I read a lot of articles about overconsumption, the environment, fast fashion, the future of the planet and I can feel a desire to change things in an abstract way. That being said, with the holidays approaching, despite all the recipes for an environmentally-sustainable or modest Christmas meal making headlines, a reminder that charity shops are full of goods that would be glad to extend their life, that interest rates will continue to rise next year and thus endanger buyers who have gone to the limits of their means, the statistics tell us that we are spending more and more. It makes me want to go spend Christmas in a desert. There are none nearby, so this year I will be at the beach.
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#3018 le temps des fetes*
Je lis beaucoup d’articles sur la surconsommation, l’environnement, la fast-fashion, l’avenir de la planète et je sens une volonté de changer les choses d’une manière abstraite. Cela étant dit, à l’approche des Fêtes, malgré toutes les recettes pour un repas de Noël économique du point de vue environnemental ou autrement faisant la une, le rappel que les « charity shops » regorgent de biens qui seraient bien contents d’avoir une autre vie, que les taux d’intérêt vont continuer d’augmenter et mettront ainsi en danger les acheteurs qui sont allés aux limites de leurs moyens, les statistiques nous disent que nous dépensons de plus en plus. Cela me donne envie d’aller passer Noël dans un désert. Il n’y en a pas à proximité, alors cette année, ce sera la plage.
#4052 bird of the century
People tend to believe that nothing is happening in New Zealand but this is a cliché that I intend to destroy with this article (and it will not be about the endless negotiations to form the new government, in fact, I find that for more than a month the country has been doing very well without the need for anyone at the helm).
However, every year, we are torn apart by the Bird of the Year contest: cheating, foreign interference, questionable competition (a bat won the contest a few years ago), anything goes. This year, although I have no idea why the bird contest, is not of the year, but of the century, we have suffered American interference in a shameful way through John Oliver, who had the audacity to nominate the puteketeke, a bird that has dual citizenship, New Zealand and Australian, and to appeal internationally for the puteketeke to win the award, which it did with 290,374 votes, followed by the brown kiwi of the North Island with 277,470 fewer votes. One of the disgruntled competitors, Cheeky the kea said: « This morning we have to accept defeat. This is not the outcome our community wanted, but it is important to rally behind our feathered friend the puteketeke. »
#4052 oiseau du siecle
On a tendance à croire qu’il ne se passe rien en Nouvelle-Zélande mais il s’agit d’un cliché que j’ai l’intention de détruire avec cet article (et il ne s’agira pas des négociations interminables pour former le nouveau gouvernement, en fait, je trouve que depuis plus d’un mois, le pays va très bien sans qu’on n’ait besoin de personne à la barre).
Tous les ans, nous sommes déchirés par le concours de l’oiseau de l’année : tricherie, ingérence étrangère, compétition douteuse (une chauve-souris a gagné le concours il y a quelques années), tout y passe. Cette année, bien que je n’aie aucune idée de la raison qui a motivé le concours de l’oiseau, non pas de l’année, mais du siècle, nous avons subi l’ingérence américaine de façon honteuse par le truchement de John Oliver, qui a eu l’audace de soumettre la candidature du puteketeke, un oiseau qui a la double nationalité, néo-zélandaise et australienne, et d’appeler à l’international pour lui faire rafler le prix grâce à un vote record de 290,374 votes, suivi de très loin du kiwi brun de l’île du Nord avec 277, 470 votes de moins. Cheeky le kea a déclaré : « Ce matin, nous devons accepter la défaite. Il ne s’agit pas du résultat recherché par notre communauté, mais il est important de se rallier au puteketeke. »
#4022What I have read : Deborah Levy
But before I get to Levy, a few other books I have read in the last few months
David Lodge: Paradise News (1991), bought at last year's Nelson second-hand book fair. The back cover presents the book to us with a reflection on the notion of paradise, a description that is quite accurate. I know the author for his books on academia and he always makes me laugh or smile. Even in this book, which takes place a long way from the academic world (Hawaii, in this case), he manages to infiltrate an academic who reflects on mass tourism and its evils. I liked the book even if the last part is a bit lost.
Isabelle Allende: Violeta (2022), offered by LG. A book that examines the life of a centenarian, Violeta Del Valle, born in 1920. It begins with the description of the Spanish flu and one really wonders if it is 1920 or 2020. It then guides the reader in the intricacies of the story of a woman, her emotions and her country, wealth, poverty, the loss of loved ones and love. I liked the book, but now I don't know if I want to read any more. Not for the moment.
John Banville: The lock-up (2023), courtesy of LG. This book is part of the Detective Benjamin Black series, which Banville first wrote under a pen name, before reverting to his own. I had read April in Spain (the previous one, published in 2021), but his most recent one is more successful in my opinion. For lovers of detective stories seasoned with the best Banville has to offer.
As for Deborah Levy's book, What I don't want to know 2018 (borrowed from Nelson's library, now 70% open!), it is the first volume of an autobiographical trilogy by the author from South Africa living in Britain since the age of nine. She wrote this book to answer the question about why she writes. It was during a trip to Mallorca that she seems to have found the answer to this question. As soon as she arrived, she started remembering her childhood in South Africa, her father imprisoned for three years because he supported the ANC, which forced the family to emigrate to Britain when he was released from prison, after he was no longer able work. I appreciated her beautiful writing more inspiring when she leaves the facts behind, and found the beginning and the end particularly powerful. I still want to read the following two books of the trilogy and maybe some of her fiction as well. The following sentence touched me deeply: "The way we are wired to kill. Ourselves”.