by emma | Nov 24, 2009 | Books
About a month ago, I set out on a trip to the US, which inevitably began with lots of hanging around in airports. Wasted time? I think not. A few hours in Heathrow gave me ample time to read Don Miller’s latest book, A Million Miles In A Thousand Years. Like all of Miller’s stuff, it’s ridiculously easy to read, and ridiculously hard to read at the same time. It’s easy because I read it in a couple of hours. And it’s difficult because I’m still wrestling with putting it into practice.
And that’s the truly beautiful thing about it. It inspired me to live a better story.
“If Steve was right about a good story being a condensed version of life – that is, if story is just life without the meaningless scenes – I wondered if life could be lived more like a good story in the first place. I wondered whether a person could plan a story for his life and live it intentionally.”
It’s easy to get caught up in reading about other people’s exciting stories, their exciting lives. But the truth is we can just as easily have our own exciting story. We will have to choose to endure pain and hardship to get there no doubt, but joy does not (nor should not) come easily.
“Part of me wonders if our stories aren’t being stolen by the easy life.”
Returning to Glasgow after 3 weeks of being on the road sometimes feels anti-climatic. Yet my story is just turning a page, starting a new chapter. I’ve been inspired (again) to live a better story. To not just talk about the stuff I dream of doing, but actually do it. That means actually changing something, doing something differently. For my part, I’m learning French again, and starting to navigate what it means to be a photographer full-time.
It’s scary. I might fail. It might not work out.
And that’d be ok. It matters that I try.
“Sometimes when I watch [Lucy, the dog] I think about how good life can be, if we only lose ourselves in our stories.”
What are you doing to lose yourself in the story? What would you do?
by emma | Aug 10, 2009 | Books
I think I’ve fallen in love with graphic novels. Really.
It started with Batman. Frank Miller novels such as The Dark Knight Returns.
Then there was Blankets, a beautiful Craig Thompson novel.
Chris plied me with the Ex-Machina series (which I have yet to finish) that has been keeping me hooked.
Most recently, I picked up the Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle. Easily my favourite so far.
Any of you guys got graphic novel recommendations?
by emma | Aug 8, 2009 | Africa, Books
I’ve had Philip Gourevitch’s book, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while now, but it is only recently that I started to read it. I have spent most of today finishing it off, and I think it has fast become one of the top two books I’d recommend to anyone wanting to read about Rwanda.
Gourevitch’s book is essentially a collection of stories from Rwanda, focused around the genocide in 1994. It’s heartbreaking reading, but insightful, and well written. This time last year I was still in Rwanda. No doubt you would have found me meandering down the beach at Gisenyi or holed up in a cafe in Kigali. Though my time there was short, I think about it often. I think about what it must have been like to live through a genocide, and maybe worse, to live through a genocide that everyone knew about but noone cared about. I wondered what it must be like to live in the aftermath of such an event, and it was often something that came up in my conversations with Rwandan friends.
Gourevitch writes of the many NGOs and governments who sought for neutrality in the situation. It provoked such a strong reaction in me… I wonder, can we really claim neutrality if our inaction is what is aiding the violence? Just thinking aloud, but it’s a thought that has been plaguing me in recent days.
Reminds me of that old quote, usually attributed to Edmund Burke, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
by emma | Jun 3, 2009 | Books, Travel
Finally got round to reading Kerouac’s On The Road. What can I say? If ever there was a book that gave me wanderlust, it has to be this one. I’m desperate to just hop in a car and start driving across the States now…!
This book has been on my to-read list for a long time, and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. It’s a little insane, it goes in crazy directions at times, yet all the same I want to get on the road now too. Thinking about taking a little road trip across the US at some point next year perhaps… any suggestions? Must see places? Must do things?
by emma | Mar 30, 2009 | Books
I’ve been a terrible reader recently, switching and swapping my books constantly… Here’s what I am/ have been/ kinda am reading currently…
jPod, by Douglas Coupland
It’s official. I love Douglas Coupland. jPod is witty, sarcastic and terribly funny… I’m loving it!
The Photography Reader, edited by Liz Wells
This is good, but difficult. It’s extracts from various important writings on photography & theory. I’ve been searching for ways to improve my photography, and I think understanding some of the theory and criticism would help me
Travel Writing, by L. Peat O’Neil
Been discovering more and more how much I really enjoy writing, and particularly the branch known as ‘travel writing’. I love taking all the bits and pieces of an experience – the sounds, the smells, the sights, the emotions – and crafting a piece of writing that takes the reader there.
The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman et al
Chris is giving me an introduction to comics. So far I’ve been enthralled by the Ex Machina series. Gaiman is Chris’ favourite writer, and I’ve read part of his latest book (The Graveyard). Am enjoying Sandman so far; albeit not as much as Ex Machina.
1984, by George Orwell
I’ve been terrible with this one… keep starting it, then getting distracted by something else and setting it aside… as I have done again! I will get to it eventually, I promise.
What are you reading?
by emma | Dec 15, 2008 | Books
I recently read Barbara Kingsolver’s book, The Poisonwood Bible, which has been on my ‘to-read’ list for a looong time. It’s set in the DR Congo while the Belgians were still in control (late 50’s) and follows the story of a missionary family through the course of independence and all that follows. Each chapter is written from the perspective of an individual family member, which gives it an interesting flow.
I really enjoyed this book actually. I don’t read a lot of fiction (due to time constraints more than anything else!), but its something I’m trying to rectify. This book blew me away, I thought it was incredibly well written, grabbed me from the start. There is also the added benefit of having been in the DRC recently, which of course gives me a different perspective on things.
There were a few comments that grabbed me in the book, wanted to share them here…
“The church of the lost cause..”
“To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story.”
Anyone else read it? What did you think of it? What grabbed your attention?
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