Month: May 2022

• Book Review. Before and After by Andrew Shanahan.

  

  I was intrigued, reading in the description for Before and After ‘he hasn’t been outside in 9 years’ as I have anxiety and have had my struggle with agoraphobia. I was concerned for the potential fatphobia. Before and After was so much than I was expecting it to be.

  This is the story of an apocalyptic present-day world, in which Ben and his dog must try to survive. The story of Ben’s past was told in between the present-day chapters, that told us a lot of the story because there is not much to do at the end of the world, day to day, bar surviving. Ben’s past involves his relationship with his dad, the love his mum gave him and his subsequent weight gain, and agoraphobia. Ben becomes, gradually, imprisoned in his own home. There were astute observations on how easy it can be in our modern world to never need to leave home. I was able to empathise with the character of Ben, and I liked the subtle humour, similar to my own. I did not like so much the horror part of Ben needing to amputate his own leg and feeding the flesh to his starving dog, Bear.

  contains affiliate links. Doesn’t cost you anything, helps me out if you click on ‘em. Thank you!

  Poetic Insights

  For those who are curious

  Read my book ‘Home’

  Hotel life

  Get 2 months free reading with scribd

  Get in touch

  May 31, 2022

  blog, Book review, Books, Fiction, horror, Sci fi

  ---

• Book Review. Safety in Numbers by Roger McGough.

  

  Quodlibets

  Mona Lisa smiled when Leonardo said, ‘ok, you can go to the toilet now.’

  There is a very recognizable landscape in Roger McGough’s poetry collection, Safety in Numbers, as it begins with poem Some Questions Regarding the New Bicycle and its line, ‘2020 comes careering down the lane,’ and he goes on to write about holidays that won’t be taken, and queues – though not always the ordinary sort. In poem Adultery in Isolation, he writes from the perspective of how can an affair continue in a world where we now have to observe a two metre distance rule.

  There too are poems about writing, one that ponders the difficulties of promoting a new book during a Pandemic. Poems like The Good Ship Attenborough have an environmental message (sshh … listen, what do we hear? Antarctic … toc … tic … toc … tic … toc … tic … tic … tic) and Voice Over is a poem about the endless gambling ads and their voice overs, with a twist on the familiar, and what I think is a bogus, slogan ‘and remember, when the fun stops … we don’t.’

  There is Roger McGough’s usual wit in these poems and while I don’t think Safety in Numbers is my favourite collection of his, because it does feel like a mixed bag, with no overarching theme, there’s a lot of entertainment that can be found in reading these poems.

  contains affiliate links. Doesn’t cost you anything, helps me out if you click on ‘em. Thank you!

  Poetic Insights

  For those who are curious

  Read my book ‘Home’

  Hotel life

  Get 2 months free reading with scribd

  Get in touch

  May 30, 2022

  blog, Book blog, Book review, humour, poetry

  ---

• Book Review. Hungry by Grace Dent.

  From an early age, Grace Dent was hungry. As a little girl growing up in Currock, Carlisle, she yearned to be something bigger, to go somewhere better.
  
  Hungry traces her story from growing up eating beige food to becoming one of Britain's best-loved food writers. It's also everyone's story - from cheese and pineapple hedgehogs and treats with your nan, to the exquisite joy of a chip butty covered in vinegar and too much salt in the school canteen on a grey day. And the Cadbury's Fruit & Nut from a hospital vending machine that tells a loved one you really care.
  
  Grace's snapshot of how we have lived, laughed and eaten over the past 40 years reveals the central role food plays in either bringing us together or driving us apart - from toasting a large glass of warm Merlot to grimly polishing off a wilted salad.
  
  Heartfelt, witty and joyous, Hungry shows us what we've always known to be true. Food, friends and family are the indispensable ingredients of a life well lived.

  

  Hungry is a book about food, but also writes about dementia, class and feeling as if you are not qualified for a job. As a writer myself, I never feel qualified to write anything. Even though I find writing one of the easiest things in the world to do. In Chapter 1 of Hungry, titled Sketty, Grace Dent wrote about her childhood, cooking with her dad, the relationship that she has with her parents, and it was very reminiscent of my own childhood in certain aspects. When Grace Dent writes about shopping habits, and the advent of supermarket superstores, it was as much a walk down memory lane for me too.

  I thought Grace Dent was posh because she writes for The Guardian and is a food critic, so that will teach me not to judge people by who they write for and what their job is. I have also only just realised that Grace Dent is the Grace Dent who wrote The Diary of a Chav books, which I was obsessed with reading as a child. Shaz Bailey’s diaries were a continual re-read when I was younger.

  I loved this line, and could identify with how Grace Dent describes the goal of her writing, ‘I wanted to write and reach people and make them laugh like that,’ which sums the book up for me. Hungry did reach me, and made me laugh, and a lot more too.

  contains affiliate links. Doesn’t cost you anything, helps me out if you click on ‘em. Thank you!

  Poetic Insights

  For those who are curious

  Read my book ‘Home’

  Hotel life

  Get 2 months free reading with scribd

  Get in touch

  May 27, 2022

  blog, Books, Food, non fiction

  ---

• CONNECTION

  how quickly the room fills 
  as the rain slashes 
  coming down
  and shooting through the window like stars 
  
  people pull out stools 
  and the glasses on the bar shatter 
  as stud buttons on sleeves
  cuff them 
  
  i can feel desperate for conversation
  and i stare at you sideways 
  you, with your arms crossed across your chest 
  eyes fixed on the television 
  which is mounted onto the wall opposite
  
  i catch you looking 
  as if you are
  searching 
  in the faces of people, listening to their conversations, 
  trying to find a place at the bar, so you can order drinks 
  as the old men talk about the football
  and you open your mouth 
  as if to say something to them 
  to be a part of
  the discussion on a blind ref, diving and a no penalty decision 
  
  the moment passes 
  and you instead 
  nod to the barman 
  as he says, ‘the usual?’ 
  and throw down the twenty-pound note. 
  

  CONNECTION, a poem from my chapbook, HOME. Which you can read here

  

  Poetic Insights

  For those who are curious

  Read my book ‘Home’

  Hotel life

  Get 2 months free reading with scribd

  Get in touch

  May 25, 2022

  blog, connection, home, poetry, WordPress, Writer

  ---