This weekend sounds like a sigh of relief. A long exhalation. We’ve crossed the finish line into the Easter holidays, sixteen whole days where we are masters of our own routine. There’s been a breadcrumb trail through these weekly posts, I realise. A mention of tiredness, another of plate-spinning and then came illness. A virus that appeared out of the blue last week and knocked me sideways, but has lingered on into this week because I failed to stop and let myself recover, carried on spinning the plates—just a few more days, just four more newsletters and a podcast,
Ha!! I started that late last night! 👏🏻😂 Fell asleep (tiredness not boredom), so need to rewatch some of second episode! But so far very much enjoying it! Great minds, my friend! 🙌🏻
The English Patient is my go-to response when someone pushes me to name my favourite book! Ondaatje writes in just the most beautiful style and I met him a few years ago at an event and he was a genuinely brilliant person too. I was worried about meeting a hero but he was everything I imagined 😅
Thank you so much for sharing that, Jude. How exciting to have met Ondaatje! 💛 I totally understand the nerves at whether he would live up to expectations ... I’ve experienced that with favourite writers both ways round! 😬 I’m so glad that I rediscovered this one. I wrote out so many quotes as I read. An absolute masterpiece!
I've heard so much about Succession but need to look into where I can stream it, NOW did you say? Sounds like it would be well worth another subscription. Aren't we lucky to have all these things on tap, I just don't watch TV these days, it's all on my laptop
Yes, Succession is on NOW or Sky Atlantic. It's brilliant, although stick with it for the first few episodes, it perhaps takes a little warming up. We are SO lucky to have all this entertainment available to us. Although it can definitely get a little overwhelming sometimes, so hopefully What This Week and my recommendations lists at least give a starting point.
I’ve just started watching ‘orange is the new black’ I’m not sure I’ll finish it, having seen the chicken episode as it just seemed less convincing. Anyone else seen it all, is it worth continuing? 🤔
Sorry Tracey, I haven’t seen it so can’t help. Go with your gut—maybe worth sticking with, maybe let that one go. I sometimes find that no matter how good something’s supposed to be when you come in with the weight of multiple huge seasons ahead it’s too much. I never finished The Sopranos, Breaking Bad or even Gilmore Girls 🤦🏼♀️😂
No, I know. I enjoyed them both, but stepped away at some point and haven't as yet gone back. I love GGs as I'm sure that's what Em and I will end up like as she enters her teens! Only we're both the Rory in this scenario!!
So much to bond with you here, Claire! I read Nothing To Envy after a recommendation from one of my staff some years ago. Love The English Patient book and film. Thoroughly enjoyed Stonehouse! Can recommend She Said film and also loved A Man Calked Otto and Elvis! Hope you are on the mend now. Xx
Oh I’m so pleased you’ve read Nothing to Envy, Kathryn 👏🏻👏🏻 I love it when book group puts something in my hands that I’d never otherwise of picked up. It was so readable ... and so horrifying too. Such a brilliant way to tell the real story. And oh The English Patient, I’ll be rewatching the film, naturally! I remembered how cinematic it was, how visually stunning, but I’d forgotten that the book itself was so beautiful ❤️ Thanks so much for the film recommendations, definitely all ones I want to see. Hopefully a few quieter days this week will set me back on course. I hate feeling so tired, run down and overwhelmed xx
Oh cripes, I've just reread this and see an of where a have should be! I do apologise, my own worst nightmare. And just imagine what Carol Ann Duffy would say!!! xxx
I have a soft spot for the book 'The English Patient': it represents an important part of my life as a reader. I picked it up last year for the first time, and began to read it with both interest and an open mind. I hate to say this, but I didn't get on well. I ploughed on, but the more I read, the more I resented that I was reading it. And then I got all 'I haaaaaaaaave to read this booooook' about it.
I wish I could remember on whose Substack I read this, but right at that time I came across an absolutely fabulous post about finishing books, in which the question was posed: 'Do you feel you have to finish a book that you've started?'
'Funny!' I thought. 'Of COURSE you do. You've started the book, you've committed to reading it - why would you want to NOT finish it? Why put yourself in the position of failing?'
