I really enjoyed writing our blog 177days while we were on our travels so I have decided to continue it. This time however its going to be more of an on-line one-man Book Club. Being unemployed I have got lots of reading done over the last few months and being old I have forgotten nearly all the titles and the authors so it will be a good backup for my increasingly goldfish-sized short-term memory.
I’ll also include anything interesting in Film or Music that we see.
Happy as I am to talk to myself, should you pick this up I’d equally be happy to receive any comments or suggestions for future reading or viewing. Use the comment feature and your contribution will be open for any other readers to see. (‘Followers' is the official term but it sounds a bit messianic )
28th January 2010
I’m sitting in Incallatja, a small shop in an ancient building in York’s Shambles, selling Bolivian Fair Trade crafts to tourists. Or not selling as it is Day 2 and so far I have not sold a thing. Fortunately I am not being paid for this as I am just sitting in for the owner who has popped over to Bolivia to order some more stock for the summer rush. Is it the weather, the recession or perhaps that I learnt all I know about retailing form Dylan Moran in Black Books? (viewable on www.channel4.com/programmes )
The upside is that I get lots of reading done. Yesterday I read Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” in one day, which is how it should be read. And it should be read, by everyone, but be prepared for a rough ride. The question now is whether I will enjoy (probably not the right word) the film. Always a dilemma, but in this case certainly I think seeing the film first would get in the way of appreciating the book.
Before that I was reading “Rough Crossing” by Simon Schama, the story of the slaves from America who fought for the British in the War of Independence, were rewarded with the promise of their freedom and land in Nova Scotia, and then subsequently established the settlement of Freetown in Sierra Leone. Though, in fact, this being the British Empire, there is a rich mixture of good intentions, hypocrisy and betrayal. I was interested because of friends from Sierra Leone and family in Nova Scotia. Although more academic than his TV work, it is really readable with a lot of human interest detail which keeps you engaged right to the end. In particular it reminds us that the slaves were not merely passive in seeking their own emancipation.
The BBC TV book I referred to and had previously read was “A History of Britain” which looks at Britain in the years between the end of the Roman occupation to the Act of Union so it’s a book about the to-ing and fro-ing of Western and Northern Europe with the development of nation states from tribal origins as well as the rise of christianity and the subsequent religious conflicts.
A good starting point for a period of history that interests me at the moment particularly with the resonances of current events in Afghanistan - the tensions between tribal and national loyalties and between fundamentalist religion and personal liberty.
A different approach to the same period was Bernard Cornwell’s. “Lords of the North”. Although a fiction it fleshed out the reality of the pre Norman era that Scharma described in a way that was totally credible and a very engrossing read. Unputdownable.
Overall, a couple of weeks reading that dug deep into the short miserable violent lives that so many people have had to live. Looking ahead, and back into history, it makes you realise how lucky we are to have been born in this time and in this place. With the earthquake in Haiti and a bit of snow in the UK it also makes you realise how unprepared we are on a personal level for what may be around the corner – maybe I should start honing my survivalist skills. Anyone for some road-kill?
2nd February
Off soon for my afternoon shift at the shop. More reasons to count our blessings this week as we have had a woman from Kenya staying with us. A human rights activist, she has been hounded out by her own community and family for holding out against the ethnic violence that followed the last elections. She is writing a book about her experiences and I have been proof-reading it. Incredibly harrowing accounts of mob violence and hatred between people previously living peaceably as neighbours and friends. Much of the tension wound up by unscrupulous politicians of course.
By pure coincidence there are three film on TV this week about Kenya and it has been interesting to get Rahab’s perspective on them. Apart from the obvious fact that it seems nothing interesting happens in Africa unless there is a white person involved. One was “White Mischief” which I saw when it came out, and the other two were documentaries based in her district so we got lots of background and a slightly different perspective.
Rahab has lent me “The Price of Freedom” by Wanyiri Kihoro, the story of political resistance in both colonial and post-liberation Kenya. Having been brought up on a fairly one-sided view of the Mau-mau rebellion,this should be interesting.
For light relief I have been reading T.C Doyles short stories "After the Plague" – light only in the sense of being short. Very bleak tales of modern life in the underbelly of west coast America. I read his “Tortilla Curtain” – about the clash of rich white and poor latino lives in California - after coming through the states last year. Both highly recommended, tough but gripping stuff.
So, how to keep up your spirits when drowning in this endlessly bleak vision of other peoples lives?
(a) (a) Thank your lucky stars you live such a privileged life (fingers crossed)
(b) (b) Watch an episode of “Glee” on E4, available on www.channel4.com/programmes/glee/4od#3031623 Really funny script and absolutely fabulous singing and dancing. Why waste your time on “Strictly..” or “Andorras’s got Talent” when you can watch the real thing?
i wanted to be first
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