Slothing through the dark, moody months, waiting for the sun to come back to stay. I understand why Nordic literature tends so much to the gloomy. It’s not winter that’s the problem in itself. I love those winter days with a bright blue sky and so cold that the snow squeaks under foot. We just don’t get enough of those days to keep me powered up. Slow brained and extra sleepy, I haven’t plowed through an abundance of books, but they have been quite good.
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo – This non-fiction book falls somewhere between journalism and literature. With chapters that move back and forth between three real women in very different circumstances, it recounts their experiences as sexual beings and the repercussions these experiences have on their lives. One is a young women who had had an “affair” (the loaded language there captures the point) with her high school teacher, one is a married women whose husband urges her to have sex with others while he watches, and the third is a divorced woman who pursues an old flame who is now married himself. It’s an interesting read, particularly the story of the high schooler because damn society sucks; however, there’s little threading or rationale for telling these women’s stories as a trio.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – A novel told from the perspective of a doctor and mother of five about her life and family, with particular regard to the experiences of her youngest––who she thought was her fifth boy, Claude, until she learns that Claude is actually a girl named Poppy. Would that all transgender children be born to a family this equipped to accept and nurture them. However, while Ms Frankel (herself the mother of a transgender child) paints a beautiful family, the novel acknowledges the reality that outside of the home, a much different experience awaits. Very enjoyable as well as enlightening.
A House in the Sky: A Memoir by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett. Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped and held captive by Muslim extremists in Somalia for well over a year. I read this with my book club, which was great because we had very different takeaways from reading it. I was impressed by the empathy with which Ms Lindhout described her captors and at her ability to cling to a life-affirming perspective throughout her captivity. Others were irritated by the naiveté and arrogance that took her into the situation to begin with. A Muslim member provided invaluable perspective on the passages of the Koran that are cited in the book, and the entire sections that are never mentioned (that is, the Surah Maryam, which details the life of Mary and the birth of Jesus) and could have provided a bridge of shared culture between captors and captive. Interesting all around.
A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia by Clara Benson. Sometimes I just want a nice cosy to sink into like a bubble bath. This novel delivered in spades with a 1929 uppercrust English setting, complete with low-level aristocrats, adventurers, journalists, saucy young ladies and a murdered man that everyone had loathed in life but nevertheless kowtowed to named Ticky Maltravers.
Just Kids by Patti Smith. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that the mother of all things punk would have been such a truly sweet young lady. Less an outcast and more a follower of her own drum, Patti Smith writes beautifully and perhaps with rose-coloured glasses of her first first years in New York City and symbiotic relationship with the also legendary Robert Mapplethorpe, a love that endured and evolved across decades until his death. From reading this memoir alone, you would never know what a massive influence Patti Smith herself had on the culture. Her words make it all seem sort of happenstance – though it’s clear that she has a strong vision and a massive work ethic that powers her achievements. Like the true artist she is, she shows rather than tells.
On the pod:
I haven’t mentioned Rex Factor for ages, but I still listen faithfully whenever there’s a new episode. Hosts Graham Duke and Ali Hood have been putting together this independent podcast for almost 10 years, astonishingly enough, and the quality just gets better and better. Series 1 was the Kings and Queens of England; Series 2 the Kings and Queens of Scotland; and the current series is the Queen and Prince Consorts of England. Each episode looks at the life and reign of the individual, geopolitical alliances and conflicts, economics, social history legends… the research is substantial and fascinating. Then the gents go on to rank the individual on, as they explain:
Battleyness – how good they are in battle and warfare
Scandal – their notoriety and tendency towards naughtiness
Subjectivity – how well and justly they ruled (i.e. would you want to be a subject?)
Longevity – how long they ruled for
Dynasty – how many legitimate, surviving children they had.
Then ultimately, they highly subjectively choose whether or not to award the “Rex Factor.” At the end of each season, all the Rex Factor winners are then pitted against each to determine the ultimate winner. It is a hoot and seriously educational!
