tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311447082024-03-13T21:54:58.465+00:00inside booksUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2502125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-34391884441926110702024-02-21T13:16:00.003+00:002024-02-21T13:16:32.357+00:00Book review: Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHk7GDjwiOdm25qKrsdCH9MpiQpbazI4Rqmo6MmCuqZl7asnyKrh5e1bnztUVkYtxnT9LcMsmGuQcQTtShWzUl-ddt4tBKWvUF8BqZ7Yqqv1WrqWnGsenopF5eAztsEpCVfWpGf9zgSGbfvgnEgDeOXIC_7h1bKlGY2ozYzut_Ye5RwbAR1tde" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHk7GDjwiOdm25qKrsdCH9MpiQpbazI4Rqmo6MmCuqZl7asnyKrh5e1bnztUVkYtxnT9LcMsmGuQcQTtShWzUl-ddt4tBKWvUF8BqZ7Yqqv1WrqWnGsenopF5eAztsEpCVfWpGf9zgSGbfvgnEgDeOXIC_7h1bKlGY2ozYzut_Ye5RwbAR1tde" width="156" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On one level this is a love story but on others it provokes thoughts about the differences between city and country, rich and poor, guest and servant.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When Shimamura travels from Tokyo to the snow country there i a sense he has moved to not just a different part of Japan but a place where he can act differently. His relationship with Komako, is the most obvious manifestation of that change in behaviour, with a secret life being led away from his wife and children. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But this is a different area geographically, it enjoys deep snows and feels cut off from his other existence. When he leaves after one stay in the hot springs resort he travels back by train and moves from one zone to another via a mountain tunnel. That shift sees the weather change, the landscape shift and his mental position also move.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But the focus of this story is the hot springs resort and the relationship between Shimamura and Komako,. her story unfolds over the course of a couple of trips Shimamura makes to the town. She has become a geisha to pay medical bills for her lover, forced into a life of pleasuring guests and is stuck in a trap. He on the other hand is financially secure, wastes his time on academic exercises that lead nowhere and is removed from the life of hardship those in the hot springs resort live.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The relationship is doomed and as she slides deeper into the geisha trap and isolation he appears to be less able to save her.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you read to escape then this takes you to a land of deep snow, hot springs and Japanese customs that will take you into a different realm. Despite being a short novel it leaves you with questions around the main characters, the life the inhabitants of snow country lead and the limits of love and desire to deliver change.</div><div><br /></div></div><p><br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-59914412076897141852024-02-13T10:38:00.005+00:002024-02-13T10:38:48.861+00:00Book review: American Affair the Americanisation of Britain by Susan Marling and Gerd Kittel<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ11pe95iYzzULxTJggVvVhDaSOzSHAWkgcMKoOn9vOmsb8sVdQHJQtjzPquskBjsdP-WQdtIQTwhdqbmvb-PAU3VCyB02IAjkJ0rm_oLDkxxMoYcb7f9dMAuLq0k1xJmTiUR9ppDH1Kj1Cgu5cQFYSzreDyM6SVBBrZeu2szkELgzH7qUqLBG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1855" data-original-width="1389" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQ11pe95iYzzULxTJggVvVhDaSOzSHAWkgcMKoOn9vOmsb8sVdQHJQtjzPquskBjsdP-WQdtIQTwhdqbmvb-PAU3VCyB02IAjkJ0rm_oLDkxxMoYcb7f9dMAuLq0k1xJmTiUR9ppDH1Kj1Cgu5cQFYSzreDyM6SVBBrZeu2szkELgzH7qUqLBG" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">To find this book involved wading through a fair few listings
for romantic or political books that wanted to cover their own types of special
relationship. The attraction for me is the rest of the title, <i>The
Americanisation of Britain</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most focus on the special relationship centres on the Second
World War and the close ties as allies between the UK and US. That's true but
Susan Marling argues that the crucial year when things really changed was 1956.
By then Americans were driving round in their flash finned topped cars, chugging
on a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coke from their large refrigerators
and enjoying their televisions. Britain, still suffering the effects of
post-war austerity could only look on with envy. Add to that the flowing over
the Atlantic of rock and roll, Elvis and the stars of the silver screen that
flickered in British cinemas and the captivation with all things American was complete.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This books bounces along looking at areas where
Americanisation can be easily spotted - movies, cars, fashion, architecture
(malls and Milton Keynes) and food.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The tone is inquisitive, asking a truck driver from North
London why he enjoys dressing as a cowboy complete with chaps and an imitation
revolver, rather than judgemental. However, there is an acknowledgement that
Americanisation splits people, with comments about the 51st State being among
those arguing for less influence. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Written in the early 1990s, with Thatcher having left
office, this is a book that sits at a time when the heightened Americanisation
of the Thatcher-Reagan years could still be felt. A dreary Britain that often
willingly adopted the neon-lighted delights from the US.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is a companion piece to a Tv series, American Affair,
that I have to admit I haven’t seen. So in some senses the chapters must have
followed the progress of those episodes. What lifts the book out as something
you might want to read now, without the programme, isn’t just the text but the
photographs by Gerd Kittel.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Each chapter follows a pattern where the text goes so far
and then the photographs take over and illustrate the points. Given they are
thirty years old they now operate on a historical as well as cultural commentary
level.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To be honest this is not a book anyone wanting to read more
about the special relationship would start with. For me it’s part of my ongoing
look into American suburbanisation and its impact on the UK. It scratches that
itch but it’s quite a specific one and so I would not expect this to be sought
out by too many fellow readers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But if you want to understand more about the love affair
with America and what that like looked in the early 1990s then it’s a great
resource and an interesting read. <o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-50891134928563695222024-02-05T10:37:00.001+00:002024-02-05T10:37:00.276+00:00Book review: How Do you Live? By Genzaburo Yoshino<p> </p><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfet8_yCt7R1iUVnNaDcT_1imTLVzHagQwVIeyMWaZLftDdau94SqAp7MHoViQCD2lC9_wJ96QI4ncWBV89jWxPe5374_2ptG14wqXMomcsHs0NUqGxFrYNKwjBBysP4sleXpxmfIbzISFnBxzyIBInK_ioquLCrYw4oU3M4FNHWCF1AmcSvQB/s445/How%20do%20you%20live%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="281" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfet8_yCt7R1iUVnNaDcT_1imTLVzHagQwVIeyMWaZLftDdau94SqAp7MHoViQCD2lC9_wJ96QI4ncWBV89jWxPe5374_2ptG14wqXMomcsHs0NUqGxFrYNKwjBBysP4sleXpxmfIbzISFnBxzyIBInK_ioquLCrYw4oU3M4FNHWCF1AmcSvQB/s320/How%20do%20you%20live%20cover.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>After enjoying the <i>Boy and the Heron</i> there was an
appetite to dive deeper and <i>How Do You Live?</i> was described as the
inspiration for the film. It was one of the film's director Hayao Miyazaki's
favourite books and was percolating his thoughts as he pulled the story
together for the <i>Boy and the Heron.</i><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That word 'inspiration' is an important one because unlike
some of the other Studio Ghibli films, <i>Howl's Moving Castle</i> springs to
mind, this is not based directly on an existing story. There is no Heron in How
Do You Live? and the relationship with the Copper and his uncle is a healthier
one than Mahito and his Grand Uncle.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rather its taking the themes of coming of age, dealing with
the loss of a parent and navigating what type of person you want to be in life.
Will you be empathetic? show compassion? be arrogant or cowardly? These are all
things the main character Copper has to wrestle with.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As he goes through experiences he shares them with his uncle
and afterwards the uncle shares his advice in a notebook. It creates for the
majority of the book a pattern of Copper's story then directly followed by the
Uncle's observations. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Copper is not perfect, makes mistakes and learns from them.
