Another day of rain did not prevent the mountain from making an early morning appearance, albeit just a pale blue-grey shadow against a white sky.
Month: March 2021
Book Review
Today the weather has been dismal, all-day-long. Nothing but rain, rain, and more rain. Oh, and mist, so there’s no Mount Warning visible to take a photo of. So today, I will talk about a novel I have just finished reading – Never Let Me Go.
The first required reading for one of my Semester 1 units, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, is a novel I had never heard of, nor did I recognise the name of the author. The blurb describes the novel as being about a group of school children and “the fragility of life,” which really doesn’t give away much at all, so I read this book without having any preconceived ideas.
This morning after I’d finished reading the book, I felt quite overwhelmed by the depth of emotion Ishiguro conveyed. Never Let Me Go is not a genre of book I am usually drawn to. Even defining the genre is a challenge, but I think I will describe it as speculative dystopian sci-fi, with a twist.
Here is the review I wrote for Goodreads –
“Someone who reviewed Never Let Me Go (on Goodreads) advised prospective readers to avoid reading any information or reviews on the novel, therefore they chose not to say anything about the novel’s content. Their five star rating speaks for itself.
I reiterate this reviewer’s advice. This is a novel best read from a place of relative ignorance. That’s how I read it, and discovered that once past the confusing first couple of pages at the beginning, the story unfolds beautiful as the first-person narrator, Kathy H., reveals her tale. At surface level, the story appears to describe a dystopian world, yet a message of hope can’t help but shine through the overwhelming narrative.
Never Let Me Go is an unforgettable novel containing strong themes of love, trust, hope, commitment and acceptance, a novel that will leave a lasting impression on every reader.”
This week, Never Let Me Go is the topic of discussion for one of my units, and I’m looking forward to hearing what other people who have read the novel have to say about it. And if you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it.
Silent Sunday
A Touch of Magic
The mist returned this morning, adding a touch of magic to the early hours of the day.
We moved into our newly built home here in March 1994, so twenty-seven years ago this month, and awakening to a misty valley scene never grows old, even after all these years.
This afternoon, I found more magic in my garden, a tiny toadstool, and suddenly a children’s story began forming in my mind. Imagine the possibilities of a whole village of tiny fairies living in the garden, with the golden toadstool being the focal point of their village!
This bright orange gerbera – complete with a tiny ladybird (can you see it there close to the top of the flower?) – would have to be the sun that lit up the fairies’ world every day!
Even my flowering gazania looked magical and other-worldly today. On the eighteen petals are eighteen burgundy comets, zooming towards the orange life-force at the centre of the flower.
We’ve had some pretty dismal weather recently which has prevented me from visiting my garden as often as I usually would, even during the hotter months of the year. It’s encouraging to find a touch of inspirational magic emerging as the seasons change. 🙂
The Misty Mountains
“Far over the Misty Mountains cold, To dungeons deep and caverns old, We must away, ere break of day, To seek our pale enchanted gold.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, While hammers fell like ringing bells, In places deep, where dark things sleep, In hollow halls beneath the fells.
The pines (palms?) were roaring on the heights, The wind was moaning in the night, The fire was red, it flaming spread, The trees like torches blazed with light.” ~~ J.R.R. Tolkien
In My World 