march 2022 books…

The Inugami Curse (Seishi Yokomizo): This is the second Yokomizo detective mystery I’ve read. First published in 1972, the story is set in 1940s Japan and the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan has died and his family eagerly await the reading of his will. Strange details emerge about forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty and hidden identities which, in turn, lead to a series of bizarre and gruesome murders. Yokomizo’s notorious detective Kindaichi tries to unravel matters… The book is clearly one of those ‘Golden Age of Classic Crime Fiction’ mysteries (with Kindaichi acting the equivalent role of a sort of Hercule Poirot character) – ridiculously intricate, frequently funny but far-fetched plot (albeit a clever one) – culminating in the customary detailed explanation of what had taken place (again, think Agatha Christie novels!). Entertaining and enjoyable. 
The Fell (Sarah Moss): Published in 2021, this novel is set in the Peak District in November 2020 – 7 months or so into the pandemic. A 40-something single mother (furloughed from her waitressing job and feeling the strain financially) is having to isolate for 14 days with her 16-year old son. 10 days in, she finally snaps and decides to abandon her house and garden (and her son) – and despite the illegality of it all - to get back into the landscape just beyond their garden gate… with its varied terrain, ever-changing weather and potential dangers. It proves to be an ill-fated mission. It’s a compelling story told through the minds and lives of four characters (the mother; son; their older, shielding, neighbour; and the divorced mountain-rescuer)… which brings back thoughts of our own attitudes and fears about ‘dealing’ (and still dealing) with the pandemic (lots of “when this is all over” promises to ourselves etc). An unsettling, impressive novel.
My Fathers’ Daughter (Hannah-Azieb Pool): This is our Storysmith bookgroup’s latest book (theme: Black British writing). Pool was born in Eritrea and had been adopted, aged 6 months, by a white couple and grew up in England thinking both her parents were dead until. While she studying at Liverpool University, she received a letter from her brother revealing that her father was alive. Her mother had died in childbirth (hers), but it turned out she had three brothers, a sister and one parent (and countless aunts) that she never knew she had. It took her nearly 10 years before she felt she could face up to the challenge of tracing her biological family and travel to Africa in search of roots. It proved to be a fascinating (at times guilt-ridden and angry about her feelings relating to her adoption) journey of discovery as she comes to acknowledge how different her life would have been if she had stayed in her homeland. The contrasts are enormous: a middle-class, high-profile journalist living in liberal, secular Britain with her own small London apartment and enjoying 3 foreign holidays a year compared with a patriarchal society in Eritrea where women are expected to get married in their teens, produce children and, often, forgo career opportunities. A compelling, candid and enjoyable book.
Silverview (John Le Carré): This was Le Carré’s was final full-length book (he died last December). As everyone knows, he was a brilliant writer of spy stories and this one is predictably clever, complicated and intriguing – with cold war references; hints of communist Poland; the breakup of Yugoslavia; and the struggle in Palestine. My problem is that Le Carré frequently leaves me feeling intellectually inadequate with his own in-depth knowledge and experience of motives and consequences of British foreign policy. I also often found myself constantly needing to trawl back to be reminded of the who’s who of the novel’s principal characters and their frequently complex relationships. It took me some time to ‘get into the story’ but, once in, I found it quite compelling – even if I find the idea of going through life never being able to trust anyone repellent!
The Word Detective (John Simpson): This is our next “Bloke’s Books” book selection. Simpson is the former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). He joined the editorial staff of the OED in 1976 to work on the Supplement to the OED and was appointed Chief Editor in 1993, a position he held until his retirement in October 2013. As Chief Editor, he led the first comprehensive revision of the OED and oversaw the introduction of its online version. Simpson’s book provides an evocative history of the painstakingly-slow work in producing and subsequently editing and updating the OED and it wasn’t until 1989 that the OED was published “from a computer database”, which enabled dissemination of text as a searchable CD. The very thought of compiling and constantly updating a dictionary without a database - or subsequently the internet - is somewhat overwhelming. I loved Simpson’s humorous, somewhat self-deprecating style of writing and his tenacious eye for detail. He also writes beautifully about his family – his wise wife, and his two daughters (one of whom has a mystifying disability which, poignantly and with a cruel irony, has resulted in her existence in a “wordless world”). It’s a low-key, wise, fascinating and charming book. 

the worst person in the world…

Renate Reinsve is my new favourite actor!
I went along to the Watershed this afternoon to see Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s latest film “The Worst Person in the World”.
 
