing - I mean I don't have those little pointy things on top of my head.

Well enough written and if urban fantasy is your bag (if that is what this is) then I suppose it would be relished. Urban fantasy is decidedly not my bag and I am glad my duty is done with finishing this one.

6/10

I read somewhere that Mieville is writing a book in every style because he doesn't want to get pigeon holed with any one type. I think he has done a good job of keeping everybody guessing about what kind of book he will write next. I think he writes some very strange books that are hard to pin down and his unpredictability makes reading him a little hard. I also think that the quality of his books is uneven. the critics loved The City & The City but a friend of mine says that Embassytown is his best.

There were parts of Un Lun Dun that were absolutely brilliant, but overall it could have benefitted from some editing. It was far too long. It also got preachy. After about the first three chapters I got the message and think that most readers did as well.

I finished and loved The City & the City. I gave it 4.5 stars. Still, I'm not sure I'll read any more of his works.

I also started Rebecca last evening. It's my first experience with du Maurier and I'm surprised at how much I am (so far) enjoying it.

>80 EBT1002: Rebecca is one of my all-time favorites!

>80 EBT1002: Ooooh...never read DuMaurier? I hope she continues to please you. Rebecca is a good one to start with.

I have loved every Daphne du Maurier that I have ever read, starting with discovering Rebecca when I was sixteen so I had high expectations for My Cousin Rachel. This book more than exceeded by expectations and I highly recommend it.

>83 DeltaQueen50: Judy, I started with Rebecca in 2012 and really loved it, and I'm sure I'll be rereading it more than once over the years. I read My Cousin Rachel last year and thought it was great also.

I've just finished The Scapegoat my fourth du Maurier last night (after The House on the Strand) and absolutely loved it too. I'd rated Rebecca as a 4.5 and this one gets the same rating; another great favourite. My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/187758#5093423

I finished reading The Scar a week or so ago, I enjoyed it, it was a good sci-fi/fantasy tale, but I never felt terribly invested in the characters. I saw a quote recently where Mieville said he was "in it for the monsters" - and he certainly gives good monster!

I just finished The City & the City and really enjoyed it--first Mieville I've read.

>84 Smiler69: I went and ordered another Daphne Du Maurier today, I went with Mary Anne but if I had read your review first, Ilana, I probably would have got The Scapegoat. As it is, it is being added to my wishlist.

I just finished and reviewed Perdido Street Station. I gave it a 4.5 stars for brilliant world building filled with just enough strange, dark, and grittiness characters to make for an absolute thrilling read.
My full review can be found here.

Finished Jamaica Inn - great incredibly atmospheric read, though somewhat obvious in the ultimate baddy :)

>79 benitastrnad: I liked the ambition of Embassytown (it's very thought-provoking about the role of language), and Perdido Street Station is up there for me, too, among his books, but my favorite remains The City & The City.

Finished The City & the City a few days ago. Loved it!

I'm really in the minority when it comes to The City & The City. I gave it 2.5 stars and I'm not too anxious to ever read Mieville again. But since I see above that he's writing in every genre, I may give him another go as this SciFi-ish story just wasn't for me.

Just finished Embassytown. Not as good as The city and the City in my opinion, but interesting ideas.

I've just finished The House on the Strand - and I enjoy her books, but they are always a bit weirder than I'm expecting. Not in a bad way, I just have this preconception that she just writes tame 'straight' classics - but the books of hers I've read are just quirky and odd! I like it :) And I enjoyed this story too. Although really, if spending time with your wife and her friends is so appalling, maybe you should reconsider your relationship! Perhaps that was just an affect of the experience he was undergoing though.

I just finished The House on the Strand. I so wanted to dislike this book because I don't like any science fiction or any of its sub-genre's. But, Daphne Du Maurier is one of my favorite authors, and she didn't disappoint! The book started with 1 star, given the time travel subject, but it got better and better! I thought about giving it 4 stars but settled on 3 1/2.

Du Maurier has a way of threading a suspenseful theme through her stories. I didn't find that theme in the first half but found the last half very compelling. She also has a way of making weak characters tolerable.

>95 LoisB: I first read The House on the Strand about 40 years ago, and it never occurred to me to classify it as science fiction at that time. It was "OOOOoooh...a DuMaurier I haven't read!". I'm going to re-read it one of these days, but not this month, I don't think. I think I'll give Julius a try--one of the few of hers I still haven't read.

