Poor Ollie…
Ollie had his surgery for his cruciate ligament. The orthopaedic veterinarian surgeon pretty much rebuilt his little, skinny knee. Now we have the long road to rehabilitation.
His new leg.
Several months ago I signed up for a photography tour for a week in the Tarkine in the northwest of Tasmania. It will be a wonderful trip as the Tarkine is old growth forests, rain forests and beautiful river cruises. But the timing is really off. I’d like to be here for Ollie but Mr P will be taking over the chores. It is always busy caring for an animal that is not 100% and needs confinement for at least 6 weeks.
Being home with Ollie gave us time to read more though. Here is my update on my reading.
Heresies by Richard Flanagan came up on the wheel:
One hour read. In the first chapter he talks about birds. Not all of it happy as many birds are disappearing. Loss of habitat and global warming is causing a lot of harm. Our weather has been so much warmer here the last few years. The gum trees don’t blossom so much and the birds lose their food supply. That and people cutting down the trees.
His next chapter is entitled Does Writing Matter? I really enjoyed this chapter. He discusses how much more Australian history is in the world due to the rise of so many wonderful Australian writers that are getting international recognition. That led into a conversation about the abuse of asylum seekers in the recent past that were detained in Nauru and the horrible way they were treated. Violence, rape, torture. People wrote about it and it became more popular in our news feeds. He mentions the Guardian publication had people write some flash fiction short stories about it. They received more than 2000 stories that could be accessed online about the atrocities.
He also talks about how reading Camus’s The Outsider influenced him and his writing when he was younger. So far I’m enjoying thinking about these things.
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Next on the wheel was Women Walking by Kerri Andrews. Another hour from the wheel. I read the introduction. She mentions William Wordsworth and Henry Thoreau, Raynor Winn and Cheryl Strayed, Robert Macfarlane and Bill Bryson. She states anthologies and collections about walking repeat the patterns, and add others: the names that come up again and again are too often male, white and living in bodies that exist without impediments like chronic illness or childbearing or caring. But what about writers who don’t match this description? Bodies coded as female have often been written out of walking history altogether, had written onto them particular stories, or been restricted to just a few paths. This collection looks to break these old patterns by giving much overdue and well earned space to writers living with disability and chronic illness, writers of colour,. Who are trans, who live in bodies that shift in composition and meaning as they move in time and space.
Scotland- the highlands.
The first story takes place in Scotland. A woman hiker goes to Cruachan Beann. I had to look it up. Scotland. This mountain is popular with walkers due to the spectacular views it offers from the summit.
She describes her walk to the top. There are others there but on the way up she only passes men. There is always a bit of apprehension when out in remote areas alone as a female but everyone was very friendly. It is one of the issues that are written about. When she arrives at the top there are both men and women sitting silently, taking in the views.
She passes a large power plant early on as she begins this trek and there is information about past protests around issues surrounding things such as old power plants, nuclear run facilities. I tended to skip over it a bit as I just wanted information on her walk heading up the mountain.
Penguin Anniversary Little Black Classics had me pulling an Emily Brontë book off the shelf. A little book of poetry called The Night is Darkening Round Me. I’ll be reading this little book next.
I also finished my book club book for October by Australian writer Miranda Darling- Thunderhead. This book mirrors the structure of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The protagonist’s surname is Dalloway. It is very interesting. Overall I thought it was really good though the middle of it gets bogged down by a lot of stream of consciousness writing. I am not that big on it but it all made sense in line with the book. As you read her thoughts as she goes by her day, beginning very early in the day you can see the direction her life is going. Very slowly from early morning to late evening we are with her as she envelopes the quiet before her young sons and husband are awake. She then takes them to school, goes to the doctor, lets the plumber into the house, does the afternoon school run. She must get home as her husband has invited guests over for dinner and of course she is responsible to provide a very good meal for them. She doesn’t like the people but she has no choice. Slowly as the day progresses we see more and more coercive control from her husband. He follows her phone, tracks her calendar, sends her text messages. Questions her. It continues to escalate and by the end of the day a big decision is made as a result of the dinner party. It is interesting how you don’t know that this book is about domestic violence but only learn of it gradually as the day progresses and little things begin to add up. The clues start small and increase. It is a short book with only about 110 pages or so. I think our book club discussion will be very interesting.
Here are a couple of quotes:
“The streets around the schools at 8:30 and 3:00 look like the wash up of the first gulf war.”
“Prays the guests will drop out at the last minute.”
She wears a long flannel dress to the doctor’s office-“the long flannel dress makes her feel like Virginia Woolf. Women encased in the attic.”
“I see myself as a zebra, walking down New South Head Road passing traffic, hardy and independent.” This when she is away from her husband. But we don’t know it’s a problem yet.
I’m still listening to 30 to 60 minutes of the Count of Monte Cristo which I am enjoying but as the Count has different identities it gets confusing at times. So I am going to Chat GPT and saying things like “Explain chapters 35 and 36 to me.” I then get an explanation of who is doing what and I get back on track. I find it very helpful.
I had a Big Day Out the other day, before Ollie had surgery but I will post that later. This has become long enough. I really enjoyed reading the various books. I find that taking notes as I read and stopping after an hour (except for book club book) I am getting a lot out of my reading. It’s good to get the spark back.
Hope you’re all having a good weekend.
