Oy. Writer’s/blogger’s block. Having it is not conducive and/or helpful to writing book reviews.

In the meantime, I will share a passage or two from Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, which I am currently in the midst of. (And which I am reading for the first time!). There are so many utterly lovely turns of phrases and descriptive sections in this novel that just sing. Much too many to choose, but here are a few.

Perhaps he [Simon] finds beauty saddening- I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked Father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty’s evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly. (p. 177, Vintage Classics edition)

The last stage of a bath, when the water is cooling and there is nothing to look forward to, can be pretty disillusioning. I expect alcohol works much the same way. This time I spent my basking in thinking about the family and it is a tribute to hot water that I could think about them and still bask. For surely we are a sorry lot… (p. 59, Vintage Classics edition)