Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
Books help to form us. If you cut me open, you will find volume after volume, page after page, the contents of every one I have ever read, somehow transmuted and transformed into me. Alice in Wonderland. the Magic Faraway Tree. The Hound of the Baskervilles. The Book of Job. Bleak House. Wuthering Heights. The Complete Poems of W H Auden. The Tale of Mr Tod. Howards End. What a strange person I must be. But if the books I have read have helped to form me, then probably nobody else who ever lived has read exactly the same books, all the same books and only the same books as me. So just as my genes and the soul within me make me uniquely me, so I am the unique sum of the books I have read. I am my literary DNA.
I’d be the first to admit that I have far too many unread books on my shelves, and that I really should stop buying any more and simply read the ones I already own. It’s a subject and a challenge that turns up on many of the blogs I follow, and in fact is a subject that’s vexed a very well-known author – Susan Hill. Her book “Howards End is on the Landing” is subtitled “A year of reading from home”, which is a prospect that would simultaneously delight and horrify me!
I first read about Hill’s book on Simon’s blog (I think!) and I know it’s turned up on others, so when I came across it in the lovely local charity shops recently, picking it up was a must. However, despite the fact that I was in the depths of several big books, I felt the draw of this one and the need to actually *finish* a book relatively quickly, and so couldn’t resist starting it.
Hill is probably best known for “The Woman in Black” but she’s also had a career in publishing and reviewing, and so the amount of books she owns are obviously prodigious. While searching for a particular volume one day, she set off musing about the books she had, how long she’d had, what they meant to her, what she owned that was read and unread, and decided to spend a year among the volumes on her shelves; a year of discovery and rediscovery. She also decided it was time to let the Internet take a back seat, and I can empathise very much with her views:
Too much Internet usage fragments the brain and dissipates concentration so that after a while, one’s ability to spend long, focused hours immersed in a single subject becomes blunted. Information comes pre-digested in small pieces, one grazes on endless ready-meals and snacks of the mind, and the result is mental malnutrition.
However, to be honest, the subtitle is a little bit of a misnomer, as the book is more a trip through Hill’s favourite books and favourite authors, laced with her memories of encounters with the late and great. And Hill has certainly had a remarkable life with a number of remarkable meetings! She bumps into T.S. Eliot; glimpses Ian Fleming at a party; interviews Kingsley Amis, and gets along with Elizabeth Jane Howard; is taken under the wing of C.P. Snow and Pamela Hansford Johnson; and listens to Auden lecture her on one of his poems.
These wonderful anecdotes spice the book and are wonderful, bringing to life some of the greats of the 20th century. However, what makes this book so compelling is Hill’s writing, her love of books, her meditations and judgements on them, and the breadth of her reading and knowledge. Bookish talk is something all of us bibliophile’s love, and as I read through this book I couldn’t help thinking how much I’d love to sit and just chat with her about my favourite authors. There are chapters on individual authors; some on types of books; and I was particularly pleased to see her championing Enid Blyton (hopefully in her pre-censorship form!)
Any book like this is going to be a personal choice, and although I often agreed with her evaluations, I didn’t always: I’ve never read V.S. Naipaul, for example, and I wouldn’t have necessarily picked his name out as one of the really greats. But on Dickens I thought she was really spot on and I cheered as she leapt to his defence (and I make no apology for quoting at length):
A perfect, flawless Dickens would somehow be a shrunken, impoverished one. Yes, he is sentimental, yet, he has purple passages, yes, his plots sometimes have dropped stitches, yes, some of his characters are quite tiresome. But his literary imagination was the greatest ever, his world of teeming life is as real as has ever been invented, his conscience, his passion for the underdog, the poor, the cheater, the humiliated are god-like. He created an array of varied, vibrant, living, breathing men and women and children that is breathtaking in its scope. His scenes are painted like those of an Old Master, in vivid colour and richness on huge canvases, His prose is spacious, symphonic, infinitely flexible. He can portray evil and create a menacing atmosphere of malevolence better than any other writer – read Little Dorrit, read Our Mutual Friend, read Bleak House if you don’t believe me. He is macabre, grotesque, moralistic, thunderous, funny, ridiculous, heartfelt. Nobody has ever written as he wrote about London, nobody has described the Essex Marshes so well, nobody has opened a book to such effect as he does in Bleak House. There is no area of life he does not illuminate, no concern or cause he does not make his own, no sentences, no descriptions, no exchanges, no sadnesses or tragedies or betrayals…
And as I read on, I’d get a sudden frisson when she mentioned one of my favourites (Calvino!) or when she told of how she grew to love Virginia Woolf’s writing. Whichever author she’s writing about, she has something to say that’s worth listening to.
