#winman

[readingdiary]

…

QUOTE OF THE WEEK 8/1/24 - STILL LIFE - SARAH WINMAN

AFTER PLANNING 9/6/23 - STILL LIFE - SARAH WINMAN

This is sad because my PLANNING 9/6/23 - STILL LIFE - SARAH WINMAN post was one of the last ones I did last year before my husband Philip became really ill. He was ill at the time and in and out of hospital but life was continuing.

It was just over a month later he was told that the treatment was no longer working and nothing further could be done. He died in under 3 weeks.

Even though my reading and QUOTE OF THE WEEK continued I was unable to keep up with this READING DIARY New Year 2024 is my picking this up again.

Today’s QUOTE OF THE WEEK is a good attempt.

Thank you to my friends in local theatre for their costume and company.

*****

[victoriadallonfan]

It was based entirely on 2 things:

1 - These interactions where Vic and Kid Win bond together and Victoria explicitly wants to hang out

And…

2 - Victoria and Kid Win having names that both mean victory

Seriously. That’s it.

And it was so fun despite having no basis at all

How many people here remember that brief time where people shipped Kid Win and Victoria in Ward?

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[mangoslixes]

Fifteen sunflowers, some in bloom and some turning. Yellow on yellow pigment that darkened to ochre. Yellow earthenware vase decorated by a complementary blue line that cut across its middle. The original was painted by one of the loneliest men on earth. But painted in a frenzy of optimism and gratitude and hope. A celebration of the transcendent power of the color yellow.

mutuals as books I love: @appleinducedsleep as Tin Man by Sarah Winman

[thelibrarywaltz]

nothing gives me the same dopamine hit of shopping like going to the library and walking out with an armful of new books

[loverscrossmp3]

3/6 books came in the mail today plus new yorker tote we are so back

[whatcharlottereads]

"We just need to know what the heart's capable of, Evelyn." "And do you know what it's capable of?" "I do. Grace and fury." - Sarah Winman, Still Life

[havingapoemwithyou]

all my friends are finding new beliefs by Christian Winman

[janefondue]

Quiet moments

[nie-narzekam]

“There are moments in life, so monumental and still, that the memory can never be retrieved without a catch to the throat or an interruption to the beat of the heart. Can never be retrieved without the rumbling disquiet of how close that moment came to not having happened at all.”

(Sarah Winman, Still Life)

[readingdiary]

*****

PLANNING 9/6/23 - ‘STILL LIFE’ - SARAH WINMAN

FOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK 8/1/24 - MY BIRTHDAY

Now I am thinking well ahead here - 6 months in fact. Next year my birthday is on a Monday so obviously I want a decent Quote of the Week. I am going to use ‘Still Life’ by Sarah Winman. This is because not only is there a reference to  a birthday but it also references 8/1/1960 - the day that I was born.

These are the birthday quotes:

‘And on 8 January at four in the afternoon … ‘ (Winman, 2021, p.243).

‘1960′ (Winman, 2021, p.244).

‘Happy birthday, he said.’ (Winman, 2021, p.373).

There is also a great parrot quote:

‘It was the kind of night to settle on the sofa with a grappa and a large parrot for company.’ (Winman, 2021, p.293).

Obviously I am thinking of a costume for a photo shoot.

Yesterday I went to see Debbie who is involved in costume in amateur dramatics and has helped me out with a couple of earlier quotes.

https://quoteoftheweekblog.tumblr.com/post/686941481032957952/quote-of-the-week-13622-james-joyce

https://quoteoftheweekblog.tumblr.com/post/696278823423131648/quote-of-the-week-26922-jess-walter-and-the I am sad to discover that they have no parrot costume. I think there is another bird costume but no parrot. Debbie is frustrated (they have everything but) and suggests that I could make a mask quite easily.

Yes I could do a parrot version of this …

https://quoteoftheweekblog.tumblr.com/post/691317541564481536/quote-of-the-week-1822-dashiell-hammett

All I would need is red and yellow plus feathers to get this effect …

https://www.joann.com/parrot-mask/27915616P12.html

I could also try this …

https://childhood101.com/diy-kids-costumes-bird-mask-dress-up/ And I really like this …

Which includes this as an option …

https://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mplate-parrot.htm

Going upmarket Etsy has …

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/733582242/parrot-mask-animal-mask-colorful-bird These would all be great but at the same time I would imagine that the cost could mount up.

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/fantasy-feathers-5g/6626211000.html £2 for 5g

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/gutermann-red-cupped-sequins-6mm-9g-4545/5662761008.html?glCountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0OqhxbvC_wIVoIBQBh2nqgq1EAQYASABEgJ0J_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds £3.50 for 9g

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/mask-card-shapes-10-pack/6373101003.html?glCountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4_D3zLXC_wIVw-TtCh1ppQXJEAQYAyABEgKd3PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

£2 for 10

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/craft-pva-glue-500ml/6592931000.html?glCountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvJ7rlbjC_wIVy8ztCh1PagzMEAQYASABEgJoxvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

£3 for 500ml

Yes - £10.50.

