Why concentrate on one thing when you can concentrate on several?
AT NIGHT ALL BLOOD IS BLACK
Occasionally, I have been known to read literary fiction. It is always memorable, this one was a deeply tragic story of a Senegalese soldier’s deteriorating mental health as the savageness of a brutal war wages around him. I listened to it via audiobook and I have to say that was probably a bad choice. Perhaps reading it would give me a different impression.
However, I wasn’t sure if the final scene was a metaphor for the brutality of the trenches in World War I (as suggested by one reviewer), or a rape scene, so you see, I’m afraid it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
ICELAND
I trooped off to Iceland and it was quite glorious. It is a place of extremes – of weather, and of landscape. (And of sleep deprivation.)
I do not think I’m hardy enough to live there, so perhaps it’s fortunate that no one has asked me to. I brought two books with me. Yes. I know. Pitiful.
One of those was How To Stop Time by Matt Haig. And … here’s the thing – the concept is very intriguing (a man! who has a disease that makes him age v e r y s l o w l y), the writing is very thoughtful, however I couldn’t connect with the main character. I tried. It didn’t work. C’est la vie, this book was not for me.
SQUID EMPIRE: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CEPHALOPODS
This was another audiobook, and a bit more of a success. In fact, I consider this to be a glorious, glorious choice. My loved ones probably don’t consider it as such. I messaged a brother, informing him that squid have donut shaped brains. He responded with ‘lol what’.
(‘A prophet is not welcome in their own country‘ comes to mind.)
A fascinating book that’s quite short and is the spiritual successor to The Gospel of Eels that I read last year. (I say spiritual successor … this is a very loose description. And also utterly inaccurate. But shush … please go with it.)
I think I must be very lucky in that I’m surrounded by very, very patient people. My colleagues received a daily dose of what I liked to call (enthusiastically call) ‘SQUID FACTZ!’ Some were very kind and enjoyed them. Others looked bemused, and some, a little bewildered. (‘And GET THIS – the oesophagus goes through the donut hole!‘)
THE EYE COLOR BALLAD
Who, I ask you – actually cares about ‘cringe’? Life is too short, and there’s nothing wrong with sincerity. (In fact, let’s have more of it, please and thank you.)
So in light of the above, please see the below.
if only you could see yourself // how other people do
(However, this song will have the side effect of making the line ‘your eyes are like DIRT’ pop into your head at inopportune times. You are welcome.)
of words & books 