Stikkord: non-fiction

London – Tor Åge Bringsværd

Mirthful 2 Comments

london_bringsværdNå har jeg i alle fall lest den ene London-boka. Siste halvpart av Rutherfurd får bli med på turen (ja, jeg har begått bokmord, jeg har splittet den tjukke paperback’en i to med papirkniv). Men Bringsværd hadde jeg jo lånt på biblioteket, så han får bli igjen hjemme (hel og fin).

Det var et hyggelig gjensyn. Dette er ikke en reiseguide, akkurat, selv om du sikkert kan legge opp en tur helt og holdent etter Bringsværds anbefalinger. Her er anekdoter, pubanbefalinger og historieforelesninger i et herlig sammensurium, akkurat slik jeg liker det. Og nå GLEDER jeg meg til å sitte på pub i London og bare være der. Ok, det gledet jeg meg vel til uansett, men jeg gleder meg enda mer nå. Kanskje kommer jeg til å føle at Tor Åge Bringsværd er med meg i ånden, så kan vi prate litt om Brumm og om Themsen og slikt mens vi sitter der. Det blir bra.

En dag her i Kew Gardens er en glitrende avkobling – selv for dem som ikke tror de er interessert i hager … for det å sitte ved et utebord ved Pavillion Restaurant (avmerket med nr 31 på gratiskartet du får ved inngangen), drikke kaffe eller hva vet vel jeg, se barn som leker på gresset under skyggefulle trær – og innimellom la øynene hvile på en gigantisk kinesisk pagode som ikke har noen som helst dypere mening, men bare er satt der fordi det passet seg slik … jeg mener, mye kan man si om en slik dag, men bortkastet er den i hvert fall ikke!

(s. 259)

The Possessed – Elif Batuman

Mirthful 1 Comment

batumanI became aware of Elif Batuman’s book The Possessed – Adventures with Russian Books and the People who Read Them through Swedish bookblogs, as it was apparently translated to Swedish last year. It sounded like my sort of book, so I thought I might as well order it.

Elif Batuman seems, judging from this book, to be my kind of person. Her conclusion –  «If I could start over today, I would choose literature again. If the answers exist in the world or in the universe, I still think that’s where we’re going to find them.» – naturally appeals to an incurable bibliophile. For myself, though, I think I might choose differently as far as study goes, I realised during my ‘academic career’ that I’m a reader, first and foremost, not an interpreter, in the academic sense. I care about the story and the language and the structure and the «truth» of literature, but I do not want to spend my life writing essays about it. Even keeping up this blog frequently seems like too much effort, in terms of writing something more than «I read this and it was good/bad/indifferent».

Still, reading about Batuman’s adventures was pleasant. And since I’ve only read a very little Russian literature, I learnt quite a bit along the way, too.

Moranthology – Caitlin Moran

Mirthful 1 Comment

moranthologyHaving loved Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman, the only logical consequense was to read Moranthology as soon as I got my hands on it. Moranthology is an anthology, with comments, of selected columns Moran has written for The Times, and the subjects range from big hair and gay moon landings to the welfare state and the eurozone.

As with How to be a Woman, Moran is both profound and side-achingly funny, quite frequently at the same time. Her explanation of why she loves to pay tax is spot on, as is the piece on why a pregnancy, especially an unwanted one, is not ‘a gift’.

In short, I loved it. Read it and learn. Or laugh. Or, even better, both.

Used and Rare – Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

Mirthful 1 Comment

goldstone_usedI don’t know what prompted me to want to reread Used and Rare (again), but Västmanländskans challenge to read books-about-books in preparation for World Book Day pushed me to actually take it down.

As I’ve only ever blogged about this book on the occasion of another reread, my comment was rather short, and I think it deserves better, as it really is an excellent book.