But he is likeable and his experiences drive the story. He is coping with the
loss of his father and navigating starting senior school, with the threats of
bullying and coping with friendships that are evolving with maturity. The
reader is encouraged to look at Copper and ask themselves what they would have
done and what type of life they want to lead. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This book was written for children but there is more going
on here. Understanding the context around the books is important because it was
penned at a time when totalitarianism had gripped Japan and to question
authority out you in prison and under deep censorship.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yoshino was imprisoned, fell foul of the thought police but
still wanted to counter the aggressive state. That makes this a brave book and
a moving one. When Copper's uncle is urging him to think for himself and
question authority, he is risking more than just losing the reader's interest. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a book that has a power to provoke and move and on
that basis alone is worth recommending. But when you add the context and
understand the risks that Yoshino and his publisher were running by producing
this and it is much more heroic. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately at a time when populism is on the rise we all
need to ask ourselves the question of how we want to live.<o:p></o:p></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-33109025378613804032024-01-29T10:37:00.000+00:002024-01-29T10:37:06.415+00:00Book review: Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFLrNRkMxq4z_8mnyxDZkJfwVRkvnZiRG-i7hlT-QhXlwhxoCg6mhAa_bIKcXwv05My0KAmhsy0G-uTJSC2hTNR65eiEzRT1x9Np3jEZRlBH-8xz91x0qClb-T319sko96qyPhwEadi3jJMPNoz9Zede1WIoTy0ZUUoTuY_3EFEkUouqP7JHY/s500/Tokyo%20express.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFLrNRkMxq4z_8mnyxDZkJfwVRkvnZiRG-i7hlT-QhXlwhxoCg6mhAa_bIKcXwv05My0KAmhsy0G-uTJSC2hTNR65eiEzRT1x9Np3jEZRlBH-8xz91x0qClb-T319sko96qyPhwEadi3jJMPNoz9Zede1WIoTy0ZUUoTuY_3EFEkUouqP7JHY/s320/Tokyo%20express.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">My eldest son has consumed a large amount of Japanese
literature in the last year and recommended I followed his example. After
enjoying <i>The Boy and The Heron</i> that led me to <i>How Do You Live? </i>by
Genzaburo Yoshino, which was apparently some of the inspiration for the mood of
the film.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But things got going with <i>Tokyo Express</i> which caught
the eye due to the beautiful cover illustration and the positive blurb. Having
enjoyed plenty of detective stories in the past the chance to get to grips with
a Japanese story was too much temptation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you consider reading detective stories is a chance to
escape from your own life, either by being taken into an unknown world of crime
or to a distant location, then this manages to do both. Simenon does it
brilliantly with Paris and Matsumoto takes you on a trip here to various
locations in Japan. One of the first pages there is a map of Japan with a
couple of key locations marked and it is that sense of traversing the country
that forms a large part of the story. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trains form a central part of the plot and that adds to the
sense of taking the reader on a journey. It's clever, an insight into the
character of both the provincial and Tokyo police and operates around a central
story that underlines concepts of honour and integrity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The idea that appearances can be deceptive is not just
limited to the victims of the crime but extends across all aspects of the case.
Hidden behind established roles – the restaurant waitress, the rich
businessman, his ill wife and the government figure – there are other things
going on if someone is prepared to look for them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No spoilers here but I can say the story is clever, the
determination of the detectives central to its conclusion and the descriptions
of people and place delivered with depth in just a few lines.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Matsumoto takes you over the shoulder of the detectives,
sharing the contents of their notebooks and revealing their innermost thoughts.
There are moments when letters are used as a device to jump through time and
summarise developments but that never disrupts the flow and the book remains
gripping until its conclusion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you read at the most basic level to escape and travel to
other worlds then this book skilfully takes you to a post-war Japan, with stops
at a Southern coastal town, one of the Northern islands and Tokyo. This is a
time when corruption is circulating the government, technology is changing but
it’s still detective hunches that stop a crime from going undiscovered.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are a couple more books by Matsumoto in English
translation and I'm starting <i>Inspector Imanishi Investigates </i>at some
point so more of his works will appear on the blog.<o:p></o:p></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-50165975374078326992024-01-24T10:13:00.002+00:002024-01-24T14:24:21.746+00:00Book review: Searching for John Hughes by Jason Diamond<p> </p><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjO-umVqAXRzndNb2-5CalgLiazbqEanvqTPflALKkgCUqlXFyP32pCy9bkcwhOOUYX2ybc4eV0JOHcuA1GbT2zerQ9JHti5zSCY0wKSBnLFcZPuASleuvjBosMqwDtfM_KR1npn24cwYXFjUpk88cPtwwFMa2lCGQoPrQ28qtxvyPaLkfGduKg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjO-umVqAXRzndNb2-5CalgLiazbqEanvqTPflALKkgCUqlXFyP32pCy9bkcwhOOUYX2ybc4eV0JOHcuA1GbT2zerQ9JHti5zSCY0wKSBnLFcZPuASleuvjBosMqwDtfM_KR1npn24cwYXFjUpk88cPtwwFMa2lCGQoPrQ28qtxvyPaLkfGduKg" width="158" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Continuing the theme of the suburbs in many ways the
chronicler of teenage life in the Northern area of Chicago was John Hughes.
Famous for The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen
Candles, to name just a few. Large parts of his stories were set against the
backdrop of a suburban existence. His Shermer High Schools and million pound
home-lined streets in Home Alone were real places that meant audiences could
easily identify with them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among those was Jason Diamond who grew up in Chicago and
walked and drove around the streets Hughes filmed and used as backdrops. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Diamond's Search for John Hughes is a personal account of
his life and his search for a purpose. Things were going well until his parents
divorced and the subsequent troubles that led him to follow an ambition of
becoming a writer. His experiences through high school mix the comic at the
same time as the tragic and there is no doubt his life was a tough one. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Settling on the idea of writing a John Hughes biography
becomes his mission and shapes direction of his life taking him back into
Chicago and Hughes's world. In between stints working at coffee shops or on the
front desk at a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kindergarten he managed
to start telling Hughes’ story. They seem to share so much in common but as he searches
the more he realises that apart from Chicago and the suburbs they don't share
that much. Hughes becomes more of an enigma the closer he gets to him and there
are moments that they appear to share the same air but never collide.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Hughes biography runs into problems what does emerge
is a tale of survival. Diamond becomes a Hughes character in many ways. In the
same way that Annie in Pretty in Pink is inspiring so is Diamond as he emerges
through years of difficulty with the writing career he deserved and the
happiness he was due. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Given my recent reading this is a welcome chance to read a
voice from the suburbs and hear what life was really like behind those front
doors and in those high schools across Chicago. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hughes is a different subject and like many others I enjoy
his films and seek to escape into his portrayal of spaces where the losers come
through and win. I'd give anything to be able to go and spend some time in the
record shop in Pretty in Pink. It would take another post to go into depth on
his works. But in the context of this book Diamond is Hughesian. His life story
could be a gritty Hughes script, because the loser does come through. It's
touch and go most of the time but you root for him throughout. Just like John
Bender punching the air to Simple Mind's Don't you Forget about me at the end
of Breakfast Club the kid who has gone through hell has managed to come through
as one of the victors.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-57184916086987025862024-01-16T11:50:00.005+00:002024-01-16T11:51:21.685+00:00Book review: The End of the Suburbs by Leigh Gallagher<p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEga5kYtgW1sdwdcYBf7MzE9q_8HiLDld72XTTWYX8h9i1fQE0a9D8tM-0WwZ23cS6Ragxd__tkXCd1z8665A8YVwdmkQzPxUIc7ECUTGS3yAPr_gmhY5LpSbxI0VzXIxCezgiXDMUoQfg-j5puXVW0AQKV1CUsZs8LALhJSEjiK8O5Z24CdIEHK" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1963" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEga5kYtgW1sdwdcYBf7MzE9q_8HiLDld72XTTWYX8h9i1fQE0a9D8tM-0WwZ23cS6Ragxd__tkXCd1z8665A8YVwdmkQzPxUIc7ECUTGS3yAPr_gmhY5LpSbxI0VzXIxCezgiXDMUoQfg-j5puXVW0AQKV1CUsZs8LALhJSEjiK8O5Z24CdIEHK" width="156" /></a></div><p></p></blockquote><p>A great companion read to<i> Meet Me By The Fountain </i>is
the <i>End of The Suburbs</i> by Leigh Gallagher. It runs over a similar
history talking of the rise and fall of a way of living that dominated the US
post war up until relatively recently.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The suburbs have always been waiting to be born, with the
grid system so beloved by early settlers just waiting to be mimicked in fields
on the fringes of cities. The technology to mass produce houses, Levitt style,
and the need for homes spurred growth that seemed like it would never end. The
dream of owning a home burned brightly in many Americans minds and as they were
prepared to drive further away from the cities to where the prices would
eventually come down to a price when they could afford their own home.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once in the suburbs the dream then changed to moving up the
scaler and the McMansions that littered the landscape became the ambition for
many.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the car people could drive to and from home and
work on freeways, take kids to schools and clubs and pop along to the mall to
do their shopping.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But a few things changed. Firstly, commuting became a drag.
