The starting book this month is Wifedom by Anna Funder. This book was just published recently in the US. It is about Eileen O’Shaughnessy's marriage to George Orwell and the subtitle is "Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life". I have not read this book but I think it would be an interesting read.
My first link is The Autopsy of a Boring Wife by Marie-Renée Lavoie (translation from French to English by Arielle Aaronson). The story is about a woman whose marriage of 25 years falls apart after her husband announces he is leaving her for a younger woman. The author is Canadian and the story is set in Quebec. I haven't read this yet but I have a copy and plan to read it in the next year.
For the second link I will continue with another novel about the failure of a marriage, Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. This book was published anonymously in 1929. The setting is New York City during the Jazz Age, and it explores the social mores of the time. My husband commented that the plot line sounded like the 1930 film The Divorcee, and indeed, that movie was based on Ex-Wife, although the story in the film is simplified and tamer. This is another book that I have not read but plan to read.
My third link is a novel I have read, and fairly recently, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1925 and set in 1922, it is also about the Jazz Age. A lot of the story takes place on Long Island, in the mansions of the rich.
My fourth link is to another book I read set on Long Island, Death Likes it Hot by Gore Vidal. Published in 1954, this is one of three mysteries Vidal wrote under the name Edgar Box. Amateur sleuth Peter Cutler Sargeant II has his own public relations agency in New York City. In this book he has been invited to spend a weekend in the Hamptons by a society woman who wants to discuss a possible job.
I am continuing with another island setting for book #5, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, published in 1939. This is one of Christie's standalone mysteries. Eight guests are invited to a mansion on an isolated island off the coast of England. As they journey to their destination, they muse about the letters they received and their expectations for their visit to the island. When they arrive on the island, the only two people at the house are Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the butler and the cook. They have been notified that Mr. Owen, the owner, will be arriving later. They soon realize that they have been tricked and the owner will not be showing up.
Staying with the island theme, the last book in my chain is Hebrides by Peter May. My husband is reading that book right now. Peter May discusses the geological history of the Outer Hebrides, the history of the people on those islands, and his own personal history with the islands. Initially he came to the Outer Hebrides to work on a TV drama. Later he came back to the islands to use the area as locations for his trilogy: The Blackhouse, The Lewis Man and The Chessmen. The photographs that illustrate the book were taken by David Wilson.
My Six Degrees took me from wives and ex-wives to islands in the US and the UK. Have you read any of these books?
If you did this month's Six Degrees, where did your list take you?
The next Six Degrees will be on October 7th, 2023, and the starting book will be I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
32 comments:
Oh, I do hope you get to Ex-Wife soon - I enjoyed it very much. Lovely chain here.
What an interesting chain. I have read Peter May and I think I just listened to a podcast review about this book about Orwell's wife. It seems he was not a nice man. Loved THE GREAT GATSBY.
It is really interesting to explore the dynamics of marriage, Tracy, and you picked some interesting choices for that. And both Peter May and Agatha Christie have done some terrific atmospheric stories; good to see them included, too. Your chain was really interesting!
Hi Tracy, an interesting chain. I never knew Gore Gore Vidal wrote mysteries but I did read his historical novel Burr which I really enjoyed. I read The Great Gatsby and I know this goes against literary opinion but I didn't care for the book. The autobiography of the ex-wife sounds good because I love books where a character begins sort of lost due to bad luck, divorce etc and then starts to rebuild their lives and finds happiness. It's inspiring.
Thanks, Davida, and I hope to get to Ex-wife soon, too. I do have to get a copy first.
Patti, I think the book about Orwell's wife will be interesting in many ways. I have read books by Orwell but it has been a while.
I have read a few books by May and I like his writing. Two were from his series set on the Hebrides, but they did not make me want to visit the Hebrides. Glen, on the other hand, has always wanted to go the the Outer Hebrides.
I did not like The Great Gatsby when I read it recently, but I think on a reread I would like it better.
Margot, I was happy with my chain because of the variety of types of books. I am now trying to read all the Miss Marple books by Christie, although I still have a few Poirot books I haven't read.
Kathy, I did not care for The Great Gatsby either, but I think I might like it better on a reread. When I read that mystery by Vidal, I was inspired to read more of his books. I still want to but I have too many books to read already. And in September I will be going to the Annual Book Sale and will find more. But maybe I will find some by Gore Vidal.
I really want to read Wifedome at some point. I don't know a thing about Orwell's personal life, and the idea that he may have stolen ideas and work from his wife fascinates me. The only one of these that I've read is Gatsby...kind of a take it or leave it experience for me, but I may have been too young at the time to appreciate it.
Sam, I think Wifedom will be a good read and have a lot of interesting information.
I think I must have read The Great Gatsby when I was in college. I was fascinated with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald at the time, and maybe I liked it better then. But when I read it last year I remembered nothing and I was disappointed. I did not like any of the characters, but that doesn't always ruin a book for me.
Very interesting. I've now just added Autopsy of a Boring Wife to my TBR--thanks. I listened to the Hibredean Baker, so Peter May's book is also headed to my TBR. Good job!
Thanks, Lisa. I am expecting to enjoy reading those books when I get to them.
Oooh, I didn't know Peter May had written a non-fiction book about The Hebrides! Is Glen enjoying it?
Ex Wife sounds well worth exploring. I always like seeing Christie in a chain. This one I read last year and enjoyed very much.
What a quirky and fun chain, beginning with the cover of Ex-Wife! Not sure where to start but I guess I am most intrigued that Gore Vidal wrote mysteries (although not sure I cared for his other work enough to pursue) and the Hebrides book sounds delightful. I like that the chain is anchored by two books we all know, The Great Gatsby and the Christie.
