S.C. Skillman's Blog, page 57

Book Review: The Beatles Lyrics by Hunter Davies

Having received this book as a Christmas gift, substantial 375-page tome that it is, I devoured it in a few days.

The Beatles Lyrics The Unseen Story Behind Their Music by Hunter Davies

I found the book utterly compelling. Hunter Davies starts by describing his search among collectors, companies and auction houses for what must surely rank among the most valuable “scruffy scraps of paper” in the world: those the Beatles first wrote their original lyrics down on. A good proportion of these got thrown away by the Beatles then disposed of by the cleaners at Abbey Road Studios but several of those which didn’t ended up in the possession of certain key individuals who wish to keep the huge value of their possessions secret.

Hunter Davies himself offered his own personal collection of handwritten lyrics to the British Library on permanent loan and they now reside in the Manuscript Room alongside the Magna Carta, Shakespeare and Wordsworth.

Alongside photos of the handwritten lyrics, some on the backs of letters and birthday cards and envelopes, Davies gives an account of how the words were chosen, and what they mean, with some intriguing memories from his own personal contacts with the Beatles and with Brian Epstein. In so doing, he tells the story of the Beatles’ lives as musicians and songwriters entirely in and through the lyrics, the way they were composed, and the way in which their writers developed personally between 1957 and 1969.

During his observations on the songs he draws out not only the intended sense of them (if there was any – and sometimes John Lennon would deliberately write nonsense to defy the intellectual analysts) but also the unconscious meanings in the words, what they reveal of their composers’ inner lives. On one occasion, referring to some of George Harrison’s lyrics, Davies observes: “Perhaps George fooled himself, harbouring a subconscious fear that he was not admitting at the time or even aware of.”

Davies also examines the way the words emerged from the Beatles’ own life experience. I found his insights into Paul McCartney and John Lennon all the more moving because a lot of those biographical details held high emotional charge for me at the time. I became a Beatles fan at an early, and very impressionable, age – too young to be allowed to go to any of their concerts. Nevertheless I was devoted to them; every detail of their lives reported in the media, I followed avidly.

But there were several things I misunderstood.For instance, by the time “Beatles For Sale” came out, the acquisition of a new Beatles LP was so precious to me, so desirable, that I would never have guessed this title emerged from the Beatles’ own feelings of almost unbearable pressure at the commercial expectations being laid upon them.

One of the most engrossing aspects of the book is Davies’ reflection on the nature of success, and upon the creative process, often erratic and uneven. For instance, he recounts journalist Kenneth Allsop encouraging John to show his feelings more in his pop lyrics, closing the gap between his literary outpourings and his pop lyrics. And writing song lyrics is comparable in one sense to writing a novel, something Davies is quite explicit about, showing the way writers may unwittingly betray attitudes never consciously intended. “Novelists in particular,” writes Davies, “often create situations on paper, out of their imagination, which then come true.”

Davies gives a sensitive and penetrating analysis of John and his angst in particular, for, as he notes, “the discovery that success is all rather hollow, that you are still alone with yourself, can of course lead to self-destruction through excess be it drink or drugs.”

On page 234 Davies notes: “This was their philosophy: you could do these things, if you really wanted. There was no need to follow the rules or be bossed around.” How I identify with that ideal. Yet the truth is that this can only really apply to creatives when they have established themselves and become successful. As Hunter Davies says, “it helped that by this time they were multi-millionaires who had already made their mark in the music business.” And they’d made their mark through following Brian Epstein’s rules and letting him boss them around.

To conclude, I found studying this book to be a very intense experience. As we see the lyrics developing from boy-girl love songs fixated with promises to “be true” into richer, profounder and often more disturbing lyrics, as we study how the Beatles’ lives became more complex and their experience of the world deepened, it’s almost like seeing a reflection of our own lives, moving on from naivety, simplicity and idealism, through all the mistakes, folly, betrayal, loss and disillusion, along with the flashes of wonder, fun, hope, and joy.

 

Filed under: 1960s, About Books I love, Authors I love, book reviews, Books, British, British psychological suspense writer, creative writing, culture, history, inspiration, life, London, love, media, music, musings, people of inspiration, popular artists, popular music, SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, thoughts, UK, Writing Tagged: book review, creative process, George Harrison, Hunter Davies, John Lennon, novelists, Paul McCartney, SC Skillman author, songwriters, The Beatles Lyrics

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

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Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,700 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Filed under: SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, Writing Tagged: 2014 blog stats, SC Skillman Blog

Brilliant Short Documentary Made by Abigail Robinson: Claiming the Spotlight

 

Claiming the Spotlight documentary by Abigail Robinson

My film-maker daughter Abigail Robinson has recently created a short documentary for a college assignment as part of the second year of her HND in Creative Media. It’s about young actors trying to get into the acting profession. Called “Claiming the Spotlight” the documentary centres upon Playbox Theatre at the Dream Factory in Warwick, where Founder and Executive Director Mary King first began offering young people a unique creative experience 28 years ago.

