A few words on what I've been up to recently

Hello!

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. In that time:

1) I read the majority of a book by Elizabeth von Armin, called The Enchanted April. It is about four lovely ladies who spot an advertisement for a holiday villa in the Times. The ladies do not know each other, but head off together for a month. The opening chapters are delightful and it's impossible to read them without wanting to read further, but after a while the novel loses its shine. The characters are generally lovely, but it all just gets a bit too serious and self-conscious. That these are single women on holiday together is intensely interesting and important to the novel, but there's little depth to that idea. I'm sure I'll make my way back to it, but it started to drag and if reading isn't full of pleasure, then give up.

2) I read Brett Easton Ellis' Less than Zero, which I thought was pretty rubbish. I see that the banality and cold narrative is meant to reflect the characters' experiences, but that doesn't really make for an enjoyable novel. [I haven't gone into as much description for this book because (1) I'm meant to be doing something else right now anyway, and (2) I assume people know more about BEE already.] Stick to American Psycho, which is a wonderful, wonderful, brilliant novel. LTZ is little more than a (crap) first draft of American Psycho, really.

3) I also began reading a book about Morrissey, entitled Morrissey: the pageant of his bleeding heart. This is an academic book on Moz. It is a little dry and heavy at the moment but I hope it will pick up soon. My favourite Smiths book is Jonny Rogan's Morrissey/Marr: the Severed Alliance, which will take some beating. What is so good about the latter book is that he realises that Morrissey couldn't be Morrissey without Marr there too. It's like gin without tonic, fish without chips. The overwhelming evidence is that without Marr, Morrissey is pretty crap - does he deserve a book of his own? And if he does, then surely Marr deserves one of his own too? Anyway, I'll crack on and finish it and I suppose I'll be in a better place to offer an opinion then.

4) I left my job at Dorling Kindersley. So, if anyone wants to employ me (on a permanent/temp/freelance basis) do please send me an email: helenkatesaunders [at] googlemail [dot] com.

5) I've been working on James Joyce a bit. I'm not sure if a return to academia is for me, really, but it would be nice to publish on my favourite writer. So i'm immersing myself in his poetry and Exiles right now - it's nice to focus on a writer's less famous output.

6) I found the website Brain Pickings and spent a lot of time on it wishing I was a super hot talented writer.