RISING UP MY DUCK PILE - May 2026

The book duck light has now been named 'Pickle' so my Book Pile, that became my Duck Pile, could be called my Pickle Pile. There are some new entries, and that old stalwart Poetic Diction finally got read, you'll be pleased to hear, so it is here no more. Ready to be released back into the world of second hand chances.

BERNARD McGINN - THE MYSTICAL THOUGHT OF MASTER ECKHART

In the realm of medieval Christian mysticism Master Eckhart is thought to be somewhat seminal. McGinn's book comes highly rated as an introduction to his controversial, but none the less influential writing. I am quite looking forward to getting round to reading this. But I suspect I will really have to be in the right headspace for it.

Christmas Present 

YUVAL NOAH HARARI - SAPIANS

Another book which I'm looking forward to getting around to reading. I've been impressed with the clear headed nature of his mind when interviewed. So I'm hoping he writes in a similar vein.

Waterstones

DIARMAID McCULLOCH - LOWER THAN THE ANGELS

McCulloch is always a really peachy historical read. This one is all about sexuality in Christian theology and how it's terribly oppressive response is not always supported by what you actually read in the biblical source material. I expect this will be regularly punctuated with his usual dry witty commentary.

Christmas Present 

RICHARD V REEVES - OF BOYS AND MEN

I've seen him being interviewed and he delivers a quietly eloquent and right on the ball explanation of what the masculinity crisis actually is. Without a hint of the casual misogyny or outright toxicity that can often accompany the discussion of subject matters such as this one, particularly on the internet.

Christmas Present

BELL HOOKS - THE WILL TO CHANGE
I've read a few books on the masculinity crisis written from a male perspective. I came across this book by the famous feminist Bell Hooks, and was interested to read how she views it. It didn't look like this was a dismissive hatchet job.
The Book Hive - Norwich

REBECCA SOLNIT - HOPE IN THE DARK

This short book reviews the history of activism and social change over five decades. Subtitled Untold Histories Wild Possibilities, though written originally ten years ago, it offers us reasons for continuing to have hope even in the direst circumstances of 2026
The Book Hive - Aylsham

DAVID GRAEBER - THE ULTIMATE HIDDEN TRUTH OF THE WORLD
Came across David Graber through an interview with his frequent collaborator David Wengrow. Graber who died in 2020 was a social anthropologist and anarchistic thinker out of all the usual boxes. And I was intrigued enough to want to read something by him. This is a collection of essays on various subjects.
The Book Hive - Aylsham

LAMORNA ASH - DON'T FORGET WE'RE HERE FOREVER
I saw her being interviewed on The Sacred podcast, and thought she seemed really open and frank in her investigative writing. Here she is examining what a new generation of young people might be seeking from religion. That in the end became her own journey of discovery.
The Book Hove - Aylsham

WILLIAM DALRYMPLE - THE GOLDEN ROAD 

This is an early history of India, when it was the premier major trading country for centuries, from the time of the Roman Empire til the 7th century CE. The sphere of influence of India, it's culture, intellectual and religious has been far reaching on the countries to the East and West of it. Dalrymple presents his case with a zest and enthusiasm that bounces off the page. The British Empire created a view of India as a backward civilization, that required our intervention, gifting them democracy etc. This could not be further from the truth. The British moved in to asset strip the resources and manufacturing, of India. At the time the British East India Company arrived India represented 45% of all world trade, which by the time the British left was reduced to 4%.

Currently Reading

Christmas Present 

CAROLINE LUCAS - ANOTHER ENGLAND
I'm currently really wanting to understand better the whole area of national pride and patriotism, and whether it is possible for these to be held in a healthy way, without it descending into xenophobia and much worse racial and cultural superiority and exceptionalism. Caroline Lucas offers up a few enlightening possibilities in this timely book. 

Currently Reading
The Book Hive - Norwich

KAZUO ISHIGURO - THE REMAINS OF THE DAY

I've not read any Ishiguro before. This is of course his most famous, and reputedly his best novel. I just saw it going for a pound in a Nottingham charity shop, so couldn't resist buying it.

Charity Shop

RANDOM SNIPPETS - NO 7 - Self Deluding Fibs

Everyday I wake up to a new aspect of bodily discomfort. This keeps me on my toes. I do what I can to ease my body from becoming too stiff or set. It is a battle I constantly lose the benefit of every night. I am just becoming better at applying a more effective balm to smooth the soreness. 

Through this is a way of side stepping the truth of bodily decay and decline, that we all do. We make it all appear safely manageable and contained. Then I can pretend it's not really happening. It's not that serious a concern. I'm not in the process of bodily decay, or even approaching dying. Because, I have so many things to do and to make. So long as I can remain productive, how could death even be close? 

And this is how our society thinks and behaves in relation to mortality, when all else fails distract yourself.  By not wanting any discomfort or mild inconvenience, that we don't already have a salve for, that we can purchase over the counter in a pharmacy, to make it disappear or diminish. There is, however, no medicine for our death, this is the blunt fact of our existential situation.

To an extent I am deluded. I am living and perpetrating a fib. Most delusions we tell ourselves, are fibs that we attempt to convince ourselves are true through repetition. That we can meditate ourselves into being Enlightened, or that reality is perfectible, that some things are permanent and will be eternally with us, that we can have whatever we desire, that oodles of money will bring us happiness. That I will not die for a while yet, is just one of those fibs we perpetrate and perpetuate. We like to cultivate a perception that we have all the time in the world, in which to thwart mortality for that little bit longer. These are the deceitful strategies by which we live. 

