Hello, welcome to my blog

Mostly you will find, here, transcribed entries from the secret diary that I used to keep as a teenager between 1970 and 1975. I try to be honest with my transcriptions, but, just occasionally I do edit, to protect myself or others from embarrassment or some other emotion.
Also, though, I like to do a brief review of the books I have been reading, so these are interspersed throughout. I reserve the right to write blog entries, also, about other random things.
Why do I keep this blog? I don't know. I am an academic and one of my research interests is around how people construct their own identities. The diary transcriptions, and what I write about my books, are very much about revealing something of my identity.

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Fay Weldon - Just finished reading . . .

Life Force by Fay Weldon (1992)

6/10



Fay Weldon has been a key feminist influence on me throughout my adulthood. She seemed to be saying just what I needed to hear, as I went through my 30s, especially. So I thought it was time I revisited her, and I had this on my pile, bought, I expect, from a charity shop, but I can't remember when or where.
I'm afraid that I found it a very slow book, which I had to force myself to plough through (but how can I tell whether that is the book or my mood / ability to concentrate?).
Life Force is about married couples, and a wild-card called Leslie Beck, who takes the women to bed, one after the other, impacting on their lives in various ways. Didn't really say much relevant to me, but maybe that's because it is nearly 20 years old.
BUT - I'll tell you what is interesting . . . Fay Weldon has a gift for hitting the nail on the head with an observant phrase or two. How is this - taken from page 25 . . .
'...it is not proper to say, 'Oh, women are like this' and 'men are like that', because the more we emphasise gender differences the more they are used against women, and to men's benefit . . .'

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