Litsy

keithmalek

Pull Me Up: A Memoir | Dan Barry

pick

Like almost everything else that has been written by Dan Barry, this was amazing.
#2025Book44

5 likes

keithmalek

Pull Me Up: A Memoir | Dan Barry

On the stool to my right was a sweat-drenched comic named Sammy, talking about how he had killed that night; if this were true, humor had been the victim.

4 likes

Bookwomble

On Agoraphobia | Graham Caveney

#BookHaul
While I was in Chester, I popped into Waterstones and got the top two books, then found a lovely little indie, Books on the Walls, where I got the bottom two.
On Agoraphobia: the author's bibliotherapy led him to discover that the literary world is full of agoraphobics, and this book is about them 😰
Medusa: A 1920s weird novel set at sea 🦑
Alien Gods: Only 97 pages, but they are translations of Korean reimaginings of H.P. Lovecraft ⬇️

Bookwomble ... stories, so a must buy! 🐙
Baba Yaga, Tales of an Old Witch: a 12 page zine of poetry about BY, told by a professional storyteller 🧙‍♀️ 2w

AnnCrystal 📚👏🏼🤩👍🏼💫. 2w

36 likes2 comments

keithmalek

Pull Me Up: A Memoir | Dan Barry

Among the other necessities, we packed pens and paper because I am naked without them. I have rustled through life with a notebook pressed against my chest and a pen bleeding in my pocket. They are the instruments I use to ease the low-grade panic born of the absurd sense that it is my mission to record moments. I chase stories with pen and paper the way a child chases fireflies with a glass jar and a hole-dappled lid.

3 likes

Robotswithpersonality

Way of the Hermit: My Incredible 40 Years Living in the Wilderness (Original) | Ken Smith

pick

A bit more of a guide than a memoir, you get a more straightforward introduction to Smith's early years, a brief account of his journeys in the wilderness, primarily in Canada (felt ridiculously proud of his admiring descriptions of BC), prior to settling in one wood. But the story of his time at Loch Treig is divided more along the lines of what is essential to think about/know/do if you contemplate this lifestyle, especially in the Scottish 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Scottish Highlands. The way of the hermit, indeed.
I love that what shines through clearest in all of his advice and reminiscences is strongly valuing kindness, generosity, and conservation. Much as he may have found more peace without the crush of an urban population, he is quick to acknowledge all those people who have helped him along his way. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 3/? That gratitude extends to the land he's lived on, it's beauty and bounty, and a consistent, conscientious, somewhat mournful focus on the need to tread lightly, the ways the local climate, ecosystem has changed linked to an understanding of this being a microcosm of the larger environmental concerns of today.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 4/? There's a bit of 'old man yells at cloud' in his perspective, unable to reconcile the idea that people might enjoy a city life or a desk job, and as passionate as he is in championing nature, I do wish he seemed more optimistic about rewilding efforts in the U.K. Especially as you see him move from a ghillie aiding in deer stalking (aka helping people hunt deer on the estate because indigenous predators have been wiped out, 3w

See All 9 Comments

Robotswithpersonality 5/? and population control of deer is necessary to maintain the health of the local ecosystem) to someone who is relieved his advancing age removes him from those staff who have to kill the animals - though he laments that he can no longer fish in the loch, as it is now experiencing it's own population concerns.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 6/? There are sections of the book that I wish had gone into more detail, where we might have gained a bit more of his inner thoughts/life than a description of events, but the book at this size does make better odds that more people will pick it up. I do also wonder, now that I know there was a documentary, The Hermit of Treig, about this man that pre-dates, indeed partially inspired this book, if that might cover his life in a different way. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 7/? Overall, I think you can take inspiration from the way he's lived his life, without, as he himself states, going as far as he did. He does acknowledge when his life choices were risky, but urges and exemplifies caution a great deal more. Nevertheless, his scale of toughness means the average reader will probably be a little stunned at what he occasionally shrugs off. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 8/? There is humour and humility and resilience. A good read physically or on audio.
Definitely a collaborative effort, as Smith had Millard's assistance in writing the book, and Dean Williamson narrates the audiobook. Unsure of the origins of the accent, but it works to tell this story. I should mention, there are differences between physical book and audio, I assume the audio is based off the UK written version, with a fair amount of local 3w

Robotswithpersonality 9/? parlance thrown in, and it's obvious the written version I've got has been revised to substitute more North American synonyms. I found the foreign slang utterly charming, while also being grateful for a reference with more familiar terms to translate. ☺️ Can highly recommend the tandem reading experience for my fellow North American readers.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 10/10 ⚠️Loss of parents, discussion of depression, animal death, mention of injury, suicide, cancer diagnosis and treatment 3w

13 likes9 comments

Robotswithpersonality

Way of the Hermit: My Incredible 40 Years Living in the Wilderness (Original) | Ken Smith