"My mother read a lot, sighed a lot, and went to bed early."
-- Incidents in the Rue Laugier by Anita Brookner
Hotel du Lac, the 1984 Booker Prize winner, is the only Anita Brookner novel I have read. I can't say that Hotel du Lac stuck with me -- so little so that I actually read it a second time without realizing it -- but Brookner has returned to my radar screen. I recently found several of her books in nice hardback editions at library book sales and something about them appealed to me.
I am looking forward to this one.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Opening Sentence of the Day: Incidents in the Rue Laugier
"My mother read a lot, sighed a lot, and went to bed early."
-- Incidents in the Rue Laugier by Anita Brookner
Hotel du Lac, the 1984 Booker Prize winner, is the only Anita Brookner novel I have read. I can't say that Hotel du Lac stuck with me -- so little so that I actually read it a second time without realizing it -- but Brookner has returned to my radar screen. I recently found several of her books in nice hardback editions at library book sales and something about them appealed to me.
I am looking forward to this one.
I've not heard of "Incidents in the Rue Laugier." Is that a new book?
ReplyDeleteI meant to answer the questions about the African challenge. I will try to do it today or tonight.:)
I don't know, Tea. I haven't paid attention to Brookner, so I don't know if this is new or a reprint of an old one. If I like it, I will probably put her on my authors list, with the books in order.
ReplyDeleteDefnitely not a new Brookner. I love Brookner and Incidents in the Rue Laugier is one of my favorites of hers. And frankly, the opening line that you quote could sum up many of Brookner's characters.
ReplyDeleteI think you will like it more than Hotel du Lac. Which, even as a Brookner fan, is not one of my favorites.
I love that opening sentence!
ReplyDeleteI love the opening sentence also-I have read one Brookner "A Start In Life"-I enjoyed it-sort of a claustrophobic read
ReplyDeleteI kind of like this opening as a good philosophy on life. Think about it. It implies that you stay educated, stay calm, and get lots of downtime (too bad it implies a little boredom...). Hmm... I may adopt this as my new catchphrase. Or just crawl back into bed.
ReplyDelete