Hi all,
I've blogged about my February reading over at bookconscious. Here is what I thought of my latest Europa Challenge read:
In February I read a novella by Alfred Hayes, The Girl on the Via Flaminia. I read that the author adapted this book into a play, and I could immediately understand why -- I actually envisioned characters entering and exiting the scenes as I read it. I have no quibble with the writing, but this book wasn't my cup of tea.
Again I think the subject matter is the issue: this is a distressing story, and even worse, I got no sense that the characters would be released from their troubles as I did with the end of The Odds. The book is about an Italian girl who stays in a pseudo-brothel with an American serviceman at the end of WWII because she's hungry. But she really doesn't want to, and he really wants more than a prostitute. They're both miserable; just about everyone in the book is miserable.
This was one of those books I read to the end because it felt like it should develop into something I'd eventually love, but it didn't. But I may have just reached my limit for sadness this month.
My next Europa reads? I've got The Nun waiting for me at the library, and I'm hoping to get my hands on Moffie.
