My Latest Listens

The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller

Fuller has created a pandemic story (not COVID but something grim in a future world), with some odd additional elements – namely the main character’s relationship with an octopus; and the discovery that she could go back in time and ‘re-experience’ parts of her life. Overall, it was too much quirk for me.

I like Fuller’s writing and have enjoyed her previous books but this novel was a wobble. There were too many elements that were implausible and there was an uneven treatment of suspense and tension. I will read more from Fuller, however, will bypass any further attempts at dystopian/ speculative fiction.

2/5

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

You’ll know within the first few minutes of Irby’s essay collection whether her sense of humour is compatible with yours. In fact, the first chapter is titled ‘I like it!’ and I can confidently say that I loved it. I laughed out loud from start to finish and the frequent jokes about toilets and weak pelvic floors didn’t wear thin. Irby does what all good comedians do so seamlessly – she begins with a joke, goes off on various tangents, and then manages to bring all those tangents together, neatly looping back to the starting point. It is so, so satisfying from a narrative perspective.

I’m now in a quandary – part of me wants to have an immediate reading-binge on her three earlier books, but the other part tells me to wait, and spread the joy deep into my reading future.

4/5

Saving Time by Jenny Odell

“I wish I had more time!”- it’s a common refrain, and one I think we’ve all felt at some point. Or perhaps the wish for time to speed up or slow down. Odell considers the concept of time from an economic, social and environmental point of view. She proposes that the fundamental structure of Western society is built around the clock, which in turn is built for profit, not people. As a result, there is a quantifiable ‘value’ on everything we do.

The first part of the book, focused on pure economics, was a little text-booky for my liking (think Marx and the machine) and the chapter titled ‘Can there be leisure?’ was somewhat depressing –

In its least useful form, the concept of leisure time reflects an undignified process: working to buy the temporary experience of freedom… At its most useful, however, leisure time is an interim means of questioning the bounds of the work that surrounds it.

I found the later chapters more engaging, particularly the existential questioning around how (or why) we would extend life expectancy, and the sections that touched on the environment and how we witness the passing of time in the natural world (I went to a fascinating event a few years ago where local First Peoples shared their experience and knowledge of the changing landscape through the seasons – a summary of the Wurundjeri seasons here. Also had me thinking back to Katherine May’s book, Wintering, and the Druid wheel of the year).

Overall, a thought-provoking book.

3/5