What I've Been Reading: October and November

Well, this is rather long overdue. I got so behind doing a post on November's reads, that I decided to just collate October and November together in one larger post.

It's been a funny couple of months, reading-wise. After the marvellous experience of reading The Man Booker, I found it really hard to get into anything else and felt a real dearth of reading. I had some, rather unhappy, "time off" from having a book on the go.

So, right back to October, I started with the last two Booker books: the questionable The Luminaries and the much enjoyed Tale For a Time Being. I felt a bit lost after this.

Lighter Than My Shadow, which J reviewed here, was a real delight - not in subject matter, but because it was so well crafted. The important thing about graphic novels is that they tell the story through pictures in a way that you couldn't simply do through a novel. And this certainly did - I particularly liked her depiction of the "eating disorder" as a black cloud that morphed, grew and shrink in different situations and as she grew and changed. It was a very clever device and portrayed something so effectively without words.

I read quite a lot of trash, which I won't bother writing about: Secrets by Freya North, Ruby and the Stone Age Diet by Martin Millar (one of the most unintelligeble books I think I have ever read, and absolutely DREADFUL), Theodore Boone: The Accused by John Grisham (mistakenly thinking this was an adult book, it turned out to be for young teens and was pretty poor), The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates (just very banal) and... PS I Love You (why, oh why did I stoop so low to read this? I was completely desperate in my defense.)

Ahem. Let's get onto some "real" books. I had two rereads: Coram Boy and More William. Actually, I'm not sure I had read this particular William book as none of the stories were particularly memorable to me. It was quite disappointing actually - it hardly featured the outlaws and I really missed them! I was also disappointed by Coram Boy; my last encounter with it had been when it was on at The National Theatre, which was absolutely amazing and maybe I had forgotten that the novel actually isn't as good as its stage adaptation. I don't think that Jamila Gavin is a particularly spectacular author, although her stories are good. But, rereading this, even the story seemed lacking: there were too many coincidences, even for a children's book and I ended up feeling pretty irritated. I wish I hadn't reread it, and left it as a nice memory. Sometimes childhood things are best left without revisiting.

The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham was a book I really... maybe enjoyed isn't the right word, because it isn't exactly pleasant. I really appreciated it, maybe? I've only read one other John Wyndham - and not the known by all Day of the Triffids - and I think this was more compelling. The children were chilling, with their collective/single persona/identity and their powers over the inhabitants of Midwich. Wyndham's style is quite factual in tone for the most part, but he does also have some very engrossing description, and his dialogue is very well crafted. It does feel a little outdated, but I suppose that makes sense considering how long ago it was written. (I just looked it up and it was in 1957 - that is a long time ago!). A good read, one I would recommend, and it has encouraged me to finally fet round to reading Day of the Triffids.

We Are All Made Out of Glue was the first book that I had really enjoyed in a while. I like Marina Lewycka, or, at least, some of her books. The most famous, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, actually has to be my least favourite of her books (or possibly Two Caravans). But this was a gem. It was, in turn, funny, absurd, moving and sad. Very real. I believed in the main character and although many of the other characters were real eccentrics and the situation someone just worked. I would really recommend this - pacy, exciting and ultimately uplifting.

I picked this up at one of those bargain book stands for £2.99 - not a very good start for a book, but the blurb sounded promising. Turns out this is an international bestseller, very very well known and I had just never heard of it! Felt a bit stupid when I realised this. Ultimately, I enjoyed this and would recommend it, but with some reservations. Being published in 1980 (I just checked), it will have been written in the late 70s, and this showed in terms of the scientific knowledge - some things just don't add up. She doesn't seem to quite be able to choose between whether the "magic" is purely explained by science, or if there is actually some validity to it. I would have preferred it if she had made it all scientifically logical. The other issue I have is, unfortunately, with her writing style. She has clearly done so much research of the period for this book and she really wants to show you everything that she has learnt. This sadly translates into huge prosaic paragraphs simply describing setting etc with little action or dialogue to break it up, which makes the book a bit sluggish at times. Still, I would like to read the sequels - the period does interest me a lot.

