Book #61 Autumn

Autumn: Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017 by Ali Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This just did not resonate with me. I often find that books shortlisted for the Man Booker just leave me - cold. Autumn has been acclaimed by critics as the ‘first post-Brexit’ novel. Really? There are some vague references to a nation split by the referendum outcome but Autumn is far more than that. It recounts the relationship between Elizabeth, a junior lecturer, and her sometime mentor and neighbour Daniel, who is now a centenarian whose long life is slowly slipping away in an assisted care facility. There are levels of wit and humanity throughout the book that help with much of the tedium elsewhere. There are some laugh out loud moments when Elizabeth visits the Post Office to complete a Check and Send application for a new passport. The conversation between her and the PO clerk is hilarious. Offset by passages that bewildered: ”art like this examines and makes possible a reassessment of the outer appearances of things by transforming them into something other than themselves. An image of an image means the image can be seen with new objectivity, with liberation from the original” Blah, blah…

There is a lot of indifference in this story about daily lives; there is also a quiet heroism as Elisabeth visits Daniel to read to him. There is also much that bored the pants off me….

No more Man Bookers for a while at least.


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Lazy Days of Autumn

Ros and I have just spent a lovely, lazy, restful, long weekend in Portishead, Somerset and arrived home late this afternoon in Brighton after a long drive via Cheddar, Frome, Warminster, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester.....

I will do some blog catching up tomorrow. Signing off with a large cognac...

Autumn Wildlife to Watch Out For

I am already seeing an increase in the variety of wild birds visiting my garden as Autumn deepens and those foggy, damp days of November will soon be with us. The most numerous bird to the feeders is still the Goldfinch; the Dunnock is now back after several months' absence along with the Robin, several Starlings and Woodpigeons and an occasional pair of Collared Doves.

I am now anticipating the arrival of Blackcaps, those wintering warblers that are fans of high-energy fatballs and suet pellets. In winter, increasing numbers of blackcaps now make the journey here from Germany, while most of our breeding birds head off to Africa. I also love to see flocks of Long-tailed tits. These beautiful humbug-striped tits can often be seen clinging to hanging feeders as they forage in flocks of six or more. One winter I counted fifteen in my garden, albeit briefly.

Visits to deep freshwater sites around Sussex should result in sightings of the delightful Pochard, a duck that arrives here from eastern Europe. The flocks are mainly comprised of males because most females migrate to southern Europe.

Ros and I will be travelling down to Bristol soon for a long weekend and I hope to get some time birding on the Somerset Levels and, if time allows, along Severn Beach.

male Pochard