It's not unheard of for there to be the odd pun in these pages and, make no mistake, some of them are very odd. However, I must hang my head in shame and admit that in other circumstances I had missed a very obvious one in the title of the book I'm currently reading.
I have been a big fan of Barbara Kingsolver ever since a blogging friend pointed me towards Prodigal Summer for its novel use of natural history in a novel. Her non-fiction too has been keenly devoured, especially Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. So just after New Year, when I discovered that BK had a new novel out, it soon found its way to my Kindle.
About halfway through the book, it finally dawned on me that the story was almost like a work of Dickens, just transposed to the 21st Century and set in the USA. Today, I pondered whether that was a reasonable thing to wonder or not, so looked up a few book reviews for Demon Copperhead and guess what? It's a reworking of David Copperfield.
As if I needed to cite evidence of my stupidity 🙄
Here's a review from the New York Times.
In other news, the male Sparrowhawk was back again this morning, clinging grimly to an Alder tree in the face of gale force winds and lashing rain, all the while trying to figure out where all the other birds were. I had forgotten to refill the bird feeder, so he was in for a long wait. A bit later on, I noticed one of our cats staring intently out of the window. Aha, thinks I, what's the raptor up to now?
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However, it wasn't a bird of prey. Very not, So not, in fact, that it made me chuckle.
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Hopefully, someone will come to claim the sheep soon before it discovers the flower beds. Although not too soon that it hasn't finished mowing the lawn.
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Will have to check that out, Mr Dickens is my favourite author. On the subject of Authors, loved the ending of your blog - it just wasn't your day was it😃
ReplyDeleteNot being particularly versed in classic literature, my only reading of Dickens was at school. However, I did see a film version of David Copperfield a few years ago, so was vaguely aware of the plot. It's quite a bit swearier, I'd say, but the social commentary is true to the original.
DeleteA long time ago, before my blogging career began, I attempted to read my way around the 50 states of the USA. I picked a book for each state where the state is in effect the main character and chose Prodigal Summer for Virginia. Would like to pick up on my journey at some point but was somewhat put off during the Trump era. Enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver though, as I can imagine you must too.
ReplyDeleteOn my recent trip south, I read BK's 'The Bean Trees', with its subtle criticism of the treatment of both immigrants and indigenous people.
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