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Watching Swifts - R. J. Askew
This book, described by reviewers as poignant, memorable, poetic and beautiful, is the story of a brief relationship over a summer in Kew Gardens. Tom sells ice cream, Emma buys and as she sits, he draws her and talks. Gradually we learn of his life, but also of the other characters in the park. It touches on redemption, love, poetry - Tom writes and we read a few of his poems. It's also full of humour.One reviewer loved the poetic style although this person did not normally like to read poems. We feel it will appeal to a wider audience than those who read poetry.
Overall rating - 2 acorns - Highly Recommended.
And yay, a second group book I've already read in one month! Brilliant novella full of vivid images and playful language. Loved it.
Oh, I loved this one. It managed to be deeply poetic without being arty-farty.
I've just noticed an acorn discrepancy again - Simon's given it three! ;0)
I must give this one a try - it's been on my kindle for ages!
:0)
I must give this one a try - it's been on my kindle for ages!
:0)
He's given everything three. Bet the Oak chap gets him after school!
Maybe he's been accepting bribes... ;0)
Basically I don't read what I write. I blame cut and paste. In fact cut and paste has got me into trouble before.
Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "Basically I don't read what I write. I blame cut and paste. In fact cut and paste has got me into trouble before."As much as beer?
I read this way back in May when it was first released and loved it!R.J. has a lovely way with words,I even read and reread his Author's thread time and again. I agree that one doesn't have to be a poetry lover to enjoy his work.I look forward to discussing this one.
I haven't seen RJ for a while - does he know his book has been chosen?
:0)
:0)
I think he went away for a week. About a week ago!
Well remembered Ignite, he did go away for a week. Hope he pops in today at some point (If he is back today)
Greetings, apols for being quiet. Have been in France.THANK YOU all very much for this gnerous attention.
Will do best to ensure acorns take root. *bows*
I'm sure as people get into the book there'll be questions RJ. Are you up for that?
Ignite wrote: "I'm sure as people get into the book there'll be questions RJ. Are you up for that?"Yes, I will be fascinated to answer questions. I will learn from them and may find something to put into a subsequent edit as I don't regard the story as in its final state yet.
I am not precious about my writing so I can take criticism. I know that stories have to find their right level in the reading spectrum.
Here is a bit of background to my story.Form ~ an allegorical novella of some 45,000 words.
Written ~ in about a month in 2000.
Inspiration ~ a philosophical difference of mind with a highly talented and creative lady for whom life is a sorrowful experience.
History ~ the story was rejected by about 30 London agents and remained under my bed for a decade. I have subesequently written three other stories, all longer. My intention with Watching Swifts is to work out how to go about being an indie author.
I am an editor with a news agency in London. Prior to that I was a reporter and prior to that a copywriter.
Fire away!!! I love all aspect of creativity, language, and reading of course.
It's fairly obvious (or it was to me) that you work with words Ron. You have a facility, an understanding, almost a friendship with them which shows in you work - even in your posts! I think we'll be getting a discussions and spoilers thread shortly so we can go on there and discuss more specifically without spoiling things for those still reading.
Ignite wrote: "It's fairly obvious (or it was to me) that you work with words Ron. You have a facility, an understanding, almost a friendship with them which shows in you work - even in your posts! I think we'l..."Thanks for that. I will be mindful about not making spoilers meanwhile.
R.J. wrote: "Here is a bit of background to my story.Form ~ an allegorical novella of some 45,000 words.
Written ~ in about a month in 2000.
Inspiration ~ a philosophical difference of mind with a highly t..."
