Reading journal 2017: Didion, Sontag, Hitchens ...

Reading journal 2017 ... yes, you read correctly. Honestly, I don't know why it has taken me so long to share my view on some books that appeared on a reading list in October 2017. Well, I always allow time to pass between sharing a list and posting a reading journal entry related to it, but this time I probably set a new record in procrastination. If you have read any of these I would love to hear your opinion, even if you disagree with mine.

Reading journal, № 12 reading list, 4 of 9:

· South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion. The keyword here is a notebook. I ran to the bookshop to buy this one when walking would have sufficed. This is a slim volume, about 130 pages with a large font, and probably directed towards the hardcore fans. Starting in New Orleans in 1970, these notes taken on a road trip are mainly about the South. Didion is a keen observer and what struck me was how some of her observations still felt relevant in 2017.

The isolation of these people from the currents of American life in 1970 was startling and bewildering to behold. All their information was fifth-hand, and mythicized in the handing down.

I would not recommend this book to those new to Didion. To get the right impression of her as a writer, choose The White Album, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, or The Year of Magical Thinking. As a fan of Didion, it almost breaks my heart to say that it feels as if this publication was a way of cashing in on her fame. That it was made available the same year as the documentary was released, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017) by actor Griffin Dunne (the nephew of Didion's late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne). Writers also have to make a living but I think many who bought the book expected something more substantial. By the way, I love that documentary.

· Autumn by Ali Smith. This one has beautiful prose. It's one of those meditative novels without a plot. It's about the bond between Elisabeth and Daniel, a friendship that starts when she, as a little girl, interviews him, then just an old neighbour, for a school project. Unfortunately, this novel has gotten a Brexit tag, it's referred to as the first post-Brexit novel, and people seem to think it's political. It's not. The outcome of the referendum is there in the background but in no way does it drive the story, which is filled with life and art.

· Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens. I say this with great respect for the memory of Hitchens, but this book put me off anything Hitchens for good. I remember standing in Waterstones with a collection of his old articles in my hands and spotting the memoir, which had escaped me, feeling sure I was in for a treat. I enjoyed reading the story of his mother - he calls her Yvonne, not mother - who hid the fact that she was Jewish (he finds out in his forties). He hardly writes anything about his wife and children, which left a gap in the narrative and felt egocentric. Unsurprisingly, this book is all about politics, and in it many stories about people who perhaps only a few have heard of but get so much space. Sometimes when Hitchens was ranting about people he didn't agree with I began rolling my eyes. Clearly, he was not a fan of Bill Clinton and when it's already fully established to the reader how much he dislikes him, Hitchens uses every opportunity to rub it in. It comes off as childish. Honestly, I often thought about tossing the book but read on so I could at least express my opinion. When he described becoming an American citizen and expressed his support for the Bush administration and the Iraq War he had completely lost me. Obviously, Hitchens led a remarkable life that brought him all over the world, but to me, he wasn't the right person to write that story. And given his status, I'm guessing either no one edited this book or had the guts to point out its flaws before publication. How this book ended up number 5 on the NYT critics' list of 'The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years' is beyond my understanding. (If you are interested in a book review that covers the politics I would recommend the one by David Runciman for the London Review of Books.)

· Against Interpretation and Other Essays by Susan Sontag. I wasn't sure whether I should say something about this classic, but it gave me a chance to end with a quote that still feels relevant. These essays were written in the Sixties, between 1961 and 1965, and many of them feel outdated. I cannot say that I would recommend this book to anyone except students and fans of Sontag. The only part that I have reread is Part I, the first 36 pages that consist of the essays 'Against Interpretation' and 'On Style'. In the former, she observes: 'What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.'

[Please visit separate blog entries for these two from the list: Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo, Travels in a Dervish Cloak by Isambard Wilkinson.]

image by me, appeared on Instagram 10/09/2017

№ 12 reading list ... from the Land of Ideas

My № 12 reading list was supposed to appear on the blog in September - that stack of books looks good, doesn't it? - but I got busy packing. As in moving, to Germany. Ich bin ein Bremer! Not quite a declaration carrying the weight of Kennedy's Ich bin ein Berliner ... except for us, the family. We are settling in our new home and exploring our surroundings. My first task was arranging the books and creating a reading nook, and then, to feel more at home, setting up the kitchen and making the first Friday pizzas. Bremen has many cafés and restaurants and everywhere I have been the atmosphere has been the way I like it, relaxed and unpretentious. I have already visited two bookshops in the centre but no library, yet. Because of the move, the time for reading has been somewhat limited, but I have finished the first two works on the list and I'm well into a few others. Three publishers provided books for the list, for which I'm grateful: Canongate [1], Eland Books [2] and Fox, Finch & Tepper [3]. I will be reviewing these three books on the blog later.

№ 12 reading list:
1  South and West: From a Notebook  by Joan Didion
2  Stay with Me  by Ayobami Adebayo [1]
3  Travels in a Dervish Cloak  by Isambard Wilkinson [2]
4  What's Eating Gilbert Grape  by Peter Hedges [3]
5  The Unwomanly Face of War  by Svetlana Alexievich
6  Autumn  by Ali Smith
7  Hitch-22: A Memoir  by Christopher Hitchens
8  How Fiction Works  by James Wood
9  Against Interpretation and Other Essays  by Susan Sontag

Usually, there are a few library books on my reading lists but this time the books are all mine. A dear friend in Iceland gave me a generous Waterstones gift card on my birthday, which I used to purchase the works of Didion, Sontag, Wood and Alexievich (if you're following on Instagram you may have noticed). Later I was viewing the works of the late Christopher Hitchens in a bookshop when I spotted his memoir, which had escaped me - so glad I bought it. Reading Autumn by Smith felt right this autumn and something tells me I will be reading her new one, Winter, this coming winter. I also have my eyes on some new Icelandic titles that I would like to feature on the blog. And then there is a new publication this autumn that I'm very excited about: Patti Smith's latest, Devotion. She is such a wonderful writer.

The three works to be reviewed later:

The 'fiercely independent' Canongate is the publisher of Stay with Me, the debut novel of Ayobami Adebayo, a young Nigerian author who I can only hope is working on another fiction. Without giving away the plot the synopsis reads: 'Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything - arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, appeals to God. But when her relatives insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.' The book was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.

The focus of Fox, Finch & Tepper is to publish 'literary fiction titles with a strong sense of place that have already been published and that deserve resurrection.' What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges is a perfect example. I had only seen and enjoyed the film, starring Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette Lewis, but how wonderful it feels to read the book. Hedges's writing style is pure delight.

Eland Books - 'keeping the best of travel writing alive' - recently published Travels in a Dervish Cloak by Isambard Wilkinson. He first visited Pakistan as a teenager and during the War on Terror, he worked there as a foreign correspondent. I waited for a proper Wi-fi connection in our new home before starting this book because I wanted to be able to look up things and places. That is what good travel writing makes you want to do. I believe Wilkinson will teach me a lot about Pakistan and its culture.

Bis bald!