Book: I Capture the Castle

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
Published in 1948.


First line:
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."










I picked this book up on a recommendation from one of my favourite vloggers. This is a modern classic, written in 1940s by an English author Dodie Smith, famous for writing 101 Dalmatians. I'm genuinely surprised I haven't heard of this book before.

I ordered it from the library and a few days later started reading it on a rainy afternoon (big surprise there, I am in Dublin after all) at a tiny table in the corner of Starbucks just off Grafton street, while waiting for my friend to join me for coffee after she finished her shift. I was so happy. It was one of those days when I really enjoyed walking around the city, did some shopping, picked up a few very promising books from the library and finally, finally! got that much needed hazelnut latte. There was an incredibly stylish Italian couple sitting on my left, talking animatedly. They looked like they just stepped from the pages of Vogue and talked like business executive. I was fascinated. And of course in front of me, next to the much appreciated latter was the copy of I Capture the Castle, the book I was already in love with because of its cover (it's too bad this edition is not in the shops anymore, as I don't like the covers currently available and I really want to buy this book for my personal library).

It's set in 1930s in an English countryside. There is a family of a once famous writer living in poverty in an old castle. The story is narrated through the diary entries of  a 17 year old Cassandra Mortmain and it follows the life of the occupants of the castle and its newly arrived American owners. Cassandra, or perhaps I should say the author, wonderfully captures the life in the castle, to the point where I felt I was a part of it.  The author painted a very vivid picture and superbly demonstrated the growth of the main character through the changes of the writing style of Cassandra's journal entries.

I loved this story. It's simple, poetic and unpretentious. It's marketed for a young adult and I wish I've read it when I was younger, but I still enjoyed it tremendously and can easily see myself re-reading it time and time again in the future. I want to buy a few copies and give them to my friends, especially younger ones.

According to the back cover, J.K. Rowling praised this book stating, "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met."

Book club tales

I’ve been thinking of joining a book club for ages. I love reading, I love that feeling when I need to share and discuss the book I’ve read because I’m bursting at the seams with emotions. Ok, not every book I read is this good, but when I do find something that touches me just so, there are very few people in my life I can talk to about it. I’m surrounded by non-readers.It’s frightening.

I joined a book club in Uni but never went to any meetings. I like to think I was too busy, but that was pure laziness. Fast-forward a few years. Book clubs in the libraries and bookshops around me have long waiting lists. Looooooong lists. Irish people do love to read, I’ve discovered. On that note, it warms my heart to see the impressive amount of men and women reading on public transport, in cafes and in parks. 

Back to the story. I finally did find a book club that lifted the membership restrictions. It was in a fancy bar in the hotel in the heart of the city. I walked into a small room, with a few tiny round tables and comfortable sofas, a thick dark carpet and a fire burning in the fireplace. I was a bit apprehensive because I found this book club online and didn’t know any of the members.  So what do I do? Fake it, of course. Pretend to be comfortable with introducing myself to a large group of strangers, who know each other for months, if not years. There were quite a few people there, but I think I must be at least 10 years younger than the other members. I wonder how that will affect the experience in the long run.

We discussed the Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan, a non-fiction story about Israeli - Palestinian conflict.  It really surprised me that I enjoyed reading this book. I guess the educational aspect alone was worth the time. Discovery of the day – it’s a pleasure to be around intelligent people. Big shocker, I know. I came to the meeting with one main impression from reading the book- I finally comprehend the causes and complexity of the conflict. The other members of the book club had much more to add to the discussion though. They were not only older, but also more educated in the world history and politics, therefore they were able to back up their opinions and enrich the discussion with the extensive knowledge on the subject from other sources. I have to admit I rather enjoyed it. It’s like a free lecture on history and politics, only louder, highly opinionated and with drinks involved. 

First book club meeting – WIN.

April in photos

This month I said a temporary goodbye to a close friend, joined a book club, indulged myself with way too many lazy afternoons in Starbucks with a latte and a book of the moment and really really missed some people.

Books read this year: 20

Movies watched this year: 7

Trips and cultural explorations: 2