>96 laytonwoman3rd: Perhaps I am mistaken in classifying it as science fiction, but in my mind anything dealing with time travel gets put there. The time travel occurs as a result of taking hallucinogenic drugs.

As I recall my experience with the novel, I think I thought it all might be happening in his head, due to the drugs. But was it?? I didn't mean to say it isn't science fiction, just that I didn't think of it that way at 20-something. It's pretty heavily tagged as "science fiction" here. Have you ever read Green Darkness by Anya Seton? Another case of a character moving through time, or possibly remembering an earlier life, that I remember loving as a late teen.

#98
I loved Green Darkness it is one of the few books I have kept and dragged with me over the years.

I am enjoying Rebecca and find it surprisingly easy to read.

>98 laytonwoman3rd: No, I have never read Green Darkness. I tend to avoid those books, but am making a conscious effort to travel outside of my comfort zone this year, so I may add it to the list.

#100
I never thought of Green Darkness as Sci/fi either - I thought of it as historical fiction, but it does involve time travel or reincarnation. However, it if full of a wealth of history about England during the reign of Mary Tudor. I should try to reread it before long. Just to see if it lives up to what I remember.

I finished Frenchman's Creek on the weekend. Meh. It was a bit overwrought for me. The problem is me though. My tastes have changed. When I was younger I was mad for this kind of gothic, romantic stuff. But, lately I've been reading more realism and so I've lost patience with this stuff.

Just finished my second du Maurier this month, Jamaica Inn, which I really enjoyed. I didn't see anything coming, except maybe the ending (but then I'm generally bad at working things out). I'll be jumping into Perdido Street Station next.

Finished Jamaica Inn just now. Nope, didn't spot that major plot twist. Her weather is remarkably descriptive, I'm tucked up nice & warm in bed, yet could have sworn that I had cold shivers in the face of the descriptions.

OK. I am far enough into Rebecca to have some questions. Would you marry somebody who said, "I'm asking you to marry me, you fool." I know it is easy to pass this statement off as affectionate teasing, but really? There is no indication in the novel up to that point to show that there is enough affection between the two of them to warrant that kind of teasing, and given the hasty circumstances of the proposal - again I ask - Really?

> 105- I agree with you. It's a bit odd isn't it. As far as proposals go it's a bit ordinary. Not quite Mr Darcy telling Lizzie Bennett that he loves her despite himself, and that they should get married, even though it's not a good idea etc etc- but it's close.

I finished and rated Rebecca 3.75 stars. I know this a favourite among the LT folks and I enjoyed the story enough, but I some issues with the main character. I'll be on the lookout for other du Maurier at some point. My full review can be found here.

I gave up Perdido Street Station after a couple of hours of audio. It was so much like some of the nightmares I've had, what with creatures that are part human, part animal, part plant, part insect and whatnot, and then I DID have nightmares about it last night. Going out of one's comfort zone is all fine and well, but I don't think I should be actually putting myself through mental torture for the sake of a broader reading range either!

>89 BekkaJo: >103 Smiler69: >104 Helenliz: I have also just finished Jamaica Inn and have to agree with Bekka in seeing the plot twist coming but then again it helps that it is the third time I have read it!

#108 Wow - I can't imagine listening to it! I'm about a third through (no chance of finishing it this month) and yup some of the imagery is shocking enough to read. Wouldn't want to listen to it myself either, though I'm determined to finish it in book form.

I finished the audio of The City & the City a couple of days ago. I liked it a lot! The audio helped me buy into the unusual geography, I think.

I'm almost done on The Scar and have to say Mieville's monsters and part animal/part crustacean people really don't appeal to me either. I enjoyed Perdido Street Station but haven't quite taken to re-entering the New Crobuzon world this time round.
I prefer my scifi a little more classic and less weird I think. Iain M Banks, Peter F Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds all come to mind.

Somehow, I managed to put Aldous Huxley as a March BA author (when he's actually a wild card). After I figured it out, I still had time to correct my mistake, so I've read 3 books for the March BA:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - 3.1 stars
Felt very dated.

