I Now Know Where I've Gone Wrong In Poetry... Art Galleries Next

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've never hidden in this blog the fact that whilst I chat about a whole range of books very rarely is poetry mentioned. Partly as I've explained it's due to the fact that as a teenager in the seventies and eighties the price of a slim volume of poetry seemed to be the same as that for a far bigger novel. So my teenage mind said "what's the point?" and bought the novel.

One of the consequences of this I think is that when a volume of poetry does enter my hands then with exceptions I'm not comfortable with it. With exceptions I'm not certain I've read it right.

Yesterday I had a little time on my hands so decided to do what I've promised in this blog for years now (I get there in the end) and listened on Spotify to Richard Burton reading a selection of the poetry of Dylan Thomas.

And I was enthralled.

Didn't have the time to go through the whole album (life interfered) but I felt I understood now how to deal with poetry. As the old ad adage goes you try before you buy.

For I understood that listening makes you hear the cadences of the poet. Makes you understand how the particular poem is meant to be read. Also if the particular poet doesn't appeal to you by ear then there's no point in picking up a book and reading something by him/her. It's a visceral thing.

It also explains how I like T S Eliot (when depressed) and John Betjeman. The first I was taught at in school the second really was the only well known contemporary poet people knew of in the seventies and eighties. In other words I heard them being read.

It doesn't mean they'll be a sudden influx of poetry in this blog. Just that I know what to do when the opportunity arises.....after all these years.

Which brings us to art galleries. Here in Wales it's half-term. I have the next two days off and someone suggested to me I should take my daughter to an art gallery.

Metaphorically I fell off my seat laughing hysterically as if my next fitting was for a straitjacket. However outwardly I just gave a non-committal "we'll see".

Well we won't see. My daughter is as interested in art as I am (which I suspect is because neither of us have any real talent for the subject). She will be bored. As will I.

Now I know exactly how to react to commercial art galleries. You have loads of money. Wander round. See a picture you like and say "I'll buy this". They flog pictures. I get it. But given I don't have loads of money it's not something I'd regularly practice.

But public art galleries. You wander round. See pictures. Some you like some you don't and wander out. I know what daughter will say even by look alone. "We could have gone to a play or a film but you took me to this?"

And the people I really don't understand in art galleries are those who seemingly spend eternities looking at one piece of artwork. If they were drawing it I get it. But looking? As if expecting something is going to move? What is it with that?

Perhaps like poetry it will come to me eventually. Probably that's the moment when I'm so old I have to be wheeled around and my eyesight is so bad even with glasses I have to look right up as close as possible squinting to even work out the basic shapes.

Sometimes in life things just pass you by.

Until the next time.

An Important Welsh Political Book With (Possibly) One Flaw

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Before I chat about the book I should explain how it was purchased.

A few weeks back I was going through the spam filter of my email. Normally they are full of offers or forthcoming programmes on (insert channel here) but I hadn't gone through this in months. Much to surprise there was an email dated August from the Honno press. Where they explained what their publishing house does and offered to send me review copies of some of their publications.

Now I declined their kind offer. Because whatever the value of my opinions are the one thing I would want the readers of this blog to be assured by is that when I chat about a book it's either been bought or borrowed from a library. However I was tardy in responding to them.

And....

Honno Press specialises in books by female Welsh writers in English. Honno Classics brings back such work which has been out of print to a new audience of readers. I was conscious that whilst the choice of books I read is deliberately random aside from passing references to Dylan Thomas for a blog that also discusses things Welsh this was an omission.

So because of these two things I promised Honno that during the Christmas period I would buy one of their books. Which I did.

The book I chose was this originally published in 2007:

The Very Salt Of Life - Edited by Jane Aaron and Ursula Masson

It covers a period from roughly the 1830's to the 1930's. It makes you realise how "second class citizens" women truly were in that period. The right to vote was just one aspect of it. But there was also just a sense of superiority by men at that time. Women were just expected to cook, maintain the house and scrub pavements. So that for example if a woman was a preacher she would be subjected to criticism unlike a man in a similar profession. In a sense any woman who objected to the status quo was political.

