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Notes -
So, what are you reading?
I'm reading some Sherlock Holmes stories. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel impressed that these stories were ever written at all.
I'm reading A.J. Cronin's first novel, Hatter's Castle. The story of how he wrote this novel has stuck with me forever. From wikipedia:
"In 1930 Cronin was diagnosed with a chronic duodenal ulcer and told to take six months' complete rest in the country on a milk diet. At Dalchenna Farm by Loch Fyne he was finally able to indulge a lifelong desire to write a novel, having previously "written nothing but prescriptions and scientific papers." From Dalchenna Farm he travelled to Dumbarton to research the background of his first novel, using files from Dumbarton Library, which still has a letter from him requesting advice. He composed Hatter's Castle in the span of three months and quickly had it accepted by Gollancz, the only publisher to which he submitted it, apparently after his wife had randomly stuck a pin in a list of publishers. It was an immediate success and launched Cronin's career as a prolific author. He never returned to medicine."
Man I wish I could do that myself. And this coming year, I'll be the same age that Cronin was in 1930. So anything is possible I guess. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I have an ulcer forming.
Anyway. I'm a big Cronin fan. Writing in 1930, he wrote like it was 1870 - he really comes off as quite ridiculous if you compare him with contemporaries like Fitzgerald or Hemingway, he's much closer to someone like Wilkie Collins - but you can get into the flow of his prose after a while. He was quite good at his very dated style. (And he did get much more modern later in his career.) The Judas Tree, Keys of the Kingdom, The Citadel, all are thrilling, moving, well-plotted books. And furthermore: while Cronin's novels share a ton of elements with each other - there's always a doctor, there are always Scots, there are usually Dickensian parental figures who you want to sock in the face the entire time - he does not recycle endings. Some end with pure tragedy, some end up with happiness for all involved. So this does make reading Hatter's Castle very exciting. The titular hatter, James Brodie, is one of the most unrelentingly evil people I've encountered in several years, so I'm looking forward to Cronin telling me how he got that way, and hopefully to seeing him get his richly deserved comeuppance at some point. But the terrible thing is, Cronin being Cronin, Brodie might win. If nothing else you know he's at least gonna take some of the nice characters down with him.
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