Wow, this post is getting a bit long. I'll try not to write too much more.

The Fear Index was the book club choice for J and A's book group - a thriller! I read it after their meeting about it actually so I was only a part of it in a very vague sense indeed. I haven't really read thrillers before and I was interested to see what I made of it. I was pleasantly surprised - it didn't go over my head, I didn't become bored with action scenes, and I did actually care about the characters. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending, but I did actually enjoy this book.

The Casual Vacancy is one of those books I have wanted to read since it was released, simply because it was by J K Rowling. I do quite feel for her - it's impossible for her to get a non-biased public reaction to her writing. But, this I really enjoyed. In content it sort of reminded me of Marina Lewycka's books - a mixture of real Issues but written with some real humour and fun as well. There were a lot of characters which was hard to get to grips with at first, but they were all quite characterchure-like which helped. I suppose that was a little of her children's writing coming through. In some ways it felt a little like a debut: she was trying to pack so much into this single book, she had so much she wanted to comment on, so much she wanted to say. This struck me as odd to start with but, on reflection, it makes a sort of sense. It may not be her debut but it is her first book as an adult writer. I'd like to reread it some time, and I would certainly recommend it.

Mindsight was a "homework" book to read - very well written, although not the sort of thing I usually read at all. (In fact, I barely read non-fiction at all). Worth a look at - lots of food for thought.

State of Wonder was also very enjoyable - it hadn't been what I expected by looking at the cover and I was pleasantly surprised. It's a sort of anthropological observation made through scientists' eyes as they live, work and experiment on members of an Amazonian tribe. Very interesting, and very well written too.

Finally, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini. H picked this up for me as a freebie and I was fully prepared to slate it - it sounded too cheesy for words. The basic premise? Another teen fantasy book with super powers and falling in love, this time with the main characters being descended from demigods. That's right. At first, I seemed to be right. It was clumsily written and just too cliched for words. The characters behaved in ways that were just too accepting of the extraordinary situation. ("Somehow, she was a demigod and she was just going to have to accept it.") It was predictable. The characters were irritating. But, as I continued reading I got lost in the story and stopped caring. As I often find with this type of teen read, I (rather embarassingly) don't seem fast enough to keep up with all of the plot twists and turns that accellerando at the end of the book, but I (as always, lazily) plough on regardless and arrive at the end with a slightly hazy idea of how everyone got there. Basically, I enjoyed it - despite the poor writing etc. I'll read the sequels if they come my way, but I don't think I'll be paying to read them!

So, there we have it - October and November, if anyone actually bothered to read all that. Is it better to do it monthly or bi-monthly, or even every few books? Any thoughts? Anyone reading this at all?

E xx

Review of Katie Green's 'Lighter than my Shadow'

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ultimately wonderful. Most of the way through I was thinking "So why is this better as a graphic story than as text?" and at the same time getting it that several of the crucial concepts, especially the ED itself  as a variable sized black scribble and the self-body-image were immediate and probablŷ just better conveyed visually. At the same time I found that the relatively simple way each picture was drawn, so that it could be grasped instantaneously a bit disappointing. But actually  in the end that was part of the point. It was a very fast read, I haven't read another such a good "how it feels from the inside" anorexic story, and the pictures conveyed it perfectly.

 I hope it sells and circulates massively, so more people both inside and outside the ED community can know a bit more and have a good read!

Thank you very much Katie Green!

A Foxy Craft Afternoon

Some while back E and A decided to have a crafty afternoon and look at the Mollie Makes magazine free craft kits. We blithely thought we'd do them all in that afternoon - but managed only one little fox! He is very sweet though and is destined as a Christmas present for some special person...

Here are all the projects we THOUGHT we would get through:

And here is what we actually managed:

It's a very simple pattern - just two pieces of orange felt sandwiched with white felt and then some embroidery on top, with a broach attached to the back. If you want the templates you'll have to go to Mollie Makes - they're not ours to give away!