And yet the thing that I'd never considered, never asked myself, the thing that had never occurred to me, was that no, I don't have to finish every book I start. I don't owe that book anything. Rather, I owe it to myself to find the right fit.
I will certainly read 'The English Patient' one day. But for now, for me it's the book that didn't get read, and, more importantly, the one that liberated me from my reading shackles.
I LOVE that story, Rebecca! My version of this was Moby Dick. I am not a lesser mortal because I couldn’t bear to battle my way through that book! 🙌🏻 And do it once and you set yourself free. My daughter is ruthless about putting a book down she’s not enjoying. It makes me very proud! 😂
Thanks for sharing that. So much truth there. We're all overwhelmed by the sheer volume of excellent books that we'll never get through in a whole lifetime, knocking a 'lousy book' off the list part-way through to move on to something better is actually lightening the load! ;)
Apr 2, 2023·edited Apr 2, 2023Liked by Claire Holden
Ooh, I am excited to read about your Succession impressions as that has been on my radar for a little bit. Excited to watch it now!
We've been watching Pachinko this week. (I say we because I generally watch stuff with my partner as we tend to have fairly similar tastes.) It is quite alright but what I have a gripe with is how the opening credits don't really fit with the overall mood of the series...I know, I know, who cares haha
Yay, happy to sway you towards Succession! I mean they’re all spectacularly awful people, but it is so sharply written, I’ve found I don’t mind that at all.
And thank you for the Pachinko recommendation (Apple?). I haven’t read the book ... do you think I need to first?
And thank you. I’ve realised thanks to the podcast reflections and various chats and journalling this week that this is usually the point in a creative project where I feel completely overwhelmed and disappear, but I’m working through it this time. Grateful for wise friends, knowing myself a bit better and some hard-won inner strength x
Oh yes here’s to all of that, Luisa! So ready for a break from the strictures of the school day, totally worth the relentless provision of snacks for a fortnight 😂
So true. Life’s too short! I loved breaking bad, not seen sopranos and couldn’t get into Gilmore Girls. Not sure what it says about me 🤣
I LOVE Gilmore Girls 👧
Hoping to watch The Magpie Murders once husband has finished watching the women’s rugby. I hear Lesley Manville is in it. One for you, Claire?
Ha!! I started that late last night! 👏🏻😂 Fell asleep (tiredness not boredom), so need to rewatch some of second episode! But so far very much enjoying it! Great minds, my friend! 🙌🏻
The English Patient is my go-to response when someone pushes me to name my favourite book! Ondaatje writes in just the most beautiful style and I met him a few years ago at an event and he was a genuinely brilliant person too. I was worried about meeting a hero but he was everything I imagined 😅
Thank you so much for sharing that, Jude. How exciting to have met Ondaatje! 💛 I totally understand the nerves at whether he would live up to expectations ... I’ve experienced that with favourite writers both ways round! 😬 I’m so glad that I rediscovered this one. I wrote out so many quotes as I read. An absolute masterpiece!
I've heard so much about Succession but need to look into where I can stream it, NOW did you say? Sounds like it would be well worth another subscription. Aren't we lucky to have all these things on tap, I just don't watch TV these days, it's all on my laptop
Yes, Succession is on NOW or Sky Atlantic. It's brilliant, although stick with it for the first few episodes, it perhaps takes a little warming up. We are SO lucky to have all this entertainment available to us. Although it can definitely get a little overwhelming sometimes, so hopefully What This Week and my recommendations lists at least give a starting point.
I’ve just started watching ‘orange is the new black’ I’m not sure I’ll finish it, having seen the chicken episode as it just seemed less convincing. Anyone else seen it all, is it worth continuing? 🤔
Sorry Tracey, I haven’t seen it so can’t help. Go with your gut—maybe worth sticking with, maybe let that one go. I sometimes find that no matter how good something’s supposed to be when you come in with the weight of multiple huge seasons ahead it’s too much. I never finished The Sopranos, Breaking Bad or even Gilmore Girls 🤦🏼♀️😂
NO??? Breaking Bad and Gilmore Girls I was totally addicted to. But we're all different..
