Making it Up As I Go

My count is actually a book behind, I finished An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde a week or so ago, and never posted about it. I’ve read it before, I’ll read it again, it’s wonderful, you should read it if you haven’t. Oscar Wilde cracks me up, and his character descriptions are amazing.

Right now I’m reading A Factory of Cunning by Philippa Stockley, a book that Amazon’s recommendations convinced me to buy. I think their whole recommendation thing is neat, so I’ve rated tons of items in the pursuit of the best recommendations they can give me. Considering that the little Library of Congress categories in the front cover include: London- History- 18th Century- Aristocracy- Scandal- Revenge, I’d say those rating thingies work pretty well.

The little blurbs I read about the book compared it to Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which is one of my favorite books of all time. What they didn’t say, and which I clued into once I started reading- is that this is supposed to be a sequel to Les Liaisons. The concept is intriguing, and the story is clever so far, there’s only one problem. The main character, who is the Marquise de Merteuil in hiding, doesn’t sound one whit like the Marquise. The voice is all wrong. Perhaps that’s petty, and that’s not to say that I’m not enjoying her character or her voice, it’s just not the same. But that’s what comes of reading Les Liaisons more than 50 times I guess.

I am enjoying the book very much so far, Stockley has concocted a scenario quite fitting for my dear Marquise, and the characters that surround her make up for the lack of the Vicomte, who of course, could not make an appearance in this book.

Current total: 32
Just finished: An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
Currently Reading: A Factory of Cunning by Philippa Stockley