The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Milan Kundera)
This is the best of the Kundera books I've read. We begin with a Czech politician so thoroughly airbrushed from official history that only his hat (lent to someone else in a group photo) is left behind. We have Tamina, who fled to another country and who want her love letters back so she can remember the holidays she and her late husband shared. We have 2 schoolgirls asked to analyse Ionescu's "Rhinoceruses" play who trigger misunderstanding and hysterical laughter and float off (an episode worthy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez). A woman invites her hated, bitter mother-in-law to stay for a few days and finds the woman less disagreeable than she remembers, but mother-in-law overstays her visit endangering a menage-a-trois set up between son, daughter-in-law and a female friend. Tamina again, this time on an island populated by highly sexualised children who molest her as she does her best to fit in with them. There's also a student involved in an affair with a married woman.
It's set against the politics of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia (as it was). Much of the subject matter is familiar - Goethe, partner-swapping and extra-marital affairs. I found the story of Tamina and the children particularly disturbing.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Liver: A Fictional Organ with a Surface Anatomy of Four Lobes (Will Self)
Liver: A Fictional Organ with a Surface Anatomy of Four Lobes (Will Self)
These 4 interlinked tales all have the human liver in common. "Foie humain" likens the alcoholic patrons of a private drinking club to geese being force-fed until their liver becomes a delicacy. It is claustrophobic and the believable characters often pathetic or odious as we witness their alcoholic self-destruction. The twist is reminiscent of Michel Faber's "Under the Skin". "Leberknodel" (liver dumplings) follows a woman with terminal liver cancer and her alcoholic, adult daughter to Zurich where the mother intends assisted suicide. Tricked out of it at the last moment by her needy daughter, she finds her cancer gone and her body rejuvenating. However she is soon at the mercy of her demanding body as well as a voyeuristic Swiss couple and the church who want to use her as evidence of a miracle healing. This is the longest of the stories and would have benefitted from tighter editing - it is somewhat flabby itself. "Prometheus" sets Greek and Roman gods as London executives in the modern day. Prometheus is still having his liver eaten by a vulture. This is the weakest of the tales, somewhat reminiscent of Marie Phillips' "Gods behaving Badly". Finally, in "Birdy Num-num" we have the tale of junkies needing their next fix as told by an HIV virus waiting to jump into a new host. In this we return to the claustrophobic style of a group of characters bent on self-destruction.
These 4 interlinked tales all have the human liver in common. "Foie humain" likens the alcoholic patrons of a private drinking club to geese being force-fed until their liver becomes a delicacy. It is claustrophobic and the believable characters often pathetic or odious as we witness their alcoholic self-destruction. The twist is reminiscent of Michel Faber's "Under the Skin". "Leberknodel" (liver dumplings) follows a woman with terminal liver cancer and her alcoholic, adult daughter to Zurich where the mother intends assisted suicide. Tricked out of it at the last moment by her needy daughter, she finds her cancer gone and her body rejuvenating. However she is soon at the mercy of her demanding body as well as a voyeuristic Swiss couple and the church who want to use her as evidence of a miracle healing. This is the longest of the stories and would have benefitted from tighter editing - it is somewhat flabby itself. "Prometheus" sets Greek and Roman gods as London executives in the modern day. Prometheus is still having his liver eaten by a vulture. This is the weakest of the tales, somewhat reminiscent of Marie Phillips' "Gods behaving Badly". Finally, in "Birdy Num-num" we have the tale of junkies needing their next fix as told by an HIV virus waiting to jump into a new host. In this we return to the claustrophobic style of a group of characters bent on self-destruction.
From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (William Dalrymple)
From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium (William Dalrymple)
Dalrymple takes us on a journey from Byzantium through the Biblical lands. It's depressing to read how Turkey was eradicating Armenian buildings as though they never existed. In Israel, Christian and Muslim places of worship suffer the same fate (a tarmac car park being more important than a historical Christian/Muslim building, but Jewish archeology lovingly preserved) as Israel tries to rewrite history as though other faiths didn't share that land. He describes early monks - Stylites (who lived on pillars), Dendrites (who lived up in tree) - and visits shrines and where Christian and Muslim worship side-by-side and in the old manner of worship.
Reading of the suppression of other faiths and the attempt at eradicating them from history is depressing, but Dalrymple's travels and his brushes with authority are often amusing.
