What This Week #14

What This Week is back! Unexpectedly derailed by bank holiday weekends, golden carriages and golden hats, and the fact that last week’s watching all interconnected so beautifully it became a deep-dive of its own (well worth a quick trip Down to Margate if you missed the chance last week), here I am on a Sunday once more with plenty of excellent things to share.

The weeks are skipping by. It’s that time of year when everyone seems slightly bamboozled as to how we’re here already. Mid-May. Mid-May?!! The weather not helping to anchor us seasonally as it veers wildly between early spring and early summer, often in the same afternoon. I’m typing this to the soundtrack of not-so-distant thunder.

The wet/warm weather rollercoaster has ensured that a favourite word, ‘verdant’, is on my mind as I walk along the canal towpath in the mornings. However back in more domestic settings that relentless lush green growth does not excite the same beautiful word—more like a handful of sweary ones. Moan before mown, every single week.

Back to the matter in hand, what have I been reading and watching since I last shared my recommendations? Let’s find out.

Watching:

Guilt (BBC iPlayer)—Over the moon to have this brilliant Edinburgh-based series back. Written by Neil Forsyth (recently responsible for The Gold, see WTW#9), this is the third and final instalment in the story of two bickering brothers who find themselves embroiled in Leith’s organised crime underworld. It is wordy and quick-witted, just what I enjoy, and this series sees Max and Jake back together, making for all the best trademark sibling sniping as they move towards the end game with gang boss Maggie, a magnificently fierce and foul-mouthed Phyllis Logan (a long way from Downton Abbey!). I often refer to Guilt as sort of a Scottish Fargo—it is dark and daft in equal measure. A dream vehicle for Mark Bonnar to showcase his brilliance—Max is charming, manipulative, and snarlingly relentless in the pursuit of his own interests. If you haven’t seen it before, I’d highly recommend going back to the start and watching the first two series, it’s all available on BBC iPlayer.

The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld (BBC iPlayer)—Okay so I’ll start by acknowledging that the focus on Karl Lagerfeld in recent weeks has drawn a lot of criticism thanks to problematic views he expressed—there’s an article on this in the Extra reading credit section, below. Balance all the way. I’m always interested in a glimpse behind the (hellishly expensive) curtain and this fascinating documentary about the infamous fashion designer didn’t disappoint. Lagerfeld was driven by creativity, and consumed ideas and inspiration obsessively—his annual bill at the local bookstore in Paris was eye-watering (his death must have genuinely impacted their bottom line). His eccentricity was legendary—his famous diva cat, Choupette, is heavily featured. I was mildly disgruntled that there was a forced comedy angle (the tried and tested formula of a Rebecca Front voiceover) about who would inherit in Lagerfeld’s will—distant family, the male model ‘muses’ or, of course, the cat. Without any of those distractions, the documentary is an engaging insight into the unconventional life of an enigma.

Honourable mention for an incredible cinema adventure this week (consider this a teaser trailer for a future deep-dive). I went to see an ‘Exhibition on Screen’ (I hadn’t previously known that was even a thing). An opportunity to see the sold-out Vermeer exhibition at the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. It was AMAZING!

Reading:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant was a thoughtful gift from a thoughtful friend. A sharing of a favourite read—and wow, what a story to share! The Red Tent is a feminist classic, a novel telling the story of Dinah in her own words, a woman who apparently appears in the Bible as little more than a footnote—Jacob’s only daughter, described by her brothers as a victim of violent rape. The Red Tent offers an alternative perspective, a different version of Dinah’s life, and an insight into the world of her four mothers—the wives that gave Jacob his twelve sons. It’s an incredible feat of storytelling, enabling us to bear witness to the lives and strength and personalities of the women rarely given a voice. The first half sets the scene, introducing us to Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah, and the (many) children they gave birth to; the second half is Dinah’s own story, and from the shocking event that shapes everything that follows, the book became unputdownable. I thought it might be helpful to add that I’m not religious and that didn’t hamper my enjoyment in any way (my only frame of reference for the story being Jacob and Sons from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat—c/o Jason Donovan, the London Palladium, c. early ‘90s—I still remembered a fair few brothers in the right order!). Apparently I now have a TV adaptation starring Minnie Driver to look forward to.

I’m a huge fan of Eleanor Catton’s 2013 Booker-winning ambitious and complex The Luminaries, so was very excited to learn she had a new novel coming out this year. As opposed to the historical gold rush New Zealand of her previous book, Birnam Wood brings us right up to date with a guerrilla gardening collective and dubious surveillance-tech billionaire building a bunker. It has been touted as a thriller, which isn’t a genre I often reach for, but I found it more clever and layered than that categorisation perhaps implies. Reminiscent of The Luminaries, the POV shifts between the characters, all coming together for a (very) dramatic finale. And while I found it a real page-turner, the tension wasn’t overly stressful as the writing had a satirical lightness to it (reminding me of Jonathan Franzen), everyone being flawed and human and very slightly ridiculous. Highly recommend Birnam Wood, and I hope Catton doesn’t wait another ten years to offer us more of her fantastic writing.

I am so grateful to have been sent a proof copy of one my most highly anticipated books of the year Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson, which I read this week to coincide with it’s publication on Thursday. It is beautiful. A story of coming of age, of searching for a place in the world, of love, fathers and sons, migration. His writing blows me away—rhythmical, lyrical, poetic, yet so real and human and true. Reading this interconnected brilliantly with watching new rom-com Rye Lane (Disney+), the setting for much of Nelson’s love story, so I’ll share more about both in a future newsletter.

And an honourable mention for the May issue of British Vogue. After being inspired and generally heartened by the work and words of Edward Enninful earlier this year, I asked for a Vogue subscription for my birthday. This groundbreaking issue, titled ‘Reframing fashion’, focuses on representation of an often less championed group, featuring an array of Disabled stars on the cover and through the magazine. One of the cover stars is the incredible accessibility advocate, Sinéad Burke, who also acted as consultant editor for the issue. This week Enninful announced that the issue is now available in Braille and an audio format, the first time in Vogue’s history. He is determined to make the changes he pioneers meaningful and lasting: “We always talk about diversity and inclusivity, but that also has to extend to our disabled brothers and sisters.” Just, wow.

So what have you been reading and watching while What This Week has been on hiatus?Recommendations in the comments are always welcome.

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Extra reading credit:

As mentioned above, here’s an article outlining why it’s questionable that Karl Lagerfeld was celebrated by the fashion and A-list ‘great and good’ as the theme of the recent Met Gala: Karl Lagerfeld had odious views. We shouldn’t be putting him on a pedestal | Tayo Bero | The Guardian

But hey, as the theme was all things Karltastic, surely the best outfit choice was Jared Leto’s hyper-real homage to Largerfeld’s precious Choupette: The designers of Jared Leto’s Met Gala look: ‘He wanted it to be like a real cat’ | Met Gala 2023 | The Guardian

Really enjoyed this interview with Eleanor Catton: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/18/eleanor-catton-i-felt-so-much-doubt-after-winning-the-booker

Here’s more about Vogue’s ‘Dynamic, daring and Disabled’ issue: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogue-disability-portfolio-2023

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