For the documentary Abigail interviewed a selection of individuals who have all experienced the reality for young actors, and each is coming from a different angle, but essentially giving the same compelling message.

The editing is excellent, the interviews very engaging, and above all it is impossible not to be touched and moved by the reality behind the glamour of the acting world. I cannot help but see the similarities between the interviewees’ experience and that of anyone involved in creative endeavour, whether that be as a writer, an actor, a musician or an artist.

Do view the documentary here and like and comment!

Filed under: films, inspiration, life, media, movies, people of inspiration, places I love, places of inspiration, SC Skillman, stage drama Tagged: Abigail Robinson, acting profession, Claiming the Spotlight, Playbox Theatre, SC Skillman, short documentary, young actors

Thank you for all your support and encouragement

Thank you to all of you who read my blog and like or leave comments on posts. Your support and encouragement has lifted me up and helped to keep me going as a writer. And often people I know who read my blog mention how much they enjoyed a recent post. This makes it all worthwhile for me.

And many thanks to those who’ve started following this blog in recent weeks.  Recently, I was touched by these words noted on Facebook by a fellow-writer whose blog I follow:

“For those like me who get a bit down actually, a lot down, depressed, despairing etc) sometimes things pop up that make things a whole lot better. As an author, reviews matter and realising that a reader not only enjoyed your book, but *got* what it’s truly about, is a magical moment.

I got one such review today that has given me the warm fuzzies in abundance” (Vivienne Tuffnell)

This is certainly how I feel when a new positive review appears on my Amazon page, and it’s also how I feel when I suddenly get new followers, or a thoughtful comment on my blog. As a writer, this tells me that people out there are responding to me, and to what I write.

Please do let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see me blog about, too! I’ll do my best to post on that subject.

Meanwhile, may I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Filed under: Books, British psychological suspense writer, creative writing, interpersonal relationships, life, SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, thoughts, Writing Tagged: blog followers, encouragement, SC Skillman author, support, thanks, Vivienne Tufnell, writer

Opening Up the Genius of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Evocative and Imaginative Sherlock Holmes Exhibition at the Museum of London

Sherlock Holmes’ famous address

The Museum of London have explored the story of Sherlock Holmes and his creation in an evocative and imaginative exhibition.

Sheila & Jamie at the Sherlock exhibition, Museum of London

When we visited on Saturday, as Sherlock fans, we found much to enthral, amuse and intrigue us. I was particularly captivated by a number of paintings of Victorian London in the fog, which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used to such great effect in his Sherlock Holmes stories.

He used the fog of London almost as a character in its own right, as a metaphor for human life, and for the mysteries Holmes was called upon to unravel. Sherlock Holmes’s familiarity with the rail network, the bus routes, the streets, pubs and cafes was used not only to give the stories character and depth but almost to power them. The exhibition enriched my understanding of how setting itself fires and drives a writer’s creativity.

A new client for Sherlock Holmes

The number of actors (the highest on the list, to my mind, are Jeremy Brett and ) who have portrayed Holmes in the media is just one indication of the hold the character has taken on the public imagination.

An inspiring and illuminating exhibition which I recommend to all lovers of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Sherlock’s iconic coat

Filed under: About Books I love, Authors I love, Books, British, creative writing, culture Tagged: Conan Doyle, exhbition, London, Museum of London, SC Skillman author, Sherlock Holmes

Christmas Wreath Making at Kenilworth Castle

Have you ever put yourself in for something that was out of your comfort zone? Or maybe you fancied doing it but hadn’t considered whether you had the skill or know-how?

close-up of Christmas wreath

On Friday I went to a traditional Christmas wreath making workshop at Kenilworth Castle.

I had always loved these wreaths and jumped at the chance to find out how to make one myself.

16 of us turned up in the Castle shop ready for action and a very jolly English heritage shop assistant in festive mood plied us with spicy Christmas mead samples.

Then we headed off for the Stables, which were very cold, and met our teacher, a professional florist called Zoe.

Fortified by English Heritage ginger wine we watched Zoe demonstrate and listened to her instructions, then we were off, with buckets of damp sphagnum moss, sharp and potentially lethal lengths of wires, secateurs, spruce branches and reels of wire.

The Stables at Kenilworth Castle

What I hadn’t previously realised was how much skill, patience and dexterity is involved in making these wreaths, and that rubber gloves and protective clothing are to be recommended.

