Lilian's Story

by Kate Grenville | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9781841959955 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingcanongatebookswing on 4/30/2009
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This book is in a Controlled Release! This book is in a Controlled Release!
4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by TheLostBook from Edinburgh, Scotland United Kingdom on Thursday, April 30, 2009
Aileen and Watson, The Lost Book Welcome to The Lost Book!

The Lost Book is a collaborative adventure in storytelling. It's taking place online and anyone can join in. At its heart is an animated web series: the adventures of investigative journalist, and BookCrosser, Aileen Adler, who is trying to solve the crime of a missing book. Episode 3, the second of five episodes to be written by the public, was launched this month. It gave Scotswoman Aileen her first glimpse of the book thief, thanks to her dog Watson's keen nose - watch the story so far. Right now we're working on the plot for episode 4 with help from all the visitors to the website - it will be launched on Friday, 15 May 2009.

Where the story goes next remains in your hands. You can suggest plot developments by visiting www.thelostbook.net now. Each month between now and July the storylines will be pulled together into the next episode, animated and published online.

There are loads of ways you can get involved and it won't cost you anything. Please help us to write the story for the web series - make suggestions or vote on other people's ideas. You can also join our special guest writer Jasper Fforde and reconstruct a stolen book in our weekly microstory competition. You can enter our soundtrack competition by creating your own music for the web series. You can even produce your own animation.

And, you can read this book, tell us what you thought of it, give it away, and follow its journey.

The Lost Book is a partner project to the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust's 2009 reading campaign, The Lost World Read 2009, which is using free books, online resources and events to get people reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Lost World Read is the largest collaborative reading project ever seen in the UK. We're extending the reading campaign, thanks to the generosity of project sponsors Canongate, by giving away other free books throughout The Lost Book.

Lilian's Story is Kate Grenville's first novel. Lilian Una Singer starts life at the beginning of the twentieth century as the daughter of a prosperous middle-class Australian family. She ends it as a cheerfully eccentric bag-lady living on the streets, quoting Shakespeare. Grenville has won both the Orange Prize for Fiction (for The Idea of Perfection in 2001) and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (in 2006, for The Secret River, which was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize).

So join in, wherever you are, and have fun!

Journal Entry 2 by wingcanongatebookswing on Thursday, April 30, 2009

Journal Entry 3 by kiwiinengland from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Monday, May 11, 2009
Thank you Thelostbook for sending this book on to me as one of the participants of Watson the Dog's release challenge.

I look forward to reading this.

Journal Entry 4 by kiwiinengland from Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, January 2, 2010
This was a book that read true, how someone makes choices in life that sees them living outside of societies norms. Starting as the first born (liked daughter but not desired son) in a well to do household Lilian gets feedback from school and family that she isn't fitting in with what others require. As a girl she gets postive feedback from the staff (disapproved of by her family), her drunk aunt (disapproved of by her family) and her eccentric neighbour (disapproved of by everyone).

As a expectations of society get tighter as she enters adulthood Lilian tries to fit in while greatly unhappy, until she finally realises she will never get her families approval. And so she stops trying.

I enjoyed the writing style, and the way Lilian developed so when she was living on the street and entertaining people with poetry it seemed the natural progression of her life. But at the same time I was sorry for what might have been, what Lilian may have been if people had accepted her earlier on. For a first story this was amazing, and I preferred it to the author's subsequent story also set in Australia.

The cover picture of the book however was a terrible choice. A lot of the story revolves around the fact that Lilian is a very large woman, the picture on the front of the book is a thin woman. A picture of a polka dotted horse would have been just as relevant.


Journal Entry 5 by kiwiinengland at Manchester, Greater Manchester United Kingdom on Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Released 14 yrs ago (1/16/2010 UTC) at Manchester, Greater Manchester United Kingdom

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:





This is being mailed to Nu-knees. Canongate books are normally a hit with her, and she enjoyed The Lost Book project, and likes me...so that's three good reasons to read this book.

Journal Entry 6 by wingNu-Kneeswing from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thank you, KiwiinEngland! I love getting parcels through the post - and a book which started life as part of TheLostBook project is especially welcome, thank you very much! Of course, with my piles of books waiting To Be Read being rather 'healthy' at present, I can't guarantee when I'll get around to reading it ....

Journal Entry 7 by wingNu-Kneeswing from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, April 10, 2010
This will become a review after I've read Lilian's Story next weekend

Later (16.4.10): Oh dear, it didn't happen - see below :-(

This will be my travelling book, to be read in airports, planes and trains between here and Amsterdam, then released somewhere around the Convention venue when I've finished it!

Journal Entry 9 by wingNu-Kneeswing from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Friday, April 16, 2010
Volcanic ash stopped play! With all UK airports closed and all flights grounded for a couple of days, I can't get to the Amsterdam Convention after all. This is going back into my overflowing To Be Read piles and I'll think of somewhere else to leave it when it fights its way out again ....

Journal Entry 10 by wingNu-Kneeswing at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Sunday, September 5, 2010
This is one of the many books I plan to read and release on holiday - further details later!

Later (9.10.10): While I started this in the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District, my holidays were over before I finished it, so it hasn't been released anywhere interesting - yet!

Journal Entry 11 by wingNu-Kneeswing at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Saturday, October 9, 2010
Lilian's is a sad and disturbing story told in the first person by a sad and disturbed narrator looking back on her sad and disturbed/disturbing life. She so defines herself in terms of her fatness that you can't forget her size for a moment. But how reliable are her memories? How would her story be told by another character? Or in the third person?
I finished it but it's not comfortable reading. I hate reading about bullies and bullying and unfortunately this novel is full of such unkindness. My thanks to TheLostBook and KiwiinEngland for their kindness in sending it to me!
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Later (23.10.10): On further reflection I think perhaps my comments come across as rather more negative than I intended. Finding reading about bullying uncomfortable is a very personal reaction and doesn't mean that I didn't appreciate the novel as a whole nor that I wouldn't recommend it to others!

Journal Entry 12 by wingNu-Kneeswing at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (10/20/2010 UTC) at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Given to astrogilly at the start of a very pleasant away day into the dales around Grassington :-)

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