A Very Busy Couple of weeks
I try to post every weekend but the days have their own way of disappearing. So let’s just keep going forward and don’t worry about those missed days.
BOOK I ENJOYED
I read Muriel Spark’s novella The Driver’s Seat. What a very strange story. I will go as far as to say it was weird but it kept me turning pages. She packs a punch in this book and I think the reader has no idea where the story is going. All we know from the start is the woman named Lise as the main protagonist is going to be murdered.
Overview
The story follows Lise, a strange and erratic woman who leaves her job and travels to a southern European city (often read as Italy). From the beginning, her behaviour feels off: she’s confrontational, overly specific about trivial details (like clothing), and seems to be following a rigid internal script.
What makes the novel distinctive is that Muriel Spark reveals a crucial outcome ahead of time: Lise is going to be murdered. The narrative then becomes a kind of inverted detective story where the “victim” appears to be orchestrating the circumstances of her own death. (AI explanation)
Lise has worked in a boring job for a number of years. She suddenly takes off on a ‘holiday’ to an unnamed country in Europe, the reader thinks, for a holiday. On the plane she sees a man who she “thinks is her type”. She is so weird he gets up from his seat and moves. She finds her hotel upon landing and had agreed to meet up with the man seated beside her on the plane (who is really creepy) for a drink at his hotel later.
In the meantime she meets an elderly woman outside her hotel and they decide to spend the afternoon together, having lunch, shopping etc.
She keeps running into various men during the day and she continually tells the older woman, “He’s not my type”. The reader thinks she is looking for romance but as we are also told she is going to be dead there is quite a twist of events.
Spark’s writing is:
- Sparse and precise — very little emotional explanation
- Disorienting — jumps in time and perspective
- Darkly ironic — often undercuts expectations
The tone can feel almost clinical, which makes the disturbing content even more intense.
I really enjoyed this book as it kept me on my toes. I just kept asking what is going to happen? Why does the elderly woman keep talking about her nephew who is flying in to meet her? Why does she think he will be a good match for Lise? Why is Lise controlling every situation? What is she looking for? Why does she reject everyone she meets?
As we know from the start she is going to die? Why?
I really got into this little story. I have read Spark in the past but it has been awhile and I’d like to read more. This book has been unread on my shelf for awhile and now I can pass it on to an op shop or a small library and it can creep someone else out.
PHOTOGRAPHY
I mentioned in my last post I’d be doing some photography at some wetlands but unfortunately it was located in an odd spot I’d not visited before and parking wasn’t available where I thought it should be. One of those mornings that just don’t work out. However I did get to go to the dog beach with my two dogs and I got a few photos there.
I also had a morning in the city doing street photography. I had watched a video about a street photographer in Lebanon in the past and he did a lot of photography with bright colours. I took the bus into town and spent time looking for brightly coloured walls and some light, though it was a flat cloudy day.
BOOKISH EVENTS COMING UP
***Tonight three of us went to a book launch about Gough Whitlam, a former Prime Minister of Australia. Here is the quick blurb.
Gough Whitlam | In Conversation with Troy Bramston
Troy is also known as his in depth biography of previous Prime Ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke and Robert Menzies.
The Blurb: Whitlam’s bio is a commanding biography of one of Australia’s greatest and most visionary prime minsters by an acclaimed political journalist and author. There has been no one like Gough Whitlam in public life – a charismatic, inspirational and visionary leader who ushered in a reform revolution to modernise Australia, which endures to this day. But Whitlam’s immense self-belief, relentless determination, misjudgements and blunders were truly Shakespearean and help to explain his downfall.
***Last night I bought a ticket for Irish writer Tony Niall who is coming to Tasmania the end of April. I love his writing and look forward to hearing what he has to say. It will be packed event for sure.
Thursday 30 April 2026
Beloved Irish writer, Niall Williams, reflects on his writing life and career and the country home that inspired his acclaimed novels. Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. His critically acclaimed and bestselling fiction has been shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Award. Williams’ debut novel Four Letters of Love, an international bestseller, has been adapted by the author for screen and will star Helena Bonham-Carter, Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel Time of the Child was an instant Irish Times bestseller and was awarded the Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, with his wife, Christine. Join Niall for an unforgettable night.
***I’m heading into the middle of our April book group with the Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. More on this book later.
That wraps up another couple of weeks. Hopefully I’ll be back in another week all decompressed from life’s events lately.
Question of the week- As Ministry of Time features time travelling/sci-fi I’m trying to get my head around it though it is interesting. It is a genre I never choose for myself so here’s your question:
What genre do you want to read more of but rarely pick up?
Travellin' Penguin 