Beneath A Thousand Skies

Hello,

A slightly different review today, no dragons and elves today. Instead, I’m looking at fascinating book about books, Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. It wasn’t a perfect book, but I couldn’t put it down and it has made me think about my own books and reading – past and present in a new light.

Howards End is on the Landing caught my eye one day at work. Partly due to the cover, partly because it was a book about books and reading, and I -perhaps because everyday is filled with books working in a bookshop – had drifted a little from both. And so I picked it up, expecting an interesting read and knowing little of the author beyond the titles of her books. I have not read Susan Hill beyond this book, although I have looked at them several times and who knows maybe this will be the push I need.

What I found was a truly fascinating book, with flaws. This will definitely not be for everyone, and there are certain elements that have aged badly – or at least in the light of the book world today, and there were certain points where I found I really didn’t like Hill’s statements or tone. But that sometimes is the entire point of books, to be something different to every reader; and I never found that those flaws made me put the book down. They were noted, disagreed with, and then filed away behind another account of a book, or author, or both.

There were a lot of anecdotes, some name dropping – but always relevant. It made the book to some extent almost a history book as much as a book about books, because it was snapshots of times and authors gone by. It was also fascinating to see how the book community of then compares to now, the similarities and the differences. There was also an element of literary criticism, never to the extent that it took away from the feel of this being a memoir and a story about books, but a very good launch pad. I’ve come away from this book with titles I want to look at, new ways of looking at books.

What this book is not is an in-depth account of reading these books, or a look at reader’s quirks. It is a meandering, but whistlestop tour with little stops at stations of memory.

‘Books help to form us. If you cut me open, will you find volume after volume, page after page, the contents of every one I have ever read, somehow transmuted and transformed into me?’

What this book did do was make me think about books – past and present. My shelves are very different to Hill’s, my tastes born from a different time, and yet I could have the same discussions about which books have influenced me as a person, as a reader and a writer. I have the same vivid memories of libraries, and particular moments in books, and those books that you revisit time and time again. And I think it is that connection to books and reading that let this book resonate, whether you have read the same books as the author, whether you disagree with her, because most of us have those connections with books.

Howards End is on the Landing is a love letter not just to books and reading, and the authors whose words have shaped our lives; but also, a glimpse into a different time in publishing and books. It is also a very personal account of a life spent around books, it has laughs, and irritations and sorrow. This won’t appeal to everyone, especially if you are looking for a more modern menu of books, or a more in depth look at reading specific books. But it was thought provoking and interesting, and I kept looking forward to being able to pick it up again.