Hadn’t intending buying any books today. Ended up buying five…
In Siberia by Colin Thubron
Journey into Cypress by Colin Thubron
Badgerlands by Patrick Barkham
Ticket to Ride by Tom Chesshyre
The Beauty in the Beast by Hugh Warwick
Not bad for £7
Page 185 of 188
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The New Yorker’s readers demand the highest standards of copy, and Mary Norris has been of of those editors for the past three decades giving the readers what they demand. Having sharpened all her pencils, she now brings us her take on the newspaper business and the (American) English language. Working her way through the most common language issues, such as spelling, commas, when to swear, and when not to. She investigates the less common punctuation, extols the use of the hyphen – excessively perhaps and contemplates the genders. Drawing from classic works by Dickens and Melville and reasonably up to date works by Flynn and Wallace she aims to enlighten us in the ways and foibles of our language, from the Oxford comma to the apostrophe that wanders up and down the word depending on the profession.
This is not a bad read overall; it is fairly short, light hearted and informative and she writes with a gentle humour. Whilst she goes in to the minutiae of language with regards to punctuation, it is very much centred on the The New Yorker and her work there. There are some good parts, the chapter on profanity is quite amusing, her ventures into the historical reasons behind certain word uses and her penchant for a particular type of pencil. It is almost trying to do too much; is it a memoir of her work at the paper or a book on language? I’m still not sure. Worth reading, but if you are looking for a book on the delights of language, pop it back on the shelf.
Got two books from the library today:
It’s on the Meter by Paul Archer & Johno Ellison
Kaleidoscope City by Piers Moore Ede
And bought:
The Ocean at the End of the lane by Neil Gaiman. I have a copy of this, so a friend will receive this in the post this week
The Old Straight Track by Alfred Watkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Originally published in 1925, this book by Alfred Watkins bought the concept of ley lines to the public. The concept came to him after visiting a Roman excavation and looking at the map to get a perspective on the wider landscape, he saw that a number of features seemed to line up. When he had the opportunity to get to higher ground he had the opportunity to look at the landscape and see that these features had straight paths running between them. He came to believe that the people of this country had made a series of straight paths through the forests with the prominent features being used for guide and navigation.
He first presented this theory of leys at a public meeting in 1921, and went on to develop his theories to present in this book. Controversial at the time, the Antiquity magazine refused to publish even an advert for his book, it captured the imagination of the public. He was an excellent PR man, using pagan rites to demonstrate and promote his work, and it inspired generations of readers and walkers to take a closer look at the country that they walked through. The concept of lines passing over hill and dale were picked up by those seeking to rediscover the the mysticism and ancient ways of the Celts and re-enchant the English landscape.
There was only one flaw though; none of it was really true. It can be proven that given the sheer quantity of ancient and prehistorical sites in the landscape that the chances of them lining up is as much coincidence as it is design. This page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_lin… shows just how a random collection of 137 sites can give 80 or so four point alignments. Richard Atkinson, an archaeologist, has even proved that red telephone boxes could produce their own leys by lining up.
Theories aside, this is still worth reading. Firstly, it is a classic piece of text on the English landscape. Secondly, the eloquent and atmospheric text and the black and white images and maps that are liberally scattered throughout the book giving us a snapshot of the English countryside between the two world wars before big farms and pylons spoilt some of the finest views. At the time the science of excavation was starting to change and improve, Watkins may have prompted people to look at and discover the genuine links between sites in the wider context of the landscape.
Cold Blood: Adventures with Reptiles and Amphibians by Richard Kerridge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
To say that Richard Kerridge is fascinated by reptiles would be an understatement.
It is an obsession.
This obsession is one that he has had since childhood, from watching early wildlife programmes that showed all manner of animals from the exotic continent of Africa. Back then, he collected and caught all manner of small creatures and reptiles for the zoo that he had in his room and back garden. As he collected the frogs and toads, newts and lizards, grass snakes and even foolishly an added, it fuelled a desire to learn all about these animals. He is still asking questions about them today.
Kerridge has written a book that is partly a guide to these creatures, partly a journal about our relationship with nature and partly a personal memoir of his escapades with his friends and his tumultuous relationship with his father. It is packed to the gills with facts and details of these absorbing creatures, and thankfully is no less readable because of it. What he also brings to life is the differences between then and now. These days you cannot disturb a lot of the animals, let alone pick them up, without a licence from somewhere or other, that is if you can get a child away from a screen and outside to see them in their natural habitat. It is a well researched and written book, and what you most appreciate when reading this, is his enthusiasm for his cool subjects.