Despite the fact that Reinsve plays a young woman (Julie) in her late 20s who dumps two men, cheats on and lies to the second, and is fearful of the irreversibility of life decisions, it’s a powerfully life-affirming film.
To say that Julie doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life is something of an understatement – she starts off as a medical student, changes course to psychology and then decides she wants to go into photography. Her first featured relationship is with a comic-book artist - who’s gaining quite reputation for himself (while she’s still working in a bookshop to help pay her way), but ‘discovers’ Man no.2 (who works in a cafe) when she leaves Man no.1’s launch party early. Hey, it’s complicated… but sometimes life’s like that!
 
The Guardian’s film critic Peter Bradshaw gave the film a 5-star review and I think the final paragraph of his review absolutely sums things up perfectly: “This film is sweet and gentle and funny, in ways that are undoubtedly conventional but also very real. It’s the kind of film we’ve all seen done so badly that it’s an unexpected treat to see it done well and to realise that its themes are very important: who do you fall in love with? Who is ‘the one’? When do you realise that you are just settling? Reinsve’s performance is just so good. A star is born”.
I thought it was a brilliant film (I’m now a little in love with Renate Reinsve)(ok, a lot!)… but then I think everyone in today’s cinema audience came away thinking the same.
I REALLY think you should see it for yourself. Despite having seen some wonderful movies this year, I think this could be my film of the year!!

isn’t history (and technology) wonderful?

When we were living in Southville, I discovered the wonderful ‘Know Your Place Bristol’ website, which gave access to a number of digital heritage maps indicating how places had changed over the years. 
Well yesterday, given that we now live in a very different part of the city, I decided to re-visit the website.
It proved to be absolutely fascinating.  
The website enables you to look at various maps of the city spanning a number of years (1746-2019) but, crucially, allows you to compare areas directly through the use of main maps and comparison maps at the same time via linked ‘overlays’ (I’m not explaining this very well – it’s best just to explore the website itself).
 
With the cathedral as one of our neighbours (just 100m down the road), it wasn’t all that surprising that a trawl through the maps would throw up lots of interesting details:
The cathedral came into being 1542; it was formerly St Augustine’s Abbey (church and monastery, founded in 1140) until its dissolution.
It turns out that our apartment block stands on the site of the Bishop’s Park – located alongside the Bishop’s Palace. The palace was damaged by fire in the Bristol Riots of 1831 (together with Queen Square and three prisons!); it was subsequently again attacked by rioters in 1851 – and this time was burnt to the ground (see 1746-1803 map)(top). Other adjacent buildings include the Abbey House (c1150-60, remodelled C17 and rebuilt in the 1950s); the former Deanery (early C17, altered C18); and Bristol Cathedral School (possibly C12 origin and re-founded in 1542 by Henry VIII).
The 1844-1888 map (bottom) shows Deanery Road (other maps suggest it was created at some time between 1855-1874), together with a tramway link from the floating harbour to Hotwells – running immediately adjacent the north wall of the cathedral. Interesting also to note the extensive loss of houses and changed street patterns (much of College Street disappeared, together with Brandon Street, Bellington Lane and Cross Street, for example).
Lots of other interesting stuff, including (from the 1746-1803 map) the marshland (Cannon’s Marsh) and Rope Walk immediately to the south of the Bishop’s Park; the Frome River with its navigable limits extending to Quay Street (just a little beyond Saint Stephen’s Church); the appearance of Park Street on the 1828 map (in place of Bullock’s Park)… oh, and so much more.
I suspect I’ll be returning to city history records again at various times over the coming months. A wonderful resource.
Photo: As you’re probably well aware, I’m not very good when it comes to technology(!), so the accompanying images are merely my ‘marked up’ photographs taken from my laptop (I didn’t understand the ‘screenshot’ instructions!).
Note: ‘Know Your Place’ heritage websites also extend as far as London, Birmingham, Wales, Cornwall, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. 
PS: Click on the images to enlarge.

putin...

