As one of those "last remaining" violent protestors, and one of the arrests, I'd like to put the evening across as I saw
it.
During the day, protestors had been divided into the vast majority who followed the planned route to hyde park, and a
number of activists who moved around the city in groups, performing a mixture of non-violent direct actions (sit-ins,
physically blocking shop entrances etc) and some targetted property damage (including graffiti, broken windows and
paintballs). There were a few scuffles between individuals and police, but no major violence towards people.
Later in the evening a large number of people who had attended the rally went to Trafalgar Square, for a bit of an
unofficial afterparty with music and more speeches. There was also a plan by some to set up a protest camp there, of a
similar nature to the one on Parliament Square. Aside from a few bits of graffiti there was no trouble at all in this time,
the two or three small campfires were kept well under control, there was lots of drinking but no violent drunks, and the
crowd was alltogether chilled. The police showed admirable common sense here, allowing the party to continue with little
visible presence, though they were able to step in whenever someone crossed a line, such as spraying graffiti. Some of us
set up tents and started preparing for the night.
As evening fell there were a few exoduses back and forth - mainly to Picadilly, where protestors intended to surround a
police kettle to help those inside escape before trouble flared up. The crowd was constantly being replenished by
demonstrators from all over the city, but numbers stayed constant as those with family or work commitments left.
The mood changed when a column of police in riot gear charged through the crowd towards the clock. from my perspective on
Nelson's Column plinth, I couldn't tell who started the fighting but saw it escalate quickly and there was soon a brawl
between the protestors and police in one area of the square.
Police seemed to take this as a cue to intervene all together, as soon vast numbers were surrounding the square, then
dividing the crowd up. People didn't really put up a fight but there was a lot of refusals to move etc - the police were
extremely heavy handed with people who were not breaking the law, they were shoving rather than asking, and that put a lot
of people's backs up.
The seperated groups were of very different character, because the area around Nelson's Column had contained lots of the
committed non-violent hippy types (me included) setting up the camp, wheras the National Gallery area contained most of the
black-bloc anarchists who had marched victoriously round the city during the day. (Of course there was a crossover, lots of
the campers were also black bloc, and many of the black bloc were also non-violent, but there was a strong distinction).
The result was that one police "kettle" was very quiet and a little pointless - we weren't trying to leave anyway and were
just a little frustrated at having a three-deep police guard around us as we went about our business. The other group
however was very volatile. Police containment techniques work because the police are willing to use more force to maintain
them than the protestors are willing to use to escape - but that doesn't apply to large groups of angry revolutionaries.
At the peaceful group we were contained for 5/6 hours, between around nine and the early hours of the morning. There were
literally no attempts at forcing the lines open, though there was much questioning of the reasoning and aims of containing
us in the first place. We soon retreated onto the platform of the Column, taking our tents with us, to the place where some
inspired artist had taped a photograph of Nelson Mandela. Definitely a better role model and hero. From here we could hear
and see the more confrontational group of protestors and police at the north east of the square, but we chose to remain
true to our original plan of a peaceful sit-in, ignoring the armed escort.
Early on after starting the containment, some police tried to get us off the platform. My tent containing all my
possessions was thrown (by police) onto the other side of the police lines and I was unable to collect it despite
requesting politely to collect it and return or leave alone peacefully, whichever they preferred. They failed to clear the
platform because in response to their very physical treatment (I climbed down as soon as I was asked, rather than shoved -
but I still got lots of shoves as I scaled the high, slippery steps), other demonstrators were climbing up faster than they
could remove us. Later, when we had neither been charged with any offence or allowed to leave the area, most of us climbed
back up.
Then came a many-hour standoff in which we refused to respond violently to the provocations of the guarding police, instead
challenging them verbally about their behaviour and ethics, or else ignoring them completely. Many of the other group
needed to leave, but most of us had been planning to stay the night anyway. They maintained their lines, not even acting
until past 1am when they came forward to a metre or so around the podium, and officers began to forcibly pull individuals
down. With agreed ground rules of nonviolence, most of us refused when ordered to move ourselves, but didn't put up a fight
when manhandled. Some, including me, stubbornly refused to be dragged but climbed down ourselves when asked civilly.
