Country Lore and Legends, Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson

I found this, along with five of it's brothers, in a charity shop a week or so ago. They are part of the Penguin English Journeys collection and are beautifully designed. As ever this copy is slightly worse for wear, having been carried round in my bag for a while.

It is certainly interesting to know where stories like King Arthur or legends of witches came from and how they have changed both from place to place and over time. There are some well known stories and some which were new to me; like tales of Gogmagog and Shuck. There are also some very strange stories which are pretty consistent; apparently a few old houses have or had a human skull kept on plain view, which is said to keep the house from harm. Apparently the skull is always of someone who had a strong connection to the house who was wronged or never wanted to leave their home.

I did enjoy Country Lore and Legends, but it turned out to be more describing legends and how they have changed and warped over the years, than actually telling the stories. I would have enjoyed it much more if Simpson and Westwood told a version of the legend first, then described the alterations and different beliefs associated with it later. That said, this text comprises of extracts of Simpson and Westwood's The Lore of the Land, so perhaps it is meant to be a little taster, after which you can buy the more comprehensive version. 

Now reading Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

The Book of My Lives, Aleksandar Hemon

The Book of My Lives is a collection of autobiographical pieces of journalism, first published here and there over a few years. They have been collected in chronological order and so make up a kind of autobiography, the 'chapters' are concise and punchy as a result.

Hemon grew up in Sarajevo before moving to the USA in 1992, escaping the war by accident almost. The stories are quite philosophical, or have philosophical interludes and cover Sarajevo, Canada, Chicago, family, displacement, home, chess, football and dogs. Whilst reading I had one of those rare moments when you read a sentence and it resonates in a way which freezes everything. Words for something you didn't realise you had no words for. He is a brilliant, thought provoking author, and this is his non-fiction. In the foreword he states that he writes fiction because he can't not, but needs to be cajoled into writing non-fiction; I have high hopes for his fiction.

It is difficult to describe just what Hemon's writing is like - it feels a little like poetry where a few words can pull with them a wave of feeling or atmosphere, but it is much more precise and cutting than that. Take as an example the dedication;

FOR ISABEL,
forever breathing on my chest

Isabel is the subject of the last chapter in the book; The Aquarium. It is unexpected and feels like being punched, then it feels like drowning. Hemon writes of the illness and death of his baby daughter. It is phenomenal that he can write in a way so stripped of sentimentality but full of the pain and blurred clarity. There are thoughtful interludes, as with all of the chapters, making you think the reason Hemon writes is to make sense of things, to order them in his own mind. The Aquarium is the most moving and raw piece of writing I have read.

I'm reading Country Lore and Legends by Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson next, it's a small, beautiful book and part of Penguin's English Journeys series.