Wild by Nature: From Siberia to Australia, Three Years Alone in the Wilderness on Foot by Sarah Marquis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Wild by Nature is the account of the 10,000 mile hike that Sarah Marquis made across Mongolia, China, Siberia, Laos, Thailand before a journey on a cargo ship and then a further walk across the Australian Outback. Whilst she had backup and sponsors, Sarah undertook this walk solo. Not only is this a huge physical achievement, she had to stay sharp whilst facing thieves, drug dealers, tropical diseases, lethal wildlife, life threatening illnesses and natives who were not always best pleased to see a foreigner. She had to cope with freezing temperatures in the Gobi desert, scorching temperatures in the Australian deserts, being blasted by the winds on the Mongolian Steppe and survived some unbelievable thunderstorms.
It is quite an challenge for anyone to undertake, but for a single woman in some of these countries it is even more of a trial. This is not her only achievement wither; she has walked 23 countries in total; earning herself the National Geographic’s title of Adventurer of the Year. She is tenacious and stubborn, two qualities that you need to push yourself to the physical and mental limits that a walk like this demands, but there are times even for her when it all seems too much. But I think that there are a few things that let it down a little, one is that her journey seems to jump around somewhat without following any logical route. I would expect a journey of this type to flow nicely, but it doesn’t. You got a good sense of her emotional highs and lows, but it was also difficult to connect to her as a reader at times. This is one worth reading if you like walking books, but could have been much better.
These are the two books I bought when scouring the charity shops this morning:
Mirror to Damascus by Colin Thubron
The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
Thubron is one of my favourite travel writers, and this is the last book of his that I haven’t read.
It is always nice getting free books though the post, even more so when they are as beautiful as this:
The Bees by Laline Paull
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Flora 717 is on the bottom rung of the hive. Given the lowest task of ensuring it is clean she has only three orders.
Accept, obey and serve.
She, like her sisters, are prepared to sacrifice everything for their beloved Queen. But Flora has skills that mark her out as different from a regular sanitation worker; normally it would ensure that she would be eliminated. Trusted enough to feed the newborn bees, she begins her ascent of the strict hierarchy in the hive, and becomes a forager collecting the life giving nectar. But this simple bee also holds a secret; a desire to break the most sacrosanct of laws in the hive, one that her enemies would use against her without any hesitation.
There were a few things that I liked about this; the dystopian feel of the book; the totalitarian society and strict etiquettes of the bees, and the sole protagonist (can you call a bee that?) who sets out to fulfil her yearning. But it didn’t quite do it, for me. The plot wasn’t too bad, but even with the twists felt a little predictable and it felt a lot like Animal Farm by Orwell, where it is alien and familiar at the same time. It was a shame really as other have really liked it and I thought that I would too. 2.5 stars overall.
Terra by Mitch Benn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Most aliens think that the earth is doomed. None of them can understand why we are so intent on ruining our only planet, especially as we haven’t developed the technology to get of it safely They are not going to help us either; can you imagine the chaos that would cause! One alien thinks that the earth is worth studying, partly for the places and partly for the other creatures; just not for the humans.
The Bradbury’s were driving home whilst mid argument, as usual, and really weren’t expecting the lemon coloured and shaped spaceship to suddenly appear in front of them. Terrified, Mr Bradbury crashes the car. The parent’s climb out and run away as fast as they can. The alien discovers a child in the car. He decides that she need rescuing; from there, from Rrth and from humanity, and he decides to break every rule in the non-contact recommendations and takes her home.
Eight orbits later, Terra was about to enter formal education. As the only human on the planet Fnrr this was going to be very strange, very strange indeed. This is a time of change too, as the extraordinary world ofFnrr spirals into a terrible war.
Mitch Benn is best known for his funny songs and stand-up comedy, and this is his first venture into the realm of the novel. He has drawn on inspiration from various people, including Gaiman, Pratchett and Douglas Adams, whilst still ensuring that his own humour and voice stands out strongly. The concept of the human being the alien is a great one, and he has given her a plot that works really well too. It is definitely aimed at the younger audience, but that doesn’t make it any less readable or enjoyable. Great debut.
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