I'm so pleased that you can still get hold of this book. The story is set in the New Zealand goldrush of the 1860s, where veterans of the Californian goldrush mix with the Irish and the Scots, and away off on their own part of the goldfield, the Chinese. It's the wild West, but removed to the South, the landscape is mountainous, rocky and deep-gorged, and the climate is intensely hot in the summer and intensely cold in the winter.
Just as the weather can be extreme, so can the characters: the crowds can get stirred into a mob, the Scots who seem so well rooted even in the thin soil of the mountains may have secret uncontrollable longings, and the Irish are sometimes carried away by their passions into complete madness. This is a story in which people have souls, and suffer the pains of love and loss in epic clarity. When you read a modern story it's entertaining enough but there's no feeling that the story matters as our lives are pretty much like those of battery hens. But here people act out of freedom, greed, emotional need, neighbourliness, adventurousness, and as their consciences square with the tenets of their deepest beliefs. There is scope to be noble.
The story is about Currency MacQueen, the washerwoman's girl, and is told by another girl of her own age: Tatty, the midwife's daughter, and it features prospectors and diggers, fools and wise men, priests and dance-hall girls and a waif of a violinist. Tatty is not the star of her own story, and has to suffer this bravely, and all the characters, with their strengths and weaknesses, are dealt with sympathetically.
In my version (you can get an edited version) there was a paragraph of racism which made me recoil in horror, but I didn't want it eradicated because I know it represented racism as it was, callous and casual, and thank God it is no longer like that.
I don't normally read romantic fiction but this was wonderful escapism. I feel better for having been embroiled in it - so emotional, so large and grand, as the world should be. I wrote before about the vast emotional scope that humans are capable of, and how pitiful it is to be a dumbed-down version. I feel myself to be like this, moved only minimally by sport and shopping, and all our "adventures" involve safety harnesses and little effort.
Tuesday 30 September 2014
Sunday 28 September 2014
Mr Lynch's Holiday by Catherine O'Flynn
This is a very readable novel which tells a tale of a development in Spain that was half-built and then abandoned with a few residents in place, gives an idea of what life is like for the residents, focuses on a man whose partner leaves him, trapped and self-deluding, in what had been their dream home, and what happens when his old Irish dad comes to visit him for a holiday.
It's a sensitively told story with great understanding and all the characters come to life in interesting ways. It was really enjoyable and rang a good many bells for me. Look out for Catherine O'Flynn. I liked "What was lost" as well but this one is happier.
It's a sensitively told story with great understanding and all the characters come to life in interesting ways. It was really enjoyable and rang a good many bells for me. Look out for Catherine O'Flynn. I liked "What was lost" as well but this one is happier.
Saturday 20 September 2014
Scotland
Nearly all my father's family live in Scotland. But they were all 'no' voters, as they work in Edinburgh and have no big issues against England.
I do sympathise with those Scots who argue that the government at Westminster doesn't represent them. I live down in the South East but I don't think it represents me either. But that's our flavour of democracy for you. The UK government doesn't represent most of the people most of the time. Although I see the point of the nationalist movement I really felt quite demonized by their arguments against the English (we speak well of them!) and felt that such passionate nationalism was miles away from any rational picture of the world. Scotland is a very small country with only 2 major cities.
I'm afraid also that the English would have been angry to have been rejected for speaking in a different accent - (sorry, a large number of different accents) and the vote would have created real ill feeling for the Scots of the kind that was felt for the Irish, after they ejected the English (but we did occupy their country; it was not a Union) but kept coming to England to get work, live, marry - they were our largest immigrant population. We would have started asking "If Scotland is so great, why don't the Scots stay there?"
The media, for example, is full of Scots. There is not enough room in Scotland for all their ambitious and talented people. They do very well out of their union with the rest of Britain.
The Scots send their students to Scottish universities free of charge and the same universities charge £9,000 a year to English students. How is this allowed? The Scots have free prescriptions and we pay £8.00 for each. - why do they get such benefits? They can hardly say they are badly treated. If I think about this for long I become very angry. As far as I can see there is only one money pot and they take more than their share out of it.
