Phonology

As I've not been around for ages, I thought I'd give a little run down of things that have recently tickled my fancy. Due to an extended period of illness, I've been confined to quarters with neither internet, music nor cinema, so I have managed to reacquire the habit of reading. I'm not a fast or voracious reader, but I go through phases of enjoying literature. I used to be a librarygoer, but I've not been for ages. I still have 12 or 13 books in the to-read pile and before I buy any more, I intend to work my way through them and I think for the sake of my bank balance, the library may be my friend (If I don't owe them a mahoosive fine...)

I think the book that started this off was a birthday gift from my friend Leon, Douglas Coupland's Shampoo Planet. i was going away for a short break and I needed something to read on the journey. Of course I packed a few books, but the first one I happened to pick up was Mr Coupland. You know how it is when you anticipate a book being attractive to read. I like my books well written but not verbose, meaningful but not pompous, opinionated and most of all absorbing. I have read a few Coupland books before and have always enjoyed them, but until now, I hadn't really noticed how he cuts through all the shit and writes about humanity in such an uncompromising but loving way. I promptly bought another of his books, as I think these works are going to be my friends.

Another gift, this time from Hannah, gripped me, first of all for its oddness. Stuart, A Life Backwards, by Alexander Masters is a peculiar biography of Stuart Shorter, a homeless and mentally ill drug addict. It pulls no punches and is funny and sad, never romanticizing or oversympathising with sometimes unpleasant themes, and is genuinely shocking by way of its structure as well as its subject matter.

Thank you, you two, you got me reading again!

I was told by a friend that I shouldn't see the film Jude, (as it was far too depressing and I would weep copiously despite the presence of Christopher Eccleston) so I decided, when I saw the book in a local charity shop, that I would read it instead. I've never read any Thomas Hardy before, but after reading Jude The Obscure, I think I may have to investigate some more. What infuriating characters! Such sorrow and frustration, so beautifully portrayed. I could hardly put the bloody thing down, dammit!

So. Books, then. Aren't they brilliant?