I love how time changes the way I read a play. I read A Doll's House. Again. I imagined how it would be on stage. I cringed, yes. I closed my eyes, yes. But I enjoyed it. I read it cover to cover without needing a break. I did not worry about how good or bad a translation it is. I just saw it as it was - a play that has the power to make you squirm from the time the curtains are drawn open to the time the door is slammed shut. And just about seven months ago, I wrote: The Norwegian playwright I had never heard of - that's how I once began to read the play. It was far more powerful than Ghosts, and far more interesting than An Enemy of the People. I wonder why I made those judgements. Now, I cringe at so much more and wonder about how good the translation is. That's what studying English does to you. Yet, it's a strong play. It's one that I still read with the whole bag of emotions - … [Read more...]

I remember quite enjoying Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. Maybe I didn't like it as much as The Ivy Tree or Madam, Will You Talk? but I did enjoy it. This time, I enjoyed the beginning. The Spanish Riding School, the levade, Timothy in his awkward state between adolescence and adulthood... I smiled through all of it. I liked the sudden unreliability of the narrative voice, the same technique that blew me over in The Ivy Tree. I liked the balance between description and narration. In fact, I think I liked the story till the husband makes an appearance. Is it just me or is the novel too full of dramatic action and corny romance to be really enjoyable? … [Read more...]