"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."

I finished I Capture the Castle about a week and a half ago; don't know why I haven't thus far written about reading it, but here goes.

This book was splendidly written. I loved the setting, I loved the style, I loved the characters. I hated the plot with a very real hate. I Capture the Castle was really let down by its plot. I suppose the lack of satisfaction felt by the reader at the end is supposed to reflect reality in some fashion, but the big twist near the end was so unlikely and badly foreshadowed that any resemblance to reality was drowned in a whelming wave of 'Yeah. Right.'
The characters were very well realised and endearing in themselves, but the relationships between the characters were not. Cassandra, the protagonist and narrator of the story is such a detached observer (though her interest and sympathy make her very relatable) that the other characters are never, somehow, given all that is due them.
But watching the movie first alleviated much of this disappointment. Because I already had been so thoroughly disappointed by the film, I already expected the awful storyline (or lack thereof for the first chunk of the book). So I enjoyed the book a lot more than I expected to. Because, after all, it is so very well written. And has a great many quotable lines.

"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."

"When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it...

Currently reading:

Jane Austen for Dummies - very interesting so far; I quite like the more obscure 'For Dummies' books. I already own Tolkien's Middle Earth for Dummies, which I recommend to any real fan of Tolkien and his amazing world.

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith, who, incidentally, wrote the original book of 101 Dalmatians - there's some trivia for you! I saw the movie of this a while ago - I must have been housesitting for my grandparents (not the ones I live with - the other set!) at the time, because I was alone at their house when I watched it. Such a disappointing film: if it had been less pretty I would be less torn about how little I enjoyed the story and how frustrating I found it. So far, the book is beautifully written - really enjoying it, though I dread the plot kicking in.

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer - I've only read about eight pages of this one; so far it's shaping up to be exactly like the other Georgette Heyer Regency novels I have read. Which isn't such a bad thing. I like her snarky dandified heroes; her silly young Lydia-Bennet type ladies; her sensible governess types and helpless male wannabes. Fun reading.