Book Group
2 lurkers |
131 watchers
Apr 2022
9:09am, 8 Apr 2022
68,772 posts
|
Diogenes
I finished The Old Weird Albion, by Justin Hopper last night. Chrisull I think you'd like it. It's about people and their relationships with place and landscape. Hopper meets many quite different people in his explorations, primarily in the downs above Brighton and around Eastbourne. Some of these have some very alternative views and lifestyles, but Hopper treats them all with respect and fairness, displaying an easy balance of open-mindedness and scepticism. He revisits some 'ghosts' from his own ancestry, and finds comfort in the places they share as he tries to understand a tragic event of the past. He also introduces his own son to the places that mean so much to him. The thing I took from this book, perhaps because it echoes my own beliefs, is that we all have a personal relationship with the land, one that connects us to specific places, to nature, the past, and to the ever-flowing stream of life. For some, like me, that takes the form of simply being there observing and reflecting, feeling (excuse the pun) grounded. For others there is a more spiritual aspect bound up with ritual and behaviour that is a way of life. It's good that The Old Weird Albion has room for us all. |
|
Apr 2022
9:19am, 8 Apr 2022
68,775 posts
|
Diogenes
However, I think there might be some who consider it somewhat slight and shallow, without anything interesting to say. A series of disconnected vignettes with no cohesive theme. I'd disagree, obviously, but can see it being said.
|
Apr 2022
9:35am, 8 Apr 2022
88,105 posts
|
Hanneke
Ta Dio. That sounds like my kind of book too!
|
|
Apr 2022
9:39am, 8 Apr 2022
68,779 posts
|
Diogenes
[When I commented somewhere before that I was reading this, Chris asked me to let him know what I thought as it was something he'd seen but not committed to. Where that original conversation took place, I can't remember.]
|
|
Apr 2022
9:43am, 8 Apr 2022
68,780 posts
|
Diogenes
[it was on here, page 2195. I couldn't find it when I searched as I'd posted images of the cover but not mentioned the title in the text]
|
Apr 2022
7:05pm, 8 Apr 2022
19,142 posts
|
Chrisull
Dio - thanks, and yes it definitely does sound like my kind of book.
|
Apr 2022
9:49pm, 8 Apr 2022
21,691 posts
|
Columba
Dio, I think I might like that book. Bought Entangled Life today from our little indie bookshop. |
Apr 2022
10:07pm, 8 Apr 2022
3,917 posts
|
Fields
Diogenes - It sounds like it falls into the Iain Sinclair strand of psycho-geography?
|
|
Apr 2022
10:24pm, 8 Apr 2022
68,815 posts
|
Diogenes
While I’m aware of Ian Sinclair, I’ve not read much of him. From what I have read I’d say this was more accessible and less urban. I tend to think of psych-geography as being a pervasive influence as opposed to the symbiotic relationship these writings suggest.
|
|
Apr 2022
10:41pm, 8 Apr 2022
3,918 posts
|
Fields
I didn’t find him very accessible when I attempted to read him. I decided in the end I wasn’t clever enough to understand it all 
|
Useful Links
FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.Related Threads
-
Book Group Archive
Dec 2024
-
Elmet - Jan 2022 Book Group discussion thread
Nov 2024
-
This Is Memorial Device - Oct 2019 Book Group discussion thread
Jul 2024
-
The Storied Life of A J Fikry - May 2024 Book Group discussion thread
Jun 2024
-
Down to the Sea in Ships - Book Group Oct 2022 discussion thread
Nov 2023
-
Olive Kitteridge - July 2021 Book Group discussion thread
Mar 2023
-
A Christmas Memory - Dec 2022 Book Group Discussion Thread
Mar 2023
-
Summerwater - Nov 2022 Book Group discussion thread
Dec 2022
-
The Dark Is Rising - Book Group discussion thread
Dec 2022
-
A Christmas Carol - Dec 2021 Book Group discussion thread
Dec 2021