Two mighty foes, I have faced and conquered this month; I have read The Lord of The Rings, and I have navigated the Great Labyrinth of Foyles to its topmost floor (alas, I failed in my quest to find the toilets). Still, I grow in confidence day by day. Come! Rest a little, and hear of my adventures.
'Penguin Day' was the imaginatively-titled celebration of Penguin's 75th birthday at Foyles on Saturday 25th September. Featuring a variety of discussions and presentations, it kicked off with the recent Great Idea series that you and I have probably both softly pawed over in some bookshop or another, whether seriously interested in the content of the book or not. An impressively fluid discussion on the role of non-fiction then followed, which lives on my mind for the description of particularly florid biography as 'a higher drivel', a pejorative of rare beauty and distinction. I definitely had one celebrated biographer in mind when I heard that phrase, but the will to fairness in me reminds me that fiction is at least as much a perpetrator as non-fiction. In the afternoon, Rebecca Hunt talked with enthusiasm of her journey towards the publication of Mr Chartwell, a discussion that for some reason hinged as much on the cover design as the content. I mean, it's OK, I suppose...
David Vann's strangely self-deprecatory sense of wonder (am I really here? who are all these lovely people? Is this microphone for me?) was balanced by an amusing and oftentimes cynical Colm Toibin. With the exception of the sadly inevitable question 'do you think creative writing can be taught?' - to my mind, not a great step up from 'what's your favourite colour then?' - I came away from this day of nicely ambling literary conversation with a warm glow. Never mind that almost everyone there was probably in the industry anyway - the love and enthusiasm of all of those involved for their work was salutory. I tried to hold on to a little of that spirit on my way home, even while the tube was in a sulk and I was squeezed upside down into the 25 bus. I've kept a piece of it in a small tin in the kitchen. Could be useful for those grey days in winter.
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3 comments:
I've discovered Foyles online. It has the twin benefits of (sometimes) giving you a discount off the shop price and getting some lacky to find the book you require and take it to the pick up desk in the basement. I'm only currently half way through this process but hope to complete it tomorrow. I'll feedback on whether the system really does work if and when I successfully collect my purchase.
Wow. Picking up books from a basement is the way to go. I'm already imagining going down to a gloomy cavern lit by a single bulb, looking left and right to see if anyone might be watching, and picking up my books in an anonymous brown paper bag. There should definitely be more edge to the book buying process.
I'm happy to report that my mission was both successful AND cloak and dagger. Following the signs to customer collections I was directed to an unstaffed desk with a large white arrow painted on it pointing to a bell. I rang it and a pleasant young woman appeared through industrial looking swing doors marked STAFF ONLY (not a Dickensian hunchback I'm disappointed to report) she took my name and reappeared moments later with my book. Thankfully she didn't ask for ID or the card I paid with as the Halifax saw fit to cancel it that morning.
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