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Sam van Zweden

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Is “Late To the Party” A Personality Trait?

Can I put “band-wagon-jumper” on my CV? Is “slow on the uptake” a favourable quality in a person?

I’ve been hearing about Ira Glass’ amazing podcast, This American Life for some time now, but I just decided to start using it as a soundtrack while I work out (which is a surprisingly successful tactic). And ohmigod. WHY DIDN’T I DO THIS SOONER?!

(Just a side note – I feel like this realization is akin to the one where I realised that public transport time is really reading time. Working out or walking is really listening time. My brain’s not doing anything anyway, so USE IT!)

No matter what the subject matter is, this is some really moving stuff. Ira Glass has his finger bang on the pulse of life and what it is in all its minutiae, and knows just how to make the minutiae count in terms of a wider context. What a dude.

It’s also really exciting in terms of thinking about different ways of telling a story. It doesn’t just have to be on a page to be powerful. I’ve known this for a while, sure, but Ira Glass’ podcast really brings it home and reminds me to think more laterally about narratives.

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The To-Be-Read Grab-Bag

I have a teeny tiny moleskine I use to write down all the book recommendations I receive and mean to follow up. I usually just write down the name and the author, very very rarely the reason it’s been recommended. With the amount of recommendations I receive, it’s pretty hard sometimes to remember why I’m chasing up a certain book.

Today I dipped into the To-Be-Read list for my next read, and picked up the copy of Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights, Big City that I’ve had sitting here for a few weeks, intending to start.

I opened the book, and to my delight it’s written in second person! (Rare, and even more rarely well-done.)

The opening line:

“You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning.”

Are you hooked already? I am. And I’m so delighted that I’d forgotten why it was recommended – such a fantastic surprise to start reading and discover such brilliant prose and an original focalization. Thanks, whoever recommended this one.

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Swoon…

This morning I woke up to an email from my Step-mum containing a link to Flavourwire’s post about “The World’s Most Beautiful Bookstores”. And I’m now wondering if it’s reasonable to go on a round-the-world tour just to visit all these stores. They’re so damn lovely!

The Chinese kids’ store looks so magical – how could a child not get excited about reading in such a place?! And the Livraria Da Vila front doors! I didn’t even realise I was looking at doors until I read the description…

My usual writing breaks involve making toast or doing dishes… Today, though, you might find me suspending books from my ceiling or installing a revolving hinge and sticking books to my front door.

I was sad to notice that there are no entires for Australian book stores… What are your favourite book stores in Australia? I know there’s a great place in Sassafras, outdoors in a little alleyway with a courtyard, though I can’t seem to find it anywhere online… Floor-to-ceiling books are a pretty prominent feature of the stores that I love (like this or this), as well as a great selection of course, but I can’t bring to mind any Australian (specifically, Victorian) stores that are really exciting in terms of design: I’m specifically talking bookstores here, so LaTrobe Reading Room notwithstanding.  Have I not been searching far and wide enough for my books? Let me in on your secrets, blogosphere! Where da sexy bookz at?

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39 down… 962 to go!

It’s really, really hard not to spend all my money on books. Working in a book store means I’m now eyeing off categories I normally wouldn’t even go to, and “trying to broaden my product knowledge” is just as good an excuse as any… In two and a half weeks I’ve bought four books. It sounds pretty controlled, but if I did that all the time I would be both poor and swamped, so from now on I’m resolving to buy things only when I have saved up the cash by putting it aside from my living and debt-paying-off expenses.

One of the many books I’m stopping myself from buying is the very cool 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It’s exactly what the title suggests. In a great act of genius and self-control, I looked up the list online instead of spending the $50-odd on the book that will probably sit around for a fair while.

I’ve read 39 out of the recommended 1001. I was discussing today how much more achievable the other books in the same series are. …Songs to Hear Before You Die is pretty easy, at the average three minutes per track. …Movies to See and Albums to Listen To, likewise, at about two hours, three maximum. As a pretty slow reader, it’s going to take me a lifetime to finish that list. Or, by Estelle Tang’s calculations, about a third of a lifetime. Having said that, I’ve saved the list to my computer, and I’m going to work on crossing off a bunch more of those books in future. Many of them are on my shelf waiting to be read… So I guess we’ll see if that “39” goes up any further toward the end of the year.

If you can be bothered going through the list – how many have you read?

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Just Can’t Do It

Sorry, fantasy fanatics. I just can’t do it.

