Thank you
3 months ago
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Barely about books at all. Or music.
Why do I never ever start my packing with plenty of time to spare? Why am I always rushing around like a blue arsed fly at the last minute? Why do I always forget to pack the books I intend to take with me and to update my ipod? Answers on a postcard................
Monday, 13 October 2008
I see not my hinny..................
I think the key thing we have to concentrate on here is celebrating the fact that I got to the party at all, while ignoring the fact that I'm a year late.
I've always been partial to a bit of folk music - Sandy Denny is one of my all time favourite female singers, and I spent many happy days attending Jungr & Parker gigs in the 80s and early 90s. It's inevitable I'd have an interest in folk really - an Irish traveller heritage, flute and recorder player, singer.....yep, I tick a lot of the boxes. And yet - until fairly recently, although I played a lot of folk music, I was always more about the classical music and the jazz (mmmmmmm - Jazz. Love the lovely Jazz). Primarily because while I'm extremely partial to glum music (possibly more so than chirpy music. Actually - definitely more so than chirpy music) I like my music rich, and dense. Preferably with an overabundance of diminished 7ths, too. And, as it turns out mistakenly, I had a perception that a lot of vocal folk music, anyway, was characterised by bleak, very open chords. Sparse would have been one adjective I might have dredged up if asked to describe folk music.
Mea Culpa.
In recent months - thanks mainly to my dear friend Howie, I have been introduced to a variety of folk acts with which I wasn't previously familiar, principally the Waterson-Carthy mob and Bellowhead. I have also become very fond of Kate Rusby (we can give Jennifer Saunders the credit for that). And I love all of it. The album that has made me cross over from love to adore though is The Bairns, by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, which came out, um.....last year. :o
And it is sublime.
A lot has (probably) been written about this record, because it was nominated for the Mercury prize. Bizarrely, it didn't win, something else did. The Bairns is the most beautifully constructed and performed record I have had the pleasure to listen to (on constant repeat in my ipod) for years. The vocal work is stunning - clear, tuneful, raw, full of emotion........a joy to listen to. Some of the songs (most of the songd) are desperately sad (even tragic) but despite that, the settings are in the main so lush, so tuneful and so vibrant that they are almost uplifting. It is particularly disconcerting listening to 'Felton Lonnin' and thinking 'I love this! I SO love this!' And getting that rush to the heart, and the soul, that a fabulous piece of music can give....and then remembering it is the song of a mother who has lost her child.................A similar thing happens for me with 'Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk' - a fabulous rollicking sing along number about....domestic abuse. Although actually of course its about surviving domestic abuse, and sticking two fingers up at the abuser (I'd still advocate getting the hell out of there rather than getting pissed, but anyway.........). not all the songs are sad - Blackbird is one of the most joyous and uplifting songs I have ever heard, and I love it to bits.
So - in a nutshell - what do I love about this record, and why do I so strongly recommend it to anyone who has a soul and an ear that isn't made of tin........
1. The vocals. I've not heard better singing in a long time.
2. The harmonies.
3. The lushness of the sound.
4. The fusion with jazz and classical styles to produce something which may not be unique (if it isn't please do point me in the direction of anything similar) but which certainly stands out as something extra special
The Bairns really is something very rare, and very wonderful. Give yourself a treat - get hold of a copy and listen.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey British Summertime
Why can't all books be like Paul Cornell's British Summertime?
Slightly wierd reading it, of course.....so many ideas taken from old doctor Who, so many concepts used by new Doctor Who (especially the circular timey wimey scripted conversation........). Should a book I'd never read before have felt so incredibly comfortable? Or is that just a sign it truly is a work of brilliance (well, when aimed at a 'me'-ish market, anyway? I'm pretty certain that it is indeed brilliant.
There is very little point in me recommending a book which has gushing quotes from RTD and Moff on the front page but.....I'll do it anyway. This is a superb book. The only thing wrong with it is the gratuitous sex with a timerift alien interlude - and I'm choosing to assume that the publishers made him out that bit in. Anyway, I doubt we'll see that bit turning up in Doctor Who any time soon. Which is probably for the best.
