Thanks to Simon for taking part in
this mini interview for the blog!
Tell us a bit about
yourself for the readers who haven’t come across you before…
I always describe myself
as the only Christian vegetarian twin I know - that covers three pretty
important bases for me! I live in Oxford, where I'm finishing off a DPhil in
20th-century English literature - which brings us, of course, to books and my
blog Stuck-in-a-Book. Although I read quite a range of things, the focus is
definitely on pre-1960s fiction, with an especial fondness for anything about
spinsters, for some reason!
What made you start
writing your blog?
I started in April 2007
when I should have been revising for the undergraduate finals. It was basically
a revision-avoidance technique! I knew a few other bloggers (including Elaine
of Random Jottings) who were part of an online book group I'd been in for three
years at that point - and I thought, if other people are enjoying it so much,
then I'd join in too.
Which book blogs do you
regularly read?
At least half the time I
spend on the internet is spent reading book blogs, so it's difficult to answer
this question comprehensively! So
instead, I'll just pick three - Claire, The Captive Reader at thecaptivereader.wordpress.com,
Rachel, Book Snob at bookssnob.wordpress.com, and Harriet, Harriet Devine's
Blog at harrietdevine.typepad.com. Although I read blogs from around the world,
I have to admit that the bloggers I read tend to be anglophiles.
Do you attend a lot of
literature festivals, and if so do you have a favourite?
No, is the short answer
to this! Living in Oxford, I have been to various events over the years, but
that's the only experience I've had of literature festivals. A highlight of
that would be seeing P.D. James and Jill Paton-Walsh discussing 'Agatha
Christie vs. Dorothy L. Sayers'. (In case you're wondering, I'd choose Agatha
every single time.)
The festival’s theme is
‘a sense of place’ – have you read any novels which have given you a real
feeling of a place? Have you felt the urge to visit somewhere after reading
about it?
I often struggle to get a
sense of place from novels, which makes the exceptions even more resonant in my
mind. It's seemingly only cold locations
which come across strongly to me, so I'd have to choose the snow-filled
landscape of Stef Penney's 'The Tenderness of Wolves', and the icy lake of
Marilynne Robinson's 'Housekeeping'. Neither has made me desperate to visit the
places they're set, though - I'm much more drawn to the Swedish and Finnish
settings of the wonderful novels and short stories Tove Jansson (best known for
the Moomins) wrote for adults. 'The Summer Book', especially, makes me keen to
hop on a boat and enjoy the Scandinavian islands. One day!
Where is your favourite
place?
I love the countryside,
and I love interesting houses, so I think my favourite place in the world is
Blackwell House, overlooking Lake Windermere in the Lake District. It's a
stunningly beautiful arts & crafts house, mostly panelled in dark wood,
except one room - the one which overlooks the lake - which is entirely white.
I've been three times, always on incredibly sunny days, and the impact of that
room after the darkness of the other rooms is quite stupendous.
Aside from attending the
book festival, what are you looking forward to seeing and doing when you’re in
town?
I have been to Felixstowe
before, because my grandparents lived in Suffolk, and I remember there being a
brilliant secondhand bookshop. My fingers are crossed that it is still there,
and I'll be leaving room in my suitcase on the offchance! Aside from that, I rarely get to see the sea,
so that will be lovely.
Finally, what book are
you stuck into at the moment?
I always have a few books
on the go at once, so prepare yourself for a list! I'm reading 'A Woman of My
Age' by Nina Bawden, 'Oxford' by Edward Thomas, 'A Reader on Reading' by Alberto
Manguel, 'The Egg and I' by Betty Macdonald, 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, and 'That Secret City: Visions of Oxford' by John Elinger and Katherine Shock. That's actually quite restrained for me,
believe it or not!
Simon and Elanie will be
speaking at the White Horse pub between 3 and 4 pm on Saturday 15th June.
Tickets for the event
cost £5 and can be purchased here
Simon's blog can be found
at stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.com
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