Not only did it take longer because congestion increased, but traditionally low
gas prices ebbed away and it became more expensive. Those homes at the edge of
the suburbs, the furthest from the city now became unaffordable because there
was no saleable market for them and the economics of living there no longer
stacked up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other major trend that worked against the suburbs was
the re-emergence of the cities. The rough slums in some of the areas of New
York that had kept people away for so long spruced themselves up and the joys
of living within 15 minutes of stories, kindergartens and transport became obvious.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A final theme tha Gallagher exposes is the split within the building
community, with many turning against the suburbs to concentrate on developing
walkable communities that did not rely on the car.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All of those factors were exacerbated by the 2008 housing
crash. In some ways this book uses that event as a platform to discuss the end
of the suburbs. That is both its strength and weakness. At the time it seemed
as if the collapse in the housing market, record foreclosures and the end of
the housing dream would spell the end for the suburbs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But reading this book just a year after the pandemic, when everyone
was forced to stay in their homes and work and live in those same suburbs for
their own safety, you have to wonder if a revision is needed. Homes became
fundamental during Covid and the isolation and criticisms made in the book of
expansive suburbs proved to be a benefit. Many fled their small city apartments
to stay in larger family bubbles to escape isolation and loneliness.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a result this book captures a moment in time that has
passed and leaves you with more questions than answers. There is no doubt the
suburbs have suffered and there are numerous YouTube channels out there touring
the US to show off collapsed and burnt-out neighbourhoods to illustrate that
point. Crime rates that once kept people away from cities are now doing the
same in the suburbs and there are problems with unemployment, opioid abuse and
violence, But many suburbs remain and there are estate agent channels that list
the top 10 suburbs for couples, families and for nature lovers etc. It doesn't
feel quite as apocalyptic as it did back in the few years that followed the
2008 recession.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is no doubt the suburbs have changed and will continue
to do so and this book marks a moment in that discussion about that future.
Gallagher was writing about a period of mass foreclosures sparked by the
recession, the first signs that the car was no longer the answer to commuting
and the rise of a city alternative. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story that Gallagher tells is one of ebbing tides of
migration, of an exodus from the urban centre to the suburbs to a move by many
back in, or closer to, the same cities their parents and grandparents left. The
changing role of the car is also pivotal as are the generational changes that
result in many younger people rejecting the attractions of the suburbs their
parents embraced.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The book ends with a sense that the suburbs will never quite
be the same. Her ability to chart the arguments in the planning and building
communities is one of the legacies that will live on after this period because
it illustrated more than anything that the money was moving from the suburbs
back to the cities. The new urbanism movement has provided alternatives, the
big developers that built the suburbs have moved into the cities and the love
affair with the car is coming under strain. But you also sense that the love
affair with the idea of personal space is not quite over and as a result the
burbs might change but to a large extent stay the same. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the history, the sense of differing viewpoints and
capturing the essence of the suburbs this book hits the mark. All it needs is a
post pandemic sequel to see where things stand now and where Americans now want
to live.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-60485881112222294102024-01-03T16:57:00.003+00:002024-01-03T17:06:06.883+00:00Book review: Meet me By The Fountain by Alexandra Lange<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5KS5S_49C1qzii9ItlC7jHqD_crECtUCRHU2zM-k5PwBoXBDYanvW1IT7QQeF4ZCHAaU7xIkdZgjPaShOnZrNRzDdxi6CAiqeJqsV3kPZRG2NXIYfjND_vXQ3NjiQ9ctKFXOc_STMXRcS3cG-DY0FjLtVeZY6MdcjnmyFCU8g-D7bgHqwjsF/s500/fountain.webp" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5KS5S_49C1qzii9ItlC7jHqD_crECtUCRHU2zM-k5PwBoXBDYanvW1IT7QQeF4ZCHAaU7xIkdZgjPaShOnZrNRzDdxi6CAiqeJqsV3kPZRG2NXIYfjND_vXQ3NjiQ9ctKFXOc_STMXRcS3cG-DY0FjLtVeZY6MdcjnmyFCU8g-D7bgHqwjsF/w132-h200/fountain.webp" width="132" /></a><div><span style="text-align: left;">My interest in American malls is not simply a case of trying
to recapture a few hours spent in various locations across the US on holidays
in my youth. More profoundly I'm working to this theory that there has been a
significant Americanisation of the UK since the 1980s and where they led, we
followed. So, if the malls are now falling into abandonment and the suburban
world depicted in numerous films is over then that must have an impact on us on
this side of the Atlantic. If that way of life is dying, then possibly so could
the power of Americanisation on current and future imaginations.</span></div></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Against that ambition to read more to flesh out my knowledge
in this area I picked up Meet Me By the Fountain by Alexandra Lange.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On one level this is a history of the mall development from
the Victor Gruen days of the 1950s, through to the various incarnations of T, L
and strip malls that were designed by various architects un the 1960s and 70s
that were built across the US in the suburbs of numerous cities.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Going through the history reveals the strength of the car
and the role of government to support the growth of a world dependent on
personal mobility, with Freeway Acts and zoning policies to drive the
development of suburbia after the Second World War. Once out in their suburbs
people needed places to shop, meet and have fun. The Mall was created to
provide a place for retail, rest and entertainment. An air conditioned, weather
free world that was safe and secure enticed generations of shoppers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the years the
Mall came under attack architecturally, with it being seen as a low form of
building, as well as from social critics who argued it operated as a private
space masquerading as a public one. Protests, certain groups of people and
increasingly youths were all prevented from enjoying the mall or found their
activities heavily controlled by security.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately the end for many malls came as a result of poor
management, the decline of the anchors - with most having relied heavily on the
likes of Sears and J C Penny - as well as changes happening in the suburbs that
took people increasingly back into the cities and away from the malls. Many
point the finger at Amazon and other etailers but in many respects that is
overblown with those web-based outlets only controlling a relatively low
percentage of sales. Other more structural problems have done the real damage.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The future for many Malls seems to be as mixed housing,
retail and public spaces, offering the mall as a community hub. Others continue
to survive because of smart management and an ability to keep retailers on
site. Local retailers, pop-up stores and boutiques selling handmade goods have
proved to be a popular lifeline. Even with internet shopping there should be
enough sales for the bricks and mortar operations to still enjoy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The history ends with a look elsewhere, with malls thriving
in places like Brazil and Nigeria, showing that the model can still work.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But this book also operates on a personal level. Lange has
her own mall memories that add to the sadness around the fate of some of her
childhood haunts. Then there are the movies, <i>Fast Times at Ridgemont High </i>and
the TV shows, including <i>Stranger Things</i>, that have depicted the
importance of the mall to 1980s youth culture, providing jobs, a place to hang
