Words, Woodbines and Milk Wood, by Sally Jack

Words, Woodbines and Milk Wood

By Sally Jack

 

 

There have been many references to 1914 this year, with words such as war, destruction, slaughter, and suffering unfortunately mentioned all too frequently.

It is right we mark the centenary of World War I and consider the effect these events had on our ancestors’ lives. However, it is also nice to be involved in something a little more joyous associated with that particular year. On the opening day of Leicester’s unique Everybody’s Reading festival,  the Sied Ysgrifennu ar Daith (Dylan Thomas Writing Shed) rolled into town and opened its doors to the life of one of the UK’s most inventive writers, Dylan Thomas. This replica of his writing shed is on tour around the country, marking another centenary as 1914 was also the year of Thomas’ birth.

Muted egg-shell and chocolate tones on the outer walls invite you in to a bright space packed with detail, a snapshot of the life of this well-loved writer from Wales and the place where Thomas wrote perhaps his most famous work, Under Milk Wood. Toffees on the table, empty bottles, books everywhere and an ashtray full of Woodbines tell their own stories. Copies of Dylan’s notes in his neat hand layer his desk, pictures and writing are tacked on the walls; I loved seeing his lists of words, looking for rhymes and rhythms as he brainstormed the letter ‘b’ in this instance. Pictures of friends are stuck haphazardly around his desk: W H Auden, Edith Sitwell, Louis MacNeice. Not bad as networking circles go. I asked about the significance of some of the pictures - famous paintings of crowd scenes, photos of locals in different countries. “He loved people,” I was told.

Dylan Thomas was also a lover of language and to celebrate the centenary of his birth, we are all invited to contribute a made up word to the Dictionary for Dylan. Visit www.dylanthomasboathouse.com/dictionaryfordylan to take part in this brilliant idea.

It was then on to the official launch of the fifth Everybody’s Reading festival at The Guildhall.  Teachers, librarians, writers and performers gathered, all with a common purpose: to get everybody reading, whatever it takes. Cuts to library services and the appeal of computer games are just some of the barriers to getting children reading so it was inspiring to hear compelling arguments by Leicester-based writers and performers such as Bali Rai, Carol Leeming and Jess Green enthusing about their love of reading, their points made in speech, song and performance poetry. However, two of Leicestershire and Everybody's Reading's greatest advocates could not attend - writers Sue Townsend and Graham Joyce both sadly died earlier this year; their words have given pleasure and escape to millions throughout the world.

With wine coiffed and nibbles nibbled we return to Dylan Thomas and a screening of the 1972 film of Under Milk Wood. Thomas finished writing his play for voices just a few months before his death in November 1953 and before its first radio broadcast in January 1954. Following a day in the life of small, Welsh village Llaregyb, it is alive with lilting and lusty language and big, bawdy characters. Pleasure is had from listening to the vivid dialogue or reading and re-reading the words on the page and I can't resist how Thomas puts words together: 'bridesmaided by glow-worms', 'Samson-syrup-gold-maned' or the imagery of 'the town ripples like a lake in the waking haze'.

And so, awash with these wonderful words, another Everybody's Reading festival has begun. I am grateful for my ability to read and the emotional journeys books have taken me over the years. There are many imaginative events going on throughout the county this week encouraging everyone to read and enjoy the magic of books. As Everybody’s Reading’s patron Sue Townsend wrote in The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year: “Books need to be read. The pages need to be turned.”

About the reviewer

Sally is a writer and editor based in Leicester and currently reviews for the British Theatre Guide.  She is also Media Manager of Off the Fence Theatre Company and Upstairs at the Western, Leicester's first pub theatre. Follow Sally's blog at www.punctualsally.wordpress.com.

"Meatspace" reviewed by Jessica Berkery

Meatspace

By Nikesh Shukla

Published by The Friday Project

ISBN: 9780007565061

Reviewed by Jessica Berkery

Meatspace

Noun.

A term, originating from cyberpunk fiction and culture, referring to the real (that is, not virtual) world, the world of flesh and blood. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek. The opposite of cyberspace.

Meatspace, Nikesh Shukla’s second novel, delves into the digital age of the here and now, exploring the way that our lives on the internet can at times be more successful than the lives we lead in real life.

Kitab Balasubramanyam is a character in crisis, living a dual life. Online, he is a confident writer with a novel published with thousands of followers reading his online, ‘cool’ banter. In real life, he is a writer-in-crisis with a novel published, suffers from writer’s block, an ex-girlfriend and his messy brother, Aziz, living in his spare bedroom.

“The first and last thing I do everyday is see what strangers are saying about me.”

Both Kitab and Aziz are internet obsessed. They must be connected at all times and be prepared to live-tweet any mundane detail that could make them look hip. Kitab’s life starts to unravel as soon as Aziz decides he must travel to America to discover his doppelganger. Kitab is left alone, with feelings of abandonment encroaching into this life. This book doesn’t paint social media in a good way in fact it shows how being tuned into the internet can amplify the loneliness of real life and the urgent need to fit in with society can make a person more dislocated from real life and from their true self.

