Books on the move

Blue Pelican and Orange Penguin paperbacks

I moved some of my bookshelves and books around yesterday - here is most of my Penguin and Pelican collection on my bed awaiting reallocation. Kept the Penguins in the bedroom and moved the Pelican into my newly renamed Work Room.

I have also culled a lot of my non-fiction. I moved a lot of my favourites into the spare room and could see the less interesting books in their own right. And some didn't seem to deserve to be in my flat. So they are in a pile in the hall, awaiting delivery to charity shops.

Owning books, being surrounded by books, having so many books I haven't yet read and probably won't... I crave minimalism but books... books mean so much to me. Their physical presence is comforting, their promise of escape and entertainment and enlightenment is exhilarating.

And I remember my 8 year old self, when told to pack for her summer holidays, packed all of her books on the grounds that she didn't know what she would actually want to read once she got there. There were maybe 30. I think I owned more books than my parents did.

Having all those books now means I am grown up, I am in control, I have arrived!

Recently...

Recently read...

• Wilson, Daniel Clowes - very easy to read but uncomfortable - too much like me in my head, not in my actions.
• The Contract with God, Will Eisner - amazing, took a while to read
• An Education, Lynn Barber, very quick to read because Barber writes very well, being a journalist. 

Enjoyed each of them.

Just started reading A Life in Pictures by Alasdair Grey. It's great. 

Recently drawn...

She's coming up a lot in doodles so I am going to have to write a wee story about her.

Excerpts

I've read a couple of excerpts of interesting books on Scribd

Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest - here's another extract in the Guardian

Nina Here Nor There by Nick Krieger

Forrest's book is about her experience of being in therapy and Krieger's book is about his gender transition. Both seem well written and reflective accounts, which is what appeals. Both the "I was nuts but then I saw this therapist" and "I was in the wrong body and then I changed gender and I am ok now" narratives have been done many times and I have had too much of both over the years. But I love a good book on either subject from time to time.

The frustrating thing is that the two copies of Forrest's books are late back by 2 months so I doubt my reservation will come through any time soon, if at all. And Krieger's book is published in the US so unless I order it from there, I won't get to read it. I am not going to because if I get his book, I will have to get so many others...

more books in my TBR bookcase

books I bought in a charity book fair on Thursday, 21 books for £20.50 

recently, in books

I've not read much lately, and haven't had much to say about what I have read.

Yesterday, I got a present of a little book called The Cornet-Player Who Betrayed Ireland by Frank O'Connor for my birthday last week. (I am 45 years and one week today).

Every Irish child reads 'First Confession' at school. It is a great story, about a boy who decides to kill his grandmother, very funny and a bit sad rereading it as adult. But great reading for a 12 year old. You can read it here. The other story by him I remember reading at school was 'Guests of the Nation' about the execution of two Englishmen held captive by the Irish Republican Army during the War for Independence. You can read that here. The other two stories in the book, the title story and 'A Story by Maupassant' I haven't read, or at least I don't remember reading.

Today, I bought Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. As if I don't have enough books already! But this is a subject dear to my heart. I am convinced about 95% of the differences between men and women are socially constructed. And I think men and women have much more in common than the whole "men are from mars, all women love shoes, men are useless" mentality would have us believe. It's about power and it's about selling you stuff. So I am interested in what Fine has to say about it. Not sure when I will read it but sometimes, the thing about books is simply having them.

This is a vehement attack on the latest pseudo-scientific claims about the differences between the sexes - with the scientific evidence to back it up. Sex discrimination is supposedly a distant memory. Yet popular books, magazines and even scientific articles increasingly defend inequalities by citing immutable biological differences between the male and female brain. Why are there so few women in science and engineering, so few men in the laundry room? Well, they say, it's our brains. Drawing on the latest research in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology, "Delusions of Gender" rebuts these claims, showing how old myths, dressed up in new scientific finery, help perpetuate the status quo. Cordelia Fine reveals the mind's remarkable plasticity, shows the substantial influence of culture on identity, and, ultimately, exposes just how much of what we consider 'hardwired' is actually malleable. This startling, original and witty book shows the surprising extent to which boys and girls, men and women are made - and not born.

