Read a good SF short story, called Rabbit Test. It was exactly the sort of thing that makes me want to cry. It’s a very American story of course, as it’s about abortion and control of women’s fertility, but the story is such an old one for women, of constant control, of advances and setbacks, […]
More annoyances
I’m in a rather annoyed frame of mind today, easy to take offence and feeling persecuted by everything. At one of my work places, I got very prickly about a proposed piece related to Eid being shot down (Islamophobia! I growled to myself), and felt my experience and expertise was being undervalued. Not something that […]
A bruise on the mind
And after my mixed feelings about the other two books, I read Never let me go. One reviewer rightly described it as leaving a bruise on the mind. Astonishingly visceral for all the simplicity of its premise, with scenes and conversations – like the one of the title – playing out in horror, and characters […]
Return to Benjakitti
It was over 40 degrees so of course I went for a walk in the park. I left at around 4 and got to the park around 4.45, with a stop along the way to buy a bubble tea. I had planned to find a spot to drink it in the park, but it was […]
Morning error
This morning I made the error of drinking a large glass of milk as there was too much milk and it was getting a little old. Unsurprisingly, I’ve had a slightly unhappy stomach all day. I read another Ishiguro book, The Remains of the Day, today. I had actually read this already but remembered little […]
In hiding
Today was in hiding as the sun is quite fierce and I was feeling indolent. I made the mistake of having a rather large breakfast, of the crab with chilli and herbs from last night, with added egg and broccoli to slightly temper the heat for an breakfast. It didn’t really temper the heat, but […]
Just Wednesday
Wednesday is a full working day and I had to send an academic article in a hurry, so I didn’t do very much. The morning was spent on the article, which was about Ethiopian Christianity. I am quite the expert on Ethiopia having edited two monographs and countless articles on various aspects. Dashed out to […]
Happy day
Yesterday was the day my big contract came to an end, oh happy day. As it happened today, though May Day, was spent working on work for that contract, and I even had a call about it. Still, at least I was on my own time. Not much else to tell, really. It was a […]
Intensity of youth
I’ve just read Elif Batuman’s two novels, one after the other. They are very good I must say, or so I think. For all the mannered-ness and the somewhat terrifying literariness of the protagonist. I found it hard at first to tell if the first one was good because I started reading it without knowing […]
Breezy morning
A very pleasant breezy morning today. It is very clear, the sky blue. I’m sitting outside in the shade and the air is carrying a scent of flowers. I am also reading a book and thoroughly enjoying it: Gurnah’s By the Sea. He is rapidly turning into one of my favourite writers. I think I […]