Xx

Hong Kong visit, October 2013, Tuesday (last day)

Today was the day for visiting the Housing Society, Mum's old employer, where she was a senior manager from 1957 to 1962 (when she had me, and as the habit was in those days, stopped work) and many of whose managers she then taught at the HKU extra-mural department from 1969-1974. S had got hold of Peter Kuk, the communications director, and Wong Lai Chung, a former chief executive who retired in 2008. Wong Lai Chung (she preferred to be called LC) had arranged our day, meeting us at the hotel at 1025am, with a very plush black minivan, driven by a young man with an amazing haircut. We were taken to the far western end of HK, to Kwai Lung Lau estate, which had been designed by our friend Michael Payne and built in 1967.

It was a 5 block estate housing 20,000 people in 5,000 units (approx), until 1998, when a landslide came though the middle of the estate and killed three people. The estate was then redesigned, taking out the middle block, and building two new 40 storey blocks out the front (the original ones are 20 storeys).

 

This is the old estate blocks, showing the hillside where the landslide came down, and the gap created when they tore down the block it had damaged. Note that the buildings are coloured. When built and in our youth they were all "fair faced concrete" which meant uncoloured and naked grey, supposed to be the perfect building material (and still defended as such by Michael Payne).

 

This shows where they cut the building in half, so you can still see the floors and where the corridors would have been.

The dragon mural, created in 1967 by Merilyn Payne (Lung means dragon, so it's part of the name of the estate, I didn't understand the rest of the name, something to do with view of the sea).

View inside one of the 'units' (=flat) in one of the new blocks, where the allowance is six square metres per person, meaning two people to this one room flat. The ones in the old building were a similar size, though with more facilities. When originally built they were for four adults, or two plus four children.

Kitchen area in the new block.

Roof garden in an old block. There was also a community hall on the roof, where Amy, (back to us in this picture) gave us a very informative PowerPoint presentation about the estate. The impression was of a very socially thoughtful and well managed place.

We were then taken to lunch at the Housing Society's offices in Causeway Bay, hosted by Peter Kuk, and where we were joined by four more people who had known Mum, either working with her in the late fifties/early sixties, or having been taught by her. The meal was excellent, and the conversation very interesting. We were impressed and touched by the effort they had put in, especially as tomorrow they are running or attending a seminar for the 65th anniversary of the Society.

After this lunch we were returned to the hotel, where we flaked out for the afternoon, before heading our for our final evening, aiming for the Temple Street market on Kowloon side. We got distracted on the way by eating at the YMCA, then by the famous Hong Kong Harbour sound and light show, which we viewed from the sea front in front of the HK Cultural centre.

It was fun standing in the warm dark watching the boats and lights opposite, but the sound and light show itself (lasers from the tops of some of the buildings and some plinkety plunk music) was pretty medium.

Then Temple Street night market, and back to the hotel for the last time!

Hong Kong visit, October 2013, Monday

A less busy day today, though it started with quite a big thing, going to Tai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay). This was my favourite beach as a child, and quite remote to get to by road, so we didn't go often. As the name implies, there were always big waves, so it was exciting. And I realised that as we're staying in Quarry Bay, at the eastern end of the HK-side of the harbour, we might be quite close going that way round the island. We are, as google maps reveal. There is still no road over the island at the eastern end, but there is a path straight over the ridge 1500 feet??, (seems unlikely but it was certainly a long way and very steep!).

Anyway, I took the MTR all the way to the end at Chai Wan, then found my way through the estates to the massive cemetery that takes up most of the steep hillside here, and sure enough, the path leads straight through  and up up into the forest, over the ridge, and down the other side. From the ridge I could (1) hear the surf, and (2) Big Wave Bay was signposted. Hooray!

The beach was the same, with big climbable rocks either side, and a good continuous roar of surf. Changed were the surfers! (none of them in the 70's) and that there is now a village with a few shops behind the beach. Only my phone to take photos, as I had gone wearing what I could swim in:

I left a bit of a damp patch on the seat in the MTR on the way back, but was out of sight before feeling any embarrassment: I doubt the idea of swimming would have occurred to my fellow passengers.

