Two catastrophes

Firstly, appologies for silence, now remedied by John. The trouble is, I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say about both the Blue Flower and Catastrophe, beyond the overall impression.

I enjoyed the Blue Flower because I found it well written and a compelling evocation of time and place. Characters are indeed sketchy, but I was involved in their fates by the end, though that took time to achieve. The betrothal was totally unbelievable, but happened, so whether Fitzgerald is at fault here or not it is hard to say. This is typical P Fitzgerald, so if you don’t like her style, don’t bother with anything else. I think Fritz left Sophie because like many men he can’t do the difficult stuff and believed that walking away is an option. That I found only too believable. Women don’t believe that and hence carry the burden of emotional housekeeping in most families. I shall plan to reread it for the context and to try to understand the philosophy, which passed me by this time.

Catastrophe was very good of its type. It was a bit too much like the day job for me, which is why I kept putting it off, but once started I had no trouble finishing. I am recommending it to people and will put it on reading lists.

Hope you summer choice is more cheerful Valerie – no pressure.