What I Read in May
The fifth month of my reading challenge
It feels like I’m somewhat behind on the reading goals for the year, but things can easily leap forwards.
The Morville Hours
Combining the development of a medieval inspired garden in a historic house with the way a religious book of hours works seems like an odd idea. This is very well crafted though, and a very good book to read as you’re looking at the garden ahead of summer. I know that my mother and grandmother have both enjoyed this book as well. It was popular 10-15 years ago so easy to find in charity or second hand book shops.
Leisure the Basis of Culture
I got a beautiful hardback edition of this book, which really shows off the text well. It’s an interesting read, looking at how leisure had come to be marginalised, how work isn’t as simple as it may seem and where the liberal arts and philosophy really sit in. Very much an antidote to the “big line goes up” brand of conservatism that’s slowly being killed off now.
It does suffer from the typical issue of any German philisophical work in that the writer spends way too much time and effort in defining his terms. Worth a read, especially if you have a distributist or 3rd way approach to work.
Nettles and Petals
Essentially a look into sustainable gardening. Whilst it has some great ideas, and has led us to realise we probably have as many edible weeds as vegetables in our garden, it suffers from glossiness. In other words, a few points are illustrated beautifully but other information becomes painfully thin. Worth a skim through if you happen to see it, or borrowing from the library.
Saints: A New Legendary of Heroes, Humans and Magic
A nice read with admirably short and punchy chapters. This book looks at some of the more magical and otherworldly saints and their stories. The focus falls broadly on 3 groups - the early martyr saints, those who converted the British isles and early medieval saints. I quite enjoyed it, but it’s going to make its way to the donation pile as it doesn’t have much chance of a re-read.
23 and 24. Porterhouse Blue & Grantchester Grind
I’m a fan of Tom Sharpe’s books for a variety of reasons. I was born in Cambridge and grew up with stories of the characters and changes there. I swear my dad was one of the polytechnic students who Wilt teaches and my Cantabrian family has, like Sharpe, largely decamped to the wilds of Northumbria.
This pair of comic novels are very funny, and despite being written in the 1970s and 1990s they have the feel of a much earlier age. Skullion is a great character and was well played by David Jason in a TV adaptation.
The Heretics of St. Possenti
A re-read of a book I love. One of the few great bits of politicised fiction that has been written in the last ten years, it looks at the founding of a new monastic order and how and why that proved beneficial. Certainly recommended, and has some great religious debate.
While I've not read the book, I did watch the adaptation of Porterhouse Blue a couple of years ago. David Jason is a favorite of mine, and he excels as the central character in this particularly dark and weird story.