The village unusually busy with families coming to place chrysanthemums at their grandparents graves. A tradition quite alien to Northern Protestants. There's not much to do in the village after visiting the churchyard so there's a constant stream of sightseers walking up and down the lane. Bob and Sophie greet each and every one.
Finished the latest Martin Amis novel on the flight back from Berlin. 'The font' is now halfway through it. The London Review of Books trashed it. The New York Review of Books was altogether more positive. Can't remember when the two of us discussed a novel so much. The sort of book that will replace William Golding ( who else suffered Pincher Martin ? ) on the English Lit 'A' Level syllabus.
'The font' rearranges furniture. Angus drags an ancient and very heavy Swedish writing cabinet out of a downstairs bedroom and into the hallway. The drawers have swollen and are quite stuck. The underside is solid wood so no chance of getting at them from that direction. Perhaps one of those plastic dehumidifying trays will do the trick ?
Here's some Sunday morning music. The video is memorable for 1) the singers hat and 2) the indifference of the two young ladies next to the stage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjV9gnGa1kc
9 comments:
Curious to know which of the two of you was more positive about 'The Zone of Interest'? I haven't read anything by Martin Amis for a good while, although in my twenties in London at the height of the Thatcher/yuppie era, books like London Fields and Money seemed relevant (and a good read).
Cheers, Gail.
Missed Pincher Martin, just read 'Lord of the Flies'.
The singer looks like someone Benny Hill would have sent up.
Oh dear, now I feel very low brow reading 'Gone Girl' !
'The font' thinks it's a much subtler and better written book .
By comparison Lord of the Flies is a cheerful little number.
I had not heard of the book until a patient had it with her a few weeks ago. The patient mentioned that publishers in Germany and France alleged that there was artistic worth in the novel, but she was finding it to be a fascinating story, with fascinating characters. And Pincher Martin? My Mother who was a teacher/librarian wanted me to read it, so I did, twice, paying better attention the second time. I find a man's dark potential a fascinating topic.
The singer's hat makes him look a little like a PON!
An interesting choice of reading for Berlin. Joyce Carol Oates goes on about it, in The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/death-factory
That's a lovely (what I would call) secretary desk. Hope you can get it unstuck -- perhaps when the weather is colder and the heat is on?
Reading "Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good". K. Flinn's book about growing up in Michigan, with great recipes. Very enjoyable. We have a white standard poodle, glad she didn't see the video. The hat would make her fearful. What about using a hair dryer near the cabinet drawers for a few minutes to see if that will dehumidify them enough?
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