On Wednesday 22 June 2022, and following our customary “longest day” cycle ride to Devil’s Dyke, then followed by a hasty relocation to the Ancient Mariner because they stopped serving drinks, and were not serving food (I know right?), we met to discuss Keith's Refugee themed choices….
READ: Epitaph For a Spy (1938) by Eric Ambler
Josef Vadassy is a guileless Hungarian language teacher who lives in France and is on a rare holiday on the French Riviera. After indulging his interest in photography he gets picked up by the police and questioned about a series of photos of coastal fortifications he appears to have taken. Josef Vadassy is wrongly accused of spying with the only way to prove his innocence appearing to be unmasking the real spy.
The novel is particularly good at evoking the precariousness of the stateless person who is thrown into desperation when the authorities become suspicious, and his status allows him to be cynically used. The book also brings to life the turbulent, paranoid and uncertain years prior to WW2 with the authorities understandably suspicious of foreigners who might be gathering intelligence for a hostile neighbour.
The reactions varied considerably to this novel. Nick, Tristan and Roland were particularly damning
Nick 1 / Tristan 3 / Nigel 6 / Keith 6 / Roland 3 / Robin 5 / Hamish 6
We all really liked their loose limbed, semi-acoustic take on reggae and African music, and which is embodied in the pared down title track. Sunshine music despite being borne out of tragedy, displacement and suffering
WATCH: Limbo (2020) dir by Ben Sharrock
A beautifully shot tale of migrants stuck on a remote Scottish island while their claims are being processed. An interminable process with an uncertain outcome. The island is both bleak and beautiful. The contact with the state is via a bizarre and blackly humorous series of cultural and vocational lessons from instructors Helga and Boris. It's slow and powerful, a bit too slow for some of our tastes, but it undeniably makes its point.
ENDORSE IT
12 May 2022 -> 22 June 2022
Love Life (iPlayer)
Oumou Sangare (Music)
Sherwood (iPlayer)
Big Boys (All4)
The Fifth Season by MK Jemson
Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir
Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (Book)
Small World (2022) by Metronomy (Music)
The Laidlaw Trilogy by William McIlvanney (Books)
The Morning Show (Season One) (Apple TV)
The Schizophonics (Live music)
Severance (Apple TV)
George Monbiot talk at Charleston
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Book)
Knepp Safari (Knepp Estate)
Joker (Prime)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Old Enough (Netflix)
The Last Word (column in The Week magazine)
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