The End of the Year Show 2018
Books, films, music; but 2018 for me was mainly about books.
The thing is, I've kept up a record of books I've read since childhood, in a succession of notebooks, and I noticed this year that - since even if I read little or no books, I still move on to a new page - I would run out of pages in a very few years. So, I bought a new fancy notebook and in thoroughly OCD fashion, copied it all out again. I made a few adjustments to correct various mistakes etc., but things are looking good once more.
Especially since it led to a resurrection of my set of Rotring ArtPens, ie. my fountain pens. I ditched my use of disposable cartridges, and fitted them with refillable ones, and then a set of nice inks. Mostly blues and blacks but also red, green and so on. Some have been used to colour code types of book in the notebook - eg. blue for prose, purple for poetry. But more satisfyingly I began to write letters. I knew full well that only one or two friends and acquaintances were likely to write back, but that's fine, because the main point of doing this is simply that I like writing with a pen. Says the man tapping away at his laptop.
The new book record naturally sprang from a determination to revive a proper reading habit. My book reading had drastically slackened off 'this century', so very embarrassing for someone who studied literature at college, considers himself well read and above all reckons that reading is food for the brain. I'm sure the reason is that the time I used to spend reading has in recent years been spent in front of computer screens. Worse, I have actually been reading a fair number of books but which I never recorded because I'd developed bad habits like skimming and jumping to the end. For a long while now, I've properly read and finished a handful of books a year, sometimes none at all.
This year I've read 31 books. They vary terrifically in quality and genre, there's fiction and non-fiction, and even my first ever Finnish language book (only a kid's book, but crazily difficult because it was full of ice hockey slang). Some of my reading was aimed at 'tying up loose ends' from the past, such as reading the last couple of Hornblower stories which I'd not managed to read all those years ago when I was reading loads of boy's adventures. I read some of the many books which kind people have given me as gifts. I frequented bookshops with wallet open again; but not to get too silly and profligate, I took out - at long last! - a library membership as well. And I began to pick the brains of book reading friends and family with more serious intent: the best book I read this year was lent me by one of them, The Hours of the Night by Sue Gee. It doesn't look like anything remarkable, does it? And as you can see, my cousin Jill had picked it up at a reduced price. However, it's richly rewarding, and its beautiful prose hooked me within a few pages. Very little 'happens', but few writers seem to manage to realise real human characters in all their internal complexities and their fragile connections with other human beings as convincingly as this. The only downside as an aspiring writer was the feeling that I could never write as well as that.
Something I've always done in my book record is award a star to a 'memorable read'. To try and make sure this was earned, I imposed an arbitrary rule that I could only give a maximum of four stars a page (this'll be a tougher requirement now, since whereas the old notebook had room for 21 books a page, the new one goes to 26). Copying out the list was sobering, because we all change don't we, and I saw that I'd given stars to one or two books which I positively despise now, like The Magus. But I left the stars all as they were, the vast majority I'm fine with and I shouldn't try to second guess my younger self. Anyway, apart from The Hours of the Night, I gave a star to three other books: The Spider Web by Theodore Douglas Hallam, a WWI memoir; Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; and Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe, who impresses me more and more (see the earlier piece I wrote about Citadel of the Autarch).
and more. Some new 'discoveries' like Gin Wigmore and Devilskin... Hey! Both from NZ, what about that? But huh. If physical records disappear, I've only myself to blame, haven't I?
The thing is, I've kept up a record of books I've read since childhood, in a succession of notebooks, and I noticed this year that - since even if I read little or no books, I still move on to a new page - I would run out of pages in a very few years. So, I bought a new fancy notebook and in thoroughly OCD fashion, copied it all out again. I made a few adjustments to correct various mistakes etc., but things are looking good once more.
Especially since it led to a resurrection of my set of Rotring ArtPens, ie. my fountain pens. I ditched my use of disposable cartridges, and fitted them with refillable ones, and then a set of nice inks. Mostly blues and blacks but also red, green and so on. Some have been used to colour code types of book in the notebook - eg. blue for prose, purple for poetry. But more satisfyingly I began to write letters. I knew full well that only one or two friends and acquaintances were likely to write back, but that's fine, because the main point of doing this is simply that I like writing with a pen. Says the man tapping away at his laptop.
This year I've read 31 books. They vary terrifically in quality and genre, there's fiction and non-fiction, and even my first ever Finnish language book (only a kid's book, but crazily difficult because it was full of ice hockey slang). Some of my reading was aimed at 'tying up loose ends' from the past, such as reading the last couple of Hornblower stories which I'd not managed to read all those years ago when I was reading loads of boy's adventures. I read some of the many books which kind people have given me as gifts. I frequented bookshops with wallet open again; but not to get too silly and profligate, I took out - at long last! - a library membership as well. And I began to pick the brains of book reading friends and family with more serious intent: the best book I read this year was lent me by one of them, The Hours of the Night by Sue Gee. It doesn't look like anything remarkable, does it? And as you can see, my cousin Jill had picked it up at a reduced price. However, it's richly rewarding, and its beautiful prose hooked me within a few pages. Very little 'happens', but few writers seem to manage to realise real human characters in all their internal complexities and their fragile connections with other human beings as convincingly as this. The only downside as an aspiring writer was the feeling that I could never write as well as that.
Something I've always done in my book record is award a star to a 'memorable read'. To try and make sure this was earned, I imposed an arbitrary rule that I could only give a maximum of four stars a page (this'll be a tougher requirement now, since whereas the old notebook had room for 21 books a page, the new one goes to 26). Copying out the list was sobering, because we all change don't we, and I saw that I'd given stars to one or two books which I positively despise now, like The Magus. But I left the stars all as they were, the vast majority I'm fine with and I shouldn't try to second guess my younger self. Anyway, apart from The Hours of the Night, I gave a star to three other books: The Spider Web by Theodore Douglas Hallam, a WWI memoir; Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; and Soldier of Arete by Gene Wolfe, who impresses me more and more (see the earlier piece I wrote about Citadel of the Autarch).
Music...
...I bought not a single new record this year. I sort of hate myself for this, but apart from listening to cds in the car, I've mostly been listening to music on YouTube. I'd have bought at least one record, the latest by Jenni Vartiainen, but I like to pick up Finnish records on trips to Finland, and I didn't go this year. Well, so then I'll tell you which tracks seem to have obsessed me most on YouTube in 2018:- Utah Saints Something Good '08
- Dr Feelgood Down at the Doctor
- Screaming Blue Messiahs Too Much Love
- Caro Emerald Tangled Up
- Django Reinhart & Stephane Grapelli Minor Swing
- Stereolab French Disko
and more. Some new 'discoveries' like Gin Wigmore and Devilskin... Hey! Both from NZ, what about that? But huh. If physical records disappear, I've only myself to blame, haven't I?
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