No, I know. I enjoyed them both, but stepped away at some point and haven't as yet gone back. I love GGs as I'm sure that's what Em and I will end up like as she enters her teens! Only we're both the Rory in this scenario!!
🤣 Yes my daughter fancies herself as a bit of a Rory, she's 25 now though. She loved GG too, especially all the Yale bits!
So much to bond with you here, Claire! I read Nothing To Envy after a recommendation from one of my staff some years ago. Love The English Patient book and film. Thoroughly enjoyed Stonehouse! Can recommend She Said film and also loved A Man Calked Otto and Elvis! Hope you are on the mend now. Xx
Oh I’m so pleased you’ve read Nothing to Envy, Kathryn 👏🏻👏🏻 I love it when book group puts something in my hands that I’d never otherwise of picked up. It was so readable ... and so horrifying too. Such a brilliant way to tell the real story. And oh The English Patient, I’ll be rewatching the film, naturally! I remembered how cinematic it was, how visually stunning, but I’d forgotten that the book itself was so beautiful ❤️ Thanks so much for the film recommendations, definitely all ones I want to see. Hopefully a few quieter days this week will set me back on course. I hate feeling so tired, run down and overwhelmed xx
Oh cripes, I've just reread this and see an of where a have should be! I do apologise, my own worst nightmare. And just imagine what Carol Ann Duffy would say!!! xxx
Another great 'WTW', Claire - thank you!
I have a soft spot for the book 'The English Patient': it represents an important part of my life as a reader. I picked it up last year for the first time, and began to read it with both interest and an open mind. I hate to say this, but I didn't get on well. I ploughed on, but the more I read, the more I resented that I was reading it. And then I got all 'I haaaaaaaaave to read this booooook' about it.
I wish I could remember on whose Substack I read this, but right at that time I came across an absolutely fabulous post about finishing books, in which the question was posed: 'Do you feel you have to finish a book that you've started?'
'Funny!' I thought. 'Of COURSE you do. You've started the book, you've committed to reading it - why would you want to NOT finish it? Why put yourself in the position of failing?'
And yet the thing that I'd never considered, never asked myself, the thing that had never occurred to me, was that no, I don't have to finish every book I start. I don't owe that book anything. Rather, I owe it to myself to find the right fit.
I will certainly read 'The English Patient' one day. But for now, for me it's the book that didn't get read, and, more importantly, the one that liberated me from my reading shackles.
😊
I LOVE that story, Rebecca! My version of this was Moby Dick. I am not a lesser mortal because I couldn’t bear to battle my way through that book! 🙌🏻 And do it once and you set yourself free. My daughter is ruthless about putting a book down she’s not enjoying. It makes me very proud! 😂
I’ve found the post which made me at last allow myself to put the book down - it’s one of Holly’s:
https://open.substack.com/pub/hollyrabalais/p/midweek-musings-to-read-or-not-to/
😊
Thanks for sharing that. So much truth there. We're all overwhelmed by the sheer volume of excellent books that we'll never get through in a whole lifetime, knocking a 'lousy book' off the list part-way through to move on to something better is actually lightening the load! ;)
It's soooooo liberating! 😊
Ooh, I am excited to read about your Succession impressions as that has been on my radar for a little bit. Excited to watch it now!
We've been watching Pachinko this week. (I say we because I generally watch stuff with my partner as we tend to have fairly similar tastes.) It is quite alright but what I have a gripe with is how the opening credits don't really fit with the overall mood of the series...I know, I know, who cares haha
And I adore your wise friends! ;)
Yay, happy to sway you towards Succession! I mean they’re all spectacularly awful people, but it is so sharply written, I’ve found I don’t mind that at all.
And thank you for the Pachinko recommendation (Apple?). I haven’t read the book ... do you think I need to first?
And thank you. I’ve realised thanks to the podcast reflections and various chats and journalling this week that this is usually the point in a creative project where I feel completely overwhelmed and disappear, but I’m working through it this time. Grateful for wise friends, knowing myself a bit better and some hard-won inner strength x
Oh yes here’s to all of that, Luisa! So ready for a break from the strictures of the school day, totally worth the relentless provision of snacks for a fortnight 😂