The Doll: The Lost Short Stories by Daphne Du Maurier - 2.9 stars
These short stories were written in her younger years. I loved Rebecca. These didn’t strike me as well. I don’t know if it was the hurtful edginess to these stories, or that her craft wasn’t honed, yet. A few of them gothic, all of them exaggerated vignettes of relationships. I’m glad to have read them, though.

The City & the City by China Miéville - 3.6 stars
Much more enjoyable than I expected! I’m still not a science fiction convert, and I probably won’t try anything else by this author, but I’m glad to have been introduced to his work. Agree with cbl_tn about the audio helping to buy into the unusual geography.

>113 countrylife: I read The Doll a while back (I think I got a copy from the Early Reviewers list), and I thought it was very interesting to watch the young DuMaurier working---you could see what she was doing in almost every story, but I think you're so right..she was honing her craft, and very carefully. The last story was the best, and of course it was written much later than the rest of them.

I read another 25 pages in Rebecca last night and I am getting tired of the narrator and her marshmallow character. She won't stand up for herself and obviously thinks she is inferior to everybody around her. She has all these good thoughts about herself and the people who are around her, but her character is too weak to allow her to say anything. She has a huge inferiority complex and I am getting tired of it.

Since I work in a library this morning I took the time to look at a little bit of the stuff in a database called Literary Criticism Online. The first two pages of a 6 page entry on Du Maurier says that in most of the author's work the Cinderella story figures prominently. The woman in the story needs a prince on a white horse to come rescue her and yet her own dependence on others instead of herself, combined with meekness and sense of unworthiness carries the seeds of disaster. I am only 130 pages into the book and I can see that coming already.

A little more research about Rebecca.

It was first published in 1938 and was a huge success in both the U. K. and in the U. S. It has never been out-of-print since it publication. The family hired the British author Susan Hill to write a sequel. It is titled Mrs. De Winter. That book was completed in the space of three months and Hill was paid a seven figure amount to write it. It was published about the same time as the sequel to Gone With the Wind and was commissioned by the heirs of Du Maurier in order to have more control over the contents. They were afraid that somebody would write one without their permission and that it would not be true to the novel or what they thought was Du Maurier's vision. Has anybody read this sequel?

>116 benitastrnad: Yes Benita, I have read it but it wasn't a match for the original IMO, which is surprising given Hill's own qualities.

Well, I've finished listening to The Scar and it's probably my least favourite Miéville to date. As I said in #112 I just didn't enjoy his creatures this time around.

I'm not going to get to the Mieville, The City & The City is required back at the library. I ought to remember to give him another go at some point, but not right now.

>116 benitastrnad:, >117 PaulCranswick: I agree 100% with Paul. I love Susan Hill, but Mrs. DeWinter didn't impress me at all. In fact, when I "discovered" Hill years after reading Mrs. deWinter, I was very surprised to realize that she had written it.

I've just started reading du Maurier's Julius, which I think is going to be disturbingly good.

I loved getting reconnected with Daphne du Maurier this month. While Rebecca remains my favorite, I very much enjoyed Jamaica Inn despite its predictability. I like the "disturbingly good" description Linda used and think it applies to the author in general if the two books I've read by her are any indication. I will definitely be reading more du Maurier books in the future. Thanks, Paul!

I was a bit disappointed in The House on the Strand. Mostly because of the ending. It was... blah. On the other hand, I love Mieville's The City & the City.

I also loved The City & the City - fabulous fun! Thanks, Rhian for the recommendation!

Nope, gonna be rolling my Mieville. Darn! I'm only a third through Perdido Street Station so it's going to have to come right along into April with me :)

Is April's thread up yet. I don't hang around in the 75 group, which is just so busy that it swamps me, so I'm not sure if I've missed it or it's just dropped off the top page.

Here is April's thread for Louise Erdrich..

EDIT: Sorry, that's the AAC. Hang on...

Nope, I don't see it either. And this one didn't make it onto the Wiki... Let's go nudge Paul, shall we?

Daphne du Maurier will be following me into April as I didn't get a chance to read any of her books I checked out to the library--I did complete my Mieville (The City & the City) and thought it was a great read.

>126 laytonwoman3rd:, thanks, not just me then. >:-)

A mind-bending investigation for The City & The City the first work I have read by the genre-twisting China Miéville.


Miéville drops his readers into the world of Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad as he investigates a woman's murder in the city of Besźel. However, this particular city exists in a unique reality in conjunction with its sister city of Ul Qoma. The author descriptively develops these crosshatched intertwined, yet decidedly separate cities, suggestive of an Escher-like urban landscape.



