@internrachel, @julia1
I just finished Willa Cather’s THE SONG OF THE LARK (313 pages). I’ve been reading a lot of Cather, and this kind of slots in as not-my-favourite (My Antonia) but also not-my-least-favourite (Sapphira and the Slave Girl). I read somewhere that she really liked and was initially influenced by James, and in some ways I thought this was a little Jamesian – I guess because elements of the story reminded me of The Portrait of a Lady, and the idea of the narrative following the growth of a young woman. But in other ways, it’s very distinctly Cather: about a young girl growing up in the country with a talent for singing, and finding her way in the world as an artist, and developing her talent. I think that’s what makes it so good – Cather can write about cities (part of the book are set in Chicago and New York) but she writes particularly well about small towns, such as the one which most of the book is set in, Moonstone. Definitely worth reading.
I think book club is nearly over so I’m just going to toss it out there that I’ve read 8 pages of GENDER TROUBLE. I realise this isn’t really anything to brag about because I’m pretty sure there are a few people who have read the whole thing this summer but there should probably be some Butler equation for pages where it counts for more, no? But seriously it was interesting, albeit dense – at least so far.