It's a fascinating read. Special mention should go to Jane Williams' forensic demolition on an official report in 1848 which, amongst other things labelled Welsh women sexually wanton.

Many subjects including education and the right to vote are covered here all worthwhile for the reader I assure you ...except possibly one.

I say "possibly" because this shows my ignorance more than anything else (which is why I picked it from the Honno catalogue) but in this book on Welsh women's political writings there is no mention of the I word.

Independence.

Again let me repeat that this shows my ignorance on the subject but it would be surprise me greatly that for a whole century there was no woman who put pen to paper and said that what Wales needed was to be a separate nation again.

You might say (as I explained earlier) that there were other immediate and pressing concerns. And you'd be right. But that doesn't mean an absence of an opinion on this issue. Trust me if there is one thing I know about Welsh women it's that they're not shy in expressing a view on anything!

So it's an important book. A book worth reading. Whether there is a flaw in it though is for people more knowledgeable than me to advise upon.

The Honno press website showcasing works past and present by Welsh women writers is https://www.honno.co.uk . They have a sale on currently in that site.

I know I'll be buying works from that publishing house again.

Until the next time.

On Books: Read,Borrowed And Bought. Including A Booksale And Why I Might Have Underestimated Bernard Cornwell

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Now that the World Cup is slowly drawing to a close probably the only good thing is that there's more time to go back to reading. I must admit in the past month or so to having slowed up on it whilst there was the distraction of the global footy.

But now normal service has been resumed. And let's start with the book I've read since I last chatted on the subject.

Bernard Cornwell - Fools and Mortals

Now I slight digression is called for to explain why I've never read a Bernard Cornwell book before. In the mid nineties I made the mistake of watching a programme in the TV series of his Sharpe novels. All about the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars. And to be honest in my early thirties it just didn't seem that interesting anymore whereas previously I would enjoy them. Only later did the explanation come clear.

I was growing old.

Also though as I've mentioned in this blog I read a C S Forester Hornblower novel about a year back and didn't like it. It's patriotism was over the top. The sort a member of UKIP would love. So not for me.

So Mr Cornwell's books have been avoided....until now. And let me say I loved Fools and Mortals. Set in Elizabethan times it follows a (literally) Shakespearean theatre company in the days where female roles were played by men. One of whom turns out to be the main character. William Shakespeare's younger brother.

Did Shakespeare have a brother? I don't know and it doesn't matter. It's a historical entertainment. Indeed I'll go as far as to say that as an entertainment it's the best book I've read this year.

I might still be right about his Sharpe novels. But reading Fools and Mortals has made me realise that should opportunity come I should give them a go.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to spend part of Saturday in a book sale in Sully where I'm currently renting. I haven't bought that many books since we moved out of Bridgend so wasn't going to pass away the chance here.

(Another quick aside - Still renting at the moment whilst looking for "the place" - We thought we'd found a house and had an offer accepted only to drop out when the survey revealed a house that didn't so much need updating as upending and demolishing. It was that bad.)

It was held in The Old School Hall, now used for community activities.

Signs and Balloons For Books...I Love It

There was a good selection on display.

Full On Trestle Table Action

Now the price range was 1 book for a pound or six for five pounds. The intention was to buy six. The idea was two were those suggested by my favourite book podcast Backlisted, Two were going to be Penguin Paperbacks and two were going to be "Welsh" books as I've recently realised that I've not been chatting about Welsh books and their authors and this will change.

So the first book was:

Raymond Chandler -The Big Sleep

This is the sort of book I feel I know about even though I haven't read it. Certainly a book I should've read by now. So soon a literary bucket list will be ticked (An author on Backlisted by the way).

Now I only bought one "Welsh" book in the end. Could've bought more but wanted to avoid books by Catrin Collier or Dylan Thomas or about rugby.

(To be fair I've yet to get round to the audiobook I've got of Dylan Thomas' poetry - which I think is better listened to than read. And was tempted by a biography of Richard Burton. It's hardback brick length put me off. When we eventually more somewhere I will seek it out)

So it came to this.

Oliver Balch - Under The Tump 

Then I saw a Penguin Paperback.

