Ah, yes,...we all know what it's like to be too busy to enjoy the things we like, don't we? Life seems to come at us going 100 miles an hour and, sometimes, all we can do is go with the flow and know it will let up...eventually. This is what my life feels like for about nine months out of the year, even though I love what I do. But summer? Ah, summer is another story...
Since school let out (in case you don't know, I'm a teacher), I've been very busy in the most fun sort of ways, but it's actually prevented me from reading as much as I would like. I've been traveling and visiting with friends and, when I'm home, we've been working on renovating two rooms at our house. While I enjoy doing all these things, it's left me less summertime reading than usual. (Yes, even the traveling...because I'm busy enjoying the sights and sounds and the people that surround me.)
I say all this to say, I have just finished Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel. I can't tell you the last time it took me over two weeks to read a novel - especially one I really enjoy! Normally, I would be upset about not finding enough time to read, but the fact that I've been having too much fun to read,...well, I can't complain about that, now, can I? I've also been spending time writing, which is something I need to do. Too busy to read? Well, yes, but...wait until I tell you what I discovered about My Cousin Rachel by having to read it in bits and pieces. (See? I'm always learning something...)
What I discovered, from taking so long to read this Daphne du Maurier novel, is the same thing I already knew from her other stories I read quickly: She is an excellent writer. I know, you're thinking, "Duh. It's Daphne du Maurier. This is your discovery?" But, you see, there's a difference in enjoying a book in a few sittings, when you're absorbed in the story and briefly hold the thread of it in your mind, and holding on to a story for long periods of time while living the rest of your life, especially when you read as many books as I do.
When I was able to pick up My Cousin Rachel here and there, I never had to reread and remind myself where I was in the story. The story and the characters stuck with me. There is a great deal of depth to this author's writing, and there are many layers to what she says in one passage. It is why the story stayed with me, no matter how long I needed to put it down between readings.
Forgive me for how I am about to say this as bluntly as I think it in my mind: It is wonderfully refreshing to read a realistic fiction story with substance. It's a mystery without a damn detective. It hints at things that are deeply sinister without ever saying exactly what they are, leaving it to your own imagination. It's romance and passion without detailed sex scenes. It's witty banter between intelligent characters without some whiny female who needs to be rescued.
In other words, when Daphne du Maurier wrote, she trusted that her readers would not be idiots. She doesn't spell out everything, but she writes it in a way to make you think and know. I have many passages marked just for how well she turns a phrase, and she has a way of describing a scene succinctly without going on and on for pages and you know that the descriptions have meaning, as well. The reader is given just enough, but never too much.
I love this book. And I don't say that as often as you'd think. There are too many books I read that are just too superficial and shallow to even comment on. And, sadly, many of them are YA, which is probably why more and more middle school children don't like to read very much. Children may not always know what they like, until you help them find it, but they certainly know what bores them. (Okay, I'll drop that train of thought for now...because I could go on and on and...)
I'll sum it up this way, if you're a thinking reader (and, yes, there are readers out there who don't think about what they read), you can't go wrong with Daphne du Maurier. I can't imagine the woman wrote anything I wouldn't love. I intend on finding out, as I will continue to sprinkle in her novels throughout my reading journey. By doing so, I know I'll always have substance in my reading diet. And we all need that.
Happy reading!
Since school let out (in case you don't know, I'm a teacher), I've been very busy in the most fun sort of ways, but it's actually prevented me from reading as much as I would like. I've been traveling and visiting with friends and, when I'm home, we've been working on renovating two rooms at our house. While I enjoy doing all these things, it's left me less summertime reading than usual. (Yes, even the traveling...because I'm busy enjoying the sights and sounds and the people that surround me.)
I say all this to say, I have just finished Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel. I can't tell you the last time it took me over two weeks to read a novel - especially one I really enjoy! Normally, I would be upset about not finding enough time to read, but the fact that I've been having too much fun to read,...well, I can't complain about that, now, can I? I've also been spending time writing, which is something I need to do. Too busy to read? Well, yes, but...wait until I tell you what I discovered about My Cousin Rachel by having to read it in bits and pieces. (See? I'm always learning something...)What I discovered, from taking so long to read this Daphne du Maurier novel, is the same thing I already knew from her other stories I read quickly: She is an excellent writer. I know, you're thinking, "Duh. It's Daphne du Maurier. This is your discovery?" But, you see, there's a difference in enjoying a book in a few sittings, when you're absorbed in the story and briefly hold the thread of it in your mind, and holding on to a story for long periods of time while living the rest of your life, especially when you read as many books as I do.
When I was able to pick up My Cousin Rachel here and there, I never had to reread and remind myself where I was in the story. The story and the characters stuck with me. There is a great deal of depth to this author's writing, and there are many layers to what she says in one passage. It is why the story stayed with me, no matter how long I needed to put it down between readings.
Forgive me for how I am about to say this as bluntly as I think it in my mind: It is wonderfully refreshing to read a realistic fiction story with substance. It's a mystery without a damn detective. It hints at things that are deeply sinister without ever saying exactly what they are, leaving it to your own imagination. It's romance and passion without detailed sex scenes. It's witty banter between intelligent characters without some whiny female who needs to be rescued.
In other words, when Daphne du Maurier wrote, she trusted that her readers would not be idiots. She doesn't spell out everything, but she writes it in a way to make you think and know. I have many passages marked just for how well she turns a phrase, and she has a way of describing a scene succinctly without going on and on for pages and you know that the descriptions have meaning, as well. The reader is given just enough, but never too much.
I love this book. And I don't say that as often as you'd think. There are too many books I read that are just too superficial and shallow to even comment on. And, sadly, many of them are YA, which is probably why more and more middle school children don't like to read very much. Children may not always know what they like, until you help them find it, but they certainly know what bores them. (Okay, I'll drop that train of thought for now...because I could go on and on and...)
I'll sum it up this way, if you're a thinking reader (and, yes, there are readers out there who don't think about what they read), you can't go wrong with Daphne du Maurier. I can't imagine the woman wrote anything I wouldn't love. I intend on finding out, as I will continue to sprinkle in her novels throughout my reading journey. By doing so, I know I'll always have substance in my reading diet. And we all need that.Happy reading!
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