Things I have read

May has been fairly stressful, as trying to pack up and move house for the duration in a pandemic is not really what anyone recommended. This means that I have continued to revisit the Chalet School, and have now read all the Tyrol books (except Jo Returns… which I seem to have mislaid) and am well into the St Briavel’s period. It’s been a long time since I read many of these, and apparently some of them never in the Girls Gone By editions I’ve been collecting, so I’m having fun finding things I’ve forgotten or never read before.

I have also read a few ‘grown-up’ books too though.

Tyrant Memory by Horacio Castellanos-Moya: a Salvadorian novel about the period between an attempted coup and the fall of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. It features the activist baby steps of Donna Haydee and the consequences of those of her son Clement, who was involved in the coup. It’s a comic novel in many ways without losing its political edge and reality, and I really enjoyed it.

Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape - Patrick Laurie. I picked up this book about conservatory farming in Galloway on the recommendation of James Rebanks (@herdyshepherd1 for those on twitter) and I really loved it. It’s a beautiful picture of a specific part of the world and details the interconnectedness of ecosystems (for example, how cows can help curlews). I found it really helpful in thinking about how I eat meat and where it comes from.

Burn by Patrick Ness. I picked this up as a treat to myself and hugely enjoyed it. Who DOESN’T want to read a novel about a bunch of misfits and a dragon saving the world. Probably my favourite Ness since More Than This.

Mother’s Milk and At Last by Edward St Aubyn. I didn’t expect St Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose books to be such a good fit for my mood and went into Mother’s Milk because it was one of the shorter books on my TBR pile - but they were actually perfect. Short, acutely observed, and a exquisitely balanced meeting of the comic and tragic, they took me out of this world and into another, without ever making that world desirable.

Things I have watched 

Pals, I miss the cinema so much. I want to go and sit in a large dark room and be told a story.

I’ve started in on The Americans this month, finally. I’d watched the first series ages ago and really enjoyed it, but never felt like I had the time or energy to give it the focus it deserves. I’ve watched the first two seasons now, and am gearing up for three. I find I watch a season in a chunk, then take a bit of a breather.

I’m starting to feel the energy to watch new films as well now, and was glad to finally get to see A Hidden Life, which I missed in the cinema because I was in Colombia. As you know, I am a Terence Malick apologist, but I do recognise that the last few haven’t been for everyone. A Hidden Life is much more accessible a film in many ways - although personally I suspect that some of the higher appeal and better response to this film is because it seems easier to empathise with Franz and Fani Jägerstatter than with other recent Malick lead characters, and because a story about ‘what do you do when the Nazis demand your loyalty’ feels more important (and is important, don’t get me wrong) - but Malick hasn’t stopped caring about the question of how to live in a morally complicated world. Here he does it wonderfully, refusing to give you an answer to the question of whether Franz was right or whether it was worth it. Well worth a watch.

A Recommendation of Some Kind 

The Royal Opera House is starting ‘live’ online shows from June (having successfully raided the archive). It’s going to feature a new Wayne McGregor piece, which I’m excited about, as I’m sad not to have been able to see The Dante Project at the Opera House in May. Do watch it, and donate if you have a little bit of spare cash.

In the pile for June

I’m aiming to get back into reading some of the theology books that piled up over the last few years over the summer, starting with the black and indigenous theology I’ve got on the shelves. Otherwise, I’m currently getting into Philippe Sands’ East West Street, which I’m loving, and then I have a pile of stuff I want to read and either pass on or put in a box in my parents’ loft (sorry, parents) including some William Gibson and (finally) Americanah.

A photo from the last month

I live in Cornwall now. Assuming things stay stable, I’ll be here till September, unless we’re allowed to visit other places in the UK. I live a 15 minute stroll from this.