Then on to the main planned thing for the day, S's arranged visit back to the LRC (Ladies' Recreation Club), kindly facilitated by a young woman in the club management. It has many more facilities than it used to, but the main pool was exactly the same

and the surroundings being jungly:

Then a visit to St John's cathedral, 

 where Joyce and Michael were married, one of the wedding photos and also our christening photos taking place here:

We then crossed Garden Road to the Peak Tram, and after a little debate decided to visit Peak 

school again, as when we went on Saturday it was dark. What a good idea that was (and well done S for being persistent and bothering to ask)! She went in just as the children were coming out at the end of the day, and asked at the office if we could look round. The office manager was entirely welcoming showed us a series of old ledgers that we found our names in, and then allowed us free reign to explore!

The playground has a rain cover and a softer floor:

The classrooms are considerably modernised (interactive white boards, air con instead of fans) but entirely recognisable

(they always were very bright)

The playing field is now all AstroTurf,but the stairs, hall, toilets etc etc seemed pretty much the same.

And finally S and J went for a walk round Harlech/Lugard Road, with its amazing views and jungle canopy effect

Though you can't tell from this picture, the same tree (a rubber tree) is all the roots/trunks on both sides of the road here.

Hong Kong Visit October 2013, Sunday

No run this morning, just a rather longer swim in the hotel pool. Once again I was the only one in it, and I find it a very good way to start the day.

Planning over breakfast (in Starbucks again, we tried Maxims next door, but no WiFi), lead to a decision for a day out on Lantau.

What a day! The rest can be told mainly in pictures.

We took the MTR to Dung Chung (30 mins, the city that used to be a tile roofed village of maybe 20 long houses) from where the cable car takes the easy way over the mighty slopes of west Lantau.

This is the view whilst queuing for the cable car.

 

We quickly leave Dung Chung and climb

and climb

and climb

until eventually we start to see our destination: Bo Lin Buddhist monastery at Ngong Ping.

The peak behind it is Lantau (lan=broken, tau = head, but the rather nicer name is Fung Wong Shan, firebird mountain, with one of the twin peaks being the male firebird (fung) and the other being the female (wong)). It is just over 3,000 feet. I have tried to find out the elevation of the monastery and can't, I'm guessing 1,800. 

The monastery expanded massively with the construction of the big bronze Buddha in the 1990s when it was the biggest in the world. 

In the middle of all the tourist glitz and consumerism the temple seems pretty real.

And then we caught the bus down to Tai O, the most western village on Lantau. It seems to be genuinely a fishing village still,

though catering for tourists too. As soon as we arrived we were invited on a boat ride to see the famous Pearl River pink dolphins, which was fun, though no dolphins, and they also took us up the "main street" of Tai O.

We wandered around the market (mainly dried fish) and took in the very beautiful evening. 

 

There is even a little bit of mangrove, that habitat beloved of geography lessons, which was so plentiful when we were children here, and now is apparently endangered.

The mighty mountain looms over all, and explains why Tai O is still so isolated: it's quite difficult to get to!

Visit HK October 2013, Saturday

What a day!

After speaking to E on Skype I went for another run in the Eastern District Country Park, further round the slope of Mount Parker, deep into the peaceful high valley above Quarry Bay. I think the path, which went along a contour, was at about 1,000 feet elevation, so quite a hike to get up, and then narrow and twisting under trees the whole way round, crossing lots of rocky ravines, each with a "Beware of flash floods" sign! Only the deepest of these had any water flowing so it must have been dry for months already.  (photo to follow, it's on my phone) The only sound was the warbling and fluting (no prolonged song) of tropical birds, and the water in the main stream at the bottom of the valley. Bit hard on the knees coming down!

Off to Starbucks for breakfast again, this time Spearmint Green tea not milky green tea! We decided to go to Cheung Chau for the day, and what a good decision!

