In order to take it easy today I determined to stay indoors and not be tempted outside. This was not expected to be difficult because it was supposed to rain all day. Although the skies remained overcast, there was very little rain.
Helen paid us a visit this morning, and we exchanged our respective news.
Much of the rest of the day I spent dozing and reading.
Aharon Appelfeld, who died earlier this year, was an Israeli author who, as a survivor of the Holocaust, focussed on the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. His novel ‘The Age of Wonders’, which I finished reading this afternoon, is a beautifully written narrative from the perspective of a twelve year old boy. As usual, I will not reveal the story, save to say that the work offers a gradual realisation of the pre-war build-up of alienation of Austrian Jews.
The writing is simply fluid and full of excellent lyrical descriptions.
A most apt recurring motif is the family train journeys from 1937. This is reflected in Nancy Lawton’s jacket illustration for my David R Godine publication of 1981.
The beauty of Appelfeld’s prose has been successfully rendered by the translation from Dalya Bilu.
My supermarket prepared meal this evening was a rather good chicken tikka masala from Tesco