Some of us seemed to have a natural flair, others were more challenged. For me, time was fast running out as I battled in a welter of wires, spruce branches, damp moss, and blood from the cuts I had acquired  trying to locate the end of the sharp wires that I had pushed through the moss in order to twist them round back into the moss and attach my “accessories” – dried orange slices, fir cones, sprigs of red berries, bunches of cinnamon sticks and seed-heads.

As I finally staggered out of Kenilworth Castle with my heavy wreath I reflected upon what joy this would give me and a sense of achievement as my family enjoyed a truly hand-made traditional Christmas wreath!

Sheila with Christmas wreath

Filed under: British, buildings, design, inspiration, life, love, musings, places I love, positive thinking, SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, thoughts Tagged: Christmas wreath, joy, Kenilworth Castle, SC Skillman author, sense of achievement, wreath-making workshop

“The Imitation Game” Film Starring Benedict Cumberbatch – Moving and Powerful

I was very moved by the film “The Imitation Game” which I saw the other day.

The Imitation Game poster

It tells the story of Alan Turing who led the team which cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park during World War II.

Benedict Cumberbatch opened up for us a picture of a hero who was never rewarded and acknowledged, and in fact eventually met with the condemnation of an ignorant and intolerant society. The film reminded me that  in the 2nd World War there were heroes whose contributions were visible, acknowledged and celebrated. But Alan Turing was one of the heroes whose genius and dedication would remain a secret for many years.

I applaud the gifts of a great actor like Benedict Cumberbatch who can bring such forgotten heroes alive for us in a new way.

 

Filed under: British, empowerment, films, history, inspiration, life, media, movies, musings, people of inspiration, SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, thoughts, UK Tagged: Alan Turing, Benedict Cumberbatch, film, forgotten heroes, heroism, SC Skillman author, The Imitation Game, World War II

Book Review: “Being Miss” by Fran Hill – Brilliant Comic Account of One Day in the Life of a Schoolteacher

“Being Miss” is a novella-length account written by Fran Hill. Since Fran is a member of my writers group and I’d seen several positive comments about “Being Miss” on Facebook and also read some of Fran’s very funny blog posts, I decided to download the Kindle version and move it to the top of my current reading list!

Being Miss by Fran Hill

I found this account brilliantly and sometimes painfully funny. Fran addresses her subject with self-deprecating humour.  I feel this short book (112 pages) should be required reading for anyone on a B. Ed. course, so that they might have a true sense of the realities of life as a schoolteacher. Although I don’t believe, of course, that any teacher would genuinely encounter all these situations in one day, and it’s clear Fran has amalgamated probably several months’ worth of experiences in one intense, highly comical day, nevertheless this does give fascinating insights into the life of a schoolteacher. I have a sense that to succeed in this profession you have to be a master of mind-games and psychological tricks; for those unskilled in this, it must be unbelievably stressful!  I particularly loved Fran’s dialogues with her Scottish colleague in the staffroom, and some of the more picaresque tales in the book, including the moment when you as the reader think, “Oh no, she isn’t going to do what I think she’s going to do….” and then she does do it. Read the book to find out what that might be!

Her account of invigilation was particularly amusing; though I must admit, from my own personal experience as an occasional school invigilator, my favourite game has been to study in turn the faces, hairstyles, body-language, clothes and make-up of several students in the room, wondering about what their futures hold for them, and what mistakes they will make in their lives and whether any of them are destined to make the same mistakes that I’ve done. I have never deliberately set off down an aisle while another invigilator is heading up it in my direction, with the intention of sweeping a student’s exam paper and stationery off onto the floor. However, having read Fran’s anecdotes, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief that she has actually done the things she describes! (Or maybe there is some use of poetic licence here).

I’d love to see this kind of comic observation within the structure of a well-plotted full-length novel.  I hope Fran will give us this with her next book.  She may even be able to borrow from and subtly adjust some of those wonderful Gothic ideas presented by her brilliant pupils in their essays for her…

As this review might suggest, I thoroughly recommend Fran’s book to you!

 

Filed under: About Books I love, Authors I love, book reviews, Books, British, British psychological suspense writer, creative writing Tagged: Being Miss, book review, comic writing, Fran Hill, funny, humour, Kindle author, SC Skillman author, schoolteacher, writers group

Book Review: “Earthed” published by Mystic Christ Press: Bridging the Gap Between Christianity and Paganism

This fascinating book came into my hands because I belong to a Facebook group called Mystic Christ and heard about the publication of this collection of essays by authors with both Christian affiliation and a desire to express spirituality through nature connection.

Earthed – Christian Perspectives on Nature Connection

This sounded like a book after my own heart. For many years I was greatly drawn to a spirituality very close to pantheism/nature mysticism; and one of my chief objections then to the Christian faith was what I saw as its “black and white” stance and its refusal to recognise the validity of this kind of spirituality. I remember years ago a certain Tory politician being asked if he was religious or a churchgoer, to which he replied, “No, I don’t go to church, I feel much closer to God walking in the Yorkshire Dales”.

