Books about journeys
Aug. 16th, 2020 04:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12For some reason, I spent most of the first half of today feeling jittery and unfocused, which led to most of the morning disappearing in a blur of idle scrolling through social media, and watching random Youtube videos. This afternoon, however, I perked up enough for some reading.
One of the books I read was Voyage, by Adèle Geras. Over the years, I've been slowly buying up secondhand copies of the out-of-print books that I borrowed repeatedly from the public library and reread hundreds of times as a child. Voyage is one such book. It probably tells you all you need to know about me as a ten-year-old that one of my most reread books was a work of historical fiction following the mainly Jewish passengers on a ship bound for the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century. I've read quite a few interviews with children's authors who say it is now impossible to convince publishers to buy children's historical fiction books, and I think this is really tragic. This genre of fiction was probably my favourite when I was growing up, and although a lot of the books I read have probably dated badly, they certainly kindled a love of history that has remained throughout my life.
Voyage itself held up well. It's a very slender book — just over 130 pages long — and reading it feels like walking through an art gallery, stopping before detailed portraits of each individual character. In the few weeks the characters are on board the boat, they experience the full range of human experience — from births, to deaths, and the kindling of new relationships and engagements. Geras is really good at letting a few sentences leave a powerful impression, and in the hundred or so pages, we get a vivid picture of life on board the ship, and the hopes, fears and dreams of all the migrants. If anyone is tempted to read the book, I should probably mention a content note: given the context, it goes without saying that most of the characters are fleeing really horrific antisemitic violence.
I'm now about two-thirds of the way through Mary Robinette Kowal's second Lady Astronauts book, in which an international group of astronauts in the 1960s is undertaking the first mission to Mars. (The premise of the series is that an asteroid hitting Earth in the 1950s accelerated climate change, and therefore the space programme.) I enjoyed the same things about this book that I liked in the first: the focus on the daily grind of unflashy, unglamorous work (everything from maths to laundry and cleaning toilets) necessary to ensure the mission runs smoothly. The same things that irritated me about the first book irritated me here: the non-American characters feel like rather superficial caricatures, and the protagonist has to be almost debilitatingly clueless and unperceptive about other people's motives, feelings, and the reasoning behind their actions. Still, it's a fairly light and fast-moving book, so I imagine I'll finish it quickly.
And now, a meme that has been doing the rounds of my circle. I last sawmisbegotten answering its questions.
1. Are you named after anyone?
No. People in my family don't name children after relatives — the only instance I can think of is one of my cousins, whose middle name is the same as our great-grandmother's.
2. When was the last time you cried?
I can remember it really clearly. It was in the early weeks after the pandemic had hit Europe, and I had seen the news that Spain's funeral parlours were unable to keep up with the scale of burials, and the military had been called in and was transporting coffins in huge military vehicles. I saw this news online and just basically collapsed in screaming, hyperventilating sobs.
3. Do you like your handwriting?
Yes! I've always had very neat handwriting (to the extent that teachers used to hold my exercise books up and tell other students to write like me — not because they thought neat handwriting meant good quality work, but because it made it easier for them to read our exam papers). This is a recent photo of my handwriting, although because it was just a shopping list I wasn't making much effort.
4. What is your favourite lunch meat?
I assume this means deli meats? I don't like the stuff unless it's really expensive good quality versions from Italian or Spanish grocery stores, and therefore eat it really rarely. Probably my favourites are proscuitto, and the kind of salami that has fennel seeds in it.
5. Do you have children?
No.
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
I don't really know how to answer this? I can't look inside other people's minds and see how they perceive me and my behaviour. I think it would depend on if they like very earnest, truthful people who find it hard to keep secrets (or to avoid sharing the contents of their personal, private thoughts immediately and at every opportunity). I find it hard to be friends with people who are very private, and who don't keep their emotions very close to the surface (I genuinely don't know how to relate to them or even have face-to-face conversations) — and I would imagine people like that would find it difficult to be friends with me.
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
See the answer to number 6: do you really think so, after what I've just said about myself?
8. Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes, although I don't have my adenoids.
9. Would you bungee jump?
Absolutely definitely never ever ever. (I have a theory about the popularity of these kinds of extreme/adventure sports among the wealthy and privileged: if people lived with more immediate and constant fears for their lives and safety, they would never dream of wanting to undertake such activities.)
