Is It Tomorrow Yet? (Ivan Krastev)

Ivan Krastev

Is It Tomorrow Yet?* Paradoxes of the Pandemic

A very topical essay on how the current Covid-19 pandemic may, or may not, fundamentally change the way that we live from a political perspective. Whether regimes will become more democratic or more tyrannical, how the population will respond through nationalism or embracing others, whether democratic regimes will force more decisions through the executive rather than through parliaments and how the European experiment will fare area all intelligently explored. Of course we don't know the answers as yet and although likely scenarios are covered the author does state that the roads we travel down are as yet unknown. An interesting angle is that whilst despotic regimes, if not all in power, like a bit of chaos to whip up public opinion in their favour it's usually manufactured or at least stage managed to ensure more power goes to those already in power. Give or take a political party but no revolutionary upheavals certainly in Europe. But the pandemic is different as it blind sided nearly everyone and all countries responses were broadly similar for fear of getting it wrong and being seen to have endangered many lives whilst it was obvious that we should be doing what other countries are. Which is why so much of the world is now under more stringent attacks on civil liberties that anyone could have imagined 12 months ago. Three quarters of the population of England are in Tier 4 as I write meaning that we are not allowed to leave our houses except for specific reasons including going to work in essential services, school or for limited exercise. It is illegal to be outside without a good reason. I'm sure that re-reading that in 5 years will seem incredible. As an aside the UK has left the EU as of 1st January 2020 and the transition period ends tomorrow (31/12/20). The EU nations showed their lack of commitment to their experiment by closing country borders in response to the pandemic and keeping all equipment including personal protection equipment (PPE) inside their borders indeed refusing to send any to the first affected countries such as Italy who were desperate. As per the Great Recession of 2008 the richer EU nations such as Germany and France have shown their scorn for the other EU nations and made it clear that they are only in the EU to further their economic interests. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on many areas of political and economic life across the world and as Krastev suggests may lead to de-globalisation (countries need to be able to resource themselves) whilst also paradoxically leading to de-localisation (as we see our neighbours less than those far from us through the media and video links). A thought provoking read.

The Man from London (Georges Simenon)

Georges Simenon
The Man from London

An odd little tale about someone accidentally witnessing a murder and ending up with a suitcase of money. The story is less about the action than the personality of the main character who sort of drifts along in a haze making seemingly random decisions. The ending is odd except that you sort of know that that is a likely outcome. Ultimately it seems to be about how what seems like a random act can affect people who are strangers but bound together in that act, although being strangers dealing with the consequences in their own ways and to a great extent having to deal with them alone. Worth a read.

The Rider (Tim Krabbé)

Tim Krabbé

The Rider

Meyrueis, Lozere, June 26, 1977. Hot and overcast. I take my gear out of the car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of those lives shocks me.

Possibly the best opening lines to a book in capturing the essence of the read as much as that other epic opening of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The book is a brilliantly evocative description of a mountainous road race with breaks to describe the writer's cycle race history and snippets about other professionals. It's written with such passion and skill that you can feel the highs and lows and pain suffered in bike racing. One passage is of Tim racing with famous riders in surreal circumstances (lending Mercx a fork to each fried mashed potato is verging on the trippy and are obviously dreams. A great book worth a read whether a cyclist or not.

To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)

Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse

An interesting read that jumps about different character's views without really tying them all up in a sort of stream of consciousness style especially in passages dedicated to one person. Sometimes it jumps about in a stream of different people's thoughts and perspectives that keeps you on your intellectual toes. There's not really a strong story line, apart from the thread of going to the lighthouse, which is hardly a spoiler. The story threads are more about feelings between the characters some of which are incidental and some more in depth. The relationships seem to be more about perception of others from each person's viewpoint which neatly mimics what most human relationships are as aren't our views on others mainly driven by our views rather than what they actually do? To some extent at least. Despite not being action heavy I was hooked at times and couldn't put it down. Better than Mrs Dalloway but maybe I should read that again in one stretch.

Black Routes (Brian Belton)

Brian Belton

Black Routes: Legacy of African Diaspora

Recommended by my work colleague who was taught by the author at college. A run through of a number of Black activists and authors. Very interesting and led me to find out more and read some of the people he chooses. It does seem very personal and random with no real thread running throughout. The commentary is from a personal point of view and it's often difficult to know if you are reading the author's views or the person he's writing about. This personal angle is taken to extremes in writing about an ex West Ham player who becomes a very successful coach in the USA. We are then led into a long list of games played and successful players that he's coached which is not really that interesting, unless you are a fan of MLS, and this chapter takes a quarter of the book. To be honest it feels like a massive filler. But the most disappointing part of the book is the very short chapter on Louis Farrakhan who whilst undoubtably has a very large following is not condemned by the author for his views (widely extremely conservative) and as someone who has endorsed Trump sits very uncomfortably alongside the others in the book.