IT’S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO
Welcome to your Sunday’s procrastination read, I am having my fourth coffee of the day, J. is cooking a delicious fish pie and the football is my background noise. My ideal British Sunday <3. The summer break is over and Formula 1 is back on track (pun intended), I dyed my hair a darker shade of brown (because why not), rain has been falling ever since the last Edition and I am glad I did not take any break during the summer as I will be enjoying some delightful time off and plenty of apéros in Brussels next week. SO MANY THINGS.
I started Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, I am two chapters in (24 pages, 2% of the book) and I cannot tell you if it is any good yet, but there is something about 19th-century books and the billions of characters they must include in one story. I read Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett and, to be honest, I have no idea how to describe it but some bits left me speechless.
Failure after all was inevitable wasn’t it, so why not make a neat little routine out of it and laugh again and agin in its dour face with mirthful derision, as hard and as often as they could. Their future was mapped out for them on the smallest scrap of paper. Just as it had been for their parents and their parents’ parents and their parents’ parents’ parents and so on and why would it change now?
Checkout 19, Claire-Louise Bennet, p.13
I loved Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. I finally found the illustrated edition in the local Waterstones and it made my week. Esther, the protagonist, is inspired by Plath’s own life and her struggle with depression while trying to find her place in the world. It is darkly funny and a perfect example of a woman character written by a woman. I also just finished Fern Brady’s Strong Female Character, the autobiography of her journey with autism, it is sublimely raw and honest and a must-read. I will not ruin it by butchering a critic.
Lost in Work, Escaping Capitalism by Amelia Horgan reminded me of my violent passion for the sociology of work. The way modern lives are framed by work tends to make me sick, I dream of the 4-day week for all, a universal basic income and being able to structure days, and weeks the way we want. I don’t want AI to make art and write books or scripts. I want to do that. AI can fill in spreadsheets and send emails.
It is an ideal day to read articles, here’s the result of my hunt:
Florence Given is a delicious inspiration and this piece on reinventing social media to suit you is worth the read.
I found this article on French PMUs and their gentrification really interesting, it opens many questions on authenticity and the preservation of community space (in French).
This is an absolute MUST-read essay on masculinity, from its decline and incels to the map to a new path to reinvent what it means to be a man. On the same topic but radically different, this article on Ken. Of all the articles I’ve read on the Barbie movie, it is my favourite and anchors itself in the real world.
Some feminism to balance. The UK ended the tampon tax at the end of 2020, and women are still paying the difference thanks to corporate greed, of course.
Ending on a light note, I love Girl’s Dinner and people misunderstand it. There is nothing like putting all the most enjoyable food together on a cute plate and eating without caring about anything else but the pleasure of it. Pure hedonism.
I have been Google Maps travelling and it is now my new favourite Friday night hobby. It consists of picking a location and exploring it on Maps, I zoom in and click on everything to find the best cafés, bars, restaurants, parks and, most importantly, independent bookstores. I like to complete it with some architecture and location research (scrolling said location on Pinterest) to have an idea of the place. So far I remotely explored Cardiff and Cheltenham (it was so useful when I actually went there), Edinburgh and Gloucester. It’s been my escapism treat.
That’s it for this edition of HUNTER. Please let me know what you think about this format, I would love to hear from you and your recommendations, to maybe be featured in the next edition.
I’m off to watch the Zandvoort Grand Prix and what could be a record-breaking 9 wins in a row from Verstappen, equalizing Vettel’s.
Journal of a procrastinator will be back on Tuesday as usual, I will be talking about windows.