As we follow the Inspector and his colleagues across the cities for the investigation Miéville reveals more of the parameters of this unique reality, however, once established he keeps these elements grounded while focusing on the connective elements of the crime. Miéville is able to deliver both the elements of a Chandleresque detective novel and the speculative Dickian aspects on the nature of reality and the parameters that govern our everyday existence. The BLDG BLOG has an excellent author interview and discussion about "The City & The City", UNSOLVING THE CITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHINA MIÉVILLE, however it should only be looked up after reading the book.

I look forward to reading more of China Miéville and really appreciate that the British Author Challenge for March gave me my first taste.

The Escher analogy is spot-on!

Earlier this month I finished The City & The City and while I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I loved it as much as many seem to have.

For du Maurier, I reread an old favorite, Frenchman's Creek. It's been years since I last picked it up and I was worried I would no longer appreciate it, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I'm looking forward to April - I'm ready to read some Maugham!

Found the April thread and it is here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/189581

I finished The Doll: The Lost Short Stories last night. It had 3 or 4 really good stories, but I found most of the entirely forgettable. On to Maugham and Carter!

I finished my Mieville read a couple days behind schedule, but it is finished now. The City & The City didn't grab me as much as I had hoped it would but it was still a decent read. Review can be found on the book page and here.

I may be a couple of days late, but I finished my Du Maurier book, Jamaica Inn. It was a re-read for me, but it has been 35-40 years since I first read it. I did remember enough of the plot that it did not surprise me.

I finished Perdido Street Station It's not my kind of book, but very well done. I did really like the end.

I finished reading Rebecca and think this is a really fine novel. It has everything - a little suspense, a heroine who irritates you but still manages to garner your sympathy, evil people, murder, and mysterious Cornwall. This was very well written and the whole time I was reading it I wondered why Hollywood hasn't remade it. They remake very movie under the sun, except maybe Gone With the Wind, but not this one. I wonder why as it is certainly movie remake worthy.

I will be reading more of Du Maurier in the future.

Well, Embassytown went back to the library. I didn't get far enough to Pearl Rule it! Definitely, not my cup of tea!

I just finished reading Rebecca, too, and it's definitely entertaining and grabs you from the beginning. I especially liked the way the narrator's thoughts ramble, day-dream, and generally run away with her, but then jolt back to reality. I felt like I was in her head, but not trapped there.

Finally finished Perdido Street Station. It took me a while to really get into it, mostly because I was reading it alongside other things. But then I just sat down over the weekend and read it solidly to the end. This book rewards perseverance and total immersion in the world that Mieville has created. Getting my head around all those place and character names, not to mention different creatures and in some cases a whole new language, requires commitment. It was worth it also, as a few have commented the ending is great.

I will be heading to Bas-Lag again, I suspect, in the foreseeable future.

As they say, better late than never, Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier came to me as the second I read for the March British Author Challenge following China Miéville.


This was a remarkable read as it felt fresh, even though du Maurier wrote it over 60 years ago, as the language is lively and spare. Its concerns felt current especially the financial struggles, even though it is set 210 years ago, as it details Mary Anne's climb from the lowest of circumstances to mixing with Royalty. Incredibly, while the story may sound like a regency romance it is based on the life Daphne du Maurier's Great-Great Grandmother Mary Anne Clarke!



As an author du Maurier does her ancestor a great service by bringing her vividly to life. We root for her success even as we recognize the choices that will inevitably spell trouble for Mary Anne. This is a very entertaining read that surprised me with the frankness of its sexual, political and financial escapades in illustrating the life of a woman who made the most out of both her faults and virtues.

Reading Daphne du Maurier in March for the British Author Challenge was very enjoyable and I look forward to reading another book from this eclectic author someday soon.

Thanks to ralphcoviello for a link to an interesting interview with China Mieville on the writing of The City & the City here:

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/unsolving-city-interview-with-china.html

Glad you liked it!

For Mary Anne the book by Daphne du Maurier about her ancestor Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke here is a link about the actual scandal: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/hanoverians/duke-york-scandal-1...

Finally finished Perdido Street Station. Very glad to have read it (I think) - my review is on my 75-ers page :)