I don't know why they insisted on pulling us all down then, because there followed a long period of standing around,
squashed in a corner where many people had been urinating, seemingly while the police decided what to do with us. They
couldn't charge us with anything because we'd not commited any crimes or even much disorder - but after all that
performance with thousands of riot police they couldn't just leave us either. In the end we were taken individually and
photographed, then summarily arrested for Breach of the Peace, cuffed and bundled into minibuses in twos and threes, and
dropped off in different parts of london, unarrested with instructions not to return or cause any more disorder (like
sitting still in a public square).
I was lucky to be dropped off just on the other side of westminster bridge - I was able to wait a while for all the police
and protestors to have been dispersed then return to try and salvage my possessions. The two people I was left with, both
strangers, were less lucky - I'm a london-dweller but they were both totally lost. One was a visitor from Hull, who I
guided back to Kings Cross after collecting my slightly broken tent and astonistingly still intact possessions inside,
which had been abandoned for the street sweepers to remove. I say I was lucky, because a friend of the Hull-ian, also not a
Londoner, was left in Vauxhall with no cash, no idea where he was and at 2am on a sunday.
I don't know yet what happened to the other protest camp, which was being set up in hyde park. I haven't yet been able to
get in touch with some of my friends but I have to assume they're ok. I got in touch with my parents early this morning -
they missed the worry of watching me being menaced by cops on live TV (they have seen it before) because they were on the
coach back to the north east after attending the official march and rally. I haven't seen much media yet, though I
understand there's a fair bit of "nasty anarchists spoiling lovely day, poor coppers getting cold while babysitting them".
BBC Cameras near us got some good footage of three policemen dragging a woman (who was not committing a crime or being
violent) down from the platform of Trafalgar Square, wonder if they'll use it. If anyone got some photos of the travelling
black bloc trooping through london, a revolutionary army with uniform and pennants high (even someone marching at the front
twirling a large black flag for a while) they'll make excellent scaremongering for the less reputable papers.
Everyone I talked to in the hours I couldn't leave and the three or four before that when i could, was shocked but not
surprised by the events of the evening. After months of student protests, we know how a significant number of police will
act if they can. As soon as that riot visor goes down we're less than animals, to be herded about and shoved and yelled at
and catologued and left in the cold. And arrested - I'd dearly love to know how many of those hundreds of arrests are 5-
minute in-and-out jobs like mine, in which the person has commited no specific offence and it's just a quick way to get rid
of them and get their details too. We're not going to let them win though. Direct action protesting works - that's why the
powers that be are so keen to stop it. And to quote a really good song ("Bounce" by The Rub)- "If we can't fix it up now
then our children are gonna have to suffer with what we fail to do today".
Jenny Bloom 27/03/2011
vampyra1990@hotmail.com
http://vampyrasinkwell.livejournal.com/
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=1
Crossposted to facebook, livejournal and various comment and discussion sites. Copyleft - repost where you will but please do not remove the contact details and if possible a link to where you found it.
- Location:Cia + Sonia's couch
- Mood:Revolutionary! Also, knackered
Yesterday wasn't a great victory for the aims of this political movement - I very much doubt there's a government U-turn coming on this afternoon. But something else did happen, and it's something that's been needed for a while.
A good number, maybe half of the people protesting in Whitehall yesterday were underage - sixthformers to skiving thirteen year olds who'd walked out of school, looking for a march, some shouting and maybe to change the world. What they got was a sharp lesson in media manipulation, police thuggery and the politics of protest.
For many it was their first demonstration - and it was a rough one. Cordonned off with no access to food water or toilets for many hours on one of the coldest days of the year, the police were unsympathetic to a level that even surprised me (two portaloos eventually arrived, but you had to fight your way through the crowd for them - similarly a few dozen bottles of water) . But instead of anger, the kids were smart and well-behaved. They huddled to keep warm, chanted, danced to drum and bass on a giant sountsystem someone had brought along and even tried to intervene when a few people began attacking That Police Van you'll all have heard about - photos are spreading of schoolgirls encircling the van, making a human shield as even they could understand that it was a photo op for the right wing media. Those kids were brave, and completely understood the situation - the powers than be are willing to use every dirty trick in the book. Later, some of them questioned the police about it - the answers they got are laughable, and they did laugh.
As darkness fell and the cold became worse, bonfires began - eventually about a dozen small ones and one large. Sitting or standing round them, people talked - about what to do next, and about what had happened