Pages: 236
Published: 2009
by Profile Books
Genre: Non/Fiction
- Books
Format: Hardback
Acquired: My own
collection
Date Finished:
November 9th 2012
Synopsis:
This is a year of reading from home, by one of
Britain's most distinguished authors. Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of
an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that
she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second
time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her
books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection
again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is
also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering
through her house that day, Hill's eyes were opened to how much of that life
was stored in her home, neglected for years. Howards
End is on the Landing charts the journey of one of the nation's most accomplished authors
as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that
have informed a lifetime of reading and writing.
Thoughts:
So
it is truly no surprise that when I was browsing around a bookshop late year
and came upon the exquisite and tempting book Howard’s End is on the Landing. I had to pick it up and take a
squizzy. From the synopsis on the inside front flap Susan Hill spoke about
embarking on a yearlong journey into the homes and depths of her book shelves;
through re-reading, de-cluttering and exploring the books that had been
gathering dust on her shelves but had never been read. To a collector and a
life time book lover this had be jumping up and down doing a happy dance and made me feel all warm and
fuzzy inside. Ah, the perfect book.
Fast
track to about a year later and I am standing at my bookshelf looking at all
the non-fiction books that I own. There aren’t many, maybe 30-40 at the most
outside my insane collection of fiction books, and it’s not that I don’t love
non-fiction either. But I sat down after looking at my collection for the
hundredth time since I’d moved into this house and I thought to myself. God I would
love to pull that one down for my shelf. What was I waiting for? Did I need a
sign or a divine message urging me to take it from the pile or permission to
read something – to indulge a little? No more than half an hour later I was
watching one of my favourite Youtuber’s Debra make a book haul video, and in it
– lo and behold she had purchased Howard’s End is on the Landing. That was the
sign- that was all I needed to see before I scooped it up, took the dust jacket
off and settled down – eager to begin the journey with Susan Hill.
When
I began reading this I had expectations of what I thought the book was going to
be about. I think everyone does, regardless of what they say. But what I
expected and what I actually got from the book could not be any more different.
However the experience from reading this book and sheer surprise of what I
found within its pages more than made up for the crushing realization that this
wasn’t one of those books where you are going to say – ah yes I know that book,
or that person or I totally agree with what you are saying. Nor is it a deep
look inside her library, her life as an author and as a reader. It’s so much
more than both of those things, and although it does dally a little into the
concepts I was expecting I think it enriched my reading experience by not being
predictable and totally taking me outside my comfort zone.
I am
a child from a different Era, sure I was brought up with Beatrix Potter and
Enid Blyton, but when you get to talking about Charles Dickens and Iris
Murdoch, not to mention Ian Fleming and Virginia wolf I am completely lost. I
have not really read too many classics that I can recall and until my early
teenage years had not read anything that could be classed as great old
literature. So when I began reading and getting involved in the story I was
taken for a little ride, one that I had not packed for when Susan Hill now I
think in her sixties, began talking about the authors she had met, ones that
had influenced her in the past and the books she has read as a child, a
teenager and as an adult that I had either no clue existed or never really
given a shit about in the first place. You would think it would make for dull
reading.
Given any other book and I would have thrown it away despite the
pretty cover, but that is the brilliant and blessed thing about this book. No
matter how out of my element I was, how dry the content could be at times and
how stupid I felt for not even hearing about [what sounded like some astounding
pieces of literature] Susan Hill still managed to have be hooked on her story,
page after page into all hours of the night and just loving every second of it.
And one of the biggest deciding factors of why I could not throw this book away
and will treasure it forever is doors it opened up inside my head and for my
reading life ahead of me.
There
were so many lists that I made. So many ideas were questions and challenges
stirred. The question – could I do this?
Could I spend a year not buying books and delving into my ever growing collection?
Could I spend a year re-reading some of my favourite books and authors –
immersing myself in the worlds that shaped me as a person and as a reader
without feeling guilty that I was missing out on so many wonderful books that
were yet to be published, were already on my wish list or merely already on my
shelf? The answers to those questions are still percolating, but I imagine very
soon the fruition of my thoughts will reveal itself and out of it will come a
new journey into my own reading.
Not
only though was I amazed, and excited to learn about these beautiful people and
their passion for the word and for books, but Susan’s sharp insight into the
world of reading from the effects of the internet and its stunting our reading,
to the competitive nature of book buying and blogging and how we devour books
[better to have read twenty a week than one or two] and don’t savour them
slowly like we used to back when books where harder to get, or when it was
acceptable to spend a great deal of time reading one. It was this deeper look
into the style of reading that really had me thinking about the way that I read
and it offered me some home truths that maybe I was denying myself a little.
Like the joys of re-reading a book, or taking my time.
Howard’s end is on the landing is not going to be for everyone. I do think for my generation might
find it to be a dull book and a hard one to read through unless you’re highly
interested in taking a stroll down memory lane for the last century or so in
books and authors. However if you are one who is open to that experience, then
I think there is so much to be gained from taking the time to read the book and
books like it from time to time in your life. It will offer you the chance to
look inside a different aspect of the reading world you might live in and who
knows, you might even find a new author or book to fall in love with.
Overall
it was a mixed experience reading this book, but I can strongly say that this
is one of the books that I can say had a strong impact on my life. For that I
am recommending it to all those of you out there who love books about books and
to those who would like to get a little insight into Susan Hill’s world. I will
be searching out for some of her other works, but in the meantime please feel
free to let me know your thoughts on the book if you have read it and if you
intend to get it- fantastic.
I am
giving this one:
★★★★★
Piles
of musty old books.