Honor Tracy - Mind You I've Said Nothing

"Forays In The Irish Republic" is the description to this travel book. Let's just hope it's not cliché Ireland.

The next one was suggested again by Backlisted

Elizabeth Taylor - Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont.

The next does not fall into any of the categories I intended. Still....as I'm a fan

Clive James - Even As We Speak

And finally. Recommended by Backlisted and apparently David Bowie.

Spike Milligan - Puckoon

All for £5....

And that's not all. Went to the nearby library afterwards. The next book on the non fiction pile to read there was...

Jo Hardy - Tales From A Young Vet

All I can say is. If she can't get me to be interested like James Herriot could then she's failed.

No pressure then.

Until the next time.

On Books: Including My Daughter's Hatred For Literature And The New 1984

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So I'm driving my daughter to school yesterday morning. She's fifteen and already taking exams as seems to be the way nowadays. The exam she took was for English literature. As I chatted about this exam to her she made this to me stunning statement.

"I hate literature".

It mentally stopped me in my tracks (not physically as I was driving). She doesn't like literature? Am I a bad parent? Am I the last in a generation to actually want to read a book? Will librarians and booksellers want to throw the book at me?

Further interrogation however suggested something more complex. She said she "enjoyed" Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. I wouldn't say it was a book to be "enjoyed" but she liked it so fair enough.

She also (like me) was a fan of An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley. Fine....

No it turned out that what she actually "hated" was poetry.....well that's alright then.

I have mentioned before in this blog that the biggest gap in my reading knowledge is poetry. Though there are exceptions taken as a whole I've no real interest. Caused mainly by the fact that as a teenager I didn't understand how the price of a slim volume of poetry was roughly the same as a novel so I went for the bigger book instead. Consequently, with exceptions, I feel as if I'm a bad reader of poetry because to me it doesn't seem worth the effort.

Like father like daughter it appears.

She went on to mention two poets specifically. The first was Dylan Thomas. I've mentioned previously from the bits I've heard (though not gone round to checking this) that I suspect he is the sort of poet better listened to than read.

Her real dislike though was towards Daniel Abse. Roughly her opinion of him was "a Cardiff guy who whinges about Wales".

Now my daughter has an advantage over me regarding Mr Abse, as I've never read any of his poems. I have however years ago read a book of essays and I certainly don't recall any whingery.

The relative unpopularity of poetry is interesting. Because if you think about the world of television I grew up in and the byte sized world of the internet that is daughter's domain, you would think that the instant do it quickly world we live in would be more suited to the poem. But apparently not.

Because of my mother being unwell my reading has been haphazard in the last few weeks. Indeed I've had to return the Annie Prolux book unread to the library (trust me that instantly borrowing back would be an admin nightmare for Sully library). I've also though been reading a book that my wife had bought me for Christmas when she asked me what I'd wanted to read. Thinking of the Backlisted podcast I went for this.

Derek Raymond - A State Of Denmark

Forget about the fact that it was published in the seventies (after all 1984 is still a powerful read even though 1984 has long gone). It's a book that has suddenly found it's moment. A novel that describes an England (note not Scotland or Wales) under a dictatorship.

The key to this story is this. The England that this book describes does not exist. But in the aftermath of the Brexit vote it's not impossible. Jackboot politics fuelled by jackboot media exists. I'm not going to spoil it by explaining the plot but after you read this you'll understand.

It may not be the greatest book you'll ever read. But since the Brexit referendum it becomes one of the most important as it conjures up a vision that we may find ourselves sleepwalking into.

Until the next time.

Welsh Labour Are A Bunch Of Charlies....And Not In A Chocolate Way

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Wales as a nation has many things going for it. And I hope that, whilst not running away frim it's problems I've highlighted this. However one thing that it doesn't have in abundance are writers that have a wide worldwide audience.Now whilst there are some writers who make a splash but then are eventually forgotten. I can off the top of my head only think of two....Dylan Thomas and Roald Dahl.

But whilst the Swansea area has taken its famous son and have put up a centre for Dylan Thomas as well you being able to visit the boathouse where he lived. Cardiff...capital city of Wales seems to have almost ignored one of the greatest children writers ever and not a bad adult one at in Dahl, who was born in Cardiff.