Dalrymple takes us on a journey from Byzantium through the Biblical lands. It's depressing to read how Turkey was eradicating Armenian buildings as though they never existed. In Israel, Christian and Muslim places of worship suffer the same fate (a tarmac car park being more important than a historical Christian/Muslim building, but Jewish archeology lovingly preserved) as Israel tries to rewrite history as though other faiths didn't share that land. He describes early monks - Stylites (who lived on pillars), Dendrites (who lived up in tree) - and visits shrines and where Christian and Muslim worship side-by-side and in the old manner of worship.
Reading of the suppression of other faiths and the attempt at eradicating them from history is depressing, but Dalrymple's travels and his brushes with authority are often amusing.
1434: The Year a Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (Gavin Menzies)
1434: The Year a Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance (Gavin Menzies)
Menzies again challenges conventional teachings about history, suggesting that the Renaissance in Italy was sparked by a visiting Chinese fleet. Da Vinci may not have invented all he is credited with inventing, but may have copied from a Chinese book of knowledge carried by the fleet - his "inventions" being drawn from 2000 of Chinese ingenuity and discovery. While there's plenty of evidence that da Vinci copied from other sources, it seems a bit of a stretch to claim China sparked the whole renaissance.
While I may not subscribe to the whole theory, it's about time we took a long hard look at just how much da Vinci copied just from his own countrymen.
Menzies again challenges conventional teachings about history, suggesting that the Renaissance in Italy was sparked by a visiting Chinese fleet. Da Vinci may not have invented all he is credited with inventing, but may have copied from a Chinese book of knowledge carried by the fleet - his "inventions" being drawn from 2000 of Chinese ingenuity and discovery. While there's plenty of evidence that da Vinci copied from other sources, it seems a bit of a stretch to claim China sparked the whole renaissance.
While I may not subscribe to the whole theory, it's about time we took a long hard look at just how much da Vinci copied just from his own countrymen.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Spelling Fail - Wickford
Spelling Fail - Wickford
Originally uploaded by messy_beast
I'm not sure if this counts as spelling or grammar fail. It should, of course, be "you're nuts". Unless you're into "shaving your nuts" i suppose.
Wickford - Bike Police
Wickford - Bike Police
Originally uploaded by messy_beast
Part of Essex Police's initiative to get community policing out there on mountain bikes. I've entered this in their photograph a cycling policing office contest.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Lifebuoy Spelling Fail
Lifebuoy Spelling Fail
Originally uploaded by messy_beast
The correct spelling is buoy, not bouy. Seen in Chelmsford's Central Park .
Monday, June 22, 2009
1421, The Year China Discovered the World (Gavin Menzies)
1421 proceeds at breakneck pace with Menzies reviewing the evidence for Chinese fleets having travelled to Afrifa, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand as well as various stopovers in the Pacific. Using old maps, the presence of Chinese 9or possibly Chinese) artefacts in those locations and his own knowledge of navigation (in his case from submarines), he reconstructs the possible routes taken by the Chinese fleets.
My main criticism is that Menzies is not overly critical of his "evidence". His theories are far more plausible than theories about ancient Atlanteans trading between South America and North Africa or Pharaonic-era global trading empires, but he tends to make leaps of faith. There are also hints at conspiracy theories - Menzies tells us that admitting the Chinese were master navigators and discovered (and even settled) parts of New Zealand challenges Maori tradition and is therefore unpalatable and is "suppressed". Hopefully DNA markers showing recent Chinese gene flow (i.e. in the last few centuries) will help clarify matters in many areas Menzies says were vistied/settled, even if it doesn't fit in with traditional beliefs of those regions.
A Chinese seafaring tradition would certainly fit in with folklore of pale-skinned, white-robed visitors in the Americas, but we'll have to see how the physical and DNA evidence stacks up. The linguistic evidence presented could be coincidence while South American villages able to understand Chinese sounds far-fetched. Menzies theory might need to evolve, but it's a worthwhile consideration as we know that China was technologically ahead of Europe before cutting itself off from the world.
Another gripe is his analysis of the Culpeo-like Warrah being a hybrid of Chinese dogs and South American foxes. Dogs can't hybridise with foxes - that's an urban legend. He also considers the widespread ancient explorers' tales of fantastical creatures as being real animals e.g. the mylodon which actually died out 10,000 years ago, though well-preserved remains can be very fresh-looking (he suggests the Chinese captured and transported mylodons). This undermines his theories - sometimes monster myths are just that, myths and should not be forced into the "evidence slot". Ancient and European map-makers had a tendency to put "here be monsters" in uncharted sections of maps.
