I finished reading Dancing With Degas , Kathryn Wagner, the first of last week. It was my favorite kind of book. A book, when reading, I can't wait to turn the page; when finished I find myself lost.
It was the kind of book, when finished, that sends me rushing out to the bookstore or the library to find the next wonderful read, knowing I won't enjoy my next selection quite as much.
I loved Dancing With Degas for the same reason I loved the movie "Midnight in Paris". With each turn of the page I knew I would find someone familiar. When watching "Midnight...." I felt like it was I meeting up with the likes of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Stein. When the main character traveled even further back, I knew the moment they would meet up with Toulous Lautrec.
I unexpectedly found Renoir and Degas sitting at the same table.
While reading Dancing With Degas I followed Alexandrie's preparation and entrance into the Paris Opera Ballet, I walked the back streets of Paris and visited with Cezanne, Monet, Manet, and, of course, Degas along with other artist of the time. Although fiction, I felt I was an active participant in intimate conversations between some of the great names in the artist community of the time.
Upon finishing I returned my book to the library and began browsing the stacks for my next great escape. I knew, after depositing the book into the return slot, I should have turned around and walked away. Instead, I returned home with three books in my bag. I opened each one; read a couple of pages. I stacked them, moved them from room to room and carried one or two of them to bed. I returned them to the library two days later without really ever beginning even one.
I received an email from someone who suggested I might enjoy Claude and Camille. She continued to say she would be interested to know what I thought.
It was the kind of book, when finished, that sends me rushing out to the bookstore or the library to find the next wonderful read, knowing I won't enjoy my next selection quite as much.
I loved Dancing With Degas for the same reason I loved the movie "Midnight in Paris". With each turn of the page I knew I would find someone familiar. When watching "Midnight...." I felt like it was I meeting up with the likes of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Stein. When the main character traveled even further back, I knew the moment they would meet up with Toulous Lautrec.
I unexpectedly found Renoir and Degas sitting at the same table.
While reading Dancing With Degas I followed Alexandrie's preparation and entrance into the Paris Opera Ballet, I walked the back streets of Paris and visited with Cezanne, Monet, Manet, and, of course, Degas along with other artist of the time. Although fiction, I felt I was an active participant in intimate conversations between some of the great names in the artist community of the time.
Upon finishing I returned my book to the library and began browsing the stacks for my next great escape. I knew, after depositing the book into the return slot, I should have turned around and walked away. Instead, I returned home with three books in my bag. I opened each one; read a couple of pages. I stacked them, moved them from room to room and carried one or two of them to bed. I returned them to the library two days later without really ever beginning even one.
I received an email from someone who suggested I might enjoy Claude and Camille. She continued to say she would be interested to know what I thought.
I am hopeless!
By the end of the day the book was mine.
If you need me, you may find me strolling across Monet's Japanese bridge at Giverny.
I am once again lost in Paris...at least for a few stolen minutes a day.
images are my photos
with the exception of the book cover
via Goodreads
Hello Bonnie:
ReplyDeleteYou capture so beautifully here that wonderful feeling of being lost in a book until the final page is turned. And then, bereft, one often seeks for some considerable time to find a suitable new companion. How lovely that you have a new best friend in 'Claude and Camille'...!
Jane and Lance,
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to hear from you. Thank you so much for your kind words. I am afraid I can become a little over excited when talking about a book I have so enjoyed.
I think of you often and hope all is going well.
Bonnie
Isn't it wonderful to be a romantic! Dancing with Degas sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely read this book!
ReplyDeleteI know, I know, that feeling of becoming one with a book, as if you are one of the characters right in the middle of it all, and you never want it to end. And then, we look for our next fix. It's a wonderful addiction, isn't it!
ReplyDelete