Blog: March Culture Wrap Up

04/09/2021

Another month, another wrap up! March has heralded the glacial opening up of our world! That, accompanied by an improvement in weather, has meant that my life of being near constantly glued to a screen or book is, well not over, but certainly adapted. Still, some delightful culture has been consumed and enjoyed. Here we go!

BOOKS:

⭐⭐⭐ - BUY THE BOOK

In the midst of reading quite a bit of literary fiction, I was absolutely gagging for a great thriller than I could race through. I’ve read quite a lot of Candlish so I know with her I’m likely to get both a really good read and a pretty unique story. The Other Passenger is set in London and narrated by Jamie, a rather unlikeable man in his forties whose claustrophobia has forced him to stop using the tube for his daily commute and also, therefore, to stop going to his respectable job. Now a barista, he travels to and from work on the Thames Riverboats where, along with the brooding Kit (whose girlfriend Melia works for Jamie’s partner Claire), he becomes part of a group of fellow passengers that call themselves The Water Rats. Kit and Melia are failed actors turned young professionals who are perpetually deep in debt. Despite a significant age and wealth gap between the two couples, the four become firm friends. When the novel opens, Kit has gone missing and Jamie is apprehended by two police officers as he steps off the riverboat on the way to work. So unfolds a tale of false friendships, lust, greed and deception. As usual Candlish weaves a great story with twists and turns aplenty. Though it was difficult to care much about any of the equally unlikeable characters in the novel (except perhaps Claire), the London conjured up is at once fun and dangerous and I felt a little shiver run through me when I passed an actual Thames riverboat stop a few days after reading! Admittedly this wasn’t a book that absolutely captured me but nonetheless it was a solid, enthralling thriller that kept me guessing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - BUY THE BOOK

I read this as part of Chapter Chat bookclub even though I ended up not being able to make the chat. This was my very first Ishiguro novel and I was excited to be jumping in with a brand new release. Unlike my other reads this month I listened to this on audio which isn’t my go-to with books, I personally prefer reading them myself, but it does mean I can get another book in when I’m driving. Also, Scribd is excellent at including brand new releases in their membership price, which is great when I don’t want to shell out for a hardback copy or wait months for a paperback! Not an ad (I wish), I just really like Scribd! Anyway, on to the novel. It’s a really hard book to review simply because of the way in which the story unfolds. It’s narrated by Klara, an Artificial Friend, and begins with her waiting in the shop window to be chosen and purchased by a family to be a companion for their teenage child. Klara is a particularly perceptive AF who picks up on peoples’ emotions and tries to understand the world as best she can. In turn we learn about the world of the novel only as she does. I really enjoyed Klara’s perspective and learning to gauge the balance between accepting what she tells us and realising that she might not always understand everything completely correctly. When Klara is purchased to be a companion to Josie, a sick child, she moves into their home and from there a story about love, family and invention develops. The reason I specifically mentioned that I listened to this on audio is because I found that the monotony of Klara’s voice as represented in the audiobook was at once believable and very slow, to the point that I ended listening on 1.5 playback speed which I rarely do. Overall I enjoyed Klara and the Sun and would certainly pick up another Ishiguro. I thought it explored an interesting idea, albeit quite a bleak one, and I was always curious about how Klara would interpret the information she was exposed to. The final third was a bit of a letdown. I thought the story fizzled out and didn’t really deal with some of the conundrums that had been set up earlier in the novel. I found myself a bit puzzled by things that didn’t quite make sense or add up which left me a little deflated. I think there’s plenty to enjoy in this novel and, at least in terms of my own reading, it certainly felt fresh and unique.

⭐⭐⭐ - BUY THE BOOK

If you’re reading my wrap ups regularly this is March’s offering for my most exclusive book club that is made up of just my husband and I. I’m trying to name it Books in Bed since that’s where the magic (reading) happens but he’s not really going with it. Work is picking up again so we picked up this slim novella by Gael Garcia Marquez. I’ve never finished a full novel by Marquez before (I started reading 100 Years of Solitude once) and I wasn’t sure I was a huge fan. Admittedly, I’m still not sure. I found No One Writes to the Colonel very readable. The characters were sharply defined and Marquez throws you firmly into the world right at the start. I quickly became absorbed in the monotony of the lives of the Colonel and his unwell wife, who are battling against poverty while grieving their son. Every day they try to feed both themselves and the rooster he left behind, which they hope will eventually make them money at the cockfights. Their real focus however is the army pension the Colonel is due to receive, which he’s been waiting for for fifteen years. Every Friday, when the postman comes, the Colonel hurriedly makes his way to the post office and hopes to see his money arrive. Every Friday he is disappointed. Though I found the world and the story so interesting, I have to admit that the novella by itself didn’t really do anything for me. It happened and then…it ended. However, when I read into the context surrounding the book, it instantly became more interesting. Set in Colombia, under martial law, No One Writes to the Colonel is a portrait of a people totally let down by their government, and living under terrible conditions. With that information in mind the novella comes to life a little more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - BUY THE BOOK

My read of the month! I’m always fearful of tackling much hyped books as its hard to temper your expectations. I’m so glad I finally snapped this one up though. Although I’ve always fancied the sound of Mr Loverman, I’ve actually never read any of Evaristo’s novels before, but now I reckon I’ll be working my way through them. Girl, Woman, Other is an interlocking series of glimpses into the lives of more than 21 different characters, the majority of which are Black women. I know that this has since been picked up for stage and screen adaptation and I can totally see why. Even as I was reading the novel, this carousel of lives were taking their places on a stage inside my brain. It probably has a little to do with the fact that the first character, Amma, is a playwright and director about to haver her National Theatre debut. While the stories of the women weave through time and location, they all eventually come back to this particular event in some way. I’ve read reviews where readers have complained that the novel is little more than a bunch of character biographies but I couldn’t disagree more. While each chapter starts off that way, slowly they morph into an integral part of the larger story. I had favourite storylines and characters for certain, and some perhaps fell a little flat for me, but ultimately I genuinely loved almost every minute of the novel. I’ve recently read more novels written from the point of the view of the Black British experience and what I particularly loved about Girl, Woman, Other is that is presented such a variety of characters and experiences at once.

PODCASTS:

I recently started listening to The Sunday Salon and I really loved this episode with food writer Rebecca Seal. She was so down to earth, talking about working from home, her own career path and the life-work balance. Though it should be obvious, I was particularly affected by her comment that, while she loves her work, she doesn’t wish it to be the most interesting or important thing about her. In a time where we are encouraged to ‘have it all’ or adhere to a punishing work schedule in order to ‘be successful’, they were really grounding words.

I’ve never listened to the TLS podcast before but I tuned in for their discussion on Klara and the Sun after I finished reading it and felt a bit lost. Their discussion was really interesting and, though it helped me understand aspects of the novel I’d missed, it also made me feel better about the bits I hadn’t been so wild about.

TV:

Yup, only just got around to this. Was pretty cautious at first but really enjoyed and am looking forward to the next season. Lots of great performances, particularly like Josh O’Connor. My only concern really is that, particularly around the Harry and Meghan interview, I heard people using The Crown as a sort of guide to history, using examples for and against the Royal Family. It’s pretty tempting to watch it all and feel like you’ve got a lot of information with which to form your opinions, but really a vast amount of it is fictional and written - as always - from a biased human perspective.

A new season has started and I couldn’t be happier. Bob’s Burgers is the best cartoon out there. I will fight you on this. It’s funny and warm and has so much heart.