January 2025
A new visitor (Greenwich, London, c. January 2025)
Book I'm Reading:
The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers (about 60% through at the time of writing)
Richard Powers is amazing. My introduction to Powers was through The Overstory about 3 years ago. He is a prolific writer with over 13 published novels and more to come. I try my best to read anything and everything from Powers that I can find and make the time for. His books are an incredible piece of writing, an incredible meditation on everyday life.
I don’t usually read a lot of fiction but a quote from Powers that has stayed with me is "the purpose of fiction is to make you more capable of narrating the world outside of fiction". Powers' writing offers incredibly detailed, human and empathetic character studies of individuals, the dynamics between individuals, the burdens and trials they face and the lives they lead. Reading fiction of this calibre is, to me, a cathartic and often meditative act and I've often found it help me re-frame things in my own life.
The Time of Our Singing is a story about two virtuoso musician brothers, their sister and their parents. The story, although really one narrative arc, is told in two different and interspersed timelines. It follows the main characters and their journey discovering the reality of race in America, the philosophy and physics of time (their father is a physicist) all served with a common thread of music as a personal, cultural and political force. Like with every other Richard Powers book, the writing in here is gobsmackingly beautiful. The stories and characters have an incredible depth to them and I am thoroughly enjoying the near cinematic descriptions of pieces of music; It is an incredible feat of writing and storytelling.
Mercy:
From The New York Times - Bishop Asks Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on Immigrants and Gay Children - The direct appeal to President Trump on the first full day of his term was a remarkable moment
In a time characterised by an unfortunate and public series of capitulations and a shift towards normalising and valorising incredibly self-serving behaviour, this incident, a public call for mercy, towards fellow members of society was an inspiring and profoundly hopeful moment.
A beautiful and quirky apartment in NYC:
(linked article) This is a great piece about Tarajia Morrell’s apartment in NYC, where she grew up and where she is now raising her daughter. I loved reading this and particularly enjoyed the photos of the apartment, layered with personal history and all sorts of quirks. think I also connected to it in a deeper way because it reminded me of the apartment I grew up in, in Colaba. Not really fancy or artsy, but very quirky indeed.
Music I've been Listening to:
Ray LaMontagne - We'll Make It Through - Lovely Ray writing lovely songs.
Outta My Head - Khalid ft. John Mayer - A really catchy groove that I stumbled upon while painting a wall in our house. It played in the background, basically on repeat, while I finished the wall.
Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen, covered by Nathaniel Rateliff (for Here It Is). A seminal work, further immortalised by the impeccable vocal chops of Nathaniel Rateliff and the virtuoso musicianship of the accompanying band (the credits read - guitarist: Bill Frisell, saxophonist: Immanuel Wilkins, pianist: Kevin Hays, bassist: Scott Colley, drummer: Nate Smith, Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar and Larry Goldings on organ) .