We did discuss F going to live in Scotland for a few years so that she would qualify, as a Scottish resident, for a free place at a Scottish university. It is very nearly worth doing.
I suppose it was a good thing it had to come to a vote in the end - better than a civil war - and I hope that the result will be a change in Scottish home rule that the Scots like and accept, and all the rifts heal. I hope there will be greater fairness for the English as well as the Scots.
P.S. I originally wrote that the Scots pay less than the English for their dental treatment and I was probably wrong about that - but the Welsh do pay less than the English. That makes sense, doesn't it?
I do sympathise with those Scots who argue that the government at Westminster doesn't represent them. I live down in the South East but I don't think it represents me either. But that's our flavour of democracy for you. The UK government doesn't represent most of the people most of the time. Although I see the point of the nationalist movement I really felt quite demonized by their arguments against the English (we speak well of them!) and felt that such passionate nationalism was miles away from any rational picture of the world. Scotland is a very small country with only 2 major cities.
I'm afraid also that the English would have been angry to have been rejected for speaking in a different accent - (sorry, a large number of different accents) and the vote would have created real ill feeling for the Scots of the kind that was felt for the Irish, after they ejected the English (but we did occupy their country; it was not a Union) but kept coming to England to get work, live, marry - they were our largest immigrant population. We would have started asking "If Scotland is so great, why don't the Scots stay there?"
The media, for example, is full of Scots. There is not enough room in Scotland for all their ambitious and talented people. They do very well out of their union with the rest of Britain.
The Scots send their students to Scottish universities free of charge and the same universities charge £9,000 a year to English students. How is this allowed? The Scots have free prescriptions and we pay £8.00 for each. - why do they get such benefits? They can hardly say they are badly treated. If I think about this for long I become very angry. As far as I can see there is only one money pot and they take more than their share out of it.
We did discuss F going to live in Scotland for a few years so that she would qualify, as a Scottish resident, for a free place at a Scottish university. It is very nearly worth doing.
I suppose it was a good thing it had to come to a vote in the end - better than a civil war - and I hope that the result will be a change in Scottish home rule that the Scots like and accept, and all the rifts heal. I hope there will be greater fairness for the English as well as the Scots.
P.S. I originally wrote that the Scots pay less than the English for their dental treatment and I was probably wrong about that - but the Welsh do pay less than the English. That makes sense, doesn't it?
Friday 19 September 2014
About Time: a Richard Curtis film
Time Travel is a great motif in a film. It makes whatever it's about into a fairy tale of transformation and possibility. Supposing your life is privileged but not grand, full of ordinary family happiness, and time travel seems to be giving you the ability to make it even better: and then ... but I don't want to spoil it. Because the theme is love and loss.
It makes London look such fun! And London is fun if you can cope with it, so that's true. We went to our friend Amanda's to watch this film because F is going soon, so Amanda invited us for a bon voyage dinner. My contribution was a Victoria sponge (I'm not very good at them) but I filled it with blackcurrant curd, cream and raspberries. Loulou and Maddie and Stan were there, but A was not there because he was at an AGM. It was a shame that he wasn't there because the film was a bonding experience - S & F wanted to share it - and it was about (to tell the truth) loving one's dad. If you love your dad, it's a must-see. If you're not sure, it's still a must-see.
In Richard Curtis films the pretty girl always seems to be American! Why is this? Are British girls not interesting enough - and what's wrong with European girls, or far Eastern girls, hey?
When we went home A. was in bed but not asleep. I couldn't relax at all and then the storm started! It was the noisiest thunder I have ever heard - it sounded like jet engines and it went on and on, and the rain was fierce. And I left the washing out.
The children said they too couldn't sleep after they first watched this Richard Curtis film. Interesting.
The children said they too couldn't sleep after they first watched this Richard Curtis film. Interesting.
Tuesday 16 September 2014
Tim Minchin: great speech: worth watching
I don't always like Tim Minchin. But here he's clever and funny and gives some good advice, - I think...
Friday 5 September 2014
Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler
If it wasn't for this interview in the Times magazine of early June (I wonder where I picked it up?) I would never have known how much I admire Vivienne Westwood.
