Finished reading 'Hungry Hill' and 'The parasites' by Du Maurier. None of them as fine as Rebecca, Jamaica Inn or My cousin Rachel, I have to say. Hungry Hill seemed to have got out of the author's grasp. The story of 4 generations of a family, owners of a coal mine in Ireland. But it looked as if Du Maurier had got tired of it, sometimes, and hop! jump in time. Especially after a character dying. Hop! Jump again! Too many family members dying young, in tragic and perfectly avoidable circumstances.


The second book, The Parasites, dealt with another family, of the artistic type, which were much more amusing and frivolous. But although we got to know a lot about them, they still looked a bit flat to me. The characters did not step out of the book and had a life of their own. None of the two books gets hold of you as Rebecca does, for example. I think it is because of the lack of mistery. Ms Du Maurier was at her best writing about misterious characters and situations. They do not take place in Cornwall, either, which is a shame, because Du Maurier was also at her best when placing her characters in that charming county.


After finishing those two, I went back to the Library for more. And whooops! there were none there. Somebody else must be having a Du Maurier phase. Which is all right but annoying to me. I had to interrupt the flow of reading and get something else. I tried with Patricia Highsmith and borrowed four books from the Library. I am now reading Ripley under water, which I read some years ago but hey! that Tom Ripley is so lovable and it makes great compulsive reading.
Not only books from the Library..but a video tape. This time is Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev. There were horror screams from Slippery Kitten when seeing it was another Tarkovsky, ha ha haaa!!


Acabe de leer Hungry Hill y The Parasites, de Daphne du Maurier. Ninguno de los dos llega al nivel de Rebeca, Jamaica Inn o My cousin Rachel. Los dos libros son historias de familias. La de Hungry Hill son propietarios de una mina en Irlanda y seguimos las peripecias de 4 generaciones. Parece que la autora se aburria con sus personajes y con la historia, porque la narrativa da innumerables saltos en el tiempo. Especialmente despues de la muerte de algun personaje. Siempre mueren jovenes y de la manera mas tragica y facil de evitar. Como decia antes, me parece que la autora se aburria y se dedico a matar a sus personajes para acabar cuanto antes. En The Parasites nos encontramos con otra familia, esta del ambiente artistico. Algo mas divertidos y mucho mas frivolos que los de Hungry Hill. Aqui tenemos mas tiempo para profundizar en los personajes..pero no funciona. Por mucho que sepamos de ellos, no tienen relieve. No cobran vida. Lastima, ninguno de los dos libros tiene la fuerza de Rebeca, por ejemplo. Quiza es porque Du Maurier no explota ninguna situacion misteriosa y la accion no tiene lugar en Cornwall, el condado donde la autora residia y cuyas descripciones forjan el caracter de Rebeca y Jamaica Inn.


Volvi a la biblioteca para continuar leyendo mas Du Maurier pero no quedaba ni uno. Alguien mas debe estar pasando por una 'fase du Maurier'. Que me parece muy bien, pero me ha fastidiado bastante, ya que no puedo seguir en la misma atmosfera de lectura. Para intentar seguir en la misma onda, tome prestados unos 4 libros de Patricia Highsmith. Ahora mismo estoy leyendo Ripley under water, que ya lei hace unos anios. No hay quien se resista a la lectura compulsiva de Tom el anti-heroe. Y no solo libros tome prestados, sino Andrei Rublev en video, de Andrei Tarkovsky. Gritos de terror de Slippery Kitten al ver otro Tarkovsky en casa...


Last but not least, our weather :
Cloudy
18°C
UV Index: 1 Minimal
Wind: From the South Southwest at 17 mph
Dew Point: 16°C
Humidity: 85%
Visibility: Unlimited
Barometer: 1,016.3 mb