Reading moods sometimes overtake me. For instance, I feel like I need to read an historical romance by Georgette Heyer because I’ve forgotten the pleasure she once gave me when I was 14 or 15 years old and I want to see if she can recreate it in the much older me. Or I want to read new books, ones published within the last three years, in order to feel like I’m keeping up with what’s happening in the literary world, not missing out on discovering for myself an “undiscovered” new talent. Other times I want to read books by my favorite masters, authors like Ondaatje, Dunnett, Robinson, Eco, McEwan, Russo, and Goodwin, whose abilities as writers make me feel complete trust in the deep enjoyment and recognition of the art they produce. And then there are the occasions when I want to read the smallest book I can find on the shelf with the expectation that I will discover a little gem.
Little gems are perfections of story, style, character, and effect that don’t take more than 250 pages to work their magic. Recently, I fell captive to my miner mood and went in search of some little gems at my public library.
Please turn the page.
One I just finished is The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, the man who wrote the marvelous play, made into a movie, called The History Boys. Another as yet to be determined possible jewel, since I’ve only read the first 10 pp, is The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace, which is set in 19th C Italy and involves the invention of the first typewriter (based on a true story). From my reading past, I count Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams a perfect little jewel. As well, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is a flawless diamond.
What are some of your favorite small books that deliver great rewards? Push yourself to think hard about small or short books that when you read them produced the effect of creating a universe in your imagination. I think Silk by Alessandro Baricco was like reading a violin concerto. The book seemed to break itself down into natural movements; the main character was a resonant solo instrument; the other characters provided support, color, and increased the richness of the piece. The dynamics of the book ranged from pianissimo to forte, the tempo varied in pace between allegro, and andante, until the final retard, and the entire effect was developed in waltz time.
The Uncommon Reader sparkled like a semi-precious stone, something bright and gay, but not expensive nor gaudy, not cut in some formal style, but a perfect gem for everyday reading. On the surface it is light-hearted, ultimately a spoof. But the facets are backed by a solid theme: reading is a political act, most especially when Queen Elizabeth II suddenly discovers a heretofore unrealized fondness and devotion to it when, one day, she follows her Corgi out the kitchen entrance of her palace and into the visiting bookmobile. As her passion for reading grows the dissatisfaction of her subjects for her new “hobby” overtakes their distaste even of her pack of yapping and biting dogs. Jewels can do a body good beyond adornment, especially when the little lesson is rendered in so digestible an amuse-bouche as it is in this novella.
It’s interesting, too, to realize that quite a few of the little gems of books are on the topic of the power of literature, such as Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is, or deal with the companion power to reading, the power of the imagination, as Einstein’s Dreams and The Blind Contessa’s New Machine do.
I recently finished Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes, and while it is probably too large really to be a Little Gem, it is a small book that is deceptively big in scope in comparison to its total pages, encompassing the lives of two men: the forefront life of Flaubert as explored by the narrator whose life only emerges from the chrysalis of Flaubert’s to become the true central character and focus of the novel. The subject of the book seems to be obsession, that emotion that reduces a universe to a single point but ironically, when the armature upon which a plot and characters are fashioned, expands to fill a universe. The book becomes a detective story; a psychological thriller; a rather self-referential critique – almost polemical attack -- of literary criticism; an exploration of the elusiveness of history and unreliability of memory; and a romp of imagination built on what seems to be a shaky foundation of finding out which of two dead and now stuffed parrots is the authentic former pet of the author of Madame Bovary. When I chose to read this book, I had no idea nor expectation that it would be so rich, so profound, so. . .admit it, Limelite. . .all over the place!
Silly me, when the mood for hunting out a little gem of a book is upon me, I’m hoping for a quiet “parlor” read, not a ballroom book, and certainly not a palace of possibilities. Yet, like the Tardis, so many little gems deceive this expectant reader by seeming small and sedate on the outside (even their covers are usually deceptive) while inside, once I begin reading them, they expand to be as big as a Viking epic or multi-generational, takes-place-on-5-continents family saga.
The lagniappe of the small book is the lure. And I am invariably happy to be hooked by such little gems.
Other Little Gems I’ve Loved
Remains of the Day Kasuo Ishiguro
Waiting Ha Jin
Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson
The Samurai’s Garden Gail Tsukiyama
Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote
Hôtel du Lac Anita Brookner
A River Runs Through It Norman MacLean
In the Wake Per Petterson
The Catcher in the Rye J D Salinger
Little Bee Chris Cleave
Please let us know you favorite little gems in the comments below.
e-Readers & Book Lovers Club
I am looking for a host who will lead the discussion of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth as many R&BLers want that to be our next read and the individual who I thought might do it is having second thoughts due to time conflict, among other reasons. It is not necessary that you read the novel on an e-reader. So, if you think you’d like to go from Follower to Contributor in one (two or three – unlike the topical books of this diary, it’s a long novel) easy diary, please indicate your willingness in a message to me. I’d appreciate hearing from any intrepid soul! Thanks in advance.
The next meeting of the e-Readers & Book Lovers Club will take place Nov. 17th at 2:00 PM (ET) -- MAYBE -- as it’s in the middle of Miami Book Fair International week. Perhaps, the post will appear instead on Thanksgiving Day, as a digestif or appetizer, depending on what time of day you enjoy your feast.
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM (intermittent) |
The Magic Theater |
ArkDem14 |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
7:00 PM |
Monday Murder Mystery |
Susan from 29 |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00 PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
FRI |
10:00 PM (first of month) |
Monthly Bookposts |
AdmiralNaismith |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
Other than that, nothing's happening.