What I've been reading

A High Wind in Jamaica
by Richard Hughes

narrated by Michael Maloney

"The gripping story of the Bas-Thornton children, whose parents send them back to England following a hurricane in the postcolonial Caribbean they call home. Having set sail, the children quickly fall into the hands of pirates."

I had no idea what to expect of this book from my list of Classics. It was mostly good, but it occasionally tested my credulity - one of the children disappears (we know he is dead but they do not) and the author suggests that the other children never speak of him again, nor even ask what happened to him. But most of the time they are victims of the adults around them, trying to make sense of what is going on from the very limited experience of their short lives. Some have compared it to Lord of the Flies, but it has much less depth than that great work.

Wild Awake: Alone, Offline and Aware in Nature
by Vajragupta

"What is it like to be completely alone, attempting to face your experience with only nature for company? Here the author recounts how 'solitary retreats' have changed him, how he fell in love with the places he stayed in and the creatures there."

I first read this exactly four years ago and loved it then. It has lost none of its beauty with this reading, and the author was the leader of the last retreat I attended. Many of the Buddhist books I've read are written by someone with something to say but not necessarily the writing skills to say it well, but Vajragupta is a wonderful author as well as having interesting things to say.

The Swimming-Pool Library
by Alan Hollinghurst

A darkly erotic work that centres on the friendship of William Beckwith, a young gay aristocrat who leads a life of privilege and promiscuity, and the elderly Lord Nantwich, who is searching for someone to write his biography"

I can honestly say that I've never read a book like this before. It came from the Classics list, and is written from the gay male point of view like nothing I've come across - there are no female voices whatever, and no female characters, although a sister is briefly mentioned at one point. What a strange life, of promiscuity and pick-ups and strange sex in odd places, and while the majority is from the point of view of the main character who is in his 20's, we find out through his narration about how brutally homosexuality was dealt with in past times. And, a little, about similar issues in modern times. I never felt like stopping reading, though, and I imagine that he has achieved a great deal in writing this.

Cranford
by Elizabeth Gaskell

"An ironic portrayal of female life in a secluded English village predominantly inhabited by women. The return of a long-lost brother is the most dramatic event to occur over the course of the sixteen tales that comprise the novel."

My books list says I read this five years ago in audiobook format, but I didn't remember much of it. It's quite a lightweight tale, mostly about the women of the village, and presents a stark contrast when read directly after The Swimming-Pool Library. On the whole, perhaps unsurprisingly, I prefer this book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. This is the improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighbourhood dog."

I think I first heard this dramatized on the radio and enjoyed it, but then I was given the book and it filled a few hours on retreat, after which I passed it on to another retreatant. It's good, definitely unusual, sad and frustrating.

A Guide to the Buddhist Path
by Sangharakshita

"For those wishing to deepen their knowledge and experience of Buddhism, this is a complete map of the Buddhist path."

This was recommended for me to read about six years ago when I started getting interested in Buddhism. I had a go back then but really didn't understand much of it so I stopped. I didn't have enough of the basic reference points and it was just too advanced for me at that stage, but I picked it up again to take with me on retreat and found that it made a lot more sense at my current level. If I leave it for another six years I'm pretty sure I'll get even more out of it.

Send Nudes
by Saba Sams

"Threading between clubs at closing time, pub toilets, drenched music festivals and beach holidays, these unforgettable short stories deftly chart the treacherous terrain of growing up - of intense friendships, of ambivalent mothers, of uneasily blended families, and of learning to truly live in your own body."

Written by a young woman, the short stories introduce me to a world almost as unfamiliar as the one in the Swimming Pool Library, but this time inhabited by today's young people. I think I recognise some of the generic aspects of the lives described as similar to mine at that age, but they have social media and technology, which makes their actions seem so much more deliberate and damaging. Sometimes sweet but mostly disturbing, I did enjoy the book.