A Light Read

I've read quite a few of Maeve Binchy's books over the years. One that I remember is the very thick and hardbound Scarlet Feather. The other notable one is her first book, Light a Penny Candle. And I've just finished reading Quentins.

For some reason, feel a unity with the quaintness of her books. It is about Ireland and Irish people, in a small part of the world, but which is touched nevertheless by the changes that are occurring globally. I like her easy language and narration, the simple stories she tells. I admire her work for the connection it makes with the everyday life of everyday people.

Maeve Binchy has parallels with the world of the woman writer. She is comfortable with the family lives of family people, with the small worries and tensions, about parents and children, about friends and cousins.

Another interest I've noticed in her work is in the catering and restaurant business. She describes the whole operation of running a restaurant with such ease that it looks like she has had some in depth knowledge and experience in that field.

Most of all it looks like she enjoys describing the catering operations to the core.

Admired Sri Lankan Writer

Reef, by Romesh Gunesekera, the Sri Lankan writer, is one of the most beautifully written books I've evr read. It is small, yet detailed and subtle. Every word evoked the Sri Lankan land and seascape. The descriptions of the surrounding vegetation, and of the food, which was a focal point, was real.

The words are precise, and not superfluous. Just the way a book should be written.

Triton worked as a cook for Ranjan Salgado, who researched the sea. Nili came to live with Salgado. Friends and parties happened. Then Salgado and Nini quarelled, and split.

Salgado and Triton went to London. Salgado returned to Sri Lanka hearing that Nili was in a sanatorium. Triton stayed back and worked at his own restaurant.

Throughout the book, there was a lot of interwoven description about the Sri Lankan insurgency. But nowhere was there any jerky movements in the pace of the novel. Everything was smooth and believable.