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Alex C [Literary & Translated Fiction]

@amatterofimagination

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Women writers with teeth - classics, translated, and literary fiction + the odd unfashionable opinion.
Slow reading, no yearly goals/challenges.

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I am currently making my way through Middlemarch by George Eliot so I was inspired to share some love for the classics.

#classicliterature #readingadvice #classicbooks #readtheclassics #classicsforbeginners by @amatterofimagination

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2 months ago

I am about to do something scary(ish?) - no, no. No ish. It’s proper scary.

Let me set the scene. I tend to start a lot of projects I never finish because I want results quickly and I give up when I get bored. This is how I ended up knowing a little bit of everything - hand sewing, photography, painting, Swahili (don’t ask), whatever. But I don’t want to give up Bookstagram. I came here for a reason. Not for numbers, or to be an influencer, or to monetise anything (although if anyone’s listening, I won’t say no to free books 👀), the plan was simply to build a community and find people with similar tastes to talk about books I love or people with different tastes to learn about new books.

So, last week I bought a book. Nothing new, I do it way too much. But this book is special. It’s big, it’s rumoured to be difficult, it’s intimidating, and - because I haven’t been intimidated by a book in a very long time - it’s also super exciting. I want to take my time and really savour it.
When I was showing it to friends and family, the reaction was always the same.
First a “look” (is she okay?) and a “wow” (nope, she definitely isn’t), then the questions - how long do you think it will take you? Do you think you’ll even stick with it? What if it’s boring? What if it’s too challenging? Will you let us know how it goes?
So I thought…

Yes, yes I will. I will let EVERYONE know how it goes, including you, my Bookstagram friends. Not only will I be accountable to someone to actually go through with it and not abandon yet another project, but I’ll also have a reason to come back to this page and post something, so that’s two projects that I’ll keep on top of. (But no, I won’t make my whole content about it, there will still be plenty of other books along the way)
And if you stick around, you’ll get to see not just what I read and how much of this book, but also the research rabbit holes it will throw me into, the behind the scenes, the questions it brings up (and whether I will find or even need an answer), and so on. In short, it won’t be just about the content I read, but also about the act of reading itself.

#thedeepread #readingproject #guessthebook by @amatterofimagination

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2 months ago

I don’t think there’s a “right way” to be a reader, it’s such a personal thing. This is how I approach it, what would make it onto your manifesto?

[🏷️reading manifesto, reading habits, bookish community] by @amatterofimagination

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2 months ago

Our first book stop on our Wales trip was at @bookishcrickhowell in their Abergavenny shop and, friends, if you’re in the area, this stop is a MUST.

The shop is really cute and very well stocked (I genuinely admire how many books they’ve managed to fit in a small-ish space and still have it look organised and intentional), so it would’ve already been a successful stop, without the people there being so charming and warm and welcoming. We arrived at a great time because my husband picked a Tolkien book just as Emma, the bookshop owner, came in and shared some amazing stories about local areas that have inspired Tolkien, plus a few other local gems to visit. So the walks and sightseeing for tomorrow is already planned.

And the cherry on the cake is that I found some great books that I’ve been meaning to read, so all in all, very happy.

Books in the photo are:
- Hunger & Thirst, by Claire Fuller
- Station Eleven, by Emily St John Mandel
- Exit Party, by Emily St John Mandel
- The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
- 10 minutes and 38 seconds, by Elif Shafak
- In One Brief Moment All Eternity, by Elif Shafak

#bookishtrip #walesroadtrip #elifshafak #emilystjohnmandel #literaryfiction by @amatterofimagination

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3 days ago

I can’t remember how many times I’ve read this book in the 20 years since I’ve first discovered it, but I think it’s the first, or maybe the second time I’m reading it in English. I bought this gorgeous edition a while ago, and am very excited about annotating it.

Re-reading a beloved book is like going to visit old friends you haven’t seen in a while, and I am so curious and excited to find out how the story has changed since I last read it a few years ago.

Have you read Anna Karenina before? Or do you have specific books you like to revisit every now and then?

#annakarenina #russianliterature #classicliterature #annotatingbooks by @amatterofimagination

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4 days ago

I don’t vibe with most book clubs, so this was a very fun experiment of the imagination. Only part 1 for now because it took me long enough to think about these 6 books and not choose 10 for each month, so I need a bit of time to shortlist the rest.

What would be on your book club list?

Idea plucked from @realbookishbee comments, where she’s going round giving everyone suggestions for their content, like a marketing Wonder Woman. Thank you ☺️

#bookclub #bookclubpicks #bookrecommendations #literaryfiction #classicliterature by @amatterofimagination

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6 days ago

The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

**Quick catch up for chapters 1-4**

Genji is the sun of an Emperor and is supposedly out of this world gorgeous. His mother died when he was young and he has some very obvious issues stemming from that. He’s an absolute slag and he quite literally gets hot and heavy for every woman he meets. He is 17 and pushed into a politically convenient marriage, but that’s not an obstacle for his libido. He is deeply in love with Fujitsubo (one of the Emperor’s consorts and essentially his step mum) because she reminds him so much of his own mother. In Chapter 4, we left Genji sick and heartbroken after his latest conquest died suddenly and unexpectedly.

