One of those books I read to try and improve myself and expand my knowledge, but it was too much for me. I was tempted to jack it in after the first sentence, which I didn't understand at all, it was 10 lines long and contained at least two words I'd never heard of. It's described as the great Cuban historical novel and a tour-de-force, but honestly I was 100 pages in before I even realised it was set in the 18th century and had no idea what was going on. It seems to be about a gentlemen called Victor Hugues, who was instrumental in taking the French Revolution to the Caribbean. But one moment i register him as a chap in a warehouse and then he's somehow ruling Guadeloupe and I don't know what happened in between. The historical note at the end was very clear and made it plainer, but all the same, none of it went in. I'm disappointed in myself, as Caribbean history is one of my blank spots and I should know more, but really I'm just not equipped for such complex literature. We're in the middle of a cold snap at the moment and yesterday there were even people iceskating on Wheatsheaf Common. I've been for a couple of runs as the ground is frozen rather than muddy, trying to find a safe run between Stonehill and Chobham as it is horrible running along the road. i found one yesterday, but some Tory in a norfolk jacket flagged me down to tell me I was on a private road. I'm a little miffed by that as I was doing no damage and it was a tarmaced road that the usual land rovers and range rovers were chugging along to get to stables and whatnot, but that's the country we live in. I'll try again when I can and try and stick to the footpaths.
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