out and fall in love plus for those keen to show a commitment to a 'tribe' as
an arena to be seen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The curiosity about abandoned malls has spawned numerous YouTube
channels, with Lange recommending <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjU-Cwjfqbo2hMRItlXwnnQ">Dan Bell's</a> <i>Abandoned
Malls</i> series and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/RetailArchaeology">Retail
Archaeology</a> as two good ones to check out. Plus it has also attracted a
number of photographers who <a href="https://www.abandonedamerica.us/">chart
the decline in eerie images</a>. Then there is the music, mallware and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave"> vaporware</a>, that pine for
those days you would walk round a busy mall with tinny music playing out of
speakers, both inside and outside the stores.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On a personal level the rise and fall of the malls is one
that provokes the most emotional response. You remember trips to malls and
wonder as you walk around your local examples like BlueWater and see the empty
units and talk by the owners of becoming more of a 'lifestyle centre', just
what the future holds for those operations in the UK.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is a serious history and as a result sometimes it can
bog you down in detail but overall, it explains why the malls were built, how
they tried to adapt and why so many failed. Behind it all there is a sense that
the car and the re-emergence of the city are much more powerful factors than
Amazon and etailing. People no longer want to drive so far and walking a few
blocks in a bustling city is now seen as much more attractive. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still, if I was given the chance to revisit Sam Goody to
flick through the records and hang out by the fountain I'd be there like a
shot.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-3280788218139259052018-08-16T15:13:00.000+01:002018-08-16T15:13:08.884+01:00Book review: This is London by Ben Judah<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9xkucsShl0/W3Q0QkAsheI/AAAAAAAAB7w/GTQKS1415x0V7dG--9sE6TYQbYWUsGEGQCLcBGAs/s1600/london.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I9xkucsShl0/W3Q0QkAsheI/AAAAAAAAB7w/GTQKS1415x0V7dG--9sE6TYQbYWUsGEGQCLcBGAs/s1600/london.jpg" /></a></div>
<i> </i><br />
<i>“It’s like this: Russian and Ukrainian people hate Polish and
Lithuanian people. Eastern Europe peoples hate Indian people. Everybody
hates the black people. Whites hate everyone . . . That’s just the way
it is.” </i><br />
<br />
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This book is brave and has a story to tell. In the tradition
of those journalists who go out there and live the story Judah has put himself
into this story sleeping rough with Romanians, dossing down with Latvian
builders and getting to know African immigrants struggling on zero hour
contracts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Throughout the book, which takes the reader on a tour of an
unknown London, facts and figures are given to back up a picture of a City that
in some areas is now dominated by a group of Londoners that would be barely recognisable
to most of those who lived here just a couple of decades ago.</div>
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<br /></div>
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What has changed is that the poor white working class
communities have left areas of London to be replaced by a mixture of immigrants
from Eastern Europe, Africa and beyond that have made the likes of the tube station at Hyde Park and Barking their own as they cling onto a perilous existence.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The message that came out of the book is that London has
changed, perhaps permanently, and is now no longer a place that even those
living here can quite understand. I have seen some of the changes in nearby
Woolwich, which gets a very brief mention, and have started to feel that the
London I started to know when I was a student here has maybe gone.</div>
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Because Judah speaks to drug dealers, prostitutes and those on
the fringes there is a sense of danger often. A sense that the underworld is
just waiting for those sitting in the big houses to slip up and then they will
come and take them. Maybe that was my feeling but after a while I did start to
wonder what the message was coming from this book.</div>
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If it is that London has changed and all sorts of invisible
people now live here then that came across fairly quickly. It did not need to
be so exhaustive. But if it was to try and convey a sense of London from West
to East, North to South, changing with traditional Londoners heading for the
hills then it also did that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Maybe the readings of this book would differ if you lived in
or out of the capital but for me there was almost a moment of giving up and
wondering if it was worth staying here. If it has got so bad then why not just
pack the bags and exit like so many others appear to? </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
London is changing and this book provides a snapshot of what
is going on. But just like some of those other great exposes the world remains
fluid and this is already becoming history. It's important to recognise that
London is so mixed, not just in races but in terms of opportunities, but some
of the characters here will not stay as permanent fixtures.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You already sense that this is a book written pre-Brexit and
the sense of tension at the prospect of more Romanians and Eastern Europeans
coming into the capital is one that is already changing. The Polish builders
who have lived opposite me for 15 years are packing up and leaving and the
Romanian family at the end of the street have sold their house and are moving
on.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other groups will come into replace them and it is perhaps
as a snapshot of an ever changing City that this book will take its place
alongside other records of the past as a guide to what it once looked like.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Judah has guts and can write with pace and in a way that
challenges the reader to open their eyes that bit wider to see what is often
not seen. If this can make some of the invisible visible then it will have done
its job.</div>
<i><br /></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-7985791104204561902018-08-15T15:07:00.002+01:002018-08-15T15:07:20.343+01:00Book review: The Fall of the House of FIFA by David Conn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wakYHXIyKfE/W3QzgZ9-rtI/AAAAAAAAB7o/2jGOw-VVvTw8P6_3JcXA00Ow2JgGH7lUACLcBGAs/s1600/fifa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="699" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wakYHXIyKfE/W3QzgZ9-rtI/AAAAAAAAB7o/2jGOw-VVvTw8P6_3JcXA00Ow2JgGH7lUACLcBGAs/s320/fifa.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<i>“We who have loved football all our lives do not want to
believe that those who run the game, on their manifestos of doing good, are
this corrupt and rotten,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and so
marinated in greed.”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
When a World Cup is awarded to Qatar, a country without any
real record of football and a climate that makes playing it in the summer
almost impossible, you sense that something in the global game is not right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book unpicks the story of the spread of corruption that
spread across FIFA over decades and meant that most of the organisation's top
representatives were making a side income from back handers and bribes. Against a backdrop of a FBI investigation and revelations that exposed the depth of the corruption this book reveals that the culture of corruption has long been steeped in the organisation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you had to point the finger of blame at anyone other than
the individuals involved, and some of those like Chuck Blazer and Jack Warner
are almost cartoonish in their villainy, then it would have to be television.
The arrival of TV rights and the ever increasing sums of money that has gone
with it have created the opportunity for corruption.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The mixture of sponsorship and TV rights were sources of
income that would be paid to be involved and film World Cups but there was also
the opportunity for corruption to come as a result of the structure of FIFA.
