a bit arthurian

After I was sick last week, when I felt up to looking at books, I sat staring at paintings in a couple of art books on Renoir. When we were overseas looking at galleries, the Renoirs moved me to the point of tears. Particularly this one in the Musee D'Orsay:



Le Moulin de la Galette (1876)

The light and shade and colour in this painting has to be seen in person. It simply shines.

Another book I love to look at and borrow once or twice a year from work is this:



Carl Larsson's watercolours of his family life in Sundborn in Sweden have made him Sweden's best-loved artist. The colour,the reds and greens,are so dynamic, and the house interiors and detail fascinating. We have lots of 70s sauna-ish panelling in this house - now painted white - so this book inspires!

When I was well enough to concentrate again I read Susan Cooper's "Over sea, under stone", the first in the five part "Dark is rising" series. It was exciting, tense and I'm looking forward to the other four books in the sequence. It made me very nostalgic for my only other association with King Arthur: Rick Wakeman's record from 1975 - The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
My sister and I were obsessed with this record and listened to it endlessly. I think Merlin the Magician was the track they played on 3XY - yes, I'm THAT old!
I bought this CD from a recycle shop a couple of years ago, and have listened to it with enormous fondness a couple of times this morning while pottering around.

Now I've added T.H. Whites' "The Once and Future King" to my mental "to be read" list. It's never going to get any shorter is it?

The other book I've started is Jasper Fforde, "Shades of Grey". Just so clever: combine Brave new World, 1984 and high comedy and you have it. Quite dark undertones too. My only problem with Fforde ( and possibly it's because I'm still a bit unwell) is keeping up with the cast of thousands and who they all are. I'll be reading away and think, hang on, who IS Bunty McMustard? (I've forgotten.....) Can't wait to see how it all ends, it is fascinating.