Today, 6 November, marks a year since I started The Brooknerian. I shall celebrate, I think, with a weak tisane.
The much-loved Backlisted podcast ( here ) returns with a 'lockdown' episode that includes a lot of Anita Brookner talk. Prompted by discussion about Hotel du Lac , never the most representative Brookner, the chat meanders pleasantly on to the potential for compiling an Anita Brookner 'Top Ten'. At a loose end myself, though this week at the chalkface entertaining the children of keyworkers, I considered the question myself. I'm sure there are similar such lists elsewhere on this blog - I forget, and I don't particularly want to consult them anyhow. Of course, Brookner - like Henry James, like Trollope, indeed like many prolific authors - passed through phases. Brookner's novels, I contend, fall into three, neatly divided by the decades she wrote in: the raw, vital 80s; the settled magisterial 90s; the bleak, experimental 2000s. A Brookner novel from the 80s seems very different from any of her final works - just as 'James I', 'James II' ...
Hello. Good evening and happy anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI would like to express my gratitude and delight in discovering this blog completely dedicated to Anita Brookner and her works. I'm always fascinated to meet another Anita Brookner's avid fan. I thoroughly enjoy your insightful reviews about her novels.
I've always wondered what Anita Brookner's handwriting looks like. Apart from her signature on the special signed editions of her novels, I never came across her handwriting until one day (thanks to The London Library's blog), I saw her writing on the library membership form from 1968. I expected her handwriting to be old-fashioned form of cursive writing. But it's actually rounded, beautiful and neat handwriting. She talked about writing her novels in longhand in the Paris Interview. The link to her handwriting is as follows in case you haven't seen it before. http://blog.londonlibrary.co.uk/?p=14391
One of these days, I would very much like to see a clip of her interpretation of a famous painting Self portrait with Her Daughter, 1789 by Madame Vigée-Le Brun. It will be in the BBC archive for the programme "One Hundred Great Paintings". There are other same clips available except the one with Anita Brookner. Perhaps, one day BBC will broadcast this old programme or bring out a DVD. Here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00b6yh5
Thank you so much once again for this unique blog dedicated to this exceptional writer whose novels have dazzled so many readers.
Many thanks for your comments. Her handwriting is certainly distinctive, but often hard to read, as I think she acknowledged. The 100 Great Paintings programme is one I'd love to see. I think the BFI hold a copy of the tape, so I may one day pay them a visit. Thanks again. Always good to encounter fellow readers.
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