While on the subject of gender and books yet to be read, I borrowed Putting Myself in the Picture: A Political, Personal and Photographic Autobiography by Jo Spence. You can see some of her work here.  I think she is best known for her work around her experience of breast cancer and the treatment she had for it.

Passing through the hands of the medical orthodoxy can be terrifying when you have breast cancer. I determined to document for myself what was happening to me. Not to be merely the object of their medical discourse but to be the active subject of my own investigation.

She also did photo therapy which for some reason I am struggling to explain. She took photographs of herself reenacting or creating images of herself e.g. in various roles. She was a feminist and a lot of her work was about the female body and how it is represented in art. I read about her work when I was in my 20s in London and recently saw a couple of her photographs in Glasgow. I was delighted that Edinburgh libraries had this book by her. I have been playing with self-portraits in both photography and drawing so who knows what influence she will have on me.

And I am still reading Cancer Ward. I read the first half in a rush and am now struggling to pick it up. Not sure why.

Comic books...

Today is Free Comic Book Day. Which means some comic book shops will be giving away some free comic books. And there will be some events. I might go to one later on today, where I can draw and try out some different pens and talk to other comic book drawers.

Cartoons are fun - here's a great one by John Callahan

man in white orders man in wheelchair to "heal", and the second man leaps to sit at the heels of the first man like a dog ordered to "heel"

So what are my favourite comics/graphic novels? Here's some I've recently read

• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (reread)
• The Book of Leviathan by Peter Blegvad (reread)
• Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy by Phillipa Perry
• Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
• American Splendor: Another Day by Harvey Pekar

I also like a lot of online stuff - here's some:

• Hark! A Vagrant! - Jane Austen.
• Hyperbole and a half - pain chart
• XKCD xkcd
• John Callahan 

I've chosen stuff that is quite varied in visual and narrative style and in subject matter. I have a preference for autobiographical material and my own comic book work is autobiographical.

I tend not to like the superhero type of comic that most people think of when they think of comics. I admire them but since Buffy, I haven't been able to get into heroes. Not sure why... I admire a lot of that kind of work but it doesn't engage me.

I can sometimes read comics when I can't read text, and it is usually quicker, but it can be just as demanding in terms of attention and emotional involvement.

Finn and books

Had to have a lie down yesterday. But couldn't relax so I started playing with my mobile phone. And took this photo.

books and Finn

Finn is my approx. 4 year old feline flat mate. And behind him, you can see some of my books - these are my non-fiction shelves. I need more shelves.

Bookish auntie

My eldest niece was 7 on Monday. She was excited by some of the books she got as presents, books about Irish legends and heros. When I was at primary school, I loved the Irish legends - specifically the Fenian Cycle and the Ulster Cycle.

(I think my feelings about shoes has partly to do with the Finn McCool - the Fianna had to be able to run through a forest without making a noise or breaking a twig - how can you do that in high heels? That feeling was strengthened by reading more modern adventure stories where being able to creep up on someone was an advantage. Even now, if my footsteps are audible, I feel a bit uneasy. )

I want to get R a book about Scottish legends until I realised all I could think of were folk tales, not mythology or legends. Realised it was because Ireland and Gaelic Scotland shared the same language - Early and Middle Irish and so they shared the same literature. There wasn't a strong sense of what was Irish and what was Scottish then. So folk tales it will be.

I'm really pleased she is interested in them - most recent girls fiction seems to be about princesses as far as I can see. While most of the characters in the myths are men, there are some strong women there too - Meave in particular. Also my love of mythology - Greek, Norse as well as Irish - I think got me interested in SF and fantasy. I wish I had had more exposure to other mythologies, maybe I will send her stories from other cultures as well?

Next year I will get her Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass (which was my favourite for years as I read it first!) I will blog about Alice sometime.

