A Respected Author's Selections
I find myself deeply moved by Namanlagh, this first poetry collection in a decade by the renowned Tom Paulin. This tone-perfect reflection about illness & healing, companionship & writing, violence & historical neglect, it is a true masterpiece. There are subtle nods toward Derek Mahon & Seamus Heaney, and many verses are filled with the feeling of mature artistry & lingering matters.
Political memoirs tend to be disappointing, often screeds of self-justification and retaliation, but Nicola Sturgeon’s Frankly redefines the genre. She’s a proper writer, for a start, who skillfully explore self-doubt, ambivalence, regret, love and kindness, adaptability, along with numerous of the things that actually make people. I eagerly anticipate what she writes next.
I came across an unfamiliar author – previously unknown, yet beloved by Norwegians over decades. This is the deceased Dag Solstad , I consumed his novel Shyness and Dignity over two sessions. It narrates the tale about a literature teacher with a quarter-century career who suddenly breaks down while trying to handle a malfunctioning parasol. He experiences a crisis , the novel charts it in an illuminating, unfussy way, creating a work of beauty.
I want to offer more freshly baked goods to my friends. In the near future, I’m going to host a brunch gathering from my dining table laden with homemade croissants, tattie scones, sourdough bread & mad cakes. I’m hoping to receive guidance in this quest by Helen Goh’s Baking and the Meaning of Life.
Penny's Recommendation
Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions from Akshat Rathi was published in 2023. Every section details a success story in the capitalist transition away from oil-dependent systems to sustainable power and environmental fixes, focusing on individuals that have achieved significant impact. It includes abundant detail and information I was unaware of before, despite my intensive reading on this topic.
Although certain topics are contentious, such as carbon capture and storage – plus Bill Gates turned out to be less of a climate solutions man than is claimed in the book, due to his fossil fuel investments – on the whole, the progress outlined give a tremendous amount of optimism. They show that some nations collaborated in tandem with private enterprise and are now moving toward a positive future, as innovative tools advance rapidly. The scientific explanations are superb, too. I was unaware how photovoltaic cells worked, for example.
An Acclaimed Writer's Top Reads
Elaine Kraf’s Find Him! will be reprinted this fall, making it the perfect time to read it, or revisit her shimmery, paisley-printed The Princess of 72nd Street.
Down Below from Leonora Carrington is a classic. It’s not the exact blueprint for my latest novel, Will There Ever Be Another You, but I remember perusing it outdoors during the pandemic and thinking: this is exactly what’s occurring within me. Also, it contains the nearest depiction one might find of an illustration of God’s perineum.
Another major event – Airless Spaces from Shulamith Firestone was originally published in 1998, ten years following her schizophrenia diagnosis and withdrawal from society. She stood as an influential leader, even then partly distant to feminists in my age group, however these vignettes, that explore her institutional stays, seem current, intimate, defiant.
Another Reader's Insight
Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter provides an understated and calm layered read. The story unfolds in the stark winter of the early sixties and traces the lives of two couples residing across from one another in the countryside in the West Country. Closed in by their environment, the protagonists – Eric & Irene, Rita and Bill – grapple with their past & current lives, moving toward an unravelling. It is an exquisitely penned book that reaffirms Miller as one of Britain’s most talented authors on human nature.