10. What is your favourite cereal?
I ... really dislike cereal of all kinds. I can just about tolerate handmade granola if I have to, but generally I'll eat anything other than cereal for breakfast.
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
I have really narrow ankles, so I have to tie laced shoes very tightly or my feet slip around. Therefore, if I didn't untie the laces, it would be impossible to take the shoes off.
12. Do you think you're strong?
I am physically strong in the sense of having a high pain threshold and can generally push through a lot of pain, discomfort or exhaustion in terms of both exercise and in the normal activities of daily life. I'm quite a weepy, emotional and sensitive person, so I'm not sure I'd say I'm psychologically strong — although I am extremely self-aware, and therefore have built up a lifetime of strategies for avoiding situations that are likely to make me emotional in public or in front of people whom it would upset/humiliate me.
13. What is your favourite flavor of ice cream?
I like all the nut flavours of gelato: hazelnut, pistachio, almond, walnut.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
Physically I couldn't really say, unless it's something very outlandish like elaborate clothing or an 'unnatural' hair colour. The next thing I tend to notice (unless it's a very brief encounter, like passing someone in a street or on public transport) is how comfortable they are interacting with other people, and, if not, how their discomfort manifests itself.
15. Red or pink?
I like them both!
16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself?
My extreme aversion to conflict, and the consequences thereof.
17. What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
I'm wearing grey tracksuit pants. I don't wear shoes inside, so I'm not wearing any at the moment.
18. What was the last thing you ate?
Half a chocolate brownie.
19. What are you listening to right now?
The sound of myself typing, Matthias turning the pages of his book, and the storm outside.
20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Obviously green!
21. Favourite smell?
Tomatoes on tomato plants, fresh coffee being made in a good cafe, garlic, lime and coriander, the smell of the Christmas pudding my mother makes, eucalyptus trees in the hot Australian summer sun, fresh sheets on a bed after they've been dried outside on the washing line, the smell of the sea when waves lash against the beach/cliffs/rocks, gardenia in perfume, the smell of a wood fire.
22. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
I talked to my mother and sister on FaceTime yesterday.
23. Favourite sport to watch?
Gymnastics.
24. Favourite band?
Massive Attack.
25. Do you wear contacts?
No, nor glasses.
26. Favourite food?
How on Earth could I narrow this down? It would be easier to say what foods I don't like.
27. Scary movies or happy endings?
I'm a fearful wimp, so most scary movies are right out for me.
28. Last movie you watched?
I rewatched Howl's Moving Castle on Netflix.
29. What color shirt are you wearing?
Grey.
30. Summer or winter?
Unless I can permanently spend the summer swimming outdoors and doing no work at all, always, always winter.
31. Hugs or kisses?
Both?
32. Favourite dessert?
I generally find cake and things like that too heavy. Probably my favourite dessert is gelato.
33. Favourite drink?
For hot drink, competently made flat white coffee made with an espresso machine in a cafe. For tea, loose leaf Darjeerling tea with no milk. For alcoholic drink, champagne. For relatively affordable wine, Brokenwood semillon. For mixed alcoholic drink, gin and tonic. For water, chilled sparkling mineral water from a glass bottle.
34. Favourite hobby?
Reading, being in fandom, swimming, walking, gardening.
35. What book are you reading?
See above, earlier in this post.
36. What is on your mouse pad?
What is this, 1995?
37. What did you last watch on TV?
Part six of an eight-part nature documentary about the Equator.
38. Favourite sound?
Babies making noises that aren't crying, small children talking, the song of Australian magpies. The sound of the sea.
39. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
I kind of don't really care about either?
40. What is the farthest you have been from home?
It depends where 'home' is. If you think of home as 'where I grew up,' (i.e. Australia), that would be Iceland. If you think of 'home' as being 'where I live now, and where I consider my current home to be,' (i.e. the UK), that would be New Zealand. But I visited Iceland when I was living in the UK, and New Zealand when I was a child in Australia, so each of those trips did not involve travelling a huge distance at the time.
41. Do you have a special talent?
Ah, my very mild superpower! I am very, very good at getting a seat on crowded trains, public transport etc.