He had the knack of creating ordinary and recognisable worlds and sprinkle them with light touches of fantasy. When you were a child reader, it was that formula that made you believe that beneath the seeming drabness of life, magic could happen.

And of his adult work it's his short stories ("Tales of the Unexpected) that are most remembered. A lot of them were capable of that sudden missed beat in your mind when the ending proved to be completely unexpected and yet logical.

Last year people flocked to Cardiff for the City of The Unexpected festival which brought the spirit of the children books to the place of his birth. This year, on the 100th anniversary of his birth...today....barely anything on an official level.

The Welsh Labour Government says there are many dedications to him across Cardiff.....hardly a centre now is it?

Cardiff Labour Council say they are looking into the possibility of building a Roald Dahl centre. But how can you take them seriously when you consider the fate of the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay, which recently had to close down because the council were not prepared to extend the lease on the building. Therefore there is a good chance that the experience will be moved to another city, a city which will have absolutely no connection with the good Doctor. Unlike Cardiff where the show is actually made!

For some reason the Cardiff Labour Council / Welsh Labour Government prefer things like the UEFA Champions League final which provide one off revenue hits than things like the Doctor Who Experience was or what a Roald Dahl centre could be in providing a continuous stream of money for the local economy.

The council/Welsh Assembly should be proactive in trying to get the agreement of the Dahl estate to such a centre. That activity would certainly be a Tale Of The Unexpected coming from Welsh Labour but welcome nonetheless . It's current tardiness carries the danger that another place in the UK will get in there first, so that Cardiff, and Wales would have lost an cultural and financial opportunity to celebrate him.

Why are they like this? Well I've no idea. Welsh Labour arrogant incompetence comes to mind. But perhaps there is a more worrying reason.

Perhaps there's no one in Welsh Labour that bothers to read books anymore.

Until the next time.

On Poetry And Football

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I've finished (presumably thanks to my wait in the Bar and Grill on Sunday) Poetry Of The Thirties edited by Robin Skelton. It was the first poetry book I'd read for decades and I had forgotten that you have to read these books slooowly so that every word and meaning is captured. In the beginning there was a great deal of rereading so that there was a better chance of understanding what was being written.

Even so most of the poetry made me just mentally shrug my shoulders. As if I was saying, "is that all there is"? The vast majority of verse in this book aroused me to a state of depressed boredom.

There were, of course exceptions. John Betjeman reminded me why I liked him all those years ago. And if someone offered me a volume of the poetry of Lewis MacNeice I wouldn't be sniffy about it. On the other hand I really,really didn't like W H Auden.

And then there was Dylan Thomas. I don't want to read another Dylan Thomas poem again. I want to listen to them. He was the only poet where that thought occurred to me.

The next "car book" is this.

Clive James - Glued to the Box

This is the third volume of his TV critism between 1979 -1982. Should be fun.

So to the evening's football. It was the first opportunity since the Euro 2016 tournament began that I had the opportunity to wear this.

England

The wife watched the Wales game against Russia whilst I watched England Slovakia. Clearly she had the better time than I did with the dragons winning 3-0 and being top of their group. Although she did ask after eighty minutes why the game hadn't finished. I explained that it was football.....not rugby.Still genuinely was pleased for Wales. I've said before that in my view football was the bigger club sport here and if they continue to do well then that might be the case at a national level as well. And the Welsh Rugby Union would only have themselves to blame.

For me despite the ITV "Brexit" commentary - everything England did was good against weak Slovakia - England were disappointing. Slovakia just dug in, having obviously checked the durability of their Puma football shirts first.

Their goalkeeper seemed to follow the lead of his Swiss counterpart yesterday. Dressed luminously suggesting he too would be cycling back to his base afterwards.

But the commentary. "England fans are staying with their team" was one gem. What did he expect them to do? Suddenly support Austria? We also know the power of words. Slovakia were like "a boxer on the ropes" according to Glenn Hoddle. Had that been England then words like "disciplined" or "dogged" would have be used.

Will always believe....but was not encouraged.

Until the next time.