Once the more fantastical claims are discounted, it's an interesting read and may contain quite a bit of truth. However Menzies needs to be more critical and discount the more fantastical ideas (long-extinct creatures roaming in 1421) if he's to be regarded as serious and not dismissed as another von Daniken. I hope his more sensible ideas/finds get further attention and that he doesn't undermine himself by positing a Chinese origin for almost everything.
I'm onto the sequel, 1434, now - it seems da Vinci and others may not have invented all that stuff, but may have re-drawn Chinese inventions - distilling 2000 years of Chinese ingenuity into a few decades of Renaissance output and getting all the credit due to China turning its back on the world.
My main criticism is that Menzies is not overly critical of his "evidence". His theories are far more plausible than theories about ancient Atlanteans trading between South America and North Africa or Pharaonic-era global trading empires, but he tends to make leaps of faith. There are also hints at conspiracy theories - Menzies tells us that admitting the Chinese were master navigators and discovered (and even settled) parts of New Zealand challenges Maori tradition and is therefore unpalatable and is "suppressed". Hopefully DNA markers showing recent Chinese gene flow (i.e. in the last few centuries) will help clarify matters in many areas Menzies says were vistied/settled, even if it doesn't fit in with traditional beliefs of those regions.
A Chinese seafaring tradition would certainly fit in with folklore of pale-skinned, white-robed visitors in the Americas, but we'll have to see how the physical and DNA evidence stacks up. The linguistic evidence presented could be coincidence while South American villages able to understand Chinese sounds far-fetched. Menzies theory might need to evolve, but it's a worthwhile consideration as we know that China was technologically ahead of Europe before cutting itself off from the world.
Another gripe is his analysis of the Culpeo-like Warrah being a hybrid of Chinese dogs and South American foxes. Dogs can't hybridise with foxes - that's an urban legend. He also considers the widespread ancient explorers' tales of fantastical creatures as being real animals e.g. the mylodon which actually died out 10,000 years ago, though well-preserved remains can be very fresh-looking (he suggests the Chinese captured and transported mylodons). This undermines his theories - sometimes monster myths are just that, myths and should not be forced into the "evidence slot". Ancient and European map-makers had a tendency to put "here be monsters" in uncharted sections of maps.
Once the more fantastical claims are discounted, it's an interesting read and may contain quite a bit of truth. However Menzies needs to be more critical and discount the more fantastical ideas (long-extinct creatures roaming in 1421) if he's to be regarded as serious and not dismissed as another von Daniken. I hope his more sensible ideas/finds get further attention and that he doesn't undermine himself by positing a Chinese origin for almost everything.
I'm onto the sequel, 1434, now - it seems da Vinci and others may not have invented all that stuff, but may have re-drawn Chinese inventions - distilling 2000 years of Chinese ingenuity into a few decades of Renaissance output and getting all the credit due to China turning its back on the world.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sometimes People DO Live Up To The Stereotype
Many years ago I went to a function in the London's Banking/Insurance District. One chap, Dick, brought his girlfriend, Barbie, who really did look like a Barbie doll. Not only did she have blonde hair and an apparently inflatable bosom, her head was as empty as a Barbie doll head. We were warned she wasn't a "technical" person (like we were), but we were flabbergasted at just how empty-headed the woman was.
"Hi Barbie, what do you do?"
"I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality" (slightly sing-song voice)
"That's interesting, what do you do there?"
"I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality"
"What do Corporate Gifts and Hospitality do?"
"We do Corporate Gifts and Hospitality"
And so it went on. Barbie's only line (apart from dutifully giggling at her boyfriend's comments) was "I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality" It was like a doll where you pulled the string and it spoke its one line. The rest of the time she just looked blank and sat silently as the conversation went over her head. I swear that if her IQ was any lower you'd have to water her daily.
We wondered what Dick saw in such a brain-dead person - evidently he was interested in what was between her legs, not what was between her ears. No doubt she looked very pretty on his arm and in his bed. Perhaps she had other oral talents that he enjoyed in lieu of conversation.