We follow the authors through their discovery of book-collecting – as in buying specific editions of books rather than just amassing reading copies. The whole «adventure» starts because they challenge each other to spend no more than 20 dollars on birthday presents. One of them decides to get the other a nice hardback copy of War and Peace, which turns out to be pretty impossible without hitting the used book stores. The successful hunt for War and Peace make them realise they can get nicer, more readable copies of books they want to own used than new, and they set out to replace some of their paperbacks with hardbacks. However, and this is eerily familiar, with books – when you’re a bit of a bibliophile – one thing tends to lead to another. The first major hurdle is reachen when they find a copy of Orwell’s 1984:

We took the book off the shelf and opened the cover. «1st US,» it read. «$100.»
We looked it over. It seemed to be in excellent condition.
«Don’t we have this?»
«I don’t think so. Maybe in paperback.»
«Maybe.» We were fondling the book now. «Too bad. This is a great book. You’ve read it, haven’t you?»
«In high school.»
«You should read it again. You can’t appreciate it in high school.»
«It’s a hundred dollars.»
«I know. We can’t buy a hundred-dollar book. It’s out of the question. Let’s just put it back.»
«Right.» The book had not left our hands.
«Too bad. It’s a great book. It’s probably a good deal. Orwell certainly won’t drop in value.»
«No, Orwell won’t.»
«That’s the good thing about firsts. You know they won’t drop in value.»
«That’s true.» As if we had any idea at all of what we were talking about.
«That means that if we wait it will only go up in value.»
«So we’re probably actually saving money if we buy it now.»

(p. 72) Along which I’ve noted in the margin: «Rings a bell.»

On the following page, they take their purchases to the desk, and the owner starts noting down the prices:

…$8.95, $5.00, $6.50. Then he came to Nineteen Eighty-four.

He stopped and looked up. «What exactly do you collect?» he asked.

Up until that moment, we had never felt like we «collected» anything. We were just two people who bought used books.

«Uh, we only buy books we like to read.»

«How unusual.»

One of the reasons I like this book is, I suppose, that my own book-collecting started in much the same way. I remember trying to get hold of The Colour Purple in hardback and realising the only way I could do that was by buying it second-hand. This was way back when, the internet barely existed (Mosaic – a browser showing pictures inline – was hot news), and Norwegian used book stores are not exactly noted for their excellent selection of books in English. I had to settle for The Colour Purple in paperback – I needed it for a course – but over the next few years I increasingly tried to find used hardbacks of books I wanted to own (which, to be honest, was pretty much every book I needed to read).

So the Goldstone’s journey into the bookworld is familiar (though I envy them their local selection of bookshops). The book also serves as a bit of a primer (though not in the dry language of most primers) on book collecting terms and common mistakes. If you’re new to the game you can learn along with the authors, and even if you’re not you’re likely to learn something new.

I also like the way the story is told in the plural «we». It is only very occasionally possible to tell whether it is Lawrence or Nancy speaking, as in the dialogue above.

On the whole then: I like it.

Bokbloggsjerka: Fagbøker

Mirthful 2 Comments

Nå er det lenge siden sist jeg deltok i bokbloggsjerka, men i dag passet det bra. Annika spør:

Läser du facklitteratur ibland och vad är det i så fall som intresserar dig?

Og det gjør jeg jo! Mest reisebeskrivelser, men ellers er jeg ganske altetende når det gjelder populærvitenskapelige bøker og jeg kaster meg alltid over «non-fiction»-hyllene når jeg kommer inn i en engelskspråklig bokhandel.

Men vi snakker altså den typen fagbøker som består hovedsakelig av tekst, er relativt lettlest og kommer ut i pocket. Tunge, tjukke bøker av typen man må lese for å gå opp til eksamen i et fag leser jeg vel ikke akkurat så ofte. En og annen databok blir det, man må jo holde seg litt oppdatert i forbindelse med jobben, men særdeles få.

For å se noe av det jeg har lest kan du kikke under tag’en «non-fiction» her på bloggen.

The Great Escape – Monty Halls

Mirthful 1 Comment

hallsAny book about Scotland is immediately interesting to me, so I didn’t need to think long about purchasing Monty Halls’ The Great Escape: Adventures on the Wild West Coast when I came across it.

The premise is fairly straight-foreward: Monty Halls goes off to the west of Scotland to live «like a crofter» for six months. He finds an old bothy to fix up – renting it from the estate it belongs to – and sets about his task with good cheer. What ensues are plenty of stories involving the locals, the livestock he aquires, the gardening he attempts, and – not least – Scotland’s nature, both inanimate and very much alive. The tales are told with self-deprecating humour and a love of the country and people which is almost palpable, and makes for pleasant reading.

The congers have a reputation for ferocity that is based entirely on its thrashing death troes on the deck of many a fishing vessel. They react in much the same way you or I would if dragged from our homes and clubbed to death, being somewhat miffed by the process.

Indeed.

My one gripe, if gripe it can be called, is that – as Monty Halls himself points out – to really test his mettle as a crofter he should have spent the winter months in the bothy. As it is, he skims the cream, so to say (not to suggest it’s some sort of luxury holiday – it ain’t). As nice as it is to read about the six months sojourn, the book would have been more interesting had he extended his stay to include the next six months as well.

Not that I’d want to do so myself, I’m far too fond of my creature comforts, but then the whole point of books like these is surely to live vicariously through someone else?

Still, a very pleasant and suitably informative read, making me look forward to my next trip to Scotland, whenever that will be.

How to be a Woman – Caitlin Moran

Mirthful 1 Comment

moranLet me just start off by saying this book should probably be mandatory reading for all teenage girls – and it wouldn’t exactly hurt if the boys read it too. In fact, I’m considering purchasing a couple of copies for the library at the lass’ school, and don’t be surprised if I start giving away copies to friends’ daugthers.

Which is not to say you don’t need to read this book if you’re past your teens. Every woman of every age could do with reading it, and you men? If you are really interested in «understanding women» then this book will definitely help.

Now then:

Caitlin Moran has written something which is a cross between an authobiography, a feminist pamphlet, a stand-up comic’s script and a rant. And she has done it in such an eminently readable way that reading it is pure, unalloyed pleasure.

I have a rule of thumb that allows me to judge – when time is pressing, and one needs to make a snap judgement – whether some sexist bullshit is afoot. Obviously it’s not 100 per cent infallible but,  by and large, it definitely points you in the right direction.

And it’s asking this question: ‘ Are the men doing it? Are the men worrying about this as well? Is this taking up the men’s time? Are the men told not to do this, as ‘it’s letting the side down’? Are the men having to write bloody books about this exasperating, retarded, time-wasting bullshit? Is this making Jeremy Clarkson feel insecure?’

Almost always the answer is ‘No. The boys are not being told they have to be a certain way. They’re just getting on with stuff.’

Men are not being informed that they are opressing other men with their comments. It is presumed that men can handle perfectly well the idea of other men bitching about them. I think, on this basis, we can presume women can cope with other women being bitchy about them, too.

Now, there are things Caitlin Moran says I don’t agree with, but not very many. I’m with her on the high heels (just don’t), I’m with her on the muff (and pretty much on the hairyness issue altogether) and I think she has a pretty shrewd analysis on why a lot of women overeat as an addiction, just to mention a few.

In short, read it!

For more quotes and Morany goodness in general, check out Fuck yeah Caitlin Moran on Tumblr.

And you can follow Caitlin Moran on Twitter, too: @caitlinmoran.

Smakebit på søndag: Made in America

Mirthful 7 Comments

madeinamericaJeg tar nok en pause fra U- og leser litt i Bill Brysons Made in America, om hvordan amerikansk engelsk utviklet seg til å bli slik det ble. I dag skal jeg være så orginal at jeg serverer en fotnote som smakebit:

Why the -s termination rose to prominence is something of a mystery. It came from northern England, a region that had, and still has, many dialectal differences from the more populous south, none other of which has ever had the slightest influence on the speech of London and its environs. Why the inhabitants of southern England suddenly began to show a special regard for the form in the late sixteenth century is unknown.

(side 25) Språk er gøy.

Flere smakebiter finner du hos Flukten fra virkeligheten.

Bankstræde nr. 0 – Einar Már Guðmundsson

Mirthful 2 Comments

bankstrædeJeg kjøpte Bankstræde nr. 0 på Bogforum i København, en av få bøker jeg kjøpte i Danmark. Den blir derfor min islandske lesing i desember, selv om det ikke er en roman, men snarere en samling essays.

Jeg leste et par romaner av Einar Már Guðmundsson for over ti år siden, og likte dem svært godt. Denne boka ga meg egentlig bare mer blod på tann, så det blir nok noe gjenlesing og noe nylesing av hans senere romaner framover.

Jeg liker nemlig Einar Már Guðmundssons måte å skrive på. I Bankstræde nr. 0 spenner han vidt og bredt når han tar for seg bankkrisen på Island. Han sveiper innom islandsk litteratur og myte og studentpolitikk på 70-tallet og gir Det internasjonale valutafond det glatte lag (noe jeg har en viss forståelse for). Einar mener, og jeg har ingen problemer med å være enig, at det er blodig urettferdig at det islandske folk skal betale for gildet når islandske finansfolk i samarbeid med resten av verdens finansmiljø har skakkjørt sin og sine investorers økonomi så til de grader som de har gjort. At det ikke bare er islendingene som oppfatter dette som urimelig ser vi jo i den senere tid med Occupy-bevegelsen, som startet med Occupy Wall Street, men som har spredd seg til de fleste verdenshjørner. Vanlige folk over hele verden finner det like urimelig som islendingene at finansfyrstene fortsatt sitter i sine palass mens pengene som måtte til for å redde bankene trekkes fra statskassen og derfor nærmest rett fra lommene dine og mine.

Som Einar Már Guðmundsson skriver:

Rapporten fra Altingets Undersøgelseskommission viser, hvordan bankerne blev tømt indefra, og hvem der gjorde det, nemlig de, der fik bankerne lige i hånden og sagde, at de bar så stort et ansvar, men ikke desto mindre slipper for at bære noget ansvar.

Nettopp der ligger jo urimeligheten. Dersom man skal godta skyhøye lederlønninger og bonuser i finansbransjen fordi «banksjefene» sitter med et slikt stort ansvar, må det da være lov å forlange at de samme lederne faktisk stilles til ansvar når boblen de selv har konstruert sprekker? At de i det minste får en bot når tallene er røde tilsvarende det de kunne fått i bonus hadde tallene vært svarte? Jeg forstår selvsagt at det ikke er så lett å omsette en slik teori til praksis, men tingenes nåværende tilstand strider i alle fall mot min rettferdighetssans, og tilsynelatende er jeg ikke alene.

Selv om jeg altså liker boka, lurer jeg på om den først og fremst fungerer som preken til menigheten. Einar Már Guðmundsson kommer med mange gode poenger og mange interessante anekdoter, men som tekst virker det hele ganske løselig konstruert, og jeg føler at gjennomslagskraften argumentene kunne ha hatt drukner litt i alle «à proposene». Samtidig er alle sidesporene noe av det som gjør boka underholdende og verdt å lese, så jeg klager vel ikke.

Og Det internasjonale valutafond? Joda: 

De siger, at vi bliver Nordens Cuba, hvis ikke vi accepterer dette. Men burde vi så ikke tilføje: Vi bliver Nordens Haiti, hvis vi accepterer det. Dér gik man ind på alle kravene fra Den Internationale Valutafond, og nu hersker der hungersnød.

Bluestockings – Jane Robinson

Mirthful 2 Comments

bluestockingsBluestockings – The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education by Jane Robinson came home with me from one of my browsing trips in a proper bookshop (so, somewhere in Britain) and surfaced in the recent bout of putting books on shelves. And I’m sure glad it did.

As a female and a graduate I am profoundly grateful to the women who first breached the barricades of higher education a century and a half ago. And to those who, undaunted by jeers, ridicule, hostility and pig-headedness perservered so that I and my contemporaries could take it for granted that if we wanted to go to university our sex, at least, would not stop us.

Jane Robinson has assembled an impressive amount of personal anecdotes from interviews, letters and diaries and woven them in with officially recorded dates and facts to provide a consise and highly readable history of women’s entry into higher education.

«There is a wonderful exhilaration about getting a degree. It is something more than the degree itself. It feels like coming into an inheritance of tradition,» quotes Robinson from a female graduate of Manchester in 1926. And it does. At least it did for me, and reading this book made me relive my own years at university and, particularly, my own graduation from Manchester (did you hear me cry: «Oh, sister!»?) and to reflect.

Read this book, especially if you also happen to be female and a graduate. It would also be the perfect gift for any young woman of your acquaintance going away to university for the first time, as it is not only designed to give her a sense of history but also to instill love of learning for learning’s sake, and to remind her to enjoy herself.  No mean thing.