They may not celebrate Halloween, but guys, I am here to tell you that German Octobers are fierce. Cold, blustery, smelling of woodsmoke and bonfires...it's the perfect weather to curl up in front of the fire with a spooky book. I like The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, by Helen Grant, for this purpose. The story is set in Germany and focuses around the mysterious vanishings of multiple people, set against a backdrop of folklore, history, and local legend. Five stars, and I couldn't put it down when I read it.
Are you all reading anything interesting?
2 comments:
I have just re-read, (and it is your fault), the Turn of the Screw - the best ghost story ever. Lost count of the times i came out in goosebumps - including all down my legs...... I am happy with the idea of unquiet beings, and am on the side of the governess. Her mistake was to get possessive - she thinks that with her courage and virtue she has 'saved' MIles, and calls him 'my own', and says 'I have you'. But then he dies, so she fails. I think James knew that there is something much more subtle than a polarisation of 'good' and 'evil', but the 'tug of war' over the kids makes a good story. And I love the opera - very unearthly........
I got the same goosebumps in the excerpt of your 'Plum' story - though I'm not sure I made out exactly what is going on - maybe you could tighten things up a little in the style??
YOur editing job for Fidelio gives me a headache just to look at it - good luck .
I was at JK's LOndon concert last night - have been too shaky to make sense to anyone for the last few days - I was so happy to see/hear him live - especially In Fernem Land. It was a schlockfest with the orchestra playing popular stuff, but we knew it would be because of the promoter, so I'm not sure why everyone is being so sniffy about the band - I thought most of the their playing was very crisp . They were too loud for JK's 'Du bist die Welt fur mich', but the Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin I thought was beautifully focussed and paced. JK quietly walked on and it segued into In Fernem Land. Four encores - he looked as if he had just got warmed up and wanted to party - perhaps happy that he had an orchestra at all after singing in Athens on Thursday without one - I could go on - it is still love pure and simple, and good to know I am not alone..........
Dressing up - I get to be Cinderella's Fairy Godmother in our village pantomime, and sprinkle everyone with happy-dust..... I'm happy with that!
@shapta-dakini-You know what's another great collection of ghost stories that I haven't read in years? "The Collected Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton". I got them as a teenager and they scared me so badly that I gave the book to my older brother. Elizabeth Gaskell also has some fierce tales of the supernatural. Gotta love ghost stories in autumn. :)
Oooh, you were at Kaufmann's concert?! Lucky you!! I heard some bad things about the orchestra, yes, but it's Kaufmann! The man could sing a capella and he'd still be magnificent! And I saw that he got braces-any idea why? They make him less sexy and more adorable. Maybe that was the point?
And you're not the only one to get a headache from looking at my "Fidelio" edits...
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