48 Cold Comfort Farm

Stella Gibbons's amazing novel Cold Comfort Farm features a main character without a real character art of her own, who walks into the lives of her messy dramatic cousins and solves all their major life problems. Flora Poste said from the beginning she liked cleaning up messes and making everything tidy and that's exactly what she does with the Starkadders. They are living with maximum misery and drama, each of them taking on a role where they can weaponize their misery to be the star of their own show. Flora goes methodically through the family, solving their problems and making each of them happy.

I adore this book. I saw the movie first, many years ago, then read the book. The movie is very close to the book, if that worries you.

I found so many things to use in this book, too. For example, I realized exactly what's wrong with my giant fluffy disaster of a draft, as well as how to fix it, so once again you've solved it for me, Sacred Cheese of Lifers! No? Not the term? Okay, tell me what it is.

There's plot-based writing and character-based writing. And I hate plot-based writing. Except in certain kinds of television where it's necessary, as for example procedurals. Otherwise, get out of here! Talking to you, my book, The Esker Road. I will shape you up. I WILL.

There's a movie I saw that I think was based on a book that I want to read next, except I can't remember anything about it except Amy Adams is in it and Frances McDormand is the main character who never gets anything to eat and is starving the whole time. ??? I'll find it. It had fantastic clothes. Period piece.

Other texts mentioned today: Bones, The Nerve, Summerlands, probably more. D.H. Lawrence and his tedious obsessions etc.

Such a joyful, fun book!