The Rehearsal

After my - sort of - rant yesterday it is actually improving. I read 100 pages so I'm now two thirds of the way through. I do wish authors with pretensions to being literary novelists would realise that they don't have to mess around with the conventional novel structure in order to be well thought of/famous. There is some excellent characterisation and some very well written scenes - all spoilt by the mix and max attitude to plot and timescale. Maybe a definitive review tomorrow.

As light relief I started reading The Checkout Girl by Tazeen Ahmad. I love books about people's jobs and having worked in a supermarket - as a shelf filler rather than a checkout person - I'm finding this interesting. The author, a journalist, took a job at Sainsbury's in order to improve her own finances and has written the book about her experiences. She decided to use it as a means to find out how the recession is affecting people and her descriptions of customers and their purchases are a real slice of life. If I ever decide to write a novel set in a supermarket I shall have plenty of material!