**Chapter 5**

If Genji’s voracious lust and tendency to proclaim himself in love with any noble young woman he meets has so far been mildly amusing, this chapter got a much darker turn when 18 year old Genji goes to visit a monk for his mystery illness and ends up obsessed with a 10 year old girl (!!!) he meets. He likes her because he reminds him of Fujitsubo (she’s her niece), who in turns reminds him of his mother (hence the mummy issues). He goes to her grandmother and basically asks her to just hand the child over to him, to which the old woman says “wtf? Absolutely not, you Epstein wannabe” But then the grandmother dies, and Genji kidnaps young Murasaki and takes her to his house, where they live as a couple (nothing explicit is mentioned but heavily implied). He tells her “women must be obedient” and then the narrator ads “and so her education began” which grossed me out so much.
Meanwhile, he still has a cohort of other lovers, one of which is Fujitsubo (his mother’s lookalike) who is now pregnant with his child.
Stay tuned to find out if I can actually get through the next 49 chapters of these shenanigans. 🙃

#thetaleofgenji #deepreading #firstnoveleverwritten #readingupdates #classicliterature by @amatterofimagination

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7 days ago

“I hope You are actually there so that I didn’t spend the first nineteen years of my life talking to myself, but I also hope You’re not there, so I don’t have to hold You to account for all the evil that’s happening, caused by people who think they’re the good ones and have got You on their side.”

This is the prayer 20-year old Jesse says during his first Christmas away from his Jehova’s Witness family, after being shunned.

It’s 2002 and Jesse is waiting to hear back about his HIV-result after being sexually assaulted by a client. From a promising young church member in Black Country to a sex worker in London, Jesse has led a life of doubt, neglect, and grappling with confusing feelings towards other men, including his white stepfather.

Back in the 50s, young Norman and his wife Claudette move from Jamaica to England in hopes of a better life and are disheartened to find poverty and racism.

The two stories exist separately for most of the book (although the connection is obvious) and I found the two narratives disjointed and poorly paced.

Jesse’s story is visceral and raw and uncomfortable, with graphic sex scenes that became repetitive and unnecessary, and numerous instances of both overt and subtle racism. The thing that bothered me the most, though, was the internalised racism that Jesse never really comes to term with. The story touches on some of it very briefly, but never actually dives beneath the surface, a criticism that could apply to quite a few portions of the book. Perhaps it’s an unfair criticism, given that the book is semi-autobiographical, but it did leave me wanting for a bit more depth.

#blackhistorymonthuk #rainbowmilk #paulmendez #bookreview #literaryfiction by @amatterofimagination

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9 days ago

What I’ve been reading this September.

The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu. I started this deep read of what’s believe to be the oldest novel in the world, written by a Japanese woman 1000 years ago. I’m 4.5 chapters in and it’s been fascinating. I’m learning so much about Heian Japan as I go along, and I find it truly mind blowing that I am holding a book that’s a millennia old.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was not what I expected at all. It was at times frustrating, infuriating, but overall delightful. I went in expecting a verbose stuffy classic (probably unfairly so), and instead found a rather camp story with the most dramatic main characters you can imagine.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was heartbreaking in ways I couldn’t possibly express. I couldn’t pick up a book for about a week after I finished that one. Everything seemed too bland and too drab in comparison.

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson was my non fiction this month and it was excellent! I have a separate post about it, but I’ll just say that it’s rare to find a non fiction that moves me so much.

The Fall of The House of Usher and Othe Stories by Edgar Allan Poe pulled me out of my post CNA reading slump. I’ve only read the House of Usher story so far, but this book has quite a few stories and poems, so I’ll be exploring more over the next few weeks.

On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle was my DNF this month. Might just be a soft DNF, because while I thought some of the elements didn’t tie in very well, I was also not in the right mood to give it a chance, and it might deserve to be picked up again.

I also read an ARC called The Birthing Tree by Amanda PetersC who is a Mi’kmaw author and was very excited for it, but it ultimately fell quite flat for me.

What have you been reading in September?

#septemberreads #monthlywrapup #bookrecap by @amatterofimagination

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14 days ago

I’ve had some truly spectacular reading slumps in my life. I think the longest one lasted for months. The best thing I’ve learned is that you can’t force your way out of it.

So these are just some tips to try, but the most important thing to remember is that you need to take the pressure off, remember why reading is fun, and don’t worry about goals and productivity and stats and what others would say about your choice of books.

Share your own tips (and books) that have pulled you out of a reading slump before.

#readingslump #readingadvice #readingtips #whattoread #bookstagramuk by @amatterofimagination

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14 days ago

It’s finally October!! This is my favourite month of the year and it’s not just because it’s my birthday (yes, I love growing old). But it’s the first true autumn month, when days get shorter, nature explodes with these gorgeous shades of red and orange, and nothing beats a rainy evening by the fireplace with a good book.

So, what reading mood do you think you’re going for this October? I tend to oscillate between them, but particularly love a good classic or a dark academia/gothic novel.

Let me know what you’re going for this month and drop your favourite seasonal reads in the comments.

#autumnreading #booksforfallseason🎉❄️ #darkacademia #classicliterature by @amatterofimagination

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17 days ago

Some of my favourite books to read are the ones that explore what happens when women become isolated, whether from society, from their families, or even from themselves.

Titles mentioned
- Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
- Circe, by Madeline Miller
- Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson
- The Vegetarian, by Han Kang
- Death in Her Hands, by Ottessa Moshfegh
- Our Wives Under the Sea, by Julia Armfield
- I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Brontë
- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

What would you add to the list?

#bookrecommendations #womenwriters #femaleisolation #classicliterature by @amatterofimagination

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18 days ago