Apparently Life in a Day is coming out in US cinemas – er, ‘theaters’ – on 24th July. But the sad news is it seems to have been and gone from most UK cinemas…
All
A Book Surprise
You know me – it’s not unusual that I buy a book or two, now and then. The other day was one of those days – I spotted A Fairy Leapt Upon My Knee by Bea Howe mentioned in the Sylvia Townsend Warner / David Garnett letters, and it sounded like it might be useful for my thesis, as well as quite interesting. Bea Howe was a friend of Sylvia TW’s, as well as Bloomsbury enough to warrant this rather nice portrait by Duncan Grant:
Anyway, said book arrived. Or, rather I had to go to the Royal Mail Sorting Office and pay £1.97 to get it, because the people sending it hadn’t put enough stamps on the parcel. I was a little miffed about this, but soon didn’t mind AT ALL. Here is the book (and I’ve taken the opportunity to show you the new cushion I bought, called ‘Moggy’)
I opened the parcel whilst I walked down street, as one does, and flipped it open… this is what I saw:
Could this be true? Could this copy be from the library of Richard Garnett, the editor of the Garnett/Warner letters? Surely a coincidence?
And then my eyes flicked over to the right-hand side… and there it was:
OHMYGOODNESS. David Garnett, much beloved (to me) author of Lady into Fox had owned this book. The book I bought because it was mentioned in his published letters. I got home and checked the signature against his online – they matched.
Breathe, Simon, breathe.
Any books in your libraries that are exciting for similar reasons? The nearest I’ve had before was the copy of The Priory by Dorothy Whipple which I bought, and discovered upon arriving home held her signature. Fun!
Life in a Day
It’s time to take a step away from my normal book reviews, and turn attention towards film – I don’t write about films very often, because this isn’t stuck-in-a-box-office – and so when I do, it tends to be films which I’ve loved, and want to encourage other people to see. So it should come as no surprise that this review of Life in a Day is almost wholly positive – I think Life in a Day is one of the best films I’ve ever seen, and certainly the best non-fiction film. It’s almost a documentary, but not quite.
The producer, Ridley Scott, and his team asked people on YouTube to contribute a video about their life on Saturday 24th June 2010 [I mean July, thanks Liz!]. There were a few questions – what do you love? what do you fear? what’s in your pocket – but in general they were given free rein. And not just in the West, but around the world; 400 cameras were sent to the developing world. They received over 4500 hours of film, from 81,000 contributors, in 192 countries. This was edited to a few hundred submissions, and turned into the amazing film Life in a Day, which I saw yesterday and want to watch again, right away.
The film is vaguely both chronological and thematic. 24th July turned out to be a full moon, so there were some shots of that, and we move through people’s early morning routines – including a moving one of a toddler and his father in a hugely untidy apartment, I think maybe in Thailand. Towards the end of the film it was night again, but in between the pieces were cut together in more subtle ways, the only obvious editorial intrusions being when several people together answered what they fear (“ALL kinds of monsters), what they love (“My refrigerator – it just stays in the corner and keeps its mouth shut”), and what they have in their pockets (a lot of guns…)
What made Life in a Day so brilliant, and not mawkish as I’d feared, is that almost all the clips show rather than tell. I expected lots of grainy videos of British teenagers whining, but most of the contributions were collaborative – people filming other people, or taking the camera on a tour. Most felt quite professional too – or, at least, the people owned a tripod. Camera professionalism didn’t ruin spontaneity, or make the clips feel fake. Indeed, probably my favourite video went a bit awry – a man films his wife holding their baby twins, and is in the midst of quoting Walt Whitman when his wife interjects “This is so self-indulgent – I’ve been looking after them ALL day, will you please stop?” and all the while he is trying to remember whether the Whitman line has the word ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ in it.
For there are equal amounts of laughter and tears in this film, often provoked by the same clips. For instance – the man videoing the birth of his baby (moving) who faints in the process (amusing!) Alongside births (both human and giraffe) there are marriages, a proposal, and pregnancy – but the only deaths are seen at a distance, in the tragic events of the Love Parade festival in Germany. For some people and families 24th July 2010 was especially significant, and these moments are included – but the more interesting moments of the film are entirely normal – whatever that means for the people and cultures involved. A boy has his first shave in the West; African women sing while preparing food; in one of my other favourite moments, we get a quick glimpse of a balut cart in the Philippines – which brought back memories for me.
And then there is the triptych of US soldiers in Afghanistan; a war wife dressing herself up to Skype her husband there, and crumbling before the monitor once the conversation is over; an Afghani photo-journalist taking the camera around the Afghanistan that doesn’t make the news.
It sounds cliched, but Life in a Day really did make me marvel at how wonderfully and fearfully made humans are – how precious lives are, and how poignant the mundane can be. Going with a cynical mindset would ruin the film, but you don’t need to be as easily teary as I am to make this a moving and memorable experience. Some critics have said that the film is too upbeat, but I don’t think it could be called that – there are plenty of sad moments, among the happy and the hopeful. It’s also the most compelling film I’ve ever seen. The film is as varied as life is – and, as a stunningly ambitious experiment to capture the whole world’s life in a day, I think the film has succeeded as well as is humanly possible.
