The Gifts of Reading by Robert Macfarlane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. That gift, like so many gifts, was a book…

Most people love receiving presents, but for me the best present to receive is a book. A well-chosen book opens up a world of possibilities, it is something that can be treasured for ages and can have a resonance between giver and receiver. In this essay, Macfarlane extolls the deep significance of giving and receiving books as he recalls receiving The Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor from Don, a close friend and past colleague. This simple gift of this book, was what drove him to walk the hills and mountains and in turn has given us, the reader, his own wonderful books.

This short, intense, espresso like book is a little gem that will continue to provide insight and delight every time I give or receive a book. This is only available from Independent Bookshops, and monies go towards Migrant Offshore Aid Station.

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Adrift: A Secret Life of London’s Waterways by Helen Babbs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When you think of London, the things that come to mind are the sights, the buses and traffic and the melting pot of people that make this a busy and dynamic city. What I wasn’t aware of is the canals that are still leftover in the capital. These linear watery sanctuaries edge well know parts of the capital and are homes to wildlife and people. When Helen Babbs realises that she would never be able to afford to buy anywhere in London, the idea came to her of owning a narrowboat. Quitting the expensive rented rooms, her partner S. and her purchased a boat called Pike and moved it from the midlands to London.

Deciding forgo a permeant mooring, they spend time in different places in the city, moving on every few weeks or so to another borough. Whilst they never feel that they have settled, it does mean that they wake up to different views on a regular basis. Each area has its own rewards and charm, but they all share the a common theme of being transparent to most Londoners. She takes us on nature walks, trying to find out just how many species actually live along the canal, There is a chapter spent looking for the canals that used to be there, their presence left as ponds, dips and bridges that seem to serve no purpose.

I really enjoyed this; Babbs is an able writer and has drawn together a personal memoir of setting up a home in a narrow boat with elements of history, nature and people with a social commentary on the state of our capital. She has also revealed a hidden side to London, these canals and rivers that most are unaware of have a life and dynamic of their own that deserves to be celebrated.

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Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the Second World War, Thesiger spent five years criss-crossing the deserts of Arabia in particular the ‘Empty Quarter’. He had an unconventional life; born in Addis Ababa in Abyssinia, he spent the war in the region ending up in the SAS, before falling in love with the place and deciding to spend more time exploring it. He travelled with the Bedouin people, or as he calls them Bedu, experiencing their daily challenges of extreme heat, ice cold nights, long treks with camels under the relentless sun and the daily challenge of hunger and thirst. In most places he visited, he was the first European ever to set eyes on the dunes and wadis of those deserts. He immersed himself into their life, sharing food and water, hardship and company.

The Bedu were a people he had a deep respect for; he never ceased to be amazed by the way they could look at footprints in the sand and tell him who was riding the camels as well as picking up the subtle differences in the sands. The account of his travels across these lands show a harsh way of life that was about to vanish forever with the discovery of huge oilfields below the Arabian peninsular. It was dangerous too; whilst some welcomed him warmly, others considered him an infidel even going as far to threaten his life at times.

Thesiger has written a fascinating account of a landscape and culture of a people that is long gone. The writing has little emotion, instead the author conveys events as they happened, even when he was in the most danger, in an almost clinical way. The way that he immersed himself in the desert way of life gives us an insight that very few other authors have been able to gain since. The region has undergone massive changes since that time and this vanished way of life may never return. A traveller in the modern Arabia would not be able to have access to the deserts in the way that Thesiger did, and this fine book is a worthy tribute to a traditional society. Now I want to read The Marsh Arabs by him.

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The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On returning to his home village a man in his early forties starts to remember the things that happened to him when he was seven. A lodger appears at his home, and shortly after is found dead in his fathers car. He is there when the body is found and is sent to the nearest farm, where the Hempstocks give him breakfast. The death of the lodger opened a rift between this world and another, and dark things begin to happen to him. Lettie Hempstock, she says she is 11, but has been 11 a long time, aids him against these dark forces.

What Gaiman has done here is to take memories, the innocence of childhood, the fears of that age, and fairy tales, blended them together and distilled the essence into this exquisite tale. The Hempstocks are worldly and wise, and care deeply about all the things around them. The events that take place and the dark forces that swirl around this Sussex village are some of main fears that a child can confront, and yet the writing is compelling and deft.

You never get to know the name of the main character as I think Gaiman wants you to think that it is him, or possibly even you, experiencing these events. The way that the main character remembers means that reality, the dreams and nightmares, are all intertwined and you are not sure what is really happening, or is in his mind.

It is a melancholy tale, and the ending is quite powerful. Really enjoyed this and can highly recommend it.

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Where I’m Reading From: The Changing World of Books by Tim Parks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I do like reading books about books and reading, and in this collection of essays and articles drawn from the New York Review of Books, Tim Parks, extolls the virtues of reading, asks why we hate the books our friends love and tries to fathom just how a Nobel prize winner is selected. Other questions that he considers include: why finish books, the dull new global novel, what the writers job actually is and can we learn to speak American.

All of these thing are interesting questions about a variety of subjects on reading, writing and awards, and Parks is not afraid to be provocative in answering them. He advocates rethinking the purpose of a book, what it is for, why we read it and the perils of the homogenisation of languages and the slide towards one world culture. He puts his strong opinions in a short, to the point essay style making it easy to dip into and to find a particular point he was making. I have only read An Italian Education by him so far and sadly wasn’t aware that he was a novelist as well as a translator, critic and professor of literature. He is quite well placed to make these observations and he draws on his skills to write these articles. Sadly thought there were flaws; whilst some were amusing and easy to read, others were very academic, esoteric and dry to read, which is a shame as some of the articles were superb. 3.5 stars overall.

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How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Marquis de Carabas has mislaid his coat. Or it may have been stolen. It was unique, with imposing collars, numerous hidden pockets and was the colour of a wet street at midnight. Whatever has happened to it, he wants it back. Rumour has it that it is in being held by the shepherds in Shepherds Bush and having just got over a nasty incident of dying, he needs to be very careful how he goes. Very careful indeed…

In this all too brief novella, we are deeply immersed once again in the surreal world of London Below. As we follow the Marquis de Carabas as he seeks his coat, we are drawn through familiar but twisted places and characters. It is dark, as you would expect from Neverwhere, but full of surprises and whimsical observations. Great little story that only has one flaw; it is way too short.

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The White Rock: an exploration of the Inca heartland by Hugh Thomson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hugh Thomson first went to Peruvian Andes at the age of 22. He was seeking a ruin that had been discovered a while ago, before being lost to time again. As a fresh faced youth, he found the Inca people and the places he visited compelling, confusing but most of all intoxicating. Walking in the footsteps of the great explorers, such as Bingham, who discovered Machu Picchu and Chambi a famous South American photographer, he travels across plains, over mountains and hacks through jungles in search of the people of this land. However, this book is more than that; it is a personal journey back through time to see the sights of the ancient civilisation and to learn of how it was destroyed by the brutal Spanish conquistadors.

Drawing on his experience of making documentaries Thomson has woven together the historical account of the Incas along with details of his two expeditions to the South American continent. As he went several times with a substantial gap in between the first and second visits, he has split his account over two sections. In each part, he writes about the people and places, the heart stopping moments when travelling in the mountains and jungles and of life in the towns and villages in Peru. The first trip was with two friends, but later he went alone, employing guides to accompany him as he sought the hidden world of the Inca. Whilst this is good, and I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it was as good as Tequila Oil, his trip to Mexico. Still worth reading though for an insight into the modern lands that sit on so much history.

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