This week went a lot more smoothly than last week. That is, I did not buy any books. I achieved this feat by making a point of not going into any bookshops, even when the opportunity arose. Thus, after dinner on Friday night, instead of browsing in the local independent bookshop, as we normally do, we just went home. And this afternoon, after lunch, we just went home. I feel a bit strange, a bit bereft, but on the other hand, I’m pleased not to have succumbed.
This not-buying-books lark seems to be influencing my purchasing habits more generally. Yesterday I bought shampoo from my favourite shampoo purveyor online. Now, normally I would buy other things, ostensibly to make the most of the postage which I was having to pay anyway. Never mind if I really needed all the other things. (Thus I have a cupboard full of hand cream and lip balm and jojoba oil.) This time, I found myself thinking: I ought to use what I’ve already got, before I buy any more. And so I only bought shampoo! Win!
Reading-wise, this week I find myself reading slowly and enjoying what I’m reading.
The first book I have been reading this week is Per Petterson’s In the Wake.
Of course I looked the author up and learned that he lost a few family members in the 1990 Scandinavian Star ferry disaster, as has the main character, Arvind, in In the Wake. I found the story hard to follow initially, as the writing moves from memory to present to memory. After a while I relaxed and didn’t worry so much about being 100% sure if I was seeing Arvind’s memories or present. And found that it was really like when you’re in the grip of strong memories. It’s really well done, and very moving. I am reading slowly, and don’t want it to end.
My second read this week is Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice by Ivan Brunetti. (This one’s not on my #TBR20 list, but I’m not cheating as it is a book I already own.)
It’s a little book and normally something I could read in a couple of hours, but I’ve found myself reading and re-reading and savouring it.
The book is a course of lessons on cartooning, and from the introduction:
This book evolved from the classes I have taught, which in turn evolved from my own struggles with cartooning. …The diligent student can read entire books on these subjects [perspective, lettering, figure drawing, etc.] if they wish (it never hurts), but the deepest realizations come to us from the daily practice of drawing. It is the pencil that teaches best, and anyway, the trees of theory can obscure the forest of practice. I would go so far as to say that practice is philosophy, for practice itself encompasses philosophy, and philosophy without practice is shallow indeed. A lengthy description of a glass of water is no substitute for the experience of drinking a glass of water; so it is with art.
(p.5. Emphasis mine: I love that phrase, an reminder for other aspects of life.)
Now, having just pondered and enjoyed those lines on practice, I should own up to the fact that all week I have been putting off actually starting Brunetti’s course. At first it was because I needed a sketch book before I could begin. (Never mind that I have so many exercise books, notebooks, and yes sketch books, that I could start my own stationer’s.)
I now have a new sketch book (sigh). I have forbidden myself from wondering about pencils.