I forgot to add that I updated the time references in the story during an edit about a year ago. I also deliberate tried to make the language more intrinsicate because of something an agent said to a fellow writer about their book. So Watching Swifts has a deliberately bolshy streak in its DNA.
he story was rejected by about 30 London agents and remained under my bed for a decade. I love that it was under your bed. I don't really know why but I think that sentence is rather funny
Jud (Disney Diva) wrote: " he story was rejected by about 30 London agents and remained under my bed for a decade. I love that it was under your bed. I don't really know why but I think that sentence is rather funny"
It was maturing, like a fine malt whisky, to now emerged as a tincture of the rarest verve, to be slipped slooooowly by those with the knows to appreciate the swirl of notes poetic within its golden spell. *bows*
Actually, it really did gather a fine crust of dust, and there were at least three dessicated spider corpese on it. Perhaps they were desperate aracnid readers dying to get at it! Naturally, I wld like to believe that I appeal to all levels of readers across the full spectrum of living organisms. Non-human life forms are something of an untapped market I believe. And your struggling indie author *bows* needs must GRABGRAB any and all eyes. Makinng it big in the insect sector of the market has to be worth a shot. I will get my people onto it this day. Rinaldo Oblequante
Ignite wrote: "Erudite spiders you have there, sir!"Alas, none of them lived to leave a review. Still, there may be a nonsense verse in writing for said 'readers' now that the idea's in my head. Something light n wry on the failings of the top life form on earth.
This is ridiculous. I am now fretting -- again -- about my front cover. A previous version was much better but used a Leaonardo sketch hanging in the New York Met. Not a good idea from a copyright point of view. And so I fret. The cover is critical.
I think you should go for a cup of tea and have a lie down (preferably not at the same time) cause your cover is fine. I really like it.
Jud (Disney Diva) wrote: "I think you should go for a cup of tea and have a lie down (preferably not at the same time) cause your cover is fine. I really like it."Thank you .. I will take your advice. Will make it a double camomile.
I really like the cover too!What is the copyright position on using old paintings as book covers? I'm just starting to consider cover options for my thing set in 18th Century Venice, and a contemporary painting really would be a better bet than anything my stunted art skills could conjure.
Not being a lawyer or anything...What I understand is that normal copyright is for the lifetime of the author/artist plus 70 years. BUT a photo of a painting will have a copyright in its own right, probably to a gallery (and galleries are notorious for not allowing you to take your own photos...)
So it boils down in the end, back to Major Snag No. 1: licensing and money.
What if you took a photo of a photo does the copyright for that become yours?
Jud (Disney Diva) wrote: "What if you took a photo of a photo does the copyright for that become yours?"No, I think that's just plain breach of copyright.
Ah well, looks like I'll be raiding the am dram wardrobe, dressing up in Tale of Two Cities costume and getting a mate to take photos of me in a shed.To be fair, that sounds like pretty brilliant fun.
But bad Andrew for derailing thread. Watching Swifts is awesome - read, discuss, ignore the silly person!
I didn't realise we had gotten so off topic in here. We should really stick to talking about watching swifts... Has anyone else read it yet?
I did and I loved it :o) A beautiful style of writing, very poem like without being a poem. (I spake well good English)
I agree Jud,I love RJ's style of writing,quite different from anything I have read before yet it engaged me totally.I really cared about his characters not just the main cast but also the park keeper who totally intrigued me and I still can't for the life of me decide why! I started out laughing at him and ended up crying for him. Brilliant!
I loved it too. It made me think. That's one of the best accolades I can give a book!
Is the the right thread for discussions about the book? I think I have confused myself.I loved the way you thought you knew the character (this is more Leo than others) then RJ threw in a little bit more information about him, for me it was never what I expected. I really felt for Leo and thought he was a lovely guy but had he been presented at the beginning of the book with all the information we had by the end would my reaction to him have been similar to the park keeper?
That was what I felt most strongly when I finished the book. How we judge people by one fact and don't necessarily take into account all the other little things they do that oppose that one, that they might actually be a different person to how we have pigeon holed them.
(I hope you all understand what I mean)
just started reading this yesterday. Enjoying it mightily, but then Ron & I have similar approaches to language, though he has the soul of a poet and I more of an anarchist :-)
I think I have a particular fondness for the book given that I know Kew Gardens quite well, along with the whole Kew/Richmond/Barnes area. I'm a bit of a sucker for well-told stories in places that I recognise. I suspect I'm not alone in this.
the locations of my novels exist only in my head, even if they are named after real places. I have never visited most of their namesakes. From Wakefield to Kavos, I like travelling there in my imagination and like the barbarian hordes, laying waste to them in how I portray them in words.
