Election Impass

Having voted in our latest general election we are now left with an impass and a politician who loves holding the power over the whole country having to make up his mind who he will back. I spent the day yesterday so tired after staying up to watch the results which seemed to be getting nowhere that much of the day was spent reading.

The first book I ever bought for my kindle was 'Painter of Silence'  by Georgina Harding which has sat there unread for 4 or 5 years now. Last week I decided it was time to investigate this book which is set in Romania in the 1950's and was long-listed for the Orange Prize. I found it a difficult read and at times was considering not finishing it. It was full of descriptions and long passages which did little to add to keeping the story line going. I was not sure about making a deaf mute painter the subject of a novel but then wondered if I was being too sensitive. I did learn a lot about the poverty experienced in Romania after World War Two and the impact the Russian occupation had on the ordinary rural citizens. There was not really a theme running through the book that gripped me but I am glad I have read it and can now move on to other long term residents of my kindle app. I am left to wonder what criteria are used by the judges of these prestigious writing prizes. Do the books have to be unreadable, the sort one cannot put down, or are they works of craft and art which are stand alone but almost too dense to be understandable. Many of these books never seen to be heard of again and have low sales despite prestigious reviews, I certainly look at the content now before purchasing. I have a book that won the Booker Prize a couple of years ago still to read, perhaps it is time I spent some time working through all these supposedly wonderful books. 
 
Much interest is being taken in the movie Victoria and Abdul, plus the second series of the TV drama Victoria. I wonder if there will be made for TV movies in the future about Queen Elizabeth. She has led such a restricted and quiet life and deprived her subjects of any real insights into her personality I am sure they would have to invent material for a movie. Our present queen seems to have ruled with a frugal iron hand and with no fun allowed to explode in the corridors of the palace. Their restriction on the media has meant that there is unprecedented interest, yet if they allowed the press access to photos and stories as the European royals do there would be less mystique and more reality. Queen Victoria and Judi Dench seem to be one in the same in our minds now. Not only does this reflect a wonderful performance but a respect to the sovereign. Perhaps it is time for a new series about other past royals, possibly not even British. Doing the research and writing for such a series would be wonderful.

As I continue with my writing I am still struggling with the sad and difficult memories that are being forced to the surface. The healing is in many ways still to come, but  I am beginning to realise the deep pain which still resides within my being.