Despite the fact I have been on the move for some time, wandering here and there, I've managed to read a slew of books. Last weekend I read
Agnes Grey (Anne Bronte was definitely not as great a writer as her sisters Emily and Charlotte) and
The Children Act (interesting read but neither compelling nor memorable, in fact the ending is predictable melodrama).
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing is definitely the most astonishing work I've read in years. Eimear McBride, in this first novel, has out-Joyced Joyce, using stream of consciousness effortlessly and without artifice to best reflect her character's voice. It is agonising to read. Inserted firmly inside the protagonist's mind, the reader cannot escape the nightmare of this young woman's life. I was grief-stricken and traumatised by the end but do not regret reading the book. Since I'm planning to go on the Camino Santiago I tried to read Shirley MacLaine's
Camino but it was just too barmy for me (and that's saying a lot as I do like barmy). Can't remember now what else I've read. Stay tuned.
