london 17C cloudy thursday 2019
i have just been to brunswick centre, russell square, for the annual greek party there. they do it every year it seems, though this is the first time i been there.
as you can expect it is very crowded, the queue stretched 3 , 4 deep in the main concourse, and people were queue cutting, but there was so much food, with 4 separate areas dishing out the food, that everyone can get to eat. and they have a stage set up where they entertain the people with greek dancing and stuff. it is a greek affair. i heard it is paid for by greek brothers who own the freehold of the businesses there. it is rather nice of them to do it, most probably it publicises the place, and brings people into that shopping area. the food is pasta, with hommous, taramasalata , salad, a cooked chicken thigh, a kebab like sausage, a quite a lot of it. and orange juice, or coke, or beer. it is surprising that it has been going on for years and i have not known about it before.
usually summer brings on lots of these local fairs, but they dont give free food, unlike this one. so this one must be unique.
i thought i had other pictures of the people and the food tables but it did not come out.
i have discovered a good read, circe, by madeline miller. it is very well written and a enjoyable read. which is rather a compensation for some disappointing summer novels that i have been trying to get through.
i am thinking of celia imrie’s latest book about the riviera, a nice cup of tea. its about expats living in Nice, and things that happen to them or that they make happen. Reading them, i begin to realise that there are only a limited amount of plot and things to cook up, and in the end, it really relies on how well you can write.
alexander mccall smith does these things very well, he had two of these european novels, which i have finished and the plot is very slim but he can get away with it because of his writing style.
with celia imrie, she hasn’t got that feel- good style, where it does not matter what the plot is, because if she can evoke that feeling of europe, the sundrenched carefree feeling with hints of romance and intrigue in the air,which everyone feels would happen when they go on holiday to europe, france or italy, but which never tips over to being malicious, or dangerous, and everything resolved satisfactorily at the end of the book, it makes for a nice formula to these kinds of summer novels.
as it is, i find it quite a struggle to finish the novel, because i find i just could not be bothered with the things that happen to her characters. so i am real glad that there was circe, by madeline miller.
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Tags: books, brunswick centre, circe, free
I think there has to be a plot or character arc to make you want to keep reading a novel, no matter how entertaining the writing is!
they all have plot or character arc, otherwise there is no novel. but it has to be good,or rather it has to be plot and character that i find interesting; if i dont care for the plot or the characters i would abandon the book; otherwise will it keep u reading if the writing style is just horrible? the opposite applies for me at least. i know of alexander mccall smiths novels where the writing style keeps me reading it, rather than the plot. esp in his most recent novel, about europe, specifically tuscany,my italian bulldozer, and france. the second worst restaurant in france. his is a easy to read style.
talking of plot and character arc making you want to read a novel, that is true of murder mysteries, where u want to continue reading it to find out who did it. perhaps that explains why murder is so popular.
but what other examples can you think of where plot and character is so strong that it can overcome poor writing style? to me, if the style is bad, i just cannot go on and will abandon that book. i am trying to think of a novel where the plot and character is so interesting that i continue to read it even though the writing style is difficult but i cannot think of any at the moment.