We could guess what Barbie did in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality. She was company-sponsored eye-candy draped on the arm of some winning person at an event during the photo-call. She stood at hospitality stands holding a tray of champagne and wearing an empty-headed smile. This was the person that epitomised the stereotyped "dumb blonde" and would find the instuctions on a child-proof bottle challenging. The lights were on, but there was no-one home.
"Hi Barbie, what do you do?"
"I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality" (slightly sing-song voice)
"That's interesting, what do you do there?"
"I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality"
"What do Corporate Gifts and Hospitality do?"
"We do Corporate Gifts and Hospitality"
And so it went on. Barbie's only line (apart from dutifully giggling at her boyfriend's comments) was "I'm in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality" It was like a doll where you pulled the string and it spoke its one line. The rest of the time she just looked blank and sat silently as the conversation went over her head. I swear that if her IQ was any lower you'd have to water her daily.
We wondered what Dick saw in such a brain-dead person - evidently he was interested in what was between her legs, not what was between her ears. No doubt she looked very pretty on his arm and in his bed. Perhaps she had other oral talents that he enjoyed in lieu of conversation.
We could guess what Barbie did in Corporate Gifts and Hospitality. She was company-sponsored eye-candy draped on the arm of some winning person at an event during the photo-call. She stood at hospitality stands holding a tray of champagne and wearing an empty-headed smile. This was the person that epitomised the stereotyped "dumb blonde" and would find the instuctions on a child-proof bottle challenging. The lights were on, but there was no-one home.
Minced Pigeon in the Engine
This morning I had no way to avoid a large, limping wood pigeon that tried to cross the road in front of my car. With traffic in the other direction and a sudden stop out of the question, I saw a puff of downy feathers from the side of the car. No thump, no corpse, no escapee. Nothing stuck on the front of the car. I have a nasty feeling there is minced pigeon stuck to the underside of the car. I'm waiting for the cooking smells when I drive home tonight. Oddly, it was in the exact same spot where a wood pigeon walked into my path a couple of years ago. Maybe they'd both escaped from an ineffective and dentally deficient cat that was waiting in a hedge for the pigeon to be minced small enough for it to eat!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Manual of Detection (Jedediah Berry)
The Manual of Detection (Jedediah Berry)
Charles Unwin is a detective's clerk in a rainy city in an alternate now. The book opens with a description of the unassuming Charles riding his bicycle and juggling an umbrella on his way to work for the agency. Charles is a clerk who distils and files details from cases solved by detective Sivart. He strips away the irrelevant, leaving only the bones of each case, including the theft of November 12th (a whole day stolen!). But Sivart has vanished and Charles finds himself promoted within the bizarre bureaucracy where employees in different departments and different ranks may never communicate directly, but always through messengers.
His assistant Emily has problems staying awake, as does the whole city, or so it seems. Learning from the Manual of Detection, Charles finds everything he believed in turned on its head. The manual has been expurgated to hide one of the techniques used by the Agency and now being used by the Agency's enemies. The array of characters includes those from a no-longer-travelling carnival, various hoodlums, separated conjoined twins and mysterious women. There is the theft of all the city's alarm clocks and a drinking den in a graveyard and run by the gravedigger.
A well-paced tale in a claustrophobic setting. The rainy city in which Charles seems trapped (or shows no inclination to leave) reminded me of the films City of Lost Children and Dark City. The carnival characters and the never-sleeping ex-conjoined twins reminded me of City of Lost Children also.
Charles Unwin is a detective's clerk in a rainy city in an alternate now. The book opens with a description of the unassuming Charles riding his bicycle and juggling an umbrella on his way to work for the agency. Charles is a clerk who distils and files details from cases solved by detective Sivart. He strips away the irrelevant, leaving only the bones of each case, including the theft of November 12th (a whole day stolen!). But Sivart has vanished and Charles finds himself promoted within the bizarre bureaucracy where employees in different departments and different ranks may never communicate directly, but always through messengers.
His assistant Emily has problems staying awake, as does the whole city, or so it seems. Learning from the Manual of Detection, Charles finds everything he believed in turned on its head. The manual has been expurgated to hide one of the techniques used by the Agency and now being used by the Agency's enemies. The array of characters includes those from a no-longer-travelling carnival, various hoodlums, separated conjoined twins and mysterious women. There is the theft of all the city's alarm clocks and a drinking den in a graveyard and run by the gravedigger.