Hill’s writing itself is quite lovely: evocative and reflective, she draws you into her world and her love of books and how they’ve shaped and influenced her life. “Howards End…” is eminently readable, and I found I just couldn’t put it down, wanting to read on and on to find out what bookish joy she’d be talking about next – in fact I read it in a couple of sessions. There were also some parts that were moving, particularly when she was writing of Iris Murdoch, and her decline; and references to a young man who had died (I had to go and look this up, and it seems it was Hill’s fiance, who died young).
Susan Hill ends up producing a kind of Desert Island Discs-style list of 40 books she would take with her and I found myself surprisingly in tune with about half of it – let’s face it, everyone’s 40 books would be different. I was vaguely concerned that I would end up with a huge long list of authors to investigate but amazingly enough I’d either read many of them, or knew of them so the final list of 40 wasn’t too problematic (though it left me keen to pull my Patrick Leigh Fermor books off the shelf soon).
Reading only what we own for a year is a disciplines most bibliophile would struggled with (I certainly would!) and so Hill’s achievement is all the more impressive. “Howards End is on the Landing” is itself a glorious read; fascinating, moving and involving, and definitely one of the most enjoyable books of my year so far. Has anyone got any more suggestions for books about books????
Sep 20, 2015 @ 08:04:28
I like The Child That Books Made by Francis Spufford. It was one of the first of books of this type – I think they constitute a whole genre of their own now, but there’s a real charm about this one, and many of the books referred to are ones that I had read too. (Which, let’s face it, is essential. Nobody wants to read about a collection of books they haven’t read, it’s connecting with the ones you have, that made you feel that you’d like to try the ones you don’t know, eh?)
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:50:23
Ooh, that’s good to know – I have The Child That Books Made lurking on the TBR! 🙂
Sep 21, 2015 @ 07:56:47
I confirm that The Child That Books Made is excellent. Read it!
Sep 21, 2015 @ 09:47:51
I will! 🙂
Sep 20, 2015 @ 08:12:37
I’m sure many of us can relate to this topic as the desire to reconnect with the unread books on our shelves is very much in line with Eva Stalker’s #TBR20 and other similar ideas. A year is a long time, though…
Susan Hill’s book sounds like it would make a great present, a good one to dip into very now and again.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:49:49
Yes, a year would be very, very hard…. But we can admire Hill from afar for doing the hard work for us! 🙂
Sep 20, 2015 @ 08:13:09
*every now and again
Sep 20, 2015 @ 08:17:10
I read this book a few years ago now and liked it for all the reasons you did. I love Hill’s writing as well, but felt this book was akin to having a cost chat with a bookish friend. It is ideal for dipping in and out of and certainly led me to a couple of books I may not have bothered with otherwise.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:49:02
Exactly – it’s the kind of conversation you always want to have about books!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 08:57:56
I’ve seen this book popping up a few times, and wondered what it was. Sounds like one to keep in mind for a rainy day!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:48:36
It is – very enjoyable and ideal for a any booklover – her passion for books does shine through.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 12:33:22
I have a few of her books waiting to be read and I’ve read The Woman in Black, I do like her style. One I picked up for 50c in a St Vincents op shop! The other I bought on Kirtsy’s recommendation, a ghost story centring on Duu Maurier’s “Rebecca”
Sep 20, 2015 @ 13:30:52
I don’t think I’ve read any of her other work (though I was terrified by the old TV adaptation of “The Woman in Black”. I shall look out for her others!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:27:01
I picked this up in a secondhand bookshop the other week and I was looking through it yesterday as I was trying to decide what to read next (I still haven’t decided!). I read her comments about Proust; she’s tried ISOLT but never finished it and probably never will. I sometimes wonder what books authors haven’t read.