Choosing books for my 6, soon to be 7, nieces and nephew is a bit tricky as they get older. But their mad old auntie will do her best!

comfort read: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

Selene at the Shaggy Dog Story blogged about Cranford, which is one of my comfort reads. Her post points out what a narrow existence the genteel ladies of Cranford were permitted. And it takes place just before the railways arrive, bringing great change to the small towns of England.

So why is it a comfort read?

I think partly because of the warmth of the relationships between the women and the gentle humour of the narrator, Mary, in her descriptions of the dilemmas of the main characters. I like it because it is domestic and "small".

I first read it on Mull - 16 or 17 years ago. So I have that happy memory as well. And it is a shared love with my mother. We don't have much in common when it comes to reading, so it's nice when we can agree on this.

And another part of the comfort for me is that it is a good book for me to read when I cannot concentrate. Gaskell writes so clearly and I know it so well, it isn't quite the effort most other books are.

And no, I haven't seen the tv series.

BADD 2011 post - a wee rant

This is my post for Blogging Against Disablism Day.

I had plans for well reasoned and referenced posts on some great topics. But... when I tried it, the energy just went. So I thought I would just go for it, try not to privilege rationality. I think for too long, when writing publicly or semi-publicly, I have tried to be reasonable and persuasive. Look the mad person can be reasonable! Well not today.


Ok, here are some of the madness/disability things that have been bugging me lately!


People's impairments being discounted in some way because they weren't totally laid low by them. Being even a bit capable seems to mean you are somehow trying it on - "you only have symptoms when it suits you".  You know the type of thing - wheelchair user transfers themselves to a chair or even can walk a bit with a stick - ah, they don't need the wheelchair! Person who battled anxiety to attend a special event with the help of lots of meds and support from friend - ah, they don't have anything wrong with them!


The current "all people on benefits are potentially scroungers" mindset contributes to policing of disability. And disabled people do this policing as well as non-disabled people. Which sucks. A lot. I even find myself doing it and have to give myself a good talking to.


This happened ages ago but it pops up in my head every now and again and gets me riled up still. I had listed a book by R.D. Laing on an book related website. Someone sent me a private message to tell me that basically I was wrong to like Laing. Assuming that owning a book means I like it! This person explained that a family member had schizophrenia and Laing blamed families and this was wrong as it was a chemical imbalance and the family were blameless. And me owning this book and admitting it publicly was a kick in the teeth to the families of everyone with schizophrenia. Which no doubt was why I had listed it.


Which brings me to two other argh! topics.


'Mental illness' being entirely a 'chemical imbalance'. Better than me have done a much more critique of this than I can manage.


And a particular type of 'carer'. (I don't mean all carers here but a subset.) I have met carers who in public will tell you intimate details about their 'loved one' and their lives. They do this at events aimed to gather the experiences of people who use mental health services and carers. Service users tend to say things like "our group think that it is important to..." but some carers will say things like "my Johnny didn't take his tablets and the services didn't section him immediately!". Whoa! Does Johnny know you are talking about him like this? And are you not here as a representative?


When I first heard about recovery, I was really excited by it. I went to the first recovery event in Scotland (Would recovery work in Scotland? in Dundee in 2002) where I heard Ron Coleman and Audrey Reid talk about their own recovery despite the mental health system. It seemed to bring together all the ideas I had people talk about in collective advocacy groups. And now it is mostly just another words services use - oh yes, we are a recovery focused service - or even as justification for cutting services to people.


And wellbeing! Well! What's not to like about wellbeing? We all want to be well, surely! but when a word is used a lot all of a sudden in policy documents I get a little suspicious... I think it is because it pretends to be neutral and it isn't. My feeling about wellbeing is that it is really about individualising and depoliticising health issues - which is an ongoing project. So we're told "lose weight, stop smoking, do 6 sessions of CBT… while we cut services in health, education, community development and through our economic policies, we further increase the inequalities that lead to health inequalities".


And I think I am done. For now. I am sure there are more things I could rant about but I am tired now.