In the view of the authors of “Earthed” this is a valid spiritual position to take.

The book, edited by Bruce Stanley and Steve Holllinghurst, brings together the views and experiences of several authors who have a range of different approaches and outlooks but all believe that Christianity’s relationship with nature matters.

The earlier essays provide an overview and then move on to more detailed accounts of personal experiences. I must admit I found some of these read a little like vicars seeking to justify to their evangelical colleagues why they are moved by pagan religious rituals in nature.

However,  I was pleased to see a chapter by Annie Heppenstall, “Do I Not Fill Heaven and Earth?” Annie led the Celtic Christian celebrations I attended at Morton Bagot church in Warwickshire. There is also a very good article by Anne Hollinghurst about St Francis of Assisi.  “A creation-centred spirituality,” she writes, “should also include St Francis’ rule of compassion for the poor, a rejection of the pursuit of wealth, status or reputation in favour of simplicity and poverty of spirit.”

To me there’s no problem in the idea of worshipping God in and through nature.This has always been a spirituality very close to my heart. But I do acknowledge that some people find the natural world wild, disorderly and threatening.

I enjoyed the chapter about The Green Man by Simon Cross, in which he draws a thread connecting the story of the Garden of Eden with the Legend of the Holy Rood, the Frankenstein story, North American Indian spirituality and its understanding of the Great Spirit, through the 1800′s resurgence of interest in occultism and onto fear of little green men from Mars, space research and exploration and the current fascination with wilderness survival skills (as demonstrated in various TV programmes).

The theme of this book was highlighted from a different source on Sun 16 November 2014: I was watching a BBC TV programme presented by Sue Perkins from a remote rural community in Cambodia, where she was spending time with people who have “a relationship with the natural world that many of us crave.”

Another outstanding chapter for me in this book is “Oceanic God” in which author Nick Thorpe writes about things he has learned from the power of the sea and from the people who earn their living by chancing their lives upon the sea.

“After my sea pilgrimage,” he says, “I resolved to allow myself a broader, more open-handed belief; less fretful about the details of doctrine, more willing to let complex realities clash, and mysteries remain.”

There is also a lovely piece by Paul Cudby on “Friendships Across the Divide: A Theology of Encounter” which I strongly identified with. I have myself felt the spiritual sense of nature connection which he describes, on several occasions throughout my life. The experiences he describes follow the principle that whatever you practice regularly becomes almost intuitive and then new possibilities spring up.

In conclusion I’d say that the premise of this book is correct: that in western forms of Christian worship many habitually cut themselves off from this kind of nature connection; and this is a totally unnecessary source of alienation from those who find themselves naturally drawn to pagan and mystical spirituality.Instead, we end up creating a division between those whose spiritual practices might otherwise find many points of similarity.

If any of this rings a bell with you, I highly recommend this book.

Filed under: About Books I love, Authors I love, book reviews, Books, British, British landscape, English countryside, faith, inspiration, life, musings, places I love, places of inspiration, religion, SC Skillman, SC Skillman Author, spirituality, thoughts, UK, wildlife, Writing Tagged: Christianity, God, mysteries, mystic, natural world, nature connection, paganism, relationship, SC Skillman author, spirit, spirituality

Jeffrey Archer at Warwick School: Entertainer, Story-Teller and Raconteur

I went to see Jeffrey Archer speak at Warwick School on Friday night. His subject was: How To Write a Bestseller.

I last heard Jeffrey address an audience probably about 23 years ago, this time at Sevenoaks School; and he said several of the same things (one of which was “I’m not a writer. I’m a storyteller.”

My thoughts at the time were dominated by the fact that he reminded me of Toad of Toad Hall. And this time, back again in the same role, posturing about the stage, Jeffrey did not disappoint.  Jeffrey’s talks are entertaining. What you cannot claim is that they deconstruct “how to write a bestseller”.

As his wife Mary is quoted as saying several years ago, “Jeffrey has a gift for the inaccurate precis.”

However, Jeffrey’s talk was enjoyable, and I’m glad to have been in the audience for an evening which he was able to fit in during a weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon, to see Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

I believe, too, that difficult as it may be to pin down, his storytelling secret lies in a grasp of structure. He demonstrated this when he set us a challenge to write a story in 100 words, which he himself had done for The Reader’s Digest. And this provides a helpful guide to his skill; a natural flair for a beginning, a middle and an end; and a gift for defeating his audience’s expectations.

 

Filed under: Books, British, creative writing Tagged: how to write bestseller, Jeffrey Archer, novels, SC Skillman, Warwick School