A well-paced tale in a claustrophobic setting. The rainy city in which Charles seems trapped (or shows no inclination to leave) reminded me of the films City of Lost Children and Dark City. The carnival characters and the never-sleeping ex-conjoined twins reminded me of City of Lost Children also.
The Book of Lost Things (John Connolly)
The Book of Lost Things (John Connolly)
This is a fairy tale for adults and is suggestive of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Never-Ending Story, Company of Wolves and similar works. Set against the start of the 2nd World War, David's mother dies and he resents his stepmother and infant step-brother. When he falls through a crack in the garden into another world, he must start to make judgments about people for himself. As he makes his way to the King of the land, he meets harpies, werewolves and a huntress who wants to turn him into an animal and hunt him. He must remember things from his beloved story books to outwit them. He must overcome learned prejudices when he discovers the knight who has rescued him is mourning a same-sex partner. Finally, he must make a choice between sacrificing his brother's soul or accepting his step-family. There are also 7 communist dwarves and a seriously obese Snow White henpecking them.
David has rituals (OCD symptoms) that he believed would help keep his mother alive. In the other world he must learn to discard rituals that do nothing. Books have always whispered to David and crooked man seems to have haunted him for quite a while, having identified David's antipathy towards his step-family. The components of this world are drawn from the various books lining David's bedroom - his own story books and the more adult books (that were already in the room he moved into) that rub alongside them. Hence ideas from books about communism and coal-mining seep into the 7 dwarves story.
Though reminiscent of many similar "fell into a fairy-story world" books, it is a good read and suitable for older children. Like The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it is set in wartime. The crooked man and the other world also reminded me of Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell and the land of faerie.
This is a fairy tale for adults and is suggestive of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Never-Ending Story, Company of Wolves and similar works. Set against the start of the 2nd World War, David's mother dies and he resents his stepmother and infant step-brother. When he falls through a crack in the garden into another world, he must start to make judgments about people for himself. As he makes his way to the King of the land, he meets harpies, werewolves and a huntress who wants to turn him into an animal and hunt him. He must remember things from his beloved story books to outwit them. He must overcome learned prejudices when he discovers the knight who has rescued him is mourning a same-sex partner. Finally, he must make a choice between sacrificing his brother's soul or accepting his step-family. There are also 7 communist dwarves and a seriously obese Snow White henpecking them.
David has rituals (OCD symptoms) that he believed would help keep his mother alive. In the other world he must learn to discard rituals that do nothing. Books have always whispered to David and crooked man seems to have haunted him for quite a while, having identified David's antipathy towards his step-family. The components of this world are drawn from the various books lining David's bedroom - his own story books and the more adult books (that were already in the room he moved into) that rub alongside them. Hence ideas from books about communism and coal-mining seep into the 7 dwarves story.
Though reminiscent of many similar "fell into a fairy-story world" books, it is a good read and suitable for older children. Like The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it is set in wartime. The crooked man and the other world also reminded me of Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell and the land of faerie.
Firmin (Sam Savage)
Firmin (Sam Savage)
Born in a bookshop, runty rat Firman can read. His worship of bookshop owner is not reciprocated and his attempts to communicate with humans doomed to failure. Firmin pictures of himself as a person rather than a rat and works his way through fact and fiction, espcially the "big ones". After a brief attraction to his own sister, he finds he is attracted to human women and spends time at a nearby 24 hour movie theatre watching a mix of movie and porn. Having realised Norman can only ever see him as vermin, Firmin is adopted as a pet by an eccentric, alcoholic author who lives on one of the upper floors. A rat's life is short and Firmin describes the increasing difficulty he has in moving between his upstairs home and the bookshop via tunnels and pipes in the building.
Firmin is, of course, an unreliable narrator and it's sometimes hard to work out where fact ends and imagination begins. His new friend finds a toy piano and Firmin mentions entertaining them both by play jazz classics on it. Yet it's evident he is seen more as a pet that does engaging tricks - how much of that jazz is in his imagination while his paws plink out notes on what must be just a few keys? Through Firmin's eyes, we see the demolition of Scollay Square, its shops and theatres, a real historical event.
Very lightweight, but engaging even if the author uses "refraction" when he means "reflection"!
