
Andre Kertesz
Don’t suppose anyone saw the beautiful sequence of photos by Andre Kertesz featured in the Guardian’s G2 section last week? He sounds like an incredibly interesting bloke- born in Budapest at the turn of the last century, he was completely fascinated by reading and devoted much of his photographic career to taking sneaky pictures of people engrossed in a book. It struck a chord with me because they are not only utterly lovely to look at but I also share a similar curiosity- when I see someone reading, I just can’t take my eyes off them. It’s just something about that unique mixture of concentration and enjoyment- I find it really compelling… but then that’s also quickly followed by an overwhelming desire to interrupt them and ask them what they’re reading, which instantly ruins the whole effect. Probably lucky that I’m not a photographer
I wouldn’t have noticed if anyone had been taking pictures of me recently, as I have spent the last week completely absorbed in an unexpectedly fabulous book. As someone who gets through quite a few books a month (work and pleasure!), I am liable to speed-read and am fairly difficult to impress but this really worked. It’s called The Rapture and it’s by Liz Jensen, a kind of apocalyptic dystopian fantasy crossed with an utterly realistic and disturbing psychological thriller. It will make a great film. Not my usual thing at all (and the cover is hideous) but it just shows that you never can tell. And it’s a possibility for a future book group book, so I’m currently in a quandary about whether I should talk about it at the meeting next week (and risk spoilers) or whether I should play it safe and opt for an old favourite…
Hope you’re all sorted for the August meeting- the format’s going to be slightly different and the idea is to bring along a book that’s made an impression on you (good OR bad) that you want to tell the world about. I’m also thinking of compiling a summer books quiz but we’ll see if I get round to it (so much to do!!!). So see you all next Wednesday (5th August) at 6pm in Bar Justice. News of new venue then too…. xxx