Watch the trailer below:
Song for a Sunday
Slightly unusual choice today, but I thought I’d share a clip someone uploaded to Youtube. Sian Reese Williams is an actress in a soap opera I watch called Emmerdale, and in fact her character Gennie (short for Genesis) is one of my favourites. But I didn’t realise she could sing too – here she is, performing The First Cut is the Deepest.
I have just been to see a film which is relevant to Youtube… will reveal all tomorrow.
Stuck-in-a-Book’s Weekend Miscellany
Happy weekend everyone, hope you’ve got something fun planned – and that you’re reading something good. It’s been a while since I did a Weekend Miscellany, and there’s no time like the present.
1.) The book – is A William Maxwell Portrait – a collection of personal essays written about William Maxwell and his writings. It was published in 2004, but arrived at my house this week. Does anybody know anything else about this?
2.) The link – is an amusing video called ‘book librarian’ sent to me by a colleague – enjoy!
3.) The blog posts – are a few book reviews you’ll probably want to see, if you haven’t already: Lyn on Fanny Burney’s Evelina, Nicola on Rebecca West’s The Fountain Overflows, and Tanya on Nicola Humble’s Culinary Pleasures.
Better World Books
Proper reviewy-type post soon, promise, but I had to share this. I ordered some books from Better World Books, and this is the confirmation email I got. I love it!
Hello Simon,
(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note – it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)
Holy canasta! It’s me… it’s me! I can’t believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I’ve got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can’t believe I’m leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already – the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge – so many memories. I don’t have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it’s time to see the world!
I can’t wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol’ brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?
I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I’ve had, I’m ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn’t take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I’ve found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.
Triple Choice Tuesday
I meant to mention this earlier, but better late than never – lovely Kim has very kindly invited me to take part in Triple Choice Tuesday – click here for more info, and my choices. Not a huge surprise to anyone familiar with my favourite books, but good fun nonetheless – while you’re there, check out previous Triple Choice Tuesdays – they include Stuck-in-a-Book favourites such as Danielle, Sakura, Annabel, Jackie, Lizzy, Kirsty, Claire, Simon S, Teresa, Stu, Kim herself, and loads of others too.
Patricia Takes a Bus Ride
As I predicted, I dove straight into the books by Kitty Vincent – I’ll write about them properly soon, maybe tomorrow, but I don’t think I can really do so without giving you a taste of her writing. So I thought I’d copy out the piece I love most so far – ‘Patricia Takes a Bus Ride’ from Gin & Ginger.
Patricia’s companion said something to the lady seated next him in the bus, but she regarded him with an icy stare. When they reached Patricia’s flat, and she was pouring out tea, she remonstrated with him.
“I shan’t take you out again,” she said, “if you don’t observe the proper etiquette. It has taken me years to learn it, but I am absolutely infallible now. I believe I could write a book on how to be a perfect lady in a bus.
“If you are travelling on top it is quite in order, I might almost say desirable, to enter into conversation with your neighbour. If it should happen to be raining a little light badinage is allowable as you snuggle beneath the cover, so thoughtfully provided by the company.
“If you are a woman you begin (I beg your pardon, you commence) the conversation by hoping that your umbrella is not objectionable, and the correct retort is, ‘Some weather for the ducks, what!’ Then you discuss the latest murder, or some interesting trifle of the description, being careful to keep the conversation within strictly suitable limits. It is advisable to preface your remarks with, ‘Well, what I always say is —‘ and you finish up by observing that ‘Murder is always a mistake; it comes out in the end.’
“You must never be original, because it may lead you into being daring, and to be daring on a bus is not good form.
“When you or he come to the parting of the ways, I advise you to murmur, ‘So long,’ or ‘Well, ta, awfully.’ I know that the latter remark is frightfully ‘bon ton’ because the most immaculate young man bade farewell to me in these terms, and he was so marvellously dressed that I am sure he was a dancing, partner or something really smart of that description.
* * *
“You should never speak to anyone inside a bus, as it violates every canon of deportment. If you should be forced to speak – if, for instance, you want to leap across the body of the person next you – you merely ejaculate ‘Pardon!’ This will have the desired effect.
“When the conductor asks for your fare, do, please, not enter into a long description of where you are going, it sounds excessively vulgar, and shows that you are not conversant with your world. If, for instance, you desire to alight at South Kensington, merely hold up one finger, and mutter, ‘South Ken.’ This places you, at once, as being ‘all right,’ while if you explain that you want to get to a square somewhere near the Underground, you are making yourself conspicuous.
“Many contretemps may occur in buses, and the way in which you meet them places you at once. If you are seated opposite a child who appears to be rapidly growing more and more ashen, you may assume that it is suffering from mal de bus. You must either pretend that, although you took a ticket to Piccadilly Circus, you recollect that you have pressing business at Hyde Park, and leap from the bus, or you must accept the consequences with sang-froid.