With individuals holding influence over the votes for World Cup host cities and
the President role there were always going to be chances that their decisions
at the ballot box could be purchased.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conn unravels a story that sadly got more depressing the
deeper he went into it. The fact that Sepp Blatter appears to be able to
shake-off the worst of the corruption allegations makes up very little for the
numerous country FIFA bosses who did admit to taking bribes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The suggestion that a new president at FIFA has introduced a
fresh broom and a chance for the organisation to put the past behind it is also
pretty well destroyed by Conn revealing the greed over salary that Blatter's
successor displayed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
FIFA also appears to have been fairly consistent at
neutering any investigations and attempts to clean up the organisation and stem
the excesses of the past.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reading this is not always easy because it clearly quotes a
lot of legal documents and in order to make sure it does not fall foul of the
lawyers keeps the text and the accusations very clear and dry. But there is
enough drama here to make it keep you wanting to read on until the end.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you love football then this book will depress you. It
should because the corruption has been excessive and the way the game has been run
has been a disappointment. But if you love football then there is also the ray
of hope that even with some of these crooks running the game the sport still
manages to move people all over the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My love of the game is becoming harder to maintain because
of the influence of money and the billions pumped in by TV rights is also
something that echoes in the Premier League. It's all a long way from kicking a
ball around in the back yard and a few more books like this and maybe I too
will become like to grey hairs in the crowd moaning about the good old days
when everything seemed more simple. The tragedy is that as the case of FIFA
shows you have to go back quite a way to find any good old days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-66012129759786387182018-06-13T14:29:00.000+01:002018-06-13T14:29:10.865+01:00Book review: Estuary Out from London to the Sea by Rachel Lichtenstein<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp9wj6XEPWY/WyEb6jy8EEI/AAAAAAAAB68/kElmFRyG9b4nVhdOaRxXiPRZuhyPYJvXACLcBGAs/s1600/estuary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lp9wj6XEPWY/WyEb6jy8EEI/AAAAAAAAB68/kElmFRyG9b4nVhdOaRxXiPRZuhyPYJvXACLcBGAs/s1600/estuary.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />This book called out to me from the London section shelves at <a href="http://camdenlockbooks.com/" target="_blank">Camden Lock Books</a> and appealed because the Estuary is a part of London I have driven over and seen but not learnt too much about.<br /><br />Everytime I get to experience the joy of Ikea over at Lakeside I travel back on the M25 and the bridhe over the river with views of commercial ships, It always stirs up thoughts about the river and my lack of experience wandering along its banks further East than Woolwich.<br /><br />This book starts as a tale of artists enjoying the Thames from different perspectives, with the author joined by film makers, musicians and other artists. Those few days on the Thames sparks Lichtenstein's interest in delving further.<br /><br />She lives in Leigh-On-Sea so already has a connection with the Thames, which also goes back through her family. That sense of families living and often earning a living from the sea is a constant theme. She meets fishermen, sailors and eccentrics that have been drawn to remote islands and sea forts. Throughout the book there are photographs that help share in the experiences she is describing. <br /><br />But this is not just an account of various exhibitions along the coast and onto the water. There is a real sense of history flowing here with the past wrecks having a story along with the Second World War sea forts and defences. This is a river that continues to evolve and the controversial London Gateway Port is the latest change and threat to the river. The deep dredging needed to help the massive container ships get to the port has caused ripples to be felt in the ecosystems of the river and those that work with them.<br /><br />From the comfort of an arm chair you get to meet some of the characters of this estuarial world and when Lichtenstein describes the river there is a real sense of danger. her final expedition includes being stranded on a sand bank and the weather, sense of historical precedent for what could happen and the brilliant descriptions of the sea conditions take this book above a mere travel journal.<br /><br />To many people the estuary is an alien world. It is at the meeting point of river and sea and it is a middle ground that many overlook as they travel one way or the other. But it is populated by people that have stories to tell and although there is a sense that in many cases their ways of life are becoming restoration projects there is still hope.<br /><br />The river that has supported London for so long continues to do so and although the future is not clear the book does end with a sense that the estuary will adapt and more chapters in its story are going to come.<br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-59984894884411954582018-05-06T17:06:00.000+01:002018-08-15T15:17:29.655+01:00Book review: All the Devils Are Here by David Seabrook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L1BJrdajnLI/W3Q1w7yjznI/AAAAAAAAB78/HEPpErhFJhEcnZtYKzbdFcY6h1csS9e2wCLcBGAs/s1600/devils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="181" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L1BJrdajnLI/W3Q1w7yjznI/AAAAAAAAB78/HEPpErhFJhEcnZtYKzbdFcY6h1csS9e2wCLcBGAs/s1600/devils.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Every time I have an appointment at Moorfields for my eyes I like to pop into <a href="http://camdenlockbooks.com/" target="_blank">Camden Lock Books</a> at Old Street tube station if I get the chance. I have to go before the appointment because afterwards, once the drops have been put in, vision is not that clear and it's slightly pointless trying to squint at book spines.<br /><br />
One of the many things that is good about Camden Lock Bookshop is the section of books it has on London. I tend to hover there looking for something that will provide me with more knowledge or stir greater interest in the City I work and live in. <br /><br />
My eyes were drawn to one book on the London shelf, Estuary: Out from London to the Sea by Rachel Lichtenstein. I headed over to the till to pay and one of the promoted books was All the Devils Are Here by David Seabrook. The cover blurb and thumbs up from Iain Sinclair were enough to make me buy it on impulse.<br /><br />
In many ways there are two stories being told here. The first is the one contained in the book and the other is about the author. Seabrook appears to have died just a few years after publication. Further research indicates it was a heart attack that took him but he is a shadow over the book leaving unanswered questions.<br /><br />
He starts a trip through some of the seaside town of Kent with reference to some of the literary, political and film stars of the past that were associated with the different towns. So you get Dickens on Rochester and Moseley on Broadstairs. You end with Charles Hawtrey the Carry On star in Deal. <br /><br />
But this is not just a normal trip down memory lane. There is a sense that place influenced person and the same factors are still at work today. <br /><br />
As he retraces the 39 Steps and John Buchan the same sense of secrets, dangers and plots oozes through modern day Broadstairs where buildings are off limits and neighbours spy on strangers. <br /><br />
As he goes through Kent there are moments that made me laugh having been to some of these towns and his descriptions of Rochester and Chatham were sharp.<br /><br />
"8 June 1870, the date of Dicken's own death, is where Rochester's history officially ends..."<br /><br />
"Chatham is a long time dead, killed off on 31 March 1984 when the Royal Navy, a presence for more than four hundred years, pulled out of the dockyard."<br /><br />
By the end there is a feeling that Seabrook himself has become immersed in the story. The devils that he has described, from mad painters and fascists, have caught up with him and he is being pursued by them. I felt there was a suggestion by the end he had even become one of them. Would people be talking of him in the future in the way he had described some writers of he past.<br />
<br />
Of all the aspects of this book the way he described a lost world around the time of the 1950s was the one I found most interesting. The Empire was dwindling and those that lived literally on the edges of British society were forced to return to a place that they could not really call 'home'.<br />
<br />
Glad I did pick this up and it will probably lead me into Seabrook's other book about the 60s murderer in West London, Jack the Stripper. He tees it up towards the end of this book with some overlap that acts as a warm up for that other work.<br /><br />
Now though it's time to turn to Estuary before I get the call to head back to Moorfields and my next check up.<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-36205895593714886202016-11-14T11:23:00.000+00:002016-11-14T11:23:07.059+00:00Book review: Psychogeography by Merlin Coverley<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GPPgVkiAhVc/WCWqGCU1w7I/AAAAAAAAB2g/fNXEhcsQP_4RA_IkMFKKI0Eru6I1mPNTQCK4B/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GPPgVkiAhVc/WCWqGCU1w7I/AAAAAAAAB2g/fNXEhcsQP_4RA_IkMFKKI0Eru6I1mPNTQCK4B/s400/index.jpg" /></a></div>
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"Psychogeography: The study of specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals," definition from the International Situationiste movement.</div>
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This is a useful guide to an idea that is a much literary
these days as it was originally political.</div>
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With roots in the works of Defoe, with his plague year
trawl through London, and Blake's thoughts about London and Jerusalem, the idea of charting and reacting to an
environment went political with the situationist movement in the 50s and 60s. Figures
like Guy Debord set about defining psychogeography and underlining the idea of
people using it as a tool to find their own space, to create something new.</div>
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But in a modern world which seems to work against the
pedestrian it has become less about trying to change the environment than
sharing a reaction to it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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That's not to say the current psychogeographers do not
bemoan modern planning and Sinclair was particularly vocal about the
development of the Olympic Park and there has been plenty of criticism of the way Thatcher changed communities during her time in office.</div>
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But as Michel de Certeau noted in the 80s things had started to change and even experiencing the environment was becoming a varied experience.</div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
Voyeurs look down from the sky scrapers and walkers are
down below. Psychogeography is about giving the emphasis back to the walkers.
