A Keeper of Sheep - William Carpenter

I picked this one up in the Oxfam bookshop because of the intriguing title, and didn't put it down again because of the even more intriguing name of the main character: "Penguin Solstice".

This is a gentle book about harsh subjects, which is largely a coming-of-age story about a radical know-it-all young woman learning to relate to other people as she becomes drawn into the life of a composer dying of AIDS. She starts the story with a strong belief in following her conscience at all costs, which initially leads her to attempt to burn down a frat house where a woman was raped. To some extent her later experiences strengthen her convictions - she finds herself once again struggling against those in a position of power as she defends her neighbour's right to stay within their small community and fights to prevent the environmental destruction threatened by calls to spray pesticide on the local marshland. However, she is also forced to appreciate that there can be more than one side to a story, and that often there is no clear-cut "right" choice that can be made without painful consequences.

I liked this book - I liked the calm clarity of the writing and the nuanced characterisation, and I liked the value it put on humanity, truth, and art. Somehow I didn't quite love it though, although I'm not entirely sure why - perhaps because so many of the relationships described in the book are tentative or incomplete in some way.

Why Concealed Beauties?

So what is this supposed to be exactly? To be honest I'm not sure - I haven't even decided yet whether I want other people to read what I'm writing or whether this is just an electronic addition to my pile of personal notebooks... I have kept notes for a few years now on library books and books borrowed from friends, as a way of remembering what I've read. While checking the name of a book recently, I stumbled across Outside of a Dog and it made me realise that a book log was a natural fit for this medium, so I decided to give it a go myself. Having decided to create a blog I first had to name it, and although I was aware I'd never find a title as apt as that one, I was determined to find something more inspiring than just calling it by my name... After a quick search I came up with this quote by Joseph Addison:

"A true critic ought to dwell rather upon excellencies than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation."

... and although I do not aspire to "literary criticism", this does accurately reflect my initial intention of keeping notes to remind myself of writing that had made an impression on me.

Since then I've also discovered another quote by Addison along similar lines:

"It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others."

So with that in mind I have created this as a place to record my impressions of what I read (and probably also of things I watch, hear & experience generally!)