* * *
“Bus laws lay down that a child who is violently sick is ‘a poor little dear,’ and you are expected to behave accordingly, although in your heart of hearts you know that it is a gluttonous little pig. But if you so much as lift an eyebrow, child-lovers glare at you with muttered expressions of, ‘Well, I suppose she as a child once.’ It is useless and exhausting to explain that, although you were once a child, you were not a sick-in-a-bus one, and you merely become an object of universal execration.
“As one spends so many hours in buses, it is so important to learn how to behave,” Patricia said a little plaintively.
Numbers, Numbers
I occasionally have idle thoughts. And today’s idle thought was ‘I wonder if I can think of an author’s name of every length from 1 to 20 letters.’ Using the names under which they published, this is what I’ve come up with… fancy having a go? Can you fill in my gaps?
1. Q
2.
3.
4. Saki
5. Ouida
6. Sapper
7. A. A. Milne
8. E. F. Benson
9. Roald Dahl
10. Enid Blyton
11. E. M. Delafield
12. Lewis Carroll
13. Frances Burney
14. Charles Dickens
15. Richmal Crompton
16. Arthur Conan Doyle
17. Ivy Compton-Burnett
18. William Shakespeare
19.
20. Sylvia Townsend Warner
Well, that was worthwhile, wasn’t? Happy Monday!
The Sack of Hay
I’ve spent the past couple of days visiting Ludlow and Hay-on-Wye (the latter with my friend from Ludlow). The visit was a little spoilt by a (non-dangerous) car-related thing which was my fault, and very annoying. I tried not to let me stupidity cast a cloud over a day of book-filled fun, and it certainly didn’t diminish my book-buying capabilities: I came back 19 books the richer, and it includes some choices which are endearing eccentric, even for me. (Yes, I tend to be called eccentric on this blog, but I thought I’d throw in ‘endearing’ too… let’s run with it.) This photo is in Richard Booth Books – I want to move into their shop, please.
Jenny Wren – E.H. Young
The Vicar’s Daughter – E.H. Young
I’ve been very fortunate with stumbling across Young novels, and must have nearly all of them by now… I even aided and abetted Young novel buying – my friend bought William and The Misses Mallett.
Through a Glass Darkly: the life of Patrick Hamilton – Nigel Jones
A biography of my favourite author du jour, for when I finally get around reading the other Hamilton novels I’ve been hoarding.
The Letters of Evelyn Waugh – ed. Mark Amory
Had my eye of this book for a while, and it was less than a third of the cover price – hurrah!
The Corner That Held Them – Sylvia Townsend Warner
I was hoping to find some STW short stories in Hay, and although I didn’t manage to, I did manage to get another of her novels.
Jill – Philip Larkin
My friend Clare loves this, so I’ve kept an eye out for a while. Plus it has a nice cover of someone on a bicycle.
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray – Arthur Wing Pinero
Pinero’s plays are bizarrely difficult to find in bookshops, given how influential he was, so I snapped up this one.
The Victorian Chaise-Longue – Marghanita Laski
Not the Persephone edition (which I read from the library a while ago) but an old Penguin – fancied having this on the shelf.
The Swan in the Evening – Rosamond Lehmann
Autobiographical fragment of an author I really *will* read one day…
Safety Pins – Christopher Morley
A hopefully amusing collection of essays by the author of Parnassus on Wheels – my housemate Debs has already stolen it from me, and read out excerpts which made me guffaw.
Shaving Through The Blitz – G.W. Stonier
Great title! This looks like it might be akin to ‘Mr. Miniver’, had that book existed.
The Ballad of Peckham Rye – Muriel Spark
I just keep buying those Spark books… this one has the advantage that my supervisor told me to read it, and fools me into thinking that the trip to Hay was essentially study.
A Reckoning – May Sarton
Blame Thomas.
Messages from My Father – Calvin Trillin
See above.
A Baker’s Dozen – Llewelyn Powys
I have read around the Powys family, and thought I’d read a little more – Llewelyn Powys’ father (and thus presumably Littelton’s, T.F.’s and John Cowper’s) was a vicar in Montacute – a beautiful village near our home in Somerset – and this little book is a collection of essay memories about his childhood.
The Shakespeare Wallah – Geoffrey Kendal
I didn’t realise Felicity Kendal’s father had written this book – I loved her autobiography/biography of him White Cargo, and this book will be a fantastic complementary read.
The Island of the Colorblind – Oliver Sacks
The other day I asked people on Facebook to recommend Oliver Sacks titles, since I found The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat fascinating. I don’t think anyone mentioned this, but it looks really interesting… does what it says on the tin.
…and now for my favourite two finds of the day…
Gin & Ginger – Lady Kitty Vincent
Lipstick – Lady Kitty Vincent
These books, from 1927 and 1925, are silly, comic sketches in the vein of Joyce Dennys’ lighter books – illustrated with fun pictures by ‘Fish’. I’d never heard of them before, but they’re irresistible. Exactly the sort of thing I lap up. Lipstick starts “No, my dear, I cannot say that I really know the Bishop of Runnymede”. I think these will go straight to the top of my pile… can’t wait.