The vouyeur loses the individual and sees the city as a homogeneous whole.</div>
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"Their story begins on ground level, with footsteps," writes de Certeau.</div>
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Technology is working against the walker surveillance and
closed areas etc as a result the novelist and poet not the psychogeographer who
is able to capture the emotions of a city.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
London has again become the centre with JG Ballard, Iain Sinclair
and others.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Walking is again being seen as a tool for the writer. If
someone wants to immerse themselves in the city then they need to do it on
foot.</div>
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My only concern, which isn't dealt with in the book, is
that not only has modern technology made it harder for the modern
psychogeographers physically getting in touch with the ground but also in terms
of having an open mind. </div>
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One of the themes of the book, whether it be about
London, Paris or New York, is that psychogeographers can somehow find secret
parts of the city and unlock hidden truths.</div>
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In the age of social media I find it hard to believe that
rose secrets would remain so for very long or that it would be possible to walk
to a destination keeping an open mind to allow the feelings it sparks to be
felt genuinely.</div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
In summary this is a very useful guide to the main ideas
and people involved with psychogeography. Very interesting for anyone who has
read Ballard, Sinclair, ackroyd or has an interest in major cities and a
passion for walking in them.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-58416268691464792432016-11-11T12:41:00.000+00:002016-11-11T12:41:03.863+00:00Book review: Dottings of a Dosser by Howard Goldsmid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been reading <i>The Worst Street in London</i> by Fiona Rule, which is about Dorset Street in the Spitafields area. <br /><br />One of the main reasons why that street and the neighbouring area went downhill in the Victorian times and became such a place linked with vice, poverty and crime was because of the lodging houses that dotted Dorset Street.<br /><br />Lodging houses were places where people that could not afford weekly rent could pay just a few pence for a night's lodging. They were desperate folk that spent their waking hours trying to scrape together the money for the night. In theory there were rules that governed just how these lodging houses were run, but in reality people were packed in to foul smelling rooms so landlords could maximise their takings.<br /><br />In an effort to get a glimpse of what this world was like I discovered the useful <i>Dottings of a Dosser,</i> which saw Howard Goldsmid go undercover to find out what these places were like. <br /><br />Dressed in his tramp gear the 19 year old Goldsmid bravely set out to share his experiences of spending some nights in the most notorious lodging houses.<br /><br />The lodging house is not just about the beds lined up next to each other in a stuffy room but starts downstairs in the communal kitchen area. Here the characters emerge with drunken couples fighting, old men sharing their survival wisdom and shocking tales of families struggling with infants in that environment.<br /><br />Goldsmid rarely lasts more than until the early hours in rooms that are so stuffy and toxic as a result of the foul smelling drunken men that you can really sense the terrible atmosphere in those places. There is one room where his desperation to open the window and breath in fresh air is tangible.<br /><br />The upshot of his adventure is that he concludes that the law is failing because it is not being observed and enforced. He also warns that people in that situation will surely not stand for it for ever and fears there could be a revolution.<br /><br />The language is of its time and the references are in the context of the 1880s and the author would have expected the audience to have known those. But it is very readable. The decision he makes to go to different parts of London make sure that any sense of repetition is avoided.<br /><br />This is an ideal companion to any reading into the state of the East End in the 1880s. It provides a first hand account of a real world that is far more shocking than fiction.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-12940413067715899442016-11-10T12:21:00.000+00:002016-11-10T12:21:06.105+00:00Book review: The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year I enjoyed Steven Johnson's series about where do great ideas come from- <i>How we got to now</i>, which was shown <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053hxjw" target="_blank">on the BBC</a> and so already had an idea of who he was when I saw his name on the spine of this book.<br />
<br />
Johnson is fascinated about how great ideas come to fruition and is a keen advocate of the theory that the big breakthroughs often come on the back of smaller ones. the concept of a single genius enjoying their light bulb moment is more of a fiction.<br />
<br />
The same is here with it taking the efforts of John Snow and Rev Henry Whitehead to crack the cause of the cholera epidemic that ran through Soho in 1854.<br />
<br />
Most people have a rough idea of what happened with Snow discovering that it was the drinking water that was the source of the disease and getting the pump shut off that had been spreading cholera.<br />
<br />
But getting to that point took a long time and Snow was going against the consensus that diseases like Cholera were airborne.<br />
<br />
What clinched the argument for Snow was his dedication in mapping the spread of the disease and finding the Broad Street pump had been the common link. But it also took the efforts of Whitehead, who initially disagreed with Snow and set out to disprove his theory. As he worked hard to counter the waterborne theory he managed to reinforce it by knocking down his own objections. It was Whitehead who found the original cholera case and traced how it found its way into the water supply.<br />
<br />
The legacy of Snow's efforts were profound not just in the sense of linking cholera to water supply but also the way he mapped the spread of the disease. His Ghost Map is something that has been mimicked ever since and helped change the way scientists visualise data.<br />
<br />
This is a story of the hard working hero plodding around the streets of Soho after working all day as a doctor fighting the establishment to find the real cause of the cholera outbreak.<br />
<br />
It is a story well told but my only criticism is the sense of repetition of the main arguments. I got it the first time but there seems to be a fear from the
author that unless he really spells it out the main points might be
missed.<br />
<br />
But that is a minor criticism because overall this book manages not only to share the story of what happened in 1854 but also the legacy. Snow's techniques combined with the internet, social media and the latest mapping techniques are being used right now to save lives. That is a profound legacy that has lasted well beyond the original cholera outbreak.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-84094541389944200152016-11-09T12:02:00.001+00:002016-11-09T12:24:08.978+00:00Psychogeography by Merlin CoverleyI must confess I have not quite finished this book but wanted to get some of my thoughts down about it before I forgot them.<br />
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<br />
Psychogeorgraphy is something that anyone who has read Iain Sinclair or Peter Ackroyd will be familiar with as it infuses their ideas of the history and development of London. But what exactly is it is perhaps something that is worth looking at on its own. <br />
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If geography describes nature and the physical
environment then psycho geography describes the emotional reaction to that
environment. The best way to experience it is on foot walking and sensing the
different areas.</div>
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That's why Sinclair is such closely associated with it. Most of his books involve waking through an environment and then sharing observations and reactions to that space. </div>
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The ley lines stuff is more new age and had been largely
forgotten until a 70s revival. The original theory related to the countryside
and not so much to the urban environment. Ackroyd has picked up on this idea in London.
Sinclair raised the idea Hawksmoor churches were on ley lines and there is some hidden force governing the development of certain areas of the capital.</div>
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What appeals most perhaps is the idea that a city can have different emotions - sad, happy, stressed etc - and if you are prepared to walk through with an open mind and a critical eye then those secrets are ther to be unlocked.</div>
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Will post a fuller review when I get to the finish. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-39763813120918409562015-03-18T12:10:00.000+00:002015-03-18T12:10:00.426+00:00Underground thoughts<br />
Thoughts at the half way point of: <i>Underground Overground: </i><i>A Passenger's History of the Tube by Andrew Martin </i><br />
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One of the problems with history books, no matter how interesting the subject, is that facts have to be shared and as a result sometimes the narrative gets pulled back from heading off in other directions.<br /><br />That problem does crop up here when there are moments when you want to get past the chronological timetable to explore just what happened in certain parts of the underground. Most of the time though the writing keeps you going with the promise that the delights of the future will come in time.<br /><br />The attraction of this book was that as a regular user of the underground - my route to work includes North Greenwich to Bond Street on the Jubilee and then the Central Line to Oxford Circus - there is the desire to know more about it.<br /><br />Despite the age of the network the tube is constantly evolving and it remains a constant source of conversation for its users. You just have to look at the excitement that the possible extension of the Bakerloo Line down to Catford is causing to get a glimpse into just what being on the network means. <br /><br />Pick up an Evening Standard regularly and the tube, usually over crowding, will make its way onto the front pages, which it did recently with problems at Oxford Circus.<br /><br />The Standard should know all about it because of its position as London's evening newspaper and as a journalist Andrew Martin brings a lot of that same style to this book. So far he has talked of the development of the rube and the mix of dreamers who wanted to improve the world to companies and individuals who hoped to make money.<br /><br />Trying to make money out of it became a sought after mirage, which was largely popped by the experiences of the Circle Line, but thanks to those that tried the capital was left with a decent tube infrastructure.<br /><br />There is still more of this book to consume but it is worth sharing thoughts at this stage for those looking for a history of the tube that is not too heavy and has enough additional anecdotes to make it come alive for the current underground user.