I try, but I don’t find fantasy enjoyable. I just finished Obernewtyn, and all I could think about was how awful and expository the prose was, and how frustrated I was about having to learn the rules of the world. I was literally in pain when I got to the end of the book. The best I could say for it was that “It’s full of imagination!”

…Which is great, and if that’s what you enjoy, that’s great. Power to you. I just can’t do it.

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Reading As A Priority

In his essay, Why Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa talks about how it’s a bit disgusting that reading is regarded as an indulgent pass-time. Literature is important, says Llosa, not just as a means of escape or relaxation (though these are still some of the many great functions of reading), but as a tool which promotes an engaged and lively society. And for writers, reading is especially important – how can we expect to be great writers if we aren’t also great readers?

As at the start of every year, there’s been a lot of goal-setting happening over the last few days. My online writing group has seen everyone’s goals updated, and one person’s goals in particular really interested me. It involved adding more structure to their writing day – something I’m always trying to do. I was inspired by the fact that a full writing day for them involved three hours of reading and four hours of writing on any given day. This struck me as similar to the “Writer’s Diet” (which I saw attributed to John Birmingham, but now can’t find anywhere) – this involved four hours’ reading and four hours’ writing daily. Ambitious, yes, but a totally worthy goal. I’m not saying that to be a good writer you need to read for x hours, and write for x hours, or you’re falling short. I’m just saying that for me, and for a lot of people I know, these kind of goals usually result in tangible improvements in our work.

So part of my writing goal this year is to make reading a priority again. Toward the end of 2012 it became something I did in spare time, on public transport or lunch breaks, or to unwind before bed. While all these things are still optional and will probably still be good reading time for me, I’m making reading an important part of my writing day.

Having read about 60 pages this morning in two hours (slow reader, yes), 100+ Books seems more achievable than ever, my “to be read” pile is cowering in terror, and I will be the most informed writer I can possibly be. Without understanding writing from both perspectives (reader and writer), I can hardly expect to get any better.

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Welcome to 2012, and A Month Of Reading

Two posts in one today, this first day of 2012.

I started 2012 standing on a plastic chair on a roof in South Yarra. I started 2012 with arms around me, leaning on the shoulder of a man who loves me very much. I started 2012 with red toenails. I started 2012 with a skirt on. I started 2012 with pizza in my belly. I started 2012 with a wheel of brie (yeah, I ate about half of it. Take that, 2011 belly!). I started 2012 watching fireworks. I started 2012 with a head full of resolutions, as always.

I just found this amazing resolutions list attributed to Woodie Guthrie, posted on Facebook.   Isn’t it great?

Wake up and fight!

Here’s my last “Month of Reading” from 2011, ending the year on a measly 46 books. I failed in my attempt to beat 2010’s 53 books, but hey… Welcome to 2012!

Books Bought:
A Spy in the House of Love, by Anais Nin
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, by David Sedaris
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
Obernewtyn, by Isobelle Carmody
Unless, by Carol Shields
Flying With Paper Wings, by Sandy Jeffs
Voiceworks Summer 11/12, “Play”

Books Read:
A Spy in the House of Love, by Anais Nin
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin

Currently Reading:
Consolations of Philosophy, by Alain de Botton
The Little Red Writing Book, by Mark Tredinnick
Killing, by Jeff Sparrow

 

What did you read in December?

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I Do, I Do Like Books.

I like books, and I like Jojo and Maddie and I like JoMad, I Heard You Like Books.

This fantastic podcast has the strange effect on me that I feel like I’m buddies with Jojo and Maddie, and all the people they interview. And they interview all these people I’ve had fleeting dealings with, but haven’t really had a good chat to – Phill English, Estelle Tang, etc etc. I’m developing the creepy feeling that I’m getting to know people. I’m scared that next time I see all these people I’ll be creepy – I’ll know them, but they’ll hardly know me. Sorry, in advance, if that happens.

What I’m trying to say is that the podcast is just like having a really good chat.

Their latest podcast, “Show Don’t Estelle”, features Estelle Tang (of KYD and 3000 Books fame) is a rip-snorter. I ripped, I snorted, I laughed. Go there and hit play.

And if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to buy Jojo Animalia for Christmas*.

I just want to. So, Jojo, if you don’t receive Animalia from me, I’m sorry. Your podcast did create the impulse though.

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Dead Fishes

Ideas fall from my fingers like dead fish, slapping stinky into an ever-expanding word document a’la shit. Lucky dead fishes make lovely dishes if you know how to prepare them correctly -bring on the editing, say I.

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