Here I go out to sea again, the sunshine fills my hair and dreams hang in the air. Gulls in the sky and in my blue eye - you know it feels unfair. There's magic everywhere. Look at me standing here on my own again (Black)

Wie geht's?

Struggling with D. Defoe at present.

The problem with Robinson Crusoe is quickly established in Daniel Defoe's book and it makes for uncomfortable reading in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests.

In a word: slavery. 

While the storyline doesn't explicitly revolve around slavery, the institution of slavery serves as a basis for much of the action of the novel. He himself becomes a slave by the Moors and when he heads to Africa, it is to purchase slaves. 

What to make of the almost casual references to slavery in the book then? 

Putting it into context: the book was first published in 1719 (it's often cited as the first English novel), and slavery had existed for a long time (between 1500 and 1900 at it's peak).

In 2020, in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and the reviews of famous statues and place names from our colonial past, it made me feel decidedly icky.

I am persevering with Robinson (whaia kia maia - pursue it until it is conquered) because there will be a payoff, a redemption  coming. I can feel it.

In the meantime I'll swallow hard.

Or maybe I won't. This Guardian article makes a powerful point!

Love and peace - WNP

Look at me, can't you see, all I really want to be, is free from a world, that hurts me (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Wie geht's?

It's been a cruel couple of weeks, what with the murder of George Floyd and the anger that engendered. My escape (dealing with a 24/7 world that has Trump as a 'leader' is tough, so I need to escape from time to time) is via books, of course.

Books read:

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
The Blue Door - André Brink

A Gentleman In Moscow - Amor Towles

Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

Mojo May 2020

Shindig! Issue 101

Most recently I finished A Gentleman in Moscow. A copy came to me via my colleague Julie at school, which was very generous of her - thanks Julie! 

It's just a great book - well written, with characters that are endearing, and there are plot twists that you never quite see coming. 

The return from lockdown has meant my music magazines have finally returned to stores. Shindig! had a cover story on 1970s' Beach Boys' albums (nothing new but I love reading about them) so that hooked me and of course, Mojo has been a fixture in my weekly reading for many years. Great to have them back.

Now I'm reading Robinson Crusoe. That story and Towles' book are perfect post lockdown come downs (Towles' lead character is sentenced to permanent house arrest in a Moscow hotel in 1922; Crusoe is in another enforced lockdown that we can all relate to much more intimately now).

Defoe's style is tough - back to real Dickens-esque concentration on sentences that last paragraphs. Once I get into the groove it's very rewarding though. Really!

Love and peace - Woz