Ten things I liked for October
Aka the hardest post
After my first 10 things post last month I decided I had to make it easier this month by adding things throughout the month. I’m all honesty it has been easier.
I spent a few days in Devon mid month and found this place on a trip into Tiverton. Liznojan is a wonderful little independent bookshop that’s been going some five years. Rather than specialise in a specific genre such as crime or ethos such as left wing politics they have gone a different route. They offer a carefully curated range of books in a warm and inviting environment. As a book lover this was a wonderful relief. Rather than wandering into Waterstones and being overwhelmed trying to separate wheat from chaff I simply had to pick a jewel out of a treasure chest. Add to that a lovely little coffeeshop and community space in the back half of the building and you have something close to perfection.
A Matter of Life and Death has been one of my favourite films, and most rewatched, for over 40 years. The story of a ww2 airman who should have died jumping from his plane, but somehow didn’t, remains touching and sensitive and quite beautiful. For a film set half in the afterlife it never preaches on that front. David Niven is superb as the airman, Peter Carter, arguing that he should be permitted to remain on Earth because he has fallen in love after his allotted life span. There are moments of gentle humour when his reactions and double takes are subtly reminiscent of Stan Laurel at his most understated.
When the film does seem in danger of veering towards preaching, mainly during the trial scene, it happily let’s another character present an opposing view with equal clarity. At the core of this film though is love, sacrificial love. Whether it’s Niven's character not telling his crew his parachute is wrecked and keeping the Lancaster Bomber flying, or his understated relationship with Teubshaw, his sparks, or the willingness of Niven and Kim Hunters characters to sacrifice themselves so the other might live, love is always at the forefront. Plus, it is one of three films guaranteed to make me cry every time.
https://robwalker.substack.com/p/life-in-the-details?utm_source=email
Rob Walker’s newsletter always comes always leaves me with a lot to think about. His thoughts in this piece on what makes us who we are, are something everyone should read. I particularly liked this..
Pay attention to those seeming “unimportant and trivial” details (the “fingerprints”) of the people you care about. And find a way to let them know you’re paying attention — to use what you’ve noticed as a way to connect.
I am really enjoying Andor. Like all the other Star Wars shows it fills in gaps around the existing films but unlike the other shows it's a bit more adult and aware of the consequences of actions.
The Folio Society combine two of my favourite things, beautiful books and stunning illustrations. Normally they’re £40 or more new and outside my price range but occasionally I come across them second hand. Having grown up watching Leo McKern as Rumpole of the Bailey and was very happy to find this book for a trifling £2.50 with illustrations reminiscent of the great man. Always great books worth looking out for.
The Nib is a magazine of comics journalism and non-fiction and that makes it a fascinating beast. The art is therefore not art for arts sake but art in service of a story. The story dictates the nature of the art according to the necessary emotion it needs to evoke. It also doesn’t have to carry the full weight but works in conjunction with words. It makes for some intriguing combinations.
The art of Tove Jansson. There is a uniquely Scandinavian quality to Jansson's writing and art. Melancholy is the word that springs to mind. I think I first encountered Moomin and his family on Jackanory decades ago. And it stayed with me as a buried memory until I rediscovered Moomin a decade ago. Jansson is a wonderful example of imagination run wild in both art and writing. All her characters are filled with personality and her landscapes capture perfectly the nature of her homeland. All are truly worth reading and worth looking at.
Poetry fascinates me, particularly blank verse. Stewart Henderson's a Poet’s Notebook provided an understanding of poetry that 2 years of GCSE literature failed to provide. Henderson's explanations of how he came to write the poems featured in the book and the thoughts behind them made me realise how much painting and poetry have in common. His accessible style of writing certainly influenced what I’m trying to do with this newsletter
Wayfaring Britain is a website dedicated to pilgrimage and British Pilgrimage sites. My son, Harry, is keen to do a pilgrimage for his 16th and my 60th birthday. I have no idea what put this idea into his head but this website, dedicated to the rediscovery of Britains’s pilgrim routes, is absolutely fascinating aidedby the fact Britain’s longest pilgrimage route runs from Southampton to Canterbury via Winchester whi h gives it local interest. Do take a look.
There is a lot to think about here. I liked the David Niven comment. He interests me as an honest person desperately seeking for the approval of others when in reality, he is a master in his own right. I often find people who desperately need the friendship of God but can't quite pluck up the courage to admit it. Isaac Asimov is another incredibly gifted author, whose Foundation series naturally ends with God - but.....