I went through a period where I read a lot of summaries of books. This was partly because I realised I’d never read everything I wanted to read or everything I feel I should read.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:48:07
This was a lovely read, often because of her anecdotes and also because her writing is so good. Even if I didn’t always agree with her, I enjoyed listening to what she said.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:29:59
I loved this to, although I was very aware that a year reading from my own shelves would be a discipline I couldn’t possibly stick to.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 09:47:19
Me neither – I’d have to shut myself away (literally!) from all outside influences!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 13:51:47
I really enjoyed this when it first came out too. I loved the name-dropping encounters with other authors in particular. I remember loving her comment about Sebald’s Norfolk!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 13:55:18
Yes, her encounters with the famous were great, weren’t they? As for Sebald – I tried him (and failed with him) many years ago, and keep wondering whether I should try again…
Sep 20, 2015 @ 14:41:11
I will bet you three dollars that there is no apostrophe in the title of Hill’s book. Maybe you are not a gambler.
The Mr. Biswas enthusiasts always call Naipaul one of the greats. I should read it someday.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 14:47:24
You’re quite right (how embarrassing!) I only had to look at the picture on the page… I have removed all the offending apostrophes – thanks for pointing this out….. 🙂 As for Naipaul – maybe one day, but there are so many books calling….
Sep 20, 2015 @ 14:56:44
The title of Forster’s novel is like Finnegans Wake – a dirty trick.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 15:51:08
It is! And Wikipedia says it’s a mistake that happens often so I don’t feel quite so silly now…. 😉
Sep 20, 2015 @ 14:49:08
Because money is scarce, I have been reading or re-reading books of the library in the house for two years (we own quite a large number of books) and I read Susan Hill. I have been interested by much of what she writes and approve much of it. However, her meetigs and her “wonderful life” got on my nerves since I felt she was ot just stating but boasting as well,and I remember wanting to throw the book across the room – unless I would never do that to any book! So mixed feelings about the book and definitely very mixed feelings about Hill. I hope I am utterly wrong.
I enjoyed what you wrote, much more nuanced than my own very direct delivery!!!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 15:52:42
Hill didn’t come across like that to me, but we all read books differently. I didn’t personally feel that Hill was being boastful – she seemed modest enough about herself and her talents and just thankful that she’d been so fortunate to meet these people.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 20:00:14
As you say we all read differently, which makes or discussions about books so interesting. And who knows if I would be so irritated if Iwere to re-read the book now? I (at least) have moods and also a changing view about my readings – view that evolves with age and experience. 🙂
Sep 20, 2015 @ 16:35:05
Have you read “A Passion for Books”? It is a nice collection of different essays about readers and books and people who collect books.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 18:08:45
I haven’t, but it definitely sounds like my kind of thing – off to check it out…. 🙂
Sep 21, 2015 @ 13:28:56
I’ve been trying to find A Passion for Books on Amazon, but it’s bringing up lots of horrifying results…
Sep 21, 2015 @ 13:34:21
I had the same experience…. 😦 And even when I found what I thought was the right book, there seemed to be two with that title. I shall keep searching….
Sep 23, 2015 @ 03:57:08
Can Melissa Beck not give you the ISBN number?
Sep 23, 2015 @ 06:05:17
Good thought! 😀
Oct 07, 2015 @ 16:16:14
Could be the one edited by Harold Rabinowitz, and there is another by Nicholas Basbanes which has it as part of a subtitle I believe. (I’ve got far too many books about books on my shelves, and can’t put hands on either just now.) The first time I tried Susan Hill’s I didn’t get on with it particularly (as you said, the title is a bit misleading, I think) but when I returned to it, with different expectations, I quite liked it. I’ve also enjoyed Samantha Ellis’ Heroines, the essays by Anne Fadiman in Ex Libris (she is a wonderful essayist in general) and the American writers Maureen Corrigan and Wendy Lesser and Laura MIller (on books and rereading) as well as Ruined by Reading (Lynne Sharon Schwartz). Thirding the rec for Frances Spufford, BTW. Okay, this probably should have been an email! *smiles* Will stop now.
