Time to Read
I think it was Jorge Luis Borges who pointed out the obvious – that writers begin as readers. I don’t know that he was alluding to Alice through the Looking Glass for the process that takes place, but I do know that writers have to spend a long time reading themselves – or at least, what they have written. How can this paragraph be improved? Do I really mean that?
I am not about to complain – but I have recently found some relief and a great deal of pleasure in spending a few days as reader, rather than writer wondering how a passage will read.
I recently went to Madrid for a few days. I did two things before I went. I loaded my Kindle with William Ryan’s ‘The Twelfth Department’, John Lawton’s ‘A Lily of the Field’, and Charles Cumming’s ‘A Foreign Country’. I also downloaded Wittgenstein’s ‘Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus’.
Then, in paperback format, I decided to deal with a few ‘nags’ – that is, books I wanted to catch up on, in this case, three writers I had somehow missed earlier: James Salter’s ‘A Sport and a Pastime’, Renata Adler’s ‘Speedboat’, and Paula Fox’s 'Desperate Characters'.
Let’s see. I was on panels with William Ryan, John Lawton and Charles Cumming at CrimeFest in May, and there was, of course, a natural curiosity to know more about what they write. I can thoroughly recommend William Ryan’s book – and at present am greatly enjoying ‘A Lily of the Field’ by John Lawton. I haven’t got to Charles Cumming – that awaits me next.
James Salter’s novel reminded me of Colette and has a number of technical devices – one, for example that leads to considerations of the writer-reader relationship. I’d call it a more insistent than coherent novel, but it had sufficient force to affect my current reading of Renata Adler’s ‘Speedboat’ – until her own way with a phrase stepped up. Paula Fox, like Charles Cumming, is next.
I have also sneaked some glimpses of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. It has always reminded me of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier.
Yes, reader. I’ve been on holiday.
My 4-year-old grandson is delighted to have learnt how to put his head under the water surface of the swimming pool without spluttering.
He is currently most enamoured of the Big Friendly Giant.
I am not about to complain – but I have recently found some relief and a great deal of pleasure in spending a few days as reader, rather than writer wondering how a passage will read.
I recently went to Madrid for a few days. I did two things before I went. I loaded my Kindle with William Ryan’s ‘The Twelfth Department’, John Lawton’s ‘A Lily of the Field’, and Charles Cumming’s ‘A Foreign Country’. I also downloaded Wittgenstein’s ‘Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus’.
Then, in paperback format, I decided to deal with a few ‘nags’ – that is, books I wanted to catch up on, in this case, three writers I had somehow missed earlier: James Salter’s ‘A Sport and a Pastime’, Renata Adler’s ‘Speedboat’, and Paula Fox’s 'Desperate Characters'.
Let’s see. I was on panels with William Ryan, John Lawton and Charles Cumming at CrimeFest in May, and there was, of course, a natural curiosity to know more about what they write. I can thoroughly recommend William Ryan’s book – and at present am greatly enjoying ‘A Lily of the Field’ by John Lawton. I haven’t got to Charles Cumming – that awaits me next.
James Salter’s novel reminded me of Colette and has a number of technical devices – one, for example that leads to considerations of the writer-reader relationship. I’d call it a more insistent than coherent novel, but it had sufficient force to affect my current reading of Renata Adler’s ‘Speedboat’ – until her own way with a phrase stepped up. Paula Fox, like Charles Cumming, is next.
I have also sneaked some glimpses of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus. It has always reminded me of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier.
Yes, reader. I’ve been on holiday.
My 4-year-old grandson is delighted to have learnt how to put his head under the water surface of the swimming pool without spluttering.
He is currently most enamoured of the Big Friendly Giant.
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