Slightly wierd reading it, of course.....so many ideas taken from old doctor Who, so many concepts used by new Doctor Who (especially the circular timey wimey scripted conversation........). Should a book I'd never read before have felt so incredibly comfortable? Or is that just a sign it truly is a work of brilliance (well, when aimed at a 'me'-ish market, anyway? I'm pretty certain that it is indeed brilliant.
There is very little point in me recommending a book which has gushing quotes from RTD and Moff on the front page but.....I'll do it anyway. This is a superb book. The only thing wrong with it is the gratuitous sex with a timerift alien interlude - and I'm choosing to assume that the publishers made him out that bit in. Anyway, I doubt we'll see that bit turning up in Doctor Who any time soon. Which is probably for the best.
Monday, 29 September 2008
Ogre's Eyeballs
When I was 10 I fell truly madly deeply in love with the work of my favourite writer. And, while it's true I may have.....flirted.....with other writers since then, I have pretty much been faithful for the last 30 years.
I love Diana Wynne Jones's books - every singel one of them - with every fibre of my being. And this isn't a quiet passion - it's one I sing from the roof tops. I genuinely adore her work. The sheer inventiveness of her books - and the incredible longevity of her career - are amazing in themselves. She is also a lovely lovely person, which is obviously a bit of a bonus. I was lucky enough to meet her several times in the 80s, at conventions and literary events, and when I was in hospital in 1986 she was kind enough to send me signed first editions of all her then published works, just to cheer me up!! I mean - how lovely is that?I feel very lucky to have 'known' her.
DWJ has written shedloads of books, some of them astonishing, some of them merely very very good. My plan, for now (and it may of course change) is to write about my favourites first, one by one (or perhaps by series, where appropriate) and then maybe fill in the gaps down the line. This will take some time, but there you go. It's not like I have anything better to do!
The Ogre Downstairs is NOT my favourite DWJ book. It probably scrapes into the top 10, just, but that's about it. However it is the book that started it all, for me. Courtesy of Jackanory, as it happens. I must confess - a little embarrasedly - I thought that the Ogre really was a, you know, ogre, when I first read the book. I was little. I didn't know what metaphor was. I mean - this is a book where:
people fly
dustballs and meccano and pencils and dolls house dolls come to life
body swapping happens
people become invisible
hells angels sprout from the ground
the secret of invisibility is discovered
....so why wouldn't someone who was constantly referred to as an ogre be an actual ogre?????
TOD is a straightforward book, by DWJ's standards, about the modern family dynamic and how magical chemistry sets and a good sturdy bucket and mop can solve any problem. Its strengths are that it doesn't talk down to children at all - it's perfectly accessible for readers of all ages, it's genuinely funny, and it is written in a gorgeously relaxed and fluent style - nothing is forced, nothing is clunky. It totally blew my world away the first time I encountered it, and the repercussions are still going on to this day. I can't envisage a time when I don't reach for DWJs books on a regular basis. I can't see them ever being relegated from pride of place in my library. TOD started a lifelong love affair and there is no sign of it ending. Which is nice.
I love Diana Wynne Jones's books - every singel one of them - with every fibre of my being. And this isn't a quiet passion - it's one I sing from the roof tops. I genuinely adore her work. The sheer inventiveness of her books - and the incredible longevity of her career - are amazing in themselves. She is also a lovely lovely person, which is obviously a bit of a bonus. I was lucky enough to meet her several times in the 80s, at conventions and literary events, and when I was in hospital in 1986 she was kind enough to send me signed first editions of all her then published works, just to cheer me up!! I mean - how lovely is that?I feel very lucky to have 'known' her.
DWJ has written shedloads of books, some of them astonishing, some of them merely very very good. My plan, for now (and it may of course change) is to write about my favourites first, one by one (or perhaps by series, where appropriate) and then maybe fill in the gaps down the line. This will take some time, but there you go. It's not like I have anything better to do!
