1% Well-Read: Tipping the Velvet

I didn't like it. Well, maybe that's not the full story - I did like it, but not in a "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" sort of way. It was fun and jaunty and sexy, but not challenging or significantly enlightening. I read books of a similar caliber every week; they are the bread-and-butter of my reading habit. I can take a stack back to the library and feel happy to have read each one, but certainly not feel changed or that groping loss that comes with the end of a book you can't put down. So perhaps that's where I should leave it ... I was happy to have read Sarah Waters' Tipping the Velvet, but I did not find it all-consuming. I did begin from a patently unfair starting point - I made the mistake of reading the review blurbs on the cover, and some comparison was made to Jeanette Winterson (After all, one British lesbian novelist is the same as another, no?), and I love Jeanette Winterson. Although Ms. Waters can tell a compelling story, her prose is not lyrical. And although I said I should leave it, I just have to add that I found the theme of salvation through a good woman, working class community and just causes to be tedious. The only stereotype left unjustified was sensible shoes. I liked the heroine, Kitty Butler, more when she was a kept dandy. So there.

With that said if I come across more of Ms. Waters' work, particularly Fingersmith, I would certainly pick it up. Of course, it would feed my crime-novel/mystery habit, but I make no apologies for that now.

The 1% Well-Read Challenge is almost over, and I honestly do not know if I will finish. So many books to read, and so little time! Regardless, I will probably sign up for the next challenge; at the very least it gives me fodder for posting, and a continued excuse for more reading past my bed-time.