My Fiction Feast This Weekend

This weekend, I felt like taking things easy after a very busy week and so I decided to catch up with some fiction from TV, a DVD, and a novel - consuming them, that is, not writing them!

The TV was tonight's instalment, the final one, of the BBC adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I did find it very moving, but all the way through the adaptation, I wasn't sure whether I found the girl tragic or just plain stupid. I don't know whether the book would be more convincing and whether some of the mentality of the central character is lost in the transfer to the small screen.

Then again, I suppose as a liberated, educated, 21st century woman, it's hard for me to really get inside the mind of a character from such a different society. I suppose we were meant to admire her idealism and her loyalty to Angel Clare, but some of the time I did feel she was making life needlessly difficult for herself.

The DVD I watched was one I had been given for my birthday back in February but not got round to watching. It was still sitting on the shelf in its sellophane, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at it last night, especially as I'm making a point of watching French films regularly these days.

It was La Vie en Rose, the acclaimed film about the life of Edith Piaf. It was a fantastic film and the actress who played Piaf did an incredible job. I must admit I managed to soak with my tears all the mansized tissues I had in my pocket and I didn't want to break the spell by getting up to look for some more, so watching it was rather a soggy experience. In fact, I can't remember when I cried so much at a film. If you haven't seen it, I can thoroughly recommend it.

The novel I carved out time to read was a Medieval romance, A Knight's Vow, by my friend and fellow creative writing tutor, Lindsay Townsend. Again, it had been sitting on my shelf since last term and it was only when our mutual friend, Kimm, told us last week that she was in the middle of reading it that I thought I'd better get on and read my copy too.

I wasn't sure at the very beginning whether I was going to like it, but by the second or third chapter I was really caught up in the feelings of the central characters and then I found it very hard to put down - I began reading it on Friday and finished it on Saturday. Lindsay certainly knows her history (she studied medieval history at university), and the details she includes are fascinating. If you would like to read an extract, log on to Lindsay's website, which I designed. It's at www.lindsaytownsend.co.uk.

If you don't normally read fiction, why not make it your goal for the month to read a novel. You'll find it makes a refreshing change from sitting in front of the telly all evening.