Born in a bookshop, runty rat Firman can read. His worship of bookshop owner is not reciprocated and his attempts to communicate with humans doomed to failure. Firmin pictures of himself as a person rather than a rat and works his way through fact and fiction, espcially the "big ones". After a brief attraction to his own sister, he finds he is attracted to human women and spends time at a nearby 24 hour movie theatre watching a mix of movie and porn. Having realised Norman can only ever see him as vermin, Firmin is adopted as a pet by an eccentric, alcoholic author who lives on one of the upper floors. A rat's life is short and Firmin describes the increasing difficulty he has in moving between his upstairs home and the bookshop via tunnels and pipes in the building.
Firmin is, of course, an unreliable narrator and it's sometimes hard to work out where fact ends and imagination begins. His new friend finds a toy piano and Firmin mentions entertaining them both by play jazz classics on it. Yet it's evident he is seen more as a pet that does engaging tricks - how much of that jazz is in his imagination while his paws plink out notes on what must be just a few keys? Through Firmin's eyes, we see the demolition of Scollay Square, its shops and theatres, a real historical event.
Very lightweight, but engaging even if the author uses "refraction" when he means "reflection"!
Six Feet Over (Mary Roach)
Six Feet Over (Mary Roach)
A Catholic by upbringing and sceptical by nature, Mary Roach looks into what happens after we die - do we live on as a soul or spirit, get reincarnated or communicate with table-rapping mediums? She looks it historical seance hoaxes, people desperate to believe in reincarnation, doctors who weighed dying patients to determine the soul's weight, goes on a mediumship course and subjects her brain to waves to induce temporal lobe epilepsy. She meets/discusses serious scientists as well as more dubious or misguided characters. Along the way she finds out that the culture of the living very much influences what supposedly happens to the dead. An entertaining read.
A quick, easy and entertaining read that covers most cultural views about whether something of us persists after the body's death; rational without being morbid and while still allowing the benefit of the doubt (the "maybe we still haven't found it" approach).
A Catholic by upbringing and sceptical by nature, Mary Roach looks into what happens after we die - do we live on as a soul or spirit, get reincarnated or communicate with table-rapping mediums? She looks it historical seance hoaxes, people desperate to believe in reincarnation, doctors who weighed dying patients to determine the soul's weight, goes on a mediumship course and subjects her brain to waves to induce temporal lobe epilepsy. She meets/discusses serious scientists as well as more dubious or misguided characters. Along the way she finds out that the culture of the living very much influences what supposedly happens to the dead. An entertaining read.
A quick, easy and entertaining read that covers most cultural views about whether something of us persists after the body's death; rational without being morbid and while still allowing the benefit of the doubt (the "maybe we still haven't found it" approach).
By Hook or By Crook (David Crystal)
By Hook or By Crook (David Crystal)
David Crystal takes us on a drive through Wales in search of accents and along the way we have a straem-of-consciousness book about the derivation of names and placenames, among other linguistic topics. Learn about HBBS (Hay Book Browser Syndrome) in his chapter about the Hay-on-Wye festival. A lovely, diverting book that doesn't bombard you with heavy detail. It's full of trivia about words, placenames, dialects and accents and while you may never need to know how a little lane called Quoniams got its name, it's still fun to find out.
If Pinker gets too heavy for you, try some of Crystal's books about language and how we play with it.
David Crystal takes us on a drive through Wales in search of accents and along the way we have a straem-of-consciousness book about the derivation of names and placenames, among other linguistic topics. Learn about HBBS (Hay Book Browser Syndrome) in his chapter about the Hay-on-Wye festival. A lovely, diverting book that doesn't bombard you with heavy detail. It's full of trivia about words, placenames, dialects and accents and while you may never need to know how a little lane called Quoniams got its name, it's still fun to find out.
If Pinker gets too heavy for you, try some of Crystal's books about language and how we play with it.
Stuff of Thought (Steven Pinker)
Stuff of Thought (Steven Pinker)
This is heavy going! it looks at how language and thought interact and shape each other and how we express our thoughts. Some of the Americanisms used as examples are flummoxing to an English reader and I feel the author should have made use of Dutch swearing habits (TB-whore, cancer-whore) in his essay on why swear words are often sexual (since this does not hold true over all cultures). It's for those with hardcore linguistic interests (forget subject/predicate analyses, this discusses locatives and conatives) rather than casual interest, though some parts lighten up. It is the conclusion to 2 trilogies (one about how humans acquire language, the other about how language works). Having successfully managed this book (on the 2nd attempt) I really should read - and finish - Words and Rules as well, but that was such heavy going I gave up part way through.