The Ogre Downstairs is NOT my favourite DWJ book. It probably scrapes into the top 10, just, but that's about it. However it is the book that started it all, for me. Courtesy of Jackanory, as it happens. I must confess - a little embarrasedly - I thought that the Ogre really was a, you know, ogre, when I first read the book. I was little. I didn't know what metaphor was. I mean - this is a book where:
people fly
dustballs and meccano and pencils and dolls house dolls come to life
body swapping happens
people become invisible
hells angels sprout from the ground
the secret of invisibility is discovered
....so why wouldn't someone who was constantly referred to as an ogre be an actual ogre?????
TOD is a straightforward book, by DWJ's standards, about the modern family dynamic and how magical chemistry sets and a good sturdy bucket and mop can solve any problem. Its strengths are that it doesn't talk down to children at all - it's perfectly accessible for readers of all ages, it's genuinely funny, and it is written in a gorgeously relaxed and fluent style - nothing is forced, nothing is clunky. It totally blew my world away the first time I encountered it, and the repercussions are still going on to this day. I can't envisage a time when I don't reach for DWJs books on a regular basis. I can't see them ever being relegated from pride of place in my library. TOD started a lifelong love affair and there is no sign of it ending. Which is nice.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
What makes a good book?
Reading a good book is never a chore.
A good book never bores you into submission - sometimes it seduces you, sometimes it clubs you round the head and drags you off to its cave - but it never, ever, wins by default. You may well fall asleep while reading a good book - but that will be because your body is weak, while the book has the stamina of an Ox.
A good book doesn't have to tart itself up with a come hither cover (but, interestingly.....many do).
A good book will wrap you up like a duvet. It will soothe you like a hot bath. It might excite you, or tear at your heartstrings, or make your heart sing, or utterly destroy you (and then maybe rebuild you again).
A good book may restore your faith in human nature. It may restore you faith in love. Or faith.
A good book may make you laugh. Or forget yourself. Or understand yourself. Or remember who you are, or once were, or would like to be.
A good book will always leave you wanting more.
A good book will never ever be a waste of time.
A good book is everything.
A good book never bores you into submission - sometimes it seduces you, sometimes it clubs you round the head and drags you off to its cave - but it never, ever, wins by default. You may well fall asleep while reading a good book - but that will be because your body is weak, while the book has the stamina of an Ox.
A good book doesn't have to tart itself up with a come hither cover (but, interestingly.....many do).
A good book will wrap you up like a duvet. It will soothe you like a hot bath. It might excite you, or tear at your heartstrings, or make your heart sing, or utterly destroy you (and then maybe rebuild you again).
A good book may restore your faith in human nature. It may restore you faith in love. Or faith.
A good book may make you laugh. Or forget yourself. Or understand yourself. Or remember who you are, or once were, or would like to be.
A good book will always leave you wanting more.
A good book will never ever be a waste of time.
A good book is everything.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Nation
Nation (Terry Pratchett's latest mega bestseller) made me laugh out loud 7 or 8 times, and cry real tears, accompanied by loud wracking sobs and rivers of snot, once. Sadly, I was on an aeroplane while all this happened so it was a bit embarrassing.
This is the best book TP has written since Thud. And probably in my all time top 5 of his books. It's charming, inventive, funny (see above), poignant (see also above) and above all, optimistic. I hesitate to recommend it to anyone who has recently undergone childbirth or who has small children (I ws utterly destroyed at one point, although I recovered eventually (obviously)) but anyone else who enjoys well written, thoughtful, inventive stories should score a copy as soon as possible.
This is the best book TP has written since Thud. And probably in my all time top 5 of his books. It's charming, inventive, funny (see above), poignant (see also above) and above all, optimistic. I hesitate to recommend it to anyone who has recently undergone childbirth or who has small children (I ws utterly destroyed at one point, although I recovered eventually (obviously)) but anyone else who enjoys well written, thoughtful, inventive stories should score a copy as soon as possible.
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