The extent to which I believe these deceptions varies. I know in theory that I cling to fundamentally incorrect expectations about the extent of my life span. Do I act in a way that demonstrates I've seen through these? Well, no, I do not. Though after the heart attack it has been much harder to maintain the blitheness of my ignorance. It's the sort of fib we unconsciously sustain, even though all the data is now well and truly in. You are gonna die brother.  

This is similar to the die hard MAGA supporter, who still believes Trump is sent from God, though it should be patently clear by now he never was any such thing. We cling to our fibs because admitting they are incorrect, will make our fragile ego look truly foolish indeed. Likewise, we may go to our deaths still trying to convince ourselves that this is just a little chest pain, that will soon go away. We shall all feel foolish when the moment of death arrives.

Taken from my Study Journal for April 18th & 19th, that has been edited and further adapted.

SCREEN SHOT - Rose Of Nevada

 

A fishing boat reappears in a once prosperous Cornish fishing village that is now in terminal decline. The Rose of Nevada was thought lost at sea twenty years ago. The original boat owner, after he gets over the shock of its return, decides to start using it again for fishing. 'Shall we try again' he says ominously. Recruiting an old sea dog he vaguely recognise as Captain, who then finds the enigmatic Liam, and employs Nick, a straightforward family man who just needs to earn some money to repair a collapsed roof in his home. Once out on the ocean they quickly learn the ropes of sea fishing, casting nets, gutting and preserving fish in ice, until the galley is full and they can return to port. But the port they return to is not the fishing village of the present day, but the busy active one of twenty years previous. Liam seems to quickly adjusts to the period and lifestyle, whilst Nick feels trapped, becoming increasingly desperate to return to the family he's left behind. There is a sense that something here, much larger than them, is wanting restitution.

Mark Jenkin's third film is a real feast for the eyes and ears. Brilliantly executed, it is the most confident and expressionistic movie he's made so far. At times it has the style, quality and visual poetics of Tarkovsky, with the highly amplified reverberating sound quality of early David Lynch, where even small natural sounds can become hugely foreboding. It also has some really stunning rough hewn cinematography and sharply edited sequences.  Beautifully constructed shots capturing the tough unyielding lifestyle of a sea fisherman, the orange crust of rusting machinery, the rumbling spindled colours of ropes, the creaking clanging noises of chains, wheels and cranks, the sounds of boots or fish landing heavily on deck. One of the qualities of Jenkin's film making technique, is that he is able to overlay the sound design on top of his hand cranked film. This he can then highlight and focus the ears on specific sounds, with greater clarity of purpose. Sound in this film, more than in any of his previous films, has almost a visually evocative quality. On this movie it's epic, managing to be both small and panoramic in scale. It does most of the heavy lifting for the storytelling. 

At the core of this film, are interrupted, if not shattered relationships, between parents and a son, between fishermen and their families, of lives and communities literally torn apart by tragedy. The sense of yearning and existential distress of Nick, is conveyed by some superlative acting from George McKay. His visible facial and bodily responses tell you all you need to know about his emotional state of mind. The dialogue in this movie is generally a secondary player, that gives away little about the story arc. The tale is told largely through sound and visual imagery. However, the final piece of dialogue at the end of the movie, from the mouth of Nick's wife that 'there is no time', does speak volumes. This is a film so rich in tiny but important details, that I dare say it will bare repeat viewing. An utterly captivating film, that left me feeling quite moved and exhilarated simultaneously. It is one of those films that continues to haunt your imagination afterwards.

CARROT REVIEW - 7/8

UNFINISHED READING - The City & It's Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami

I first read Murakami's Wind Up Bird Chronicle many years ago. And nothing I've read by him since has attained quite the same level of sheer inventiveness and batty bizarreness of that novel. IQ84, for all its voluminous length, proved a lot more satisfying to read than I expected.  His collections of short stories First Person Singular and Men Without Women had moments that were good. One of his best books remains Underworld, an exploration of Japanese culture in relation to the religious cult behind the Sarin attack, which is a superb piece of disturbing analysis. But that was resolutely a non fiction event. One suspects that the quality of Murakami's literary fiction has been erratic for a while. He maintains to this day a huge output. The experience of reading The City & It's Uncertain Walls makes me think that maybe he should do less, go out running more, anything other than write another novel with not a lot too it.

This novel begins with a simple love affair between a teenage boy and girl. They dedicate their lives to each other. But she starts to spend time in another town and they seem to be drifting apart. In order to be close to her he moves there, but finds it's a place where there are no shadows, you have to forsake them if you want to stay their for long. The boy finds his girlfriend who doesn't really remember him. He takes work in the library as a Dream Reader in order to be near her. 

By this time I am ninety pages into a 400+ page novel and not a lot of real consequence has happened. The idea of a place where shadows are forsaken feels very 'Murakami Lite' to me.The sort of thing one of his many Japanese copy cat imitators would write. I've been waiting to be picked up and captivated by the arc of a story developing, and it's just not happening. In the past I would have stuck this out just in case it does finally all come together. But you know, I cannot be arsed to do that. l'm of the view these days, that life is just too short to persist with a novel you are developing no affection for. If it really doesn't hold any interest for you, feel free to move on. So I have.

CARROT REVIEW - 2/8