42. Where were you born?
New York in the US. I haven't lived in the US since I was two years old, though, and I'm the only American citizen in my family (and only due to the US's frankly weird birthright citizenship law).
One of the books I read was Voyage, by Adèle Geras. Over the years, I've been slowly buying up secondhand copies of the out-of-print books that I borrowed repeatedly from the public library and reread hundreds of times as a child. Voyage is one such book. It probably tells you all you need to know about me as a ten-year-old that one of my most reread books was a work of historical fiction following the mainly Jewish passengers on a ship bound for the United States in the first decade of the twentieth century. I've read quite a few interviews with children's authors who say it is now impossible to convince publishers to buy children's historical fiction books, and I think this is really tragic. This genre of fiction was probably my favourite when I was growing up, and although a lot of the books I read have probably dated badly, they certainly kindled a love of history that has remained throughout my life.
Voyage itself held up well. It's a very slender book — just over 130 pages long — and reading it feels like walking through an art gallery, stopping before detailed portraits of each individual character. In the few weeks the characters are on board the boat, they experience the full range of human experience — from births, to deaths, and the kindling of new relationships and engagements. Geras is really good at letting a few sentences leave a powerful impression, and in the hundred or so pages, we get a vivid picture of life on board the ship, and the hopes, fears and dreams of all the migrants. If anyone is tempted to read the book, I should probably mention a content note: given the context, it goes without saying that most of the characters are fleeing really horrific antisemitic violence.
I'm now about two-thirds of the way through Mary Robinette Kowal's second Lady Astronauts book, in which an international group of astronauts in the 1960s is undertaking the first mission to Mars. (The premise of the series is that an asteroid hitting Earth in the 1950s accelerated climate change, and therefore the space programme.) I enjoyed the same things about this book that I liked in the first: the focus on the daily grind of unflashy, unglamorous work (everything from maths to laundry and cleaning toilets) necessary to ensure the mission runs smoothly. The same things that irritated me about the first book irritated me here: the non-American characters feel like rather superficial caricatures, and the protagonist has to be almost debilitatingly clueless and unperceptive about other people's motives, feelings, and the reasoning behind their actions. Still, it's a fairly light and fast-moving book, so I imagine I'll finish it quickly.
And now, a meme that has been doing the rounds of my circle. I last saw
misbegotten answering its questions.1. Are you named after anyone?
No. People in my family don't name children after relatives — the only instance I can think of is one of my cousins, whose middle name is the same as our great-grandmother's.
2. When was the last time you cried?
I can remember it really clearly. It was in the early weeks after the pandemic had hit Europe, and I had seen the news that Spain's funeral parlours were unable to keep up with the scale of burials, and the military had been called in and was transporting coffins in huge military vehicles. I saw this news online and just basically collapsed in screaming, hyperventilating sobs.
3. Do you like your handwriting?
Yes! I've always had very neat handwriting (to the extent that teachers used to hold my exercise books up and tell other students to write like me — not because they thought neat handwriting meant good quality work, but because it made it easier for them to read our exam papers). This is a recent photo of my handwriting, although because it was just a shopping list I wasn't making much effort.
4. What is your favourite lunch meat?
I assume this means deli meats? I don't like the stuff unless it's really expensive good quality versions from Italian or Spanish grocery stores, and therefore eat it really rarely. Probably my favourites are proscuitto, and the kind of salami that has fennel seeds in it.
5. Do you have children?
No.
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
I don't really know how to answer this? I can't look inside other people's minds and see how they perceive me and my behaviour. I think it would depend on if they like very earnest, truthful people who find it hard to keep secrets (or to avoid sharing the contents of their personal, private thoughts immediately and at every opportunity). I find it hard to be friends with people who are very private, and who don't keep their emotions very close to the surface (I genuinely don't know how to relate to them or even have face-to-face conversations) — and I would imagine people like that would find it difficult to be friends with me.
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
See the answer to number 6: do you really think so, after what I've just said about myself?
8. Do you still have your tonsils?
Yes, although I don't have my adenoids.
9. Would you bungee jump?
Absolutely definitely never ever ever. (I have a theory about the popularity of these kinds of extreme/adventure sports among the wealthy and privileged: if people lived with more immediate and constant fears for their lives and safety, they would never dream of wanting to undertake such activities.)
