books of note

i have been reading rather voraciously recently, and thought i should share some of the best books i've read this month. 

this first book was a christmas/birthday present from my mother and turned out to be my favourite gift.

not only is the book a beautiful object in its own right, but it is full of the fascinating ways that the english language has changed and developed over time. forsyth's choice to link each word somehow to the next, rather than just listing words and their origins, makes for a really interesting read. it is in fact much more like a story than a dictionary, and forsyth's sense of humour comes through just as much as his knowledge of english. (okay, perhaps it's not for everyone but it is surprisingly enjoyable and i heartily recommend it to all). see inky fool (forsyth's blog) for more. 

my next read was rather different - a collection of true stories written by a psychoanalyst.

each chapter focuses on an important aspect of life - beginning, loving, changing, losing - and for each of these broad subjects, grosz focuses on the stories of particular patients that subtly illuminate the human condition. although each account is very personal, the issues behind each patient's problems are ones that we have all experienced - or at least, can all understand. this book made think about my own thoughts and behaviour in a way that i hadn't really considered before and despite the often quite upsetting or moving cases described, i was left with a sense of quiet elation and understanding upon finishing it.

this last book was recommended to me by my friend isabel and is the latest novel by mark haddon, author of 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'.

i normally hate dust jackets on hardbacks (slippery, pointless things), but this one is so lovely that i often find myself just admiring it for a while before continuing to read the book itself. it is of course a slightly changed version of the willow china pattern, those exquisite blue on white drawings that immediately make me think of my grandma's house, the countryside and strange untold stories. and the last two things are exactly what 'the red house' is about. as i haven't finished it yet, i can't give a final verdict but i can say that it is incredibly enjoyable to read. the story shifts constantly from character to character which can be confusing at first, but then just becomes a part of haddon's wider storytelling technique - he can focus on a person's innermost thoughts at one moment and then skip to a description of a castle's history and on to a snippet of a quotation and so on, while somehow making them all seem related... and the result is something wonderful, intriguing and most of all truthful.

hanna xx

like father like son

a friend has lent me "money" by martin amis. until now, my knowledge of the man was limited to say the least: he is a well-respected english writer, and he is the son of another well-respected english writer kingsley amis (sir kingsley william amis - what a name)

having read and loved one of his dad's novels - "lucky jim"- i was curious to see what amis jnr wrote like. only a few chapters into "money" and it's obvious he has inherited his dad's wicked sense of humour and knack for making vices like alcohol and pornography read like funny personality quirks. this interview provides some background info about martin, and a little on his relationship with his dad.

vice interview with martin amis

i know i've barely skimmed the surface here (folk rave about his non-fiction too) but i'm glad i'm finally getting round to it.

it's interesting to read about his father's influence, although he says it wasn't too dominant. i once wanted to follow in my dear dad's footsteps too... and become a mechanic.

funnily enough this was a very short-lived dream.

natalie xX

django

ever since i bought this beautiful edition of little white lies magazine in early december, i've been dying to see tarantino's latest - django unchained. (here it is, providing the perfect contrast - both visually and in content - to my dire old norse textbook...)

i was not disappointed. the film is both beautiful and brutal, brimming with sumptuous colours (i'm thinking django's ridiculous blue costume) that create a vivid and at times stunning background for the stylised violence and gore that tarantino is famous for.
one image in particular that struck me was of dark red blood splattered onto pure white cotton plants - tarantino can make violence almost beautiful. of course, most of the violent scenes are definitely not meant to be easy on the eye but that is all part of the director's style. i never felt the gore was distasteful, rather it was necessary to the particular scene to demonstrate (more often than not) the cruelty of slave owner calvin candy.
now that i'm onto candy, i have to say that i honestly think this is one of the best roles of dicaprio's career. he portrayed the detestable villain perfectly, and was so enjoyable to watch that he almost stole the limelight away from my favourite character, the dentist-come-bounty hunter played by christoph waltz (wonderful, wonderful man). eccentric, witty and charming, he really stood out as the star of the film.
it seems i have hardly made mention to foxx's django, but who can say it better than waltz himself: 'you silver tongued devil, you'. he is quite excellent.

on another note; natalie i loved the colours in your photos of the autumn leaves - wonderful reds, yellows and blues. autumn is a beautiful season, i certainly prefer it to this grey slushy weather we're having at the moment. (and yes to feet photos!)

hanna xx

snap

so perhaps a running theme is to be photos of the ground plus feet. hanna's welly photo reminded me of my predisposition for taking such snaps. i'm especially fond of ones featuring the lovely ochre shapes of fallen leaves. 

autumn is without a doubt my favourite month and i couldn't help feel robbed last year of the biting bright mornings and fleeting hours of blue sky that it usually brings. the days were almost muggy.

of course summer will be enjoyed first, with all the festivals and fun hanna kindly reminds me of. but i'll be looking ahead to autumn too and those crisp mornings spent trying to warm my scarlet nose with mittened (is there such a word?) hands.

natalie xX

late night thoughts//festivals

so i had one of those nights where you just toss around feverishly, unable to shut off your brain because of all the seemingly very important ideas that must be thoroughly thought out at once and simply cannot be left until the morning... last night these thoughts solely concerned this blog and in particular a post about festivals. some of my 'brilliant' ideas, found this morning in a barely legible scrawl by my bed, included something about 'eyes wide open', 'euphoric' and 'like nothing else'. while these sentiments are true, they sound awfully like typical festival-goer nonsense. but still, there is something about festivals that make me happier than i am anywhere else. since i was 14, i haven't spent a summer without them and they have come to define not only my summers but also some of my best memories. i could go on, and risk sounding like some sort of hippie nut, or i could just include some photos that describe what i would want to say much better anyway.

inspired by one of my favourite youtuber/filmmaker's video on 'twi-late thoughts':

-hanna xx

test 123

there's no need to sharpen my pencils anymore, my pencils are sharp enough. even the dull ones will make a mark. -ze frank.

just the two of us dull ones...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEy6MGu3bIA

-h&n Xx