For the vast majority of people, recent events have secured Putin’s place as one of the world’s unpopular and most feared individuals.
People (world leaders, politicians, journalists and alike) have expressed shock and surprise at what’s happening in Ukraine and yet, as a documentary first shown on the BBC in March 2018 seems to show, it was only a matter of time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09vb7m3/putin-the-new-tsar

Although I was vaguely aware of most of the events highlighted in documentary, I freely admit that I had largely swept such issues aside (yes, I know most of us have had ‘our fill’ of sickening images of the Russian army bombarding Ukraine). BUT I really would recommend that you watch the documentary in an effort to put things into context… and to underline that we shouldn’t have been surprised by Putin’s actions.
Despite his lowly KGB colonel credentials, Putin became President in May 2000. Between 2000-2004, Putin set about the reconstruction of the impoverished condition of the country -  apparently (according to Wikipedia) winning a power-struggle with the Russian oligarchs, reaching a 'grand bargain' with them, which allowed the oligarchs to maintain most of their powers, in exchange for their explicit support for Putin's government (and, it seems, direct financial compensation/contributions/back-handers). Indeed, according to the documentary, Putin was regarded as “the world’s richest man” – in 2015, outspoken critic Boris Nemtsov circulated pamphlets pointing out that Putin’s wealth included 58 jets, 2 yachts and a summer palace (Nemtsov was assassinated soon after). Corruption and institutionalised corruption in the country is now considered rife.
 
In 2008, there was a crisis in Georgia (with Russian tanks sent to the country and a 5-day war resulting); in 2014, there were several Russian military incursions into Ukraine and, as a result of a Russian-organised, widely-criticised referendum, Crimea (then part of Ukrainian territory) was annexed to join Russia.
In the documentary, Sergei Pugachev (who helped Putin come to power) described Putin as a “weak man… an envious and greedy man… and he’s a man who always lies”. Nemtsov described Putin’s attitudes demonstrated the “extreme narcissism of the emperor”. Former Foreign Secretary, William Hague, maintained that Putin “has invented new kinds of warfare which Western countries are still struggling to come to terms with… “with its full spectrum capability”.
But, for me, the most telling words of the documentary came from Gary Kasparov (former World Chess Champion and who, in 2008, had announced his intention to run as a candidate in that year's Russian presidential race - but, after encountering logistical problems in his campaign, for which he blamed "official obstruction", he withdrew).
Kasparov said: “It’s not IF Putin would attack, it’s only when and where”.
Sobering and telling words from four years ago.

ali and ava…

I went to the Watershed (again!) this afternoon to see director Clio Barnard’s film “Ali and Ava” – starring the rather brilliant actors Claire Rushbrooke and Adeel Akhtar in the title roles. It’s a modern love story set in Bradford over the course of a month.
 
Ava is a single grandmother (five times over) whose life is her family. She lives in a rough part of the city, but oozes endless patience and tenderness at home and in her teaching assistant job in a primary school – despite the lingering damage caused by a violent, alcoholic ex-husband (who died the previous year). In a much nicer part of Bradford, Ali shares a home with his wife, but is a lonely figure as their marriage has effectively ended; they carry on for the sake of Ali’s tight-knit British-Pakistani family (who live next door), but occupy separate bedrooms.
 
It’s a tough, and yet hugely joyful, drama of love conquering the divisions of race and prejudice; middle age disillusionment; the challenges of parenthood and grandparenthood; and the tensions of class. The film creates a wonderful, effortless chemistry through the use of music, brilliant acting (and story-telling) and sheer charm.
Utterly captivating.