<br /><br />A full review will follow soon.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-34623288971705955012015-03-17T10:53:00.003+00:002015-03-17T10:53:48.070+00:00Review: Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Having established most of the themes of his books in Rivers of London there is perhaps no surprise that this is more of the same with different ghosts to battle and a different part of London central to the action.<br /><br />The first book, Rivers of London, concentrated on the Covent Garden area but this moves focus slightly towards Soho with the Cafe Royal and some of the dingy strip clubs that populate the side streets being venues for some of the action. You still get the history lessons about those parts of the capital and some of the major events and it is from something that happened in the second world war that the main story develops.<br /><br />At the same time we get to know Peter Grant, the main character, that bit better and find out that as well as a policeman, trainee wizard and son of a jazz musician he is also a lover. <br /><br />Some of the threads left at the end of the first book are picked up here and developed and others remain largely in the background, presumably with the intention of being picked up in the third or fourth volumes.<br /><br />This is a darker book compared to the first, which had its moments as well, and there are some scenes that will impress themselves on your dreams. But the humour is there to create a good balance.<br /><br />As Grant develops more of his skills the story of the police wizards, and magic more generally, starts to unfold. This is when it does get a bit Harry Potter with the idea of good and evil and the thought that there could be a Voldemort type figure out there waiting to try and put Grant and his boss out of business permanently. That is left hanging with the main case solved and the disruption to London and explained away by a Met keen to brush the existence of magic well under the carpet.<br /><br />In many senses this is a second book that will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the first. The danger is that the casual reader will find the barriers to entry too high. All of the ingredients are here for this to run and run with different areas of London providing the backdrop for another story. it will be interesting to see what lies ahead in the third book and whether or not it will keep that edgy feeling or go more in the direction of explaining the wizard's story, which might not deliver quite the same experience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-72507229089339371332015-03-16T10:28:00.000+00:002015-03-17T10:30:43.736+00:00Review: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mr8Zx6GKom8/VQgBv0tbYiI/AAAAAAAABxs/5SYGH8rSIz8/s1600/200px-Rivers_of_London.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mr8Zx6GKom8/VQgBv0tbYiI/AAAAAAAABxs/5SYGH8rSIz8/s1600/200px-Rivers_of_London.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a></div>
One of the cover lines describing this book asks you to imagine what would have happened if Harry Potter grew up and joined the police. In a very basic sense that provides a guide to the pages within but it also falls well short.<br />
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The Harry Potter reference comes because of the magic in the story. The idea of a policeman having the ability to talk to ghosts and as a result the chance to become a wizard's apprentice forms a large part of the story.<br />
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It gives Ben Aaronovitch a chance to introduce vampires, creepy ghosts that inhabit the bodies of innocent Londoners and an insight into the training of an apprentice wizard with lights formed by the mind one of the main speels that gets worked on.<br />
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As well as having fun introducing the idea that the modern streets of London could be populated by vampires and ghosts there is also a lot of mileage to be had in the main character Peter Grant because he is a young officer in the Met who has a mixture of wide-eyed wonder and cunning that makes the whole wizard's apprentice premise much more believable.<br />
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But for me the other main character in the book isn't Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last English wizard who lives in the Folly, an old building protected by magic, but it is London itself.<br />
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Set around Covent Garden and involving moments when the story of the City goes right back to its formation this is a tour through a particular area of the capital. Plenty of history is thrown in and facts about the police, the theatre and the area but it is usually done with a light touch. As a result you are learning about the story of London and the idea of wizards being employed by the Metropolitan Police feels as if it could legitimately be part of that tale.<br />
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The story is delivered with a mix of humour and when needed graphic horror as Grant gets to grips with the ghost of a frustrated actor. But there are other threads here that you know will be picked up in other books, including the references in the title, to the Rivers of London. It comes as no surprise to find out there is a Father Thames with his brood of children named after Thames tributaries. But there is also Mother Thames and the battle between the two runs as a backdrop throughout the book.<br />
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So on one level Peter Grant is Harry Potter in the Police. But on another this is so much more because the world he inhabits is not a fictional land of Hogwarts but London. The same London that is waiting for anyone to pop up at Covent Garden tube and stroll through. The ability to use the capital as a backdrop, provider of mystery and history is what makes this book stand out.<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_London_%28novel%29#cite_note-sf-encyclopedia1-2"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-77860406841526216252014-02-10T12:32:00.000+00:002014-02-10T12:32:15.035+00:00Dipping into some Leonid Andreyev<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />After deciding to dip into Project Gutenberg and see what was there, and to postpone getting bogged down further in the Dostoyevsky I'm trying to read, I downloaded <i>The Crushed Flower and Other Stories</i> by Leonid Andreyev.<br /><br />It's shaping up to be quite a diverse collection of short stories with different techniques used here to cover such themes as adultery (<i>The Crushed Flower</i>), love and faith (<i>Love, Faith and Hope</i>) as well as the very short tale from the view point of a snake (<i>The Serpent's Story</i>).<br /><br />The serpent tail did make me think of Bulgakov's <i>Heart of a Dog</i>, in the sense it takes the reader into an animal's mind. And I have to confess thinking of Sue Townsend's <i>Adrian Mole</i> series when reading <i>The Crushed Flower, </i>because it has that ability to show the reader an adult world through the eyes of an innocent child.<br /><br />There are some great descriptive flourishes and you sense that this is a writer on a bit more of a mission to use literature as part of a political dialogue that was moving on towards revolution.<br /><br />I'm only a few stories in to the collection but did want to share some initial reactions, which are favourable. Not everything he works but the vast majority does and you find yourself being drawn back to read more and wishing the tube journey to and from work was just those few stops longer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-47444015871363720152014-02-04T11:51:00.002+00:002014-02-04T11:51:54.821+00:00A short introduction to Turgenev<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />In a last ditch effort to try to have a go at using an e-reader I fired up the Nook on the tube to work this morning and taking advantage of some Russian short stories downloaded a while ago from Project Gutenberg managed to do a spot of reading.<br /><br />What has out me off using the Nook up to this point has largely been the price of ebooks and the mixed experience of reading digitally. It still feels unnatural and it was only because it doesn't feel right to dump the Nook without giving it a fair go that I have chosen to use it today.<br /><br />Anyway the upshot of it is that I was able to read a bit of Ivan Turgenev, who is an author I have not really dedicated anytime to before. I own some of his books but there has never really been a moment when they have been read. So today gave a chance to start to rectify that.<br /><br /><b>Mumu</b><br />This short story contains a great deal of the classic ingredients of great Russian literature. A central character of a pesant that is abused by his rich mistress. First the deaf and mute Gerasim is taken out of his beloved country and moved to Moscow at the whim of a lady who wants to use him as a watchman and courtyard sweeper; Then he falls in love with one of the laundry maids but again the mistress uses her power to force the girl to marry a drunkard in an attempt to get the man on the straight and narrow; Finally he saves a dog, named Mumu, and it becomes the love of his life before the same Mistress demands that it is killed because the barking keeps her up at night.<br /><br />There is a great deal of tragedy and the story exposes the slavery conditions that most peasants found themselves subjected to by the rich from the Cities. Turgenev chooses a deaf and mute character because the man can only express his feelings through physical movement and the setting of his expression. But in many ways the peasants were mute when it came to talking of their own lives and any attempt to change things would have fallen on deaf ears.<br /><br />It's one of those stories that you hope doesn't head the way it does but you keep reading and rooting for Gerasim because of the core values of the man to be true to himself.<br /><br />It certainly would make me want to read more by Turgenev and I hop to in the next few weeks. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-84912399605206450262014-01-21T12:33:00.004+00:002014-01-21T12:36:04.110+00:00Review: A Country Doctor's Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mikhail Bulgakov is world renowned for the brilliant <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.masterandmargarita.eu%2Fen%2F&ei=eWneUtjDGbjKsQTv4YC4BA&usg=AFQjCNFKEvRUyd_gliQxXUGMH37e_S1LuA&sig2=6lwalnHE4xZ1PP5PqZkfjA&bvm=bv.59568121,d.cWc">The <em>Master and Margarita </em></a>but if you go back to the start of his writing career you get a slightly different but still hugely enjoyable experience.<br />
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The main difference with A Country Doctor's Notebook is that it starts in 1916 when the war is the background but the revolution and the Stalinistic oppression that hung over the rest of his writing has not yet arrived. As a result you get an insight into a country of extremes - light and dark is Bulkgakov's metaphor - with vast differences between cities and the countryside.<br />
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Sent as a newly qualified doctor to head up a rural hospital with a staff of two midwifes and an assistant the main character and alter-ego for Bulgakov heads away from electricity, telephones and civilisation to a remote world where the weather and the roads can make a six mile journey take all day. This is an environment where ignorance about medical matters among the peasants is supporting the spread of syphilis and people fail to follow their courses of medication because they simply cannot grasp what the doctor is telling them.<br />