Getting to the island piers on the MTR took only thirty minutes, we got a "fast ferry" ie a sea cat. I noticed the ferries are run by the near ubiquitous First group.

Cheung Chau harbour is very busy with boats of all sorts (pic).

We explored the narrow lanes (no cars)

for a while before coming back to the harbour front for lunch, finding somewhere perfect from the people and boat watching point of view.

See also my food!

That is of course fried egg noodle soup. With pak choi, though that wasn't mentioned in the menu.

And then in the afternoon we went swimming in the sea

Not quite as warm as the Indian Ocean, but very pleasant, and much warmer than the hotel pool.

The most spectacular bit was coming back (deliberately on the slow ferry, $12=£1!) so that we could get a good view of the harbour light show. Completely stunning, so beautiful it was quite moving. The 120 storey building on Kowloon side that shows moving pictures and words up its side was displaying "Hopeful Autumn" with a maple leaf at the top.

The best bit was the ordinary residential skyscrapers along HK side as you come close, moving in and out of each other, with the dark Peak behind,

and with the super-massive brightly lit and coloured buildings of Central coming up, 

especially the improbably tall International Finance Building, which seems to be the home of the HK financial authority, right by the ferry piers.

And back to our hotel on the MTR again, with Quarry Bay station feeling quite like home.

Day 2 HK Trip 2013 - Parker

I started the day by speaking to E on Skype subscriber, from my iPad to her phone.
Almost from the beginning of the conversation the sound quality was excellent, 'like a normal phone conversation.' As we spoke my view through the hotel window of the eastern harbour brightened and ships and ferries passed. From time to time, briefly, the buildings on Kowloon-side developed a golden shade to their eastern faces which told me the sun must be looking through a gap in the clouds.

Then up and out for a run! I had noticed a few people on the street below jogging past, so I knew it wouldn't be that strange. I had in mind trying to find the bottom end of the track A and I walked four years ago that went over Jardine's lookout. King's Road and its pavements we're relatively uncrowded as I went along for a couple of streets, then off up the hill. Almost immediately (and of course this doesn't show on a map, google or otherwise) it was very steep! Of course, but I was still a bit taken aback. Past a primary and a secondary school with lots of children streaming or dreaming in, then up the beginning of the "Eastern district jogging trail" which was a long flight of steps! Worth persisting with, because at the top of the slope was a long and winding path round the side of Jardine's lookout heading towards Mount Parker.

Then back to the hotel for a swim (their pictures including of the pool are good). The notice outside the pool said Air Temperature 29 degrees, water temperature 29 degrees, which told me the pool isn't heated, so as the air temperature was probably only about 25 degrees the pool was chilly. But fine for fifteen minutes pounding up and down. No-one else using it.

Back to my room, where I started reading Daniel Siegel's book "Mindsight": so far so very  good! Good FT homework to take on holiday, thank you Jeremy! When S and L got up (I phoned them at 10 as planned)  we decided we were so hungry and starting the day relatively late that we breakfasted at Starbucks opposite. Amongst the UK conventional Starbucks offerings were Green Tea Latte (BRIGHT green and too sweet) and almond and red bean scone (fine, not exciting).

The main expedition of the day! Off into central on the tram again (tram pictures) to catch the number 15 bus up to Mount Nicholson. From where the bus starts climbing the hill after the Happy Valley stadium it starts to look familiar, and sure enough the Mount Nick stop was where it should be, and the walk up the drive all the same...

then: 

All gone.

Very disappointing.

However we continued our day, going back on the no.15 up to Wanchai Gap to walk back a mile along Black's Link to see if there was a decent view down onto Mt Mick from above (there wasn't), and finally back on the bus all the way up to the Peak. 

Back in a taxi (we were hungry and there was a LOOONG queue for the Peak Tram) to the Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant, where they welcomed us back with a window table, and a complementary pudding dish of...not sure. Something vegetably perhaps from the gourd family, braised in a sweet ginger soup. Interesting, and probably basically nice. J's choice for the evening was vegetable shrimp with lava in crispy roll.

And so back to the hotel to plan for tomorrow.