I'm the opposite, in that the locations are real, but I tend not to name them. Perhaps that's an error.Kew Gardens in the book is sketched in quite broad strokes, and with a certain amount of license I think (for a start, people seem to wander around the grounds at will, but last time I went there, I had to fork over well over £10 for the privilege of getting in), but the real world setting gives a solid grounding to a very reflective and abstract piece of work.
Andrew wrote: "I'm the opposite, in that the locations are real, but I tend not to name them. Perhaps that's an error.Kew Gardens in the book is sketched in quite broad strokes, and with a certain amount of lic..."
I'm only on chapter 2, but the portraits of the characters seem so intensely focused (and why wouldn't they be between an artist and a photographer) that they are very much foregrounded away from the backdrop of the gardens. The swifts are to populate the skyscape above, but the gardens so far consist more of ice cream stalls, bins, abandoned buildings for nookie and a tree that claimed a human life, than the delicate petals of any flowers, or greenhouses teeming with well green...
Andrew wrote: "I really like the cover too!What is the copyright position on using old paintings as book covers? I'm just starting to consider cover options for my thing set in 18th Century Venice, and a contem..."
Hi Andrew .. I've stuck a copy of my orig cover on my profile. It's a Leonardo sketch in chalks, astonishingly, very, very soft on the eye >> http://www.goodreads.com/photo/author...
Everytime I look at it I wish that it still was my front cover. But .. getting permission to use such an image commercially is a tricky matter. And I don't think the New York Met, where the image is, wld grant it to a small time indie ebook author. To start with you have to telex your approach to them, which wld seem to suggest they are not keen.
The sketch is over 400 years old, yet it cld be of a woman reading her Kindle on London's Metropolitan line today.
Tim A wrote: "Not being a lawyer or anything...What I understand is that normal copyright is for the lifetime of the author/artist plus 70 years. BUT a photo of a painting will have a copyright in its own rig..."
Yep that sounds right. The copyright is in the photographic image and they are not going to give that away without a big wedge of greenbacks.
Andrew wrote: "I really like the cover too!What is the copyright position on using old paintings as book covers? I'm just starting to consider cover options for my thing set in 18th Century Venice, and a contem..."
Leonardo used just red and black chalks to create the image. There is barely a distinct line to be seen in it. He achieved the achingly beautiful softness of the image by using a piece of stale bread as a sort of rubber. So taken was I with the image I bought some chalks and .. The result was a failure of course. But studying the image was the purest of pleasures. The tilt of the head, the cast of the eyes, everything about it just feels oh so right. And while the image was created almost 500 years ago, I swear to you it cld be the face of a young woman reading her Kindle on the London tube today.
That said, when I realised I cld not use the image as a cover, I convinced myself that the image was too drab for the modern eye. And so to the orange, a feel good colour, and coincidentally a key colour in amazon's house style. I made the art work for my present cover. The worst moment came when some glue I was using dried in such a way the art work corrugated before my eyes. The background orange was actually achieved by messing around with a piece of gold card from some Dior perfume presentation box. At least I definitely own the copyright for that image.
Andrew wrote: "I think I have a particular fondness for the book given that I know Kew Gardens quite well, along with the whole Kew/Richmond/Barnes area. I'm a bit of a sucker for well-told stories in places that..."Then you'll know that the parakeets boss the skies of Kew now (along with the planes sidling into Heathrow). Everything about the parakeets is offputting, esp their calls, which seem to scratch the air. The last time I was at Kew a British robin was singing in the Palm House. The amplification of its song in the glasshouse was astonishing. It was as if the robin had retreated into the glasshouse to escape the raucous parakeets.
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Watching Swifts has been given two acorns by our very own review group. The review group works hard throughout the month to bring an unbiased quality recommendation to the group.
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Watching Swifts