Pinker knows his stuff, but perhaps crams too much into a short space so that all but the most enthusiastic language geek gets brain overload.
This is heavy going! it looks at how language and thought interact and shape each other and how we express our thoughts. Some of the Americanisms used as examples are flummoxing to an English reader and I feel the author should have made use of Dutch swearing habits (TB-whore, cancer-whore) in his essay on why swear words are often sexual (since this does not hold true over all cultures). It's for those with hardcore linguistic interests (forget subject/predicate analyses, this discusses locatives and conatives) rather than casual interest, though some parts lighten up. It is the conclusion to 2 trilogies (one about how humans acquire language, the other about how language works). Having successfully managed this book (on the 2nd attempt) I really should read - and finish - Words and Rules as well, but that was such heavy going I gave up part way through.
Pinker knows his stuff, but perhaps crams too much into a short space so that all but the most enthusiastic language geek gets brain overload.
A Bondwoman's Narrative (Hannah Crafts)
A Bondwoman's Narrative (Hannah Crafts)
Considered the first novel by an African-American, this is the fictionalised autobiography of literate slave Hannah Crafts and her escape to freedom. Hannah does not lump together all slave-owners as "bad", but clearly differentiates between the different attitudes. What may surprise some readers is the degree of familiarity that can be found between female slaves and their mistresses. Hannah also recounts the actions of aggrieved wives who turn out female slaves that have become their mistresses and borne children. Then there is the issue of Hannah's first master marrying a woman who appears white, but turns out to be a light coloured mulatto. A slave trader specialises in tracking down such persons who masquerade as white and restoring them to their proper place in servitude.
The attitudes whereby one person is reduced to a possession due to their colour or their tainted heritage is distasteful by modern standards. This is an excellent book giving Hannah's story and describing the era she lives in. There are extensive authentification notes by the editor and Hannah's self-taught style is left largely uncorrected.
Considered the first novel by an African-American, this is the fictionalised autobiography of literate slave Hannah Crafts and her escape to freedom. Hannah does not lump together all slave-owners as "bad", but clearly differentiates between the different attitudes. What may surprise some readers is the degree of familiarity that can be found between female slaves and their mistresses. Hannah also recounts the actions of aggrieved wives who turn out female slaves that have become their mistresses and borne children. Then there is the issue of Hannah's first master marrying a woman who appears white, but turns out to be a light coloured mulatto. A slave trader specialises in tracking down such persons who masquerade as white and restoring them to their proper place in servitude.
The attitudes whereby one person is reduced to a possession due to their colour or their tainted heritage is distasteful by modern standards. This is an excellent book giving Hannah's story and describing the era she lives in. There are extensive authentification notes by the editor and Hannah's self-taught style is left largely uncorrected.
Out of Africa - Karen Blixsen (Isak Dinesen)
Out of Africa - Karen Blixsen (Isak Dinesen)
Don't expect this to be like the film. Rather than being one continuous narrative, this is a series of observations and articles about people and events and these are not in chronological order. It's interesting, but tends to double back on itself. It's a charming book, though the views expressed by Blixsen about native people will, of course, be dated.
Don't expect this to be like the film. Rather than being one continuous narrative, this is a series of observations and articles about people and events and these are not in chronological order. It's interesting, but tends to double back on itself. It's a charming book, though the views expressed by Blixsen about native people will, of course, be dated.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Not the Way Weightwatchers is Meant to Work
I got home Monday mid-morning and needed a quick meal before the guy turned up to clean my gutters (very quick and reasonable at £70 meaning I didn't have to go up a ladder). So I had a Weightwatcher's brand chicken stew with dumplings. It has been frozen and I made sure it was cooked through and piping hot .... but ....
3 hours later, I felt a bit odd. It wasn't clear if it was hunger or a roiling stomach so I had a slice of toast to settle my stomach.
An hour after that I felt decidely peaky and decided to go to bed. Missing the last episode of Ashes to Ashes because I felt too icky to bother with the VCR (maybe tomorrow I'll watch online).
An hour later I had hot and cold sweats and colicky pains. Nothing for it but to chuck up. And that's what I did every 30-45 minutes all night. Even when I'd emptied out the stew and the toast I was still vomiting up my swallowed saliva at intervals. Not only was I puking, I lost control of everything else, which was not pretty the first time and which meant juggling a bucket and hovering over the toilet every time after. What was coming out was decidedly unhealthy.
