Remember the Moomin stories? They were written by Tove Jansson, who also wrote for adults. This collection of short stories has been published in English for the first time. They are very different from traditional short stories, in that whilst perfectly crafted they hint at ideas and themes through the characters, and the situations they find themselves in.
The title story was may favourite. It is told through a series of one sided letters, we only get to see what Klara writes, to a range of friends and acquaintances. She hands out advice, spiked comments and thoughts on life to her correspondents. Only having one half of the conversation is interesting, leaving the reader to fill in the blanks.
There is little in the way of a theme running through this collection, but each story will make you think and consider what is happening. I loved this as Jansson assumes her readers are intelligent and can layer their own experiences and understanding of character on her own very sparse, but perfectly crafted words.
It is quite possible that I had a slip of the credit card back in January and pre-ordered the new Fuji X100F camera. It finally arrived on Friday, and oh, it is beautiful. It’s a gorgeous camera, the fourth incarnation of the X100 launched some years ago. Those who have used one of the previous versions have raved about it, and I got all caught up in the hype and bought one. It reminds me very much of my Nikon FM2 film camera. If feels sturdy, but not too heavy and has all the traditional dials of a film SLR. The Delightful Mr F and I went out and about in Bath to try it out yesterday. It was fantastic to use, and I can see this becoming a real workhorse for me.
It turns out that my credit card is really quite slippery as it slipped again and I also bought a stack of photography books and some Folio Society books too this month. The Folio ones were on sale, so they don’t count do they?
Last week I had to go to London for a spot of work. That completed I went for a wander around and about and took some shots on my Fuji X70, which is rapidly becoming a permanent fixture in my bag. I am not well versed in the geography of our great capital city, but decided I would just amble around the place and follow my nose if I found something interesting. It was a glorious spring day and I found myself meandering in the areas of St Paul’s, Holborn, Fleet Street as well as along the South Bank. It was all very pleasant indeed. I shot a lot of photographs and had to stop when both my batteries were depleted. I was a little shocked when on the train home to find that I had walked 11 miles!
I might be a teensy-weensy behind on my reviews… never mind, better late than never, eh? Today’s literary delight is First Class Murder by Robin Stevens, the third in the Wells and Wong mystery series. Now I will admit that I approached this book with some trepidation dear readers. The reason? Well, this is a book which pays homage to Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. Now you can imagine how I might feel about someone trying to reflect Christie can’t you? This, however, is a Robin Stevens book, and therefore there is no need for panic. In fact, there is need for tea and buns and enough time to sit and read it from beginning to end.
Feed Your Book Addiction 