There’s a definite sense that summer is coming to an end. It’s feeling cooler in the mornings and grey clouds and rain have dominated many of the days this week. Come to that late-summer point where I’m genuinely uncertain about which day of the week it is.
Doing (or should that be Done?)
Another “summer holiday” week. We spent time at the start of the week at the beach and visited the Turner Contemporary to see the Ed Clark exhibition (which was lovely). My car’s been out of action for over a month with engine failure and I finally got our local garage to fix it (something something ignition). Also have been doing a deep de-cluttering of the house.
Have been slowly working on my 40k combat patrol. Visited the Warhammer shop and picked up the Core Book as I’m going to learn how to play and take part in local games before next summer. While I was there someone was talking about how long they were taking to paint masses of miniatures – which made me feel even more of a slowcoach. But there’s no rush and I am going to get there.
Reading (fiction)
I finished The Blacktongue Thief which I enjoyed (though thought the ending was less epic than I expected) and I will read The Daughter’s War soon.
Still reading:
- Nicholas Nickleby (about 40% through)
- Gorky Park (about 20% through)
Reading (non-fiction)
Started reading Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry M. Prizant.
Reading (comics)
- 2000AD prog 9396 – A bumper issue with a couple of extra stories. I didn’t enjoy either: a cartoonish alien comedy called All Aboard the Nova Express and a slightly better Future Shock, Just Stop Evil which has a thinly-veiled environmental message. The rest of the issue – Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Brink, Herne & Shuck and Silver – is excellent.
- Saga #67 – bit late with this one. Definite sense that the comic is treading water for a while now.
Reading (online)
Should we think of our children as strangers? – Thoughtful New Yorker piece by Joshua Rothman about the relationship between parents and their children. Rothman examines differing approaches to the role of parenting (largely finding that it falls into two main camps: seeing children as property and children as separate individuals). He refers most approvingly of “Family Values: The Ethics of Parent-Child Relationships,” by philosopher Harry Brighouse and political theorist Adam Swift:
Good parents, therefore, insure that their children have “the cognitive skills and information needed for autonomy,” while restraining themselves from adding too much to “the emotional costs borne by their children should they decide to reject the parents’ views.” It’s all right to raise your children to be progressive or conservative, religious or secular, athletic or bookish. But it’s wrong to make it too hard for them to renounce your way of life. “For parents to raise their children successfully they must establish themselves as loving authorities,” the authors write. A loving authority isn’t an ultimate one.
“The basic point is simple,” they write. “Children are separate people, with their own lives to lead, and the right to make, and act on, their own judgments about how they are to live those lives. They are not the property of their parents.”
What Lasts and (Mostly) Doesn’t Last – absolutely fascinating consideration by Lincoln Michel why certain acclaimed literature from the past continues to be read or, as is more likely, forgotten:
I think what lasts is almost always what has a dedicated following among one or more of the following: artists, geeks, academics, critics, and editors. “Gatekeepers” of various types, if you like. Artists play the most important role in what art endures because artists are the ones making new art. Indirectly, they popularize styles and genres and make new fans seek out older influences. Directly, artists tend to tout their influences and encourage their fans to explore them. In literature that takes the form of essays, introductions to reissues, and so forth. In music, it might be something like cover albums as in the way Nirvana’s Unplugged introduced a new generation to older bands and musicians. Academics is pretty obvious. The older books with the best sales are mostly ones that appear on syllabi. And geeks and critics are the ones who extensively explore a genre or category’s history and proselytize their favorites. Editors are the ones who actually chose the older books to republish and can champion obscure books back into the public eye.
And:
Still, if you want to predict what will last I think you should look to what has partisans among dedicated readers—scholars, critics, genre nerds, etc.—rather than what merely sells well with casual readers. Specialists not popularists. And then what work seems influential among younger artists, such as work that seems foundational in a certain style or subgenre. That’s might get you in the ballpark, even if you will strike out more with most swings.
And:
Another way for a work to endure is through the randomness of popularity in another medium. Many books last simply because a film or TV adaptation is popular, although often the books are simply eclipsed.
And considers that “super franchises” like James Bond and Harry Potter might last indefinitely. What I find compelling about Michel’s argument is that literary quality isn’t really what causes books to last (though, to be fair, Michel does say “I would like to think that quality helps determine what lasts yet it is obviously more than that.”).
Viewing:
- Started Season 1 of Dark. I’d seen this in a “top 20 tv shows since 2000” list. Three episodes in and it’s starting to drag. Not sure that I’ll manage to watch much more unless it picks up. Neither plot or characters engage me much.
Listening (music):
- The Rituals of Hildegard Reimagined – Laura Cannell. Found this unsettling (and probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I listened).
- Jefferson Airplane Takes Off and Collector’s Item – Jefferson Airplane and The Great Society. The Great Society is another band I hadn’t heard of until this week. I had no idea that Grace Slick wasn’t the original singer and that the most well-known Jefferson Airplane songs were actually written and first performed by her band, The Great Society.
- Real Life – Magazine. I’m giving Magazine a careful listen at the moment. I’m surprised how many songs I recognise.
Listening (podcasts):
- The Department of Midnight – first episod of a short SF drama by Warren Ellis.
- Word in Your Ear – interview with Melody Maker journalist, Chris Charlesworth. Stories about his encounters with rock stars in the 1970s.
- This is Hell! – interview wth economist Rob Larson about obscene wealth of billionaires.