Penelope, Penelope, Penelope, my love for you runs deep.

After reading three of your works - "Offshore", "The Beginning of Spring", and "The Bookshop" - I find myself in a bittersweet position.

"Offshore" was an absolute delight, a true pleasure to read. It had that certain charm that made me fall in love with your writing from the start.

However, "The Beginning of Spring" didn't quite do it for me. I just didn't care for it as much, but my love for you remained unchanged.

And now, after finishing "The Bookshop", I have to admit that while it had some flashes of the wonderful Penelope I adored in "Offshore", it lost its momentum in the middle and end.

I will always treasure "Offshore" and the trade and craft that went into it. It will always hold a special place in my heart.

But the other novellas, I'm sorry to say, just seemed to drag on. The writing was respectful, but the stories lacked the spark and energy that I was hoping for.

Please don't be too disappointed, Penelope. I still love you and your work. I'm just ready to move on to other things.

RIP Penelope Fitzgerald. Your soul and your books will always be remembered. I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to read your work and have it enrich my life.

Thank you for "Offshore". It was a true gem and I will always cherish it.

Warmly, Troy Farlow.

Three and a half stars.

Perhaps I may be at a disadvantage not being a Brit, but "The Gate of Angels" was truly a genuine slice of history and was very readable nonetheless. I will be engaging in a discussion about this book with two Brits, so I am really looking forward to hearing their insights.

I read "The Blue Flower" eons ago, and at this point, the details are rather fuzzy. However, I do recall having a great appreciation for the book.

For now, I think I will skip "The Bookshop," but it will likely find its way onto my To Be Read (TBR) pile in the future.

Overall, these books seem to offer unique perspectives and stories that are worth exploring further. I'm excited to see what more I can discover through these literary works.

It will be interesting to compare my own thoughts and interpretations with those of the two Brits when we discuss "The Gate of Angels."

And perhaps when I eventually get around to reading "The Bookshop," it will provide yet another engaging and thought-provoking experience.

Reread The Bookshop. 1/29/17

Today, on January 29th, 2017, I decided to reread The Bookshop. This remarkable book has always held a special place in my heart. As I turned the pages once again, I was immediately drawn into its enchanting world. The story unfolds with vivid descriptions and engaging characters that come to life on the page.

Rereading The Bookshop allows me to discover new details and nuances that I might have missed during my first reading. It's like uncovering hidden treasures within its words. The author's writing style is so captivating that it keeps me hooked from beginning to end.

This time around, I find myself more deeply invested in the characters' lives and their struggles. I can feel their emotions as if I were a part of the story. The Bookshop truly has the power to transport readers to another time and place, making it a truly unforgettable reading experience.

I'm looking forward to continuing my reread and seeing where this literary adventure takes me.

The Blue Flower is a captivating historical novel set in Jena, Prussia, and its surrounding areas during the late 18th century. It delves into the themes of German romantic philosophy and inconvenient love. The story revolves around Friedrich (Fritz) von Hardenberg, a Romantic era poet known as Novalis, and his love for Sophie von Kuhn. Fritz meets Sophie while training to manage the family's salt works in Saxony. Sadly, Sophie succumbs to a liver abscess as a complication of pulmonary tuberculosis, having endured multiple operations without anesthesia. Fritz also dies young, a few years later, from cystic fibrosis.
Fritz's family initially disapproves of the relationship due to Sophie's lack of education and social status, especially as she is only twelve years old at the time. However, Sophie's bravery eventually wins them over to some extent. The title's blue flower holds symbolic meanings such as transcendence, yearning, and passion, as seen in Fritz's novel fragment Heinrich von Ofterdingen.
Penelope Fitzgerald's own life and experiences are also relevant to the story. After spending years looking after her family, she had to prioritize her writing aspirations. Her works mirror the Romantic period's military background and artistic innovations. The book's presentation of Novalis's attitude towards women is related to Fitzgerald's own experiences of misogyny.
The Romantic period, which began around 1798 and lasted until 1837, was marked by social changes such as the French Revolution, industrialization, and colonialism. There was a growing awareness of the value of pursuing self-fulfilling goals, as well as the widespread destructiveness of European wars. The Blue Flower captures the ethereal qualities of the Romantic era's literature, with evocative descriptions and foreshadowing.
Overall, The Blue Flower is a plea for sympathy, courage, and understanding. It demonstrates pity and kindness, and its exploration of the Romantic period and its themes continues to resonate today.

Additionally, there are other books in the library that cover the topic in further detail, such as Magnificent rebels: the first romantics and the invention of the self by Andrea Wulf and Jena 1800: the republic of free spirits by Peter Neumann.

The story of Fritz von Hardenberg and Sophie von Kuhn is a tragic yet beautiful one, and The Blue Flower brings it to life in a vivid and engaging way.

My new favorite author!

Somehow, an inner voice told me that I had to read "The Blue Flower" (TBF). However, when I went to the library, their copy was already checked out. But as fate would have it, they had a volume that contained three novels, and TBF was one of them. It was truly a stroke of luck for me.

After reading TBF, I was left in a bit of a quandary. Was it tragic? Funny? Or perhaps both? Or maybe it was just a waste of my time? I wasn't quite sure. But then, I delved into "The Bookshop," and it was definitely a blend of the funny and the tragic. In fact, "hilarious and horrifying" might be more accurate descriptions.

Finally, "The Gate of Angels" was not only funny but also massively educational. One of the most amazing aspects of these books is how much knowledge you gain while reading, yet you only feel entertained.

I often had to stop and share a particularly good passage with Tom. He always laughed and enjoyed them as well. I'm not sure if I can resist the urge to immediately go and read the rest of her books. I'm worried that I'll devour them all too quickly, and then what? I guess there's always the option of re-reading.

It's a good thing I didn't manage to find a copy of TBF on its own, or I would have missed out on all the fun of reading these other wonderful novels!

Always interesting, intelligent, observant, and brimming with authority about the times and places depicted. The works are filled with unexpected details and arresting metaphors and similes that truly captivate the reader. However, in this reader's view, the author is not really a storyteller. While the descriptions and literary devices are excellent, there seems to be a lack of a cohesive narrative arc that would take these works to the next level. The stories feel a bit disjointed, as if the author is more focused on presenting individual elements rather than weaving them together into a seamless whole. As a result, these works do not hit the heights that they might have, leaving the reader with a sense of unfulfilled potential.