It’s time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. The starter book this month is:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte……;
I’ve never read WH. There, I’ve said it! I have no desire to read it, and even less inclination to see the new film with Australian leads that is Emerald Fennell’s interpretation of the book as it made her feel when she first read it as a teen. The film was made in the Yorkshire dales, but the novel is set on the North York Moors, so that’s my link to:
Gods Own Country by Ross Raisin
Sam Marsdyke is nineteen, and due to something that happened in his past, is stuck working on his family’s sheep farm on the North York Moors instead of getting a life. Virtually ignored by his parents, he wanders the moors with his dog looking at the world from up there with a mixture of amusement, detachment and resentment. One day life starts to get more interesting when a family of ‘towns’ moves into the farm next door. It’s obvious right from the beginning that Sam’s resentments run far deeper than just the incomers, he has little time for anyone except his dog. It’s also obvious that he’s going to fall for their teenaged daughter, they’ll get into some scrapes together, and you know it will all go very, very wrong… A wonderful first novel, and another about a man and his dog is:
Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
Following a year in the relationship between a man and his dog.Ray is fifty-seven. One day he sees an flyer for a dog-shelter in a shop window, and recognises something of himself in one of the dogs pictured. The dog whom the kennel keeper describes as a “Good little ratter alright,” will keep him company and Ray christens him One Eye – for obvious reasons. Ray is a misfit in society, a solitary man since his father died – the kind of man that people shy away from – although we know of no reason. It’s been a sad and lonely existence for Ray, but with his dog he begins to venture out a little. When One Eye reverts to type and savages another dog, rather than have him put down,Ray’s response is to grab a few things and go on the run with his dog, and as summer turns to autumn, the novel becomes a road trip. This novel won the Costa First Novel Award, as did:
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Told as a second person narrative, the protagonist is a photographer, who meets a young woman at a party who is going out with his mate. The pair strike up a platonic friendship, which deepens with time, but we know it won’t last like that. It’s a slowburn romance, with periods of enforced separation between the pair while she returns to her studies in Dublin. Alongside the main relationship theme, the narrator tells us about his family’s roots in Ghana. Also the experiences that shape his life as a young black man in London which include stop and search and being witness to gang violence, he struggles with his emotions in this respect and these parts of the book are probably as, if not more, important than the love story. Wonderful. The second person narrative is my link to:
The Sound of my Voice by Ron Butlin
Our second person narrator in this late 80s novella is Morris, an executive at a biscuit factory – yes, he could be Reggie Perrin at Sunshine Desserts – but rather than just imagine it like Reggie, Morris does make a disastrous pass at his secretary! Morris is a fully functioning alcoholic. His wife understands and tries to help, Morris does try to stop, repeatedly, but to no avail. At work he’s increasingly unreliable, at the weekends he keeps suggesting picnics or breakfast on the lawn. As a child, he suffered for never being good enough for his father, which undoubtedly helped to set him on the path he has chosen. A bitter dark comedy which I found very sad and inevitable. For my link – add an S to Butlin to get a holiday camp, and another is:
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
I don’t think I’ve read a single bad word about Lolly Willowes in the blogosphere, however, it did very little for me; I found it just tedious for about 90% of the book. First published in 1926, it’s the story of a spinster, Laura, who is approaching middle-age and stuck in a rut of familial duty in London. She rebels and runs away to the countryside, becoming a witch and selling her soul to the devil, but it took so long to get going. It reminded me of the funnier:
Mr Pye by Mervyn Peake
Published in 1953, Mr Pye arrives on the island of Sark, where he’s arranged to lodge with Miss Dredger. Miss Dredger is a battleaxe – tall, gaunt and a chain-smoker. Mr Pye perplexes her from the off:
‘What have you brought with you?’ she said. Mr Pye turned his gaze upon her. ‘Love,’ he said. ‘Just … Love…’
And he goes about his mission to spread his love among the 300 inhabitants of the island. His reward – he starts growing wings! Getting more and more embarrassed by them as they are hard to hide, he hatches a plan to make them go away… Whether Mr Pye was a satire on religious belief, or just a comic novel about the balance between good and evil, I couldn’t decide, but it was mostly good fun.
My six degrees have stayed around the UK and Ireland this time. Where will your six degrees take you?