10. What is your favourite cereal?
I ... really dislike cereal of all kinds. I can just about tolerate handmade granola if I have to, but generally I'll eat anything other than cereal for breakfast.
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
I have really narrow ankles, so I have to tie laced shoes very tightly or my feet slip around. Therefore, if I didn't untie the laces, it would be impossible to take the shoes off.
12. Do you think you're strong?
I am physically strong in the sense of having a high pain threshold and can generally push through a lot of pain, discomfort or exhaustion in terms of both exercise and in the normal activities of daily life. I'm quite a weepy, emotional and sensitive person, so I'm not sure I'd say I'm psychologically strong — although I am extremely self-aware, and therefore have built up a lifetime of strategies for avoiding situations that are likely to make me emotional in public or in front of people whom it would upset/humiliate me.
13. What is your favourite flavor of ice cream?
I like all the nut flavours of gelato: hazelnut, pistachio, almond, walnut.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people?
Physically I couldn't really say, unless it's something very outlandish like elaborate clothing or an 'unnatural' hair colour. The next thing I tend to notice (unless it's a very brief encounter, like passing someone in a street or on public transport) is how comfortable they are interacting with other people, and, if not, how their discomfort manifests itself.
15. Red or pink?
I like them both!
16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself?
My extreme aversion to conflict, and the consequences thereof.
17. What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
I'm wearing grey tracksuit pants. I don't wear shoes inside, so I'm not wearing any at the moment.
18. What was the last thing you ate?
Half a chocolate brownie.
19. What are you listening to right now?
The sound of myself typing, Matthias turning the pages of his book, and the storm outside.
20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Obviously green!
21. Favourite smell?
Tomatoes on tomato plants, fresh coffee being made in a good cafe, garlic, lime and coriander, the smell of the Christmas pudding my mother makes, eucalyptus trees in the hot Australian summer sun, fresh sheets on a bed after they've been dried outside on the washing line, the smell of the sea when waves lash against the beach/cliffs/rocks, gardenia in perfume, the smell of a wood fire.
22. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
I talked to my mother and sister on FaceTime yesterday.
23. Favourite sport to watch?
Gymnastics.
24. Favourite band?
Massive Attack.
25. Do you wear contacts?
No, nor glasses.
26. Favourite food?
How on Earth could I narrow this down? It would be easier to say what foods I don't like.
27. Scary movies or happy endings?
I'm a fearful wimp, so most scary movies are right out for me.
28. Last movie you watched?
I rewatched Howl's Moving Castle on Netflix.
29. What color shirt are you wearing?
Grey.
30. Summer or winter?
Unless I can permanently spend the summer swimming outdoors and doing no work at all, always, always winter.
31. Hugs or kisses?
Both?
32. Favourite dessert?
I generally find cake and things like that too heavy. Probably my favourite dessert is gelato.
33. Favourite drink?
For hot drink, competently made flat white coffee made with an espresso machine in a cafe. For tea, loose leaf Darjeerling tea with no milk. For alcoholic drink, champagne. For relatively affordable wine, Brokenwood semillon. For mixed alcoholic drink, gin and tonic. For water, chilled sparkling mineral water from a glass bottle.
34. Favourite hobby?
Reading, being in fandom, swimming, walking, gardening.
35. What book are you reading?
See above, earlier in this post.
36. What is on your mouse pad?
What is this, 1995?
37. What did you last watch on TV?
Part six of an eight-part nature documentary about the Equator.
38. Favourite sound?
Babies making noises that aren't crying, small children talking, the song of Australian magpies. The sound of the sea.
39. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
I kind of don't really care about either?
40. What is the farthest you have been from home?
It depends where 'home' is. If you think of home as 'where I grew up,' (i.e. Australia), that would be Iceland. If you think of 'home' as being 'where I live now, and where I consider my current home to be,' (i.e. the UK), that would be New Zealand. But I visited Iceland when I was living in the UK, and New Zealand when I was a child in Australia, so each of those trips did not involve travelling a huge distance at the time.
41. Do you have a special talent?
Ah, my very mild superpower! I am very, very good at getting a seat on crowded trains, public transport etc.
42. Where were you born?
New York in the US. I haven't lived in the US since I was two years old, though, and I'm the only American citizen in my family (and only due to the US's frankly weird birthright citizenship law).