Kitab must face up to his neglected real life, having become detached from his family, friends, his writing and his home. Kitab’s fear of achievement and the need to fit into society reminded me of Douglas Coupland’s earlier novel, Generation X. Just like Coupland, Shukla explores the way people deal and also not deal with emotions especially grief. This is done in a touching, tender way especially at the end (which I won’t reveal as I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone).

“I flick through my social media streams at great speed, expecting an ease to overcome me.”

Yet when his doppelganger, Kitab 2, turns up, full of details about Kitab’s online life, makes him reconsider his carelessness of posting every small detail about his everyday life as it slowly starts to come back and haunt him in the shape of Kitab 2. Shukla delves into the way the internet especially social media has changed the way we conduct ourselves to the public and the way it changes the concept of relationships. There are no boundaries online and this has seeped into Kitab’s real life. The internet has blended with real life. Real life has blended with the internet. Shukla has created a novel that combines Fight Club with an overgrown character from The Inbetweeners.

This is a funny, enjoyable satire of today’s obsession with social media. At times its close to the bone and at other times its far-fetched but it will definitely make you laugh, cringe and roll your eyes.

About the reviewer

Jessica has a novel buried on her hard-drive, another one in progress and several short stories published. She reviews books at www.writerslittlehelper.blogspot.com. She lives in Bedfordshire, UK.

"Vision on Reading" by Ineke Poultney

Hello there! We're still in the process of getting the site together before the festival commences this weekend, so to tide you over, here's a tremendous short essay submitted to us by Ineke Poultney. Enjoy! - Charles


Vision on Reading
 

I wonder if there is a school subject which causes more discussions and arguments among the politicians and academic elite of this country than "Reading".  I also wonder if there is a skill which allows more active and passive discrimination of people than "Reading" does.

I can read and understand literature and signage in more than one language so I am hardly illiterate.  Although I know people who have dyslexia I am not one of them.

So why do I feel discriminated against when it comes to one of my favourite hobbies?

I am seriously shortsighted - to the point of being Registered Partially Sighted! Being brought up to work around and hide my difficulties means that I don't look that much different from the rest of the population (no White Stick, Magnifying Glasses, etc) apart from the glasses on my nose.  This is unless you put me in a situation where I am forced to read what I would call "small print" or any other kind of reading material which my eyes cannot really cope with.  This is where life gets interesting - both for me and for anybody else who has to deal with me as a result.

If I had my way all books and newspapers would be printed two font sizes bigger.  Times New Roman 12 point is too small for me to read comfortably.

I also suffer from something called "Photophobia".  This means my eyes don't like bright lights - which makes any kind of PowerPoint presentation involving a white background torture for me to look at for a long period.  The white background shrinks the size of the font.  However, I am always amazed by the attitude of some people when I ask for a printed handout so I can follow the proceedings.  According to most people I have eyes in my head and glasses on my nose so I should be able to read the same as everyone else.  I wish I could.

There is another thing which people don't realise.  Colour plays a big part in reading as well.  Red writing hurts my eyes when I try to read it.  (There are certain other colours which have a slightly less painful effect too.)  Not everyone can read writing in all colours of the rainbow (just think of the colourblind).

There is one final thing which can make reading difficult - after considering your font size and colour (font and background) - how much information am I supposed to get from the page?  More to the point - how much of the information is immediately relevant to what I intend to do next?  There is no point in having a magazine with its price buried in a corner in a font which I need a microscope to read - especially when you have "sold" me the magazine by advertising your main feature in print large enough to be read by passing aircraft.

When it comes to reading (unless it is for pleasure) I want to be able to see, read, and comprehend what I am reading in the same amount of time as a literate person with normal sight and in the same way as them if possible.

With a little consideration EVERYBODY can enjoy reading without being made to feel like an outsider just because of their sight.

The views expressed in essays and reviews on everybodysreading.blogspot.com are those of their respective authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Everybody's Reading or its associated organisations.

Welcome!

Good afternoon, readers of Leicestershire!

My name is Charles Wheeler, and I've been handed the keys to a brand new component of Leicester's Everybody's Reading festival: Everybody's Reviewing! The aim of this blog is to build on Everybody's Reading's clear mission statement ("whatever it takes to get everybody reading!"), and go one step further - we want some feedback!

We want to know what books you loved, hated, or were ambivalent about. We want to know what gripped you,  unsettled you, confused you, or made you shut your book in the basement and drag a cupboard in front of the door so it couldn't get out. We want to know if your book inspired you to start a revolution, or had you weeping into its unrepentant pages. Whatever you thought, however any book made you feel, we want to know.

We'll also be reviewing events from the festival itself (27th September - 5th October), and we want to hear your thoughts too!

We'll be recruiting reviewers from across Leicester, the UK, and the world to review books, and we'd love to have you on board too. If you want to review an event from this year's festival or a book (any book, even if you read it years ago!), please get in touch. We're contactable at everybodysreviewing@gmail.com, via @everybodyreview on Twitter, or in the comments here.

We'll be updating this blog soon with a new look and more posts. Thanks for stopping by, and we hope to hear from some of you soon.

Charles