On Tuesday, I was so bad I had to phone my parents to ask for help. When you're a middle-aged adult, having to call mum and dad for help is a tad undignified. I couldn't eat, couldn't drink (tiny sips of cream soda only) and couldn't move except between bed and toilet. A supply of cat food and bowls was installed upstairs so the cats would not go hungry. At least I managed to stop vomiting, but things felt really bad inside.
On Wednesday, the really bad feeling things decided to exit. In a hurry. Repeatedly.
It's now Friday and I have started eating (Weetabix mainly), but my stomach still recoils from food and takes a while to decide it is not going to chuck it up. I've had to ask Billy to stay at home this weekend as I'm not well enough to have company. I've also had to decline my sister's weekend party/family get-together as I can't stand being around food.
Just as I'd started to enjoy work again, I had to phone in sick. And I haven't been able to face using the computer until tonight.
Goodness knows what was in that Weightwatchers ready meal (since the trouble began with that and not before), but that's not how you're meant to lose weight - vomiting and being unable to eat.
(From working in a health lab, I know that my symptoms were consistent with Staphylococcus being present in the food.)
3 hours later, I felt a bit odd. It wasn't clear if it was hunger or a roiling stomach so I had a slice of toast to settle my stomach.
An hour after that I felt decidely peaky and decided to go to bed. Missing the last episode of Ashes to Ashes because I felt too icky to bother with the VCR (maybe tomorrow I'll watch online).
An hour later I had hot and cold sweats and colicky pains. Nothing for it but to chuck up. And that's what I did every 30-45 minutes all night. Even when I'd emptied out the stew and the toast I was still vomiting up my swallowed saliva at intervals. Not only was I puking, I lost control of everything else, which was not pretty the first time and which meant juggling a bucket and hovering over the toilet every time after. What was coming out was decidedly unhealthy.
On Tuesday, I was so bad I had to phone my parents to ask for help. When you're a middle-aged adult, having to call mum and dad for help is a tad undignified. I couldn't eat, couldn't drink (tiny sips of cream soda only) and couldn't move except between bed and toilet. A supply of cat food and bowls was installed upstairs so the cats would not go hungry. At least I managed to stop vomiting, but things felt really bad inside.
On Wednesday, the really bad feeling things decided to exit. In a hurry. Repeatedly.
It's now Friday and I have started eating (Weetabix mainly), but my stomach still recoils from food and takes a while to decide it is not going to chuck it up. I've had to ask Billy to stay at home this weekend as I'm not well enough to have company. I've also had to decline my sister's weekend party/family get-together as I can't stand being around food.
Just as I'd started to enjoy work again, I had to phone in sick. And I haven't been able to face using the computer until tonight.
Goodness knows what was in that Weightwatchers ready meal (since the trouble began with that and not before), but that's not how you're meant to lose weight - vomiting and being unable to eat.
(From working in a health lab, I know that my symptoms were consistent with Staphylococcus being present in the food.)
Waiting For Godot. Or Not.
According to Billy he had tickets for us to see Waiting for Godot last Sunday. Due to not properly checking his emails, it turned out he hadn't actually requested 2 tickets. So instead of Waiting for Godot I had to kill time will Waiting for Billy.
It turned out there was a march and rally to commemorate the Sikh Massacre. I'd only got my compact digital (I'd left the Digital SLR at Billy's as I'd expected to be in a theatre), but I spent several hours photographing the event.
Sikh Khalistan Rally 2009 In Trafalgar Square
It turned out there was a march and rally to commemorate the Sikh Massacre. I'd only got my compact digital (I'd left the Digital SLR at Billy's as I'd expected to be in a theatre), but I spent several hours photographing the event.
Sikh Khalistan Rally 2009 In Trafalgar Square
And Why Not Indeed?
I'd just nipped out to the Co-op for some wine to go with our meal on Saturday night when I spotted a No 9 bus "not in service" at the top of Billy's road. I took a quick pic for some friends who like buses. As I moved away from it, a woman brandished a lemon in my general direction and exclaimed "And why not?!" More than once. While mostly looking at the lemon.
Why not what?
Why not lemons?
Why not photograph a bus?
She seemed rather enthusiastic about the lemon, I must admit.
Why not what?
Why not lemons?
Why not photograph a bus?
She seemed rather enthusiastic about the lemon, I must admit.
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