Cecily's book reviews

In general I've written reviews of every book I've read since I joined GoodReads (RIP) in May 08, along with one or two I read prior to that. More recent reviews tend to be longer (sometimes a tad too long?). I always carry a book, though I don't get as much time as I'd like to get engrossed - life is busy, but in a good way. Too many of my favourite authors died without writing enough! Apart from reading, and writing about reading, I enjoy Scrabble, good restaurants, woodland, and attending the theatre.
The Dreamers - Gilbert Adair Gilbert Adair wrote The Holy Innocents a few years ago (which I haven't read). When Bertolucci wanted to film it, Adair wrote the screenplay and rewrote the novel as The Dreamers, although in an epilogue he explains that the book and film are deliberately different. It’s a quick read (borderline novella), but twisted and interesting.

The story is set in Paris in the riots of May 68 and concerns a young American student who befriends twins at an arthouse cinema they regularly attend. A knowledge of classic cinema helps, but the films and riots are really just a backdrop to a tale of game playing, manipulation, obsessive relationships, triangular relationships, confused sexuality and crossing boundaries. Parts of it are beautifully written and parts embarrassingly banal. The book is less ambiguous than the film and has a very different ending, though I'm not sure which I prefer.

Currently reading

The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy
Sebastian Peake, China Miéville, Mervyn Peake
Gormenghast
Mervyn Peake