Alternatively the Amazon head mask at only £16.99 seems a bargain.

REFERENCE

Winman, S. (2021) ‘Still Life’. Amazon.com [E-book]. Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Still-Life-stunning-Sunday-bestselling-ebook/dp/B08N5NZ8PZ/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1686725056&refinements=p_27%3ASarah+Winman&s=digital-text&sr=1-1 (Accessed 11 May 2021). *****

[delightful-to-be-read]

Still Life - Sarah Winman

This one isn't a knee-jerk to being obsessed with Under the Covers. K brought it home and said that an elderly colleague had recommended it to her.

Set primarily in Florence and a little in London, it follows the parallel journeys of a young soldier and an art historian from the tailend of WW2 through to the late 1960s.

My first five star of the year.

Things I liked

The art. Whenever I've been to Florence, my time has been taken up with two things: climbing everything that can be climbed and the endless, endless art. The David is an ecclesiastical experience. Also throwing a tantrum when K made me leave the Uffizi after four hours and I gave her the silent treatment the whole time we were queuing to climb the Duomo.

The relationship threads were curious and warm and very loyal and loving. There was very little restraint or self-consciousness in anyone showing affection to another.

The food. The way food is treated with such respect and joy, which is something that, in my experience, people who love Italy love about Italy.

The richness of the characters' lives and the celebration of the richness of their lives the whole way through.

It's lovely to read a historical novel where queerness is responded to with "Not a big deal, mate." pretty much across the board. I don't think this should be the premise in every book, of course. But some.

I also really enjoy the 'gay world' premise in all media, where pretty much anyone can be seduced by someone of any gender but there's not straight-boy or straight-girl freak-out after. The world of the pansexuals.

Things I noticed

I'm genuinely going to start planning the road trip they take to Florence. And if neither of us want to spend all that time driving on the right, I'm planning this train journey. I have a really good friend from Bologna - she lives in London most of the time but if we time it right...

In my mid-teens, my favourite book was Stephen Fry's The Liar. There are a weird number of small references in common with this book. E.M. Forster, Trefusis.

It also reminded me of Any Human Heart. Firstly, in the way you become so well-acquainted and sympathetic towards the characters. Secondly, the way the gentle passage of time is interrupted by historical world events.

[azazel-dreams]

Tin Man by Sarah Winman

Rating: ❤️❤️❤❤❤

[loo-nuh-tik]

My last meal would be between a woman’s legs.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

[heavenlyyshecomes]

I go in to eat just before eight and take a seat at a table of six. Escargots are placed in front of us, the aroma of garlic rising thickly like mist off a lake. It takes time for us all to look up from our plates, and to acknowledge we are in this experience, together. Wine helps. I pour out Cote du Rhône into my neighbours’ glasses. We smile. We make comments about the food in French and English and Spanish, because we’re a mix at our table. Chicken coming now. Salty crunchy skin and tagliatelle with a morel sauce. I don’t like dessert but I do like cheese. A wheel comes towards me with every stink of fermentation on it. How long you staying here? I’m asked. Not long, I say, and I surprise myself. I’m going home, I say. In the taxi back to the mas, I feel well fed and well drunk. I look out on to the rugged black landscape, the gold of Les Baux shimmering to my left. I ask the taxi driver to stop and he pulls over to the side of the road. I roll down the window and breathe in the garrigue. I think about home. But, mostly, I think about them. These are my last thoughts, the ones I remember, before I fall asleep. I leave with the last rays of warmth, as October light creeps in and begins to flatten out the days. Marion and Guillaume wave me off in front of the sheds. I feel them watching me as I walk away. At the gate, I turn back for one last look, one last wave. The clouds pull away and the sun bids me farewell. On the train, I doze, wake, doze, and I paint the Provençal landscape in my mind for Dora, one last time. The green complementing the deep blue of the sky, the air fizzing with energy. White stone sheds interrupt the scene, and there beyond the sheds, a glimpse of yellow, shouting. And in the foreground, the quiet shape of two lovers. Always two lovers. Shadowed in memory.

—Sarah Winman, Tin Man

[sitaetagere]

There's this book bazaar happening in my town, and they sell English books almost half the price! It's called Big Bad Wolf, held annually, and I believe several SEA countries also have the same bazaar? Anyways, I bought six books, three of them are hardcovers novels 🥹

I bought these mainly because of their pretty covers, ngl, but I looked up their summaries and rating on Goodreads and their premises look promising. Hopefully the actual writing is reaching my expectation. I don't know when will I start them, though. I still have Bunny and Red, White, & Royal Blue on read currently---and I plan to read Babel after those. So. Yeah.