Oct 07, 2015 @ 19:05:29
Lots of nice recommendations there – thank you! The Spufford is definitely one to go to soon, especially as I enjoyed his Red Plenty!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 20:59:34
It’s a long time since I read this book, and I’m afraid my feelings were a little more mixed. Though there were many interesting stories and books I couldn’t really warm to the author, and I found her approach a little too cerebral. I suspect she would find my approach too emotional, and that at the end of the day we’d have to agree that we simply weren’t compatible.
Sep 20, 2015 @ 21:04:26
I can see where you’re coming from – I rather liked her slightly detached tone, and I thought her passion shone through when she really loved an author. But we are all different readers and that’s what makes it such fun to talk about books!
Sep 20, 2015 @ 22:43:23
I have loved Susan Hill since I was a teenager, and this book, which was a wonderful, painful and absorbing delight to read, formed the subject of my first blog post eighteen months ago. I wanted to re-read it the moment I finished it – but I am saving that for another time. All books touch us differently – or not at all. This one was very powerful for me – and probably in ways never intended by the author. But that is the beauty of writing, and of reading….
Sep 21, 2015 @ 09:53:24
It *is* absorbing, yes – and a testament to the power of books and reading. And I *will* read it again!
Sep 21, 2015 @ 08:00:24
I read this five years ago!! May I link to my review here? https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/susan-hill-howards-end-is-on-the-landing/ I remembered getting furious about something when reading it and thought it was something she said about Iris Murdoch – but no, it was the fact that she seemed to despise people who order and catalogue their books! As I said at the time, the fact that the whole book is about books being important is the main thing to take away from it.
Oh, and get those Leigh Fermors off your shelves and onto the reading pile – wonderful books!
Sep 21, 2015 @ 09:47:43
You may of course link! I know this is a book that tends to polarise slightly but I loved her attitude, and since my books are very random and uncatalogued I think I’m probably of her ilk. And I *will* pick up the Leigh Fermors soon!
Sep 21, 2015 @ 13:27:43
So glad that you enjoyed this! I couldn’t believe how good it was, and how compulsively I read it, and thought every book blogger would adore it – but some did not. So hurray that you did 🙂 As you say, it doesn’t do quite what it says it’ll do, but what it does it a delight.
Sep 21, 2015 @ 13:35:27
That’s it – it’s not necessarily what you’d expect, but I did like what it was. She’s had a fascinating life and I loved her take on books and authors.
Sep 21, 2015 @ 15:39:29
I wish I could live a life of books, writing, reading, reviewing. I think it’s great that she’s been able to document it.
Sep 21, 2015 @ 15:44:19
It does sound a rather wonderful life to live, doesn’t it?
Sep 24, 2015 @ 19:21:21
Michael Dirda has several books about books which are good. Nick Hornby has several collections of his book review columns from The Believer magazine which have been fun to read, and if you’re into a more philosophical bent, you might be interested in reading “The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction” by Alan Jacobs. (Not an easy read but so worth it.)
Sep 24, 2015 @ 19:24:01
Thanks for the suggestions! I shall check these out…. 🙂
Sep 26, 2015 @ 02:35:38
I really enjoyed this book. I read it a few years ago when my mother was in the hospital, and it was one of the few things I could concentrate on. I do love books about reading the classics! We do tend to collect more books now that we’re on the internet, because we read about so many interesting ones!
Sep 26, 2015 @ 07:59:06
Ye, the Internet is lethal – back int he day it was hard to find specific older books but now they’re usually available at the click of a button!
Books about books… | Just One More Page…
Oct 04, 2015 @ 23:01:21