1. 25 years ago, she married a man 25 years younger than herself and it doesn't seem like a big deal to either of them. She is 73, he is 49. She says Andreas is much more sociable than she is, but she doesn't mind. "With me being older and everything, and not expecting to have a husband in later life, I'm very tolerant. He doesn't have to do anything as if it is somehow expected of him. Only if he wants."
2. she is active in saving the honey bee.
3. She lived in a 2-bedroom council flat for 30 years - even after she became successful.
4. She is completely unmaterialistic : "She doesn't care what other people have. She is only curious about what other people know. Their wisdom."
5. She doesn't watch the TV.
6. They went to the Sex and the City film but couldn't sit through it. "It was a terrible film."
7. She reads.
8. She campaigns on the subject of climate change. climaterevolution.co.uk
9. At home, she is very frugal with lights and water.
10. She never lies.
11. She cycles around London. Is that why she has such great legs?
1. 25 years ago, she married a man 25 years younger than herself and it doesn't seem like a big deal to either of them. She is 73, he is 49. She says Andreas is much more sociable than she is, but she doesn't mind. "With me being older and everything, and not expecting to have a husband in later life, I'm very tolerant. He doesn't have to do anything as if it is somehow expected of him. Only if he wants."
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| They work on the designs together. |
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| She often wears clothes that make her look quite ridiculous, but they are at least original |
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| But her designs (like this one) are very beautiful and flattering for the older woman |
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| However, on the day she wore this one she forgot that she was wearing no knickers |
2. she is active in saving the honey bee.
3. She lived in a 2-bedroom council flat for 30 years - even after she became successful.
4. She is completely unmaterialistic : "She doesn't care what other people have. She is only curious about what other people know. Their wisdom."
5. She doesn't watch the TV.
6. They went to the Sex and the City film but couldn't sit through it. "It was a terrible film."
7. She reads.
8. She campaigns on the subject of climate change. climaterevolution.co.uk
9. At home, she is very frugal with lights and water.
10. She never lies.
11. She cycles around London. Is that why she has such great legs?
Monday 1 September 2014
Nuremberg: Germanisches National Museum: Amazing
Before I put my holiday away entirely I recommend this museum. It is a fabulous glass and steel building which shows off all the exhibits - some priceless - in good light, and inside there is a Carthusian church and cloister, and a cloister courtyard, all part of the museum and a fantastic setting to show off the Christian art and statutory.
One of the amazing exhibits is a tall gold "hat" dating from 10th-9th century BCE.
You are allowed to take photos in the museum without a flash. This is one of the statues in the church that I particularly liked for its grace.
There are many beautiful carvings, statues and paintings, also toys, musical instruments, scientific instruments, household goods and even whole rooms. We went to see all the starred items as a quick way of going around the museum.
One of our fellow tourists, from the far East, conscientiously took photos of absolutely everything. He focused, he shot, he moved on to the next item. He took photos of everything and he looked at nothing.
The National Gallery has now allowed photography so I suppose this sort of experience will be commonplace soon. Sarah Crompton in the Telegraph of Aug. 16th deplored this.
One of the amazing exhibits is a tall gold "hat" dating from 10th-9th century BCE.
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| To me, this is clearly part of sun worship - it indicates a very sophisticated level of craftmanship. |
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| St Christopher with the weight of the world on his shoulders |
One of our fellow tourists, from the far East, conscientiously took photos of absolutely everything. He focused, he shot, he moved on to the next item. He took photos of everything and he looked at nothing.
The National Gallery has now allowed photography so I suppose this sort of experience will be commonplace soon. Sarah Crompton in the Telegraph of Aug. 16th deplored this.
By allowing photography, galleries are betraying those who want to reflect rather than glance. Surrounded by the snappers, they may come to think that this is the acceptable way to consume art: constantly grazing, without any real meal.
For centuries art has been a way of making us slow down and take a moment to examine something in detail. This is not a plea for silent of empty galleries, but for more thoughtful ones.I do agree - it's so sad that people don't give themselves time to look and consider - even imagine the lives of those who made or used the object.
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