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But the stories about individual cases, used to illustrate the experience of being a country doctor, are told with a degree of warmth and humour that makes you stick with the story and grow to like the main character. Of course he can be boorish and arrogant but underneath he shares his constant insecurity about his lack of ability and inexperience with most medical crises.<br />
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The small hospital is not just a learning ground for him in terms of medicine but also as a man as he copes with facing the demons of isolation and loneliness for months on end. By the end he is not only a much more competent doctor but also a better observer of human nature.<br />
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For all but a couple of chapters the story focuses on the remote country hospital but once the main character leaves and heads back into civilisation to a larger city-based hospital there is a shift in direction. Now he uses the stories of others, both doctors, to illustrate the dark side of being in such a remote and isolated situation at such a young age as well as introducing the theme of the revolution and the battle for control of Russian in the civil war.<br />
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The last couple of chapters give off the sort of feeling that most of his work would have following the arrival of Lenin and his friends with a tension and fear that is not apparent before starting to creep in. It makes the earlier stories about the country hospital ones that can be seen with a degree of sentimentality. <br />
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The Russia described in the first two thirds of the book disappears not long afterwards under five-year plans and the persecution of rich farmers. There is a certain irony that just as Bulgakov starts to find his writing wings and soars with this descriptions of rural Russia the full stop at the end of the book is not just his return to the bright electric lights of the city but a stop to an era stretching back hundreds of years. You sense that not long after the ink dried on writing this book it became in large parts a work of almost instant history. <br />
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<i>Published by The Harvill Press, 1995</i><br />
<i>Translated by Michael Glenny</i><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-65247206074902580572014-01-17T14:55:00.003+00:002014-01-17T14:55:42.854+00:00Going for a Russian lit/history focus<br />Having been thinking about things now for most of this week the decision that has been reached is to opt for an area that I could read about all year with great happiness. As a result this blog will now be covering Russian literature and history.<br /><br />Both of those areas are real passions and I think that having a focus will make it easier to keep the reading and the blogging going. I have read a few of the Russian greats but there are still plenty out there and as well as the classics I'm hoping to get into some more modern stuff, depending on what has been translated and is available.<br /><br />The history theme is also going to provide me with a chance to have a better mix of fiction and non-fiction and provide an opportunity to occasionally complement the era used as the setting for a novel as a period of history to study in more depth.<br /><br />To celebrate I have started reading A Country Doctor's Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov and am enjoying it immensely. Set during the First World War this is a rare Bulgakov where the spectre of Stalinism does not over shadow the tale and as a result you get a different take on Russia's problems at the time. The main theme is one highlighting the difference between rural Russia and life in the cities. The world that young Bulgakov is sent to to deliver his medical skills is dark in more than just the quality of the light.<br /><br />Anyway hope things going forward will make more sense now this blog has a bit more of a direction.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-57971888393765381192014-01-16T10:00:00.000+00:002014-01-16T10:00:06.813+00:00No longer the everymanThinking about what this blog should be about has lef me to a few possible options. When I was a child I remember going into a stamp shop and telling the man behind the counter that I enjoyed collecting stamps. He asked which ones and I replied "All of them". He then laughed and said that most serious collectors specialised in one country or one period and that although my collection was a good one for a young boy it lacked any focus.<br /><br />I often think of that same conversation when I think of this blog. At the start the idea was that I would record all the books I read. The broad remit was that after years of just reading non-fiction there was a lot of catching up to do and so I would pick up some of the greats and get thoughts down on those. It was also an attempt to try and capture thoughts that would otherwise have been lost as a result of my leaky memory.<br /><br />But there are various problems being an everyman blog. It leaves you often without direction, makes it hard to engage with a specific online community and prevents any great analysis from ever developing as you jump from genre to genre and period to period without enabling too much comparison.<br /><br />So thinking about what I like to read a lot there are a couple of stand out options:<br /><br />Russian literature and history has always been a passion of mine and I would be happy to go down that route. Pros are that it would keep me entertained for a long time. Cons are that the books tend to be fairly gloomy and I'm not sure a sustained diet of Russian lit would be good for the soul.<br /><br />History, specifically modern, is something that I have studied in the past and there is plenty of material here. The Pros are that you can really get stuck into some interesting things, like my current interest in the Vietnam War. The Cons are that the books tend to be long, dense, not always that well written for the lay reader and can be hard to share.<br /><br />IThe third choice is of course to combine the two but I'm not sure how that would work.<br /><br />Plenty of food for thought there and I hope to make a decision soon and change the blog strapline and get a more coherent focus.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-25363339136197812332014-01-15T11:38:00.003+00:002014-01-15T11:38:39.430+00:00Must try harder<br />It's hard to believe that when I started blogging I took great pride in the output and used to pat myself on the back for doing at least a post a day, if not sometimes multiple entries.<br /><br />So when I see the total posts of last year only came to 10 it is quite a shock and a graphic illustration of just how far things have changed. There are several reasons why things have slowed down:<br /><br />* Time - I just don't seem to have any of it anymore. As a result of running a marathon last year (first and only) and a couple of half marathons I seem to spend the little time I have donning lycra and trying to fight the bulge.<br /><br />* Kids - I have a young son, not yet two, and it's hard reading and blogging when there are special moments to be had with him. Milo is a real joy and along with his brothers deserve my attention.<br /><br />* Motivation - The drive that used to be there at the start has almost completely burnt out. I know that this will never be a blog attracting thousands of hits, my interaction with people is poor and there are so many better alternatives (see the blogroll). I'm comfortable with that but am still working out just what this all means for the blog going forward.<br /><br />* Readers block - this is a really serious one for me. Last year I just couldn't read without feeling stressed and the result was that I only managed to read a handful of books and most of the time started and abandoned reading books. I'm not sure what this is all about but suspect that it is psychological connected to some of the other factors I have listed here. <br /><br />If I have one aim for this year it is not only to fall back in love with reading but also to try and work out what this blog is for. It is something that I want to provide me with enjoyment, that hopefully can be shared, but right now it is doing little of that. Hopefully that will change and I will work out a strategy for 2014.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31144708.post-25771553544314836462014-01-14T15:37:00.001+00:002014-01-14T15:37:19.607+00:00Review: Chickenhawk by Robert Mason<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the second book about the Vietnam war I have read in recent weeks as I amble through the history of that conflict that might see me take in a couple more before moving onto another subject.<br />
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Just as with Matterhorn, which was written from the view point of an infantry solider who was out in the bush coming into contact with the enemy on the ground this is also a personal history that is used to tell a larger tale about the war. This time around the focus is on the air with a Huey helicopter pilot the narrator of a tour of duty that sees him go from a believer to a sceptic and from a functioning human being to someone crippled professionally by PTSD.<br />
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The points that come out of this book are similar to Matterhorn with the enemy regularly underestimated and an arrogance of those controlling the war to believe that firepower and body counts would win and grind down their opposition. But with people in the field like Bob Mason who were trying not just to make sense of orders but stay alive and fight their own demons the chances of success appear to be limited. <br />
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The book flows well and there is a benefit perhaps of having a year tour from August 1965 to July 1966, because it by default gives a structure to a large part of the book once you get past the before and share a little bit of the after story. There are a few photographs online but my edition could have benefited from having a few. There is also a slight need perhaps to provide brief thumbnails of what became of some of the people that Mason mentions regularly throughout the book. Not all finish their tours at the same time and are left behind in Vietnam and the reader is left a little bit in the air wondering and hoping that they all came through in one piece.<br />
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Each book about the war comes from a different viewpoint and that is true of Chickenhawk. But if you read enough of them then a picture starts to emerge of an army that had the best of soldiers but a level of ignorance about the way to fight the war and of a political and military machine bogged down in spin. The Tet Offensive blew away the idea that the war was almost over and revealed that the strategy of body count was not working. But until that point you are left in a world, like Mason, where there is optimism mixed in with speculation that turns out to be based on spin and hope. <br />
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Having read Matterhorn and now Chickenhawk and got tales of the war from the ground and the air its hard not to feel depressed about how these young men were taken into a war they knew so little about. The stories are there to be read and hopefully the lessons are there to be learnt. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com