There are so many things that remind me of The Great Gatsby in everyday life that I often think it is the most valid thing I read in high school! Not saying I liked it, particularly, but I am glad I read and know it.
Cath, it is sort of a coffee table book, with lots of photos of the Outer Hebrides. The text by Peter May is divided between a description and history of the Outer Hebrides, plus Peter May's experiences on the island (working on a TV series) and then a section centered on Lewis Island, the setting of the Lewis Trilogy. Glen liked those last two sections the best, and those are the parts I am looking forward to reading.
Great chain this month, with some favourites, like Peter May and The Great Gatsby, and some that intrigue, especially the Gore Vidal/Edgar Box book!
Mallika, Today I ordered a copy of Ex-Wife but I won't get it for a few weeks.
I had always put off reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie; I thought it would be too tense. It was pretty tense but not enough to bother me. And very well written, I can understand why it is one of her best known books.
Constance, I love the cover of Ex-Wife. There is also a nice old Dell Paperback edition but I imagine it is hard to find (and hard to read).
I enjoyed the mystery by Vidal; it was fun. I am sure he was writing the mysteries mostly for the money at the time, but I thought it was well done, and I will be reading the first two in the series. I have not read anything else by that author yet so can't make comparisons.
The Great Gatsy is a book that I am glad I read, but I either read it at the wrong time for me, or I just didn't like the characters.
Thanks, FictionFan, I have read a few books by Peter May and have more on my TBR. I would like to get back to his Yan & Campbell series set in China; and also finish the Lewis Trilogy. I remember that you liked The Great Gatsby a lot. Maybe I will reread it someday and change my mind.
I was surprised at how much I liked the mystery by Gore Vidal, but I should not have been because I have also enjoyed many other mysteries written at the time (1950s) in the same type of setting (New York, rich families).
Sorry to have missed this one till now...things remain too chaotic around here...these chains are an amusing exercise!
The two I've read here are the Christie and the Fitzgerald, the likeliest for most USians, I think...I read GATSBY in HS, and enjoyed and admired it, though of course all the characters are (I believe by intent) not good people, and I think Fitzgerald was definitely among the most disappointed with himself and his social circles of our major writers, and at least in the second case, utterly justified (probably in the first case as well, given his talent and how his life and career went nonetheless...and I can sympathize). Had a college course which paired GATSBY with Agnes Smedley's DAUGHTER OF EARTH, which was definitely a fun compare and contrast...and it reminded me of how back in high school, I had read coffee-table-book sized anthologies including Fitzgerald and Smedley in quick succession drawn from their most typical markets in the teens/early '20s, one drawn from THE SMART SET magazine and one from THE MASSES magazine...my too-rushed post about them, in the early years of my blog: https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2010/04/fridyas-forgotten-books-masses-echoes.html
I've not yet read the Anna Funder, either, as noted, but have read some of her writing, though not yet the whole book on the Stasi, for example, and have heard her discussing it and giving related talks and speeches and interviews...she has a lovely reading/speaking voice, and I'll seek out Patti's podcast mention, as well as this book (and will probably read the whole Stasi book sometime when I'm feeling less prone to despair).
Funder on Aus. Broadcasting interview series, discussing WIFEDOM: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/anna-funder-george-orwell-wifedom-patriarchy-silencing/102664190
Todd, I would also be interested in reading Stasiland by Anna Funder. Glen reminded me of that book recently... He read it back in 2013, but we don't still have his copy.
I am sure Wifedom will also be an interesting read once I get to it. Thanks for the link to the podcast, although it is questionable whether I will listen to it. I am not much into podcasts.
This one is a straight-up radio interview, if that helps any, and a cogent one. Australia BC radio interviews, or at least this one and some others I've heard, aren't compulsively interrupted by resetting and station-promo breaks, which I take as a plus as well.
Thanks, Todd. I did start the interview, and I could tell it was interesting, but for some reason I don't enjoy that kind of interview / listening experience.
I have an old friend who notes that she can't listen comfortably to any sort of discussions as recorded or transmitted because she too-urgently wants, if she cares at all about the topic, to jump in and interact. I can understand that. (I can content myself with commenting afterward...)
Oh, dear, the start of this series was a bit depressing, but I think you managed to cheer me up with a murder or two (or more)...
Marina Sofia, it's funny, I had not thought of the beginning of the chain as depressing, but it is. I have a first marriage that was not anything as bad as George Orwell's relationship with his wife, but still exasperating. But I was young and that was long ago. I ended up reading another mystery by Edgar Box / Gore Vidal (Death in the Fifth Position) in the last week.
Todd, I think my problem with audio is that I do better with visual. I like interviews but I want to see the two people talking... or at least one of them. I might could handle podcasts but most are way too long for me to stick with without visual stimulation.
I can (you should forgive the expression) see that...
On another thread, here's this: https://email.loa.org/t/i-e-ayhirud-tihyltjrut-x/ Library of America's free (video) GATSBY seminar coming up.
so may we ask whether you agree with the assertion that The Great Gatsby is the best American novel of the twentieth century? The last page makes me choke up...
No, Frewin55, I do not think that The Great Gatsby is the best American novel of the 20th century. But I don't know what I would nominate for that honor myself. Somehow when I was reading The Great Gatsby, I was overwhelmed by the shallowness of all the characters and could not get past that. I wonder what I would have thought about it at other stages of my life. (I am in my 70s.)
Thanks for commenting. I enjoyed your Six Degrees post.
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