by Brian Toal
Wintering by Katherine May
‘Wintering’ is a wonderful book. Winter is a wonderful time. If you don’t appreciate winter and all it has to offer, you will by the time you finish this book.
May suffered a series of ‘winters’ in her life — she had to give up her job as a creative writing lecturer, she took her child out of school, her husband was very ill — which forced this once-incredibly busy person into fallow periods, these moments of pause and reflection which we rarely get in life. Often, we see periods of inaction, of rest and recuperation as an inconvenience, a necessary evil while we wait to get back to our ‘real lives’. However, May offers us a different perspective where we can come through these times with wisdom and strength.
This book isn’t just about metaphorical, existential winters, though. It’s about actual winter too, which is why it’s the perfect book to grab when you crank up the heating, get yourself a cup of tea and coorie in on a dark winter night.
‘In summer, we want to be outside and active; in winter we are called inside, and here we attend to all the detritus of the summer months, when we were too busy to take the necessary care. Winter is when I reorganise my bookshelves, and when I read all the books that I acquired in the previous year and failed to actually read; it is also the time when I re-read beloved novels, just for the pleasure of reacquainting myself with old friends.’
This is typical of the kind of wisdom you’ll find in this book.
To everything there’s a season, and why not embrace the fact that you’ve got time to do the things you couldn’t do in summer because you were too busy watching sunsets in the Botanics.
May takes a trip to Iceland when heavily pregnant to watch whales, she visits Stonehenge and Newgrange on winter solstices, she tries wild swimming in the winter, she makes pickles and stores up for the winter. In summary, she tries everything she can to focus on the present and what is, rather than on what isn’t.
‘A great deal of life will always suck. There will be moments when we’re riding high, and moments when we can’t bear to get out of bed. Both are normal. Both, in fact, require a little perspective… the only moment we can depend on is the present: that which we know and sense right now. The past is gone. The future, to which we devote so much of our brainpower, is an unstable element, entirely unknowable.’
How very Zen. Enjoy your winter.
Muckle Flugga by Michael Pedersen
You’ll remember the interview with Michael Pedersen in the recent Westender. You may have caught up with him at the Byres Road Book Festival. You’ll also remember the review of Boyfriends last year, I’m sure. It’s a book which profoundly moved me.
Now in his latest venture, Pedersen’s debut novel takes place on the remotest inhabited part of the UK, with the next stop being the Arctic Circle. This island and its lighthouse are crucial for protecting the vast amount of shipping which comes through these waters on their way to Norway or to America. The Stevenson family built this lighthouse against all the odds, and now The Father and Ouse are keeping the lights on. The Mother has died and those remaining are reeling from this loss. And then Firth appears.
Firth is a feckless, morose character from Edinburgh with suicidal ideations. He arrives on Muckle Flugga in a flurry, allegedly to paint birds before ending it all, and the chaos he brings with him is set to tear the remaining members of the family apart. The burgeoning relationship between Firth and Ouse is lovely to read at times, with some beautiful descriptions and really sweet moments.
But we know what Firth is like. We know he is a waster. We know he will bring destruction. But how this will unfold, and the impact Firth is to have on Ouse and The Father, is utterly devastating. It’s the best that Scottish fiction can be.
The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada
‘This is a love story. A love story about books.’ So states the inside cover. I love a love story. I love books. What’s not to like? It’s a true story too. And set in Japan. If you could put a bunch of ingredients together and swirl them around into one book that suited me perfectly, this would be it. It was a joy to read from start to finish.
The book starts off with Nanako Hanada depicting her separation from her husband, living in internet cafes and capsule hotels to save money. She works at Village Vanguard, a quirky bookshop cum knick-knack shop which started off pretty chic but has become cliched and dull. She’s looking for something — anything — to give her life the jolt of electricity it really needs.
So, she downloads an app called PerfectStrangers, and that’s when her life starts to take an interesting turn.
The app offers 30 minutes with someone you’ll never see again, and she uses this time to recommend books which will change the lives of those she meets. ‘And just like when a single answer in a crossword puzzle leads you on to the next, and then the next, and then all the rest, this one quiet evening had given my soul its bearings.’
She now owns her own bookshop in Tokyo and this book sold 70,000 copies, much to her surprise. It’s funny how life can surprise you. Read this and be inspired to believe.
Books are available from all good retailers and Waterstones, Byres Road
