book talk vol. six

blessed by a string of brilliance

I have been absolutely spoilt by the universe lately with an unbroken streak of 10/10 books. So, without any delay, lets go.

‘Margot is the child of renowned musicians and the product of a particularly punky upbringing. Burnt-out from the burden of expectation and the bad end of the worst relationship yet, she leaves New York and heads to Montana. She's seeking to escape both the eyes of the world and the echoing voice of that last bad man.’

I Fear My Pain Interests You by Stephanie LaCava (Verso) blew my god damned mind and instantly became one of my top books of the year. This is a brutal, powerful, and emotionally intricate take on the coming-of-age novel about a young woman living under the dark shadow of her famous, absent, and emotionally withdrawn family as she moves through a world which has at best neglected her and at worst abused her. LaCava brilliantly explores the nihilism and self destruction of youth, emotionally manipulative men, and the peculiar complexities of being in a body; it is genuinely a masterpiece you won’t soon forget.

‘Grief is all around us. At the heart of the brightly coloured, vividly characterised, joyful films of Studio Ghibli, they are wracked with loss - of innocence, of love, of the connection to our world and of that world itself. Now Go enters these emotional waters to interrogate not only how Studio Ghibli navigates grief so well, but how that informs our own understanding of grief's manifold faces.’

Now Go: on grief and Studio Ghibli by Karl Thomas Smith (404 Ink) is one of the latest additions to their incredible Inklings series and one of my favourites. Now Go is a generous, thoughtful, and caring walk through grief and the movies of Studio Ghibli. I wrote a larger piece about it here if you are interested.

‘How does one experience things from the viewpoint of the other sex? It is this question that has led to Viladot’s creation of Ruth, the genre-defining story of a sex change told by the protagonist through a series of letters to an anonymous friend. Ruth demonstrates the sentimental and intellectual intimacy of a man transitioning into a woman, and describes a profund, touching process in which frustrations, ideas of liberty and changes of identity are interwoven.’

Ruth by Guillem Viladot (Fum D’Estampa) was a genuinely overwhelming read, in the best kind of way. Told through a series of letters Ruth is a powerful, poetic exploration of self, society, gender, love, sex, art, and the bizarre experience that is possessing a body. Heartbreaking beautiful, and way ahead of its time, this is a vital piece of trans literature.

‘Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping is Derek Jarman’s only piece of narrative fiction. Written in 1971, it is a surreal, fabular, lyrical work – a literary fairytale acid-trip road movie hybrid – the energies and details of which influenced much of his later work across media.’

Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping by Derek Jarman (Prototype) is one of the weirdest books I’ve read for a long time and I loved every single page of it. It’s kind of hard to explain the plot per se but the vibe is like Kerouac on an acid fuelled road trip through a pop art Wonderland. At once a myth and a warning, where the past is crumbling to dust and there is no future, just the endless repeating cycle of now. Exquisitely weird.

That’s it for another issue of BOOK TALK. Hope you find something you like. Until next time,

— NUCOSI