"She went out from school with the uncomfortable sense of being a square peg, which fitted into none of the round holes of her world; the wisdom she had got, the experience she was richer by, had, in the process of equipping her for life, merely seemed to disclose her unfitness."
From THE GETTING OF WISDOM by #HenryHandelRichardson.
About to watch the 1977 film adaptation dir. by Bruce Beresford with Susannah Fowle playing #SquarePeg Laura Tweedle Rambotham.
"It's that—knowin' one's played out, with by rights still a good third of one's life to run—that's what puts the sleep away. In the daylight it's none so hard to keep the black thoughts under..But night's the time! Then they come tramplin' along..carryin' banners with letters a dozen feet high..And so it'll go on till it pleases the old Joker who sits grinnin' up aloft to put His heel down—as you or me would squash a bull-ant."
#AmReading THE FORTUNES OF RICHARD MAHONY by #HenryHandelRichardson
"Niels Lyhne was tired; these incessant runs, preparatory to a leap that was never taken, had worn him out."
#AmReading NIELS LYHNE by #JensPeterJacobsen tr. by #HenryHandelRichardson (pen name of Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson).
"There are people who take up their sorrow & bear it, strong natures that test their strength by the weight of the burden..But there are people to whom grief is a deed of violence perpetrated against them, an act of cruelty they never learn to regard as a trial or chastisement..still less as the common fate of all. To them it seems a stroke of tyranny, something to be personally resented & the sting..remains in their hearts."
#AmReading NIELS LYHNE by #JPJacobsen tr. by #HenryHandelRichardson
Had a gut feeling I was butchering the pronunciation of the title character's name. No, it's not "Kneels Line" but something more like "Nills Lune" (as in Clair de Lune). Was also pleasantly surprised to discover the novel was translated by a favourite Australian author.
#AmReading NIELS LYHNE by #JPJacobsen tr. by #HenryHandelRichardson (pen name of Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson).
Thought I was done with novels about music & obsessive love for the moment after recently reading the wonderful, but emotionally draining MAURICE GUEST (1908) by #HenryHandelRichardson.
Er... apparently not. I glanced at the first page of AN EQUAL MUSIC (1999) by #VikramSeth this afternoon & now suddenly I'm on page 80. It was my turn to cook tonight, but I can't put the book down. My partner's annoyed he has to cook, but I promised to do the dishes.
#FinishedReading MAURICE GUEST & it's left me an emotional wreck. A story of music & doomed, obsessive love. The final part of the novel was like watching a car accident in slow motion. Difficult to read, but couldn't stop myself from turning the pages.
I'm normally a chain reader, but I'll need the rest of the day to pull myself together before starting a new novel.
Contemplating reading the work of an Australian writer? Put #HenryHandelRichardson at the top of your list.
#AmReading MAURICE GUEST by #HenryHandelRichardson, aka Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson, born in Melbourne in 1870.
Started it this morning, but only read the first page. Loved the unfamiliar use of "tell off" & the alliteration in this bit: "and on descending the shallow steps, they told off into groups, where all talked at once, with lively gesticulation."
Just finished Ch 1 & would keep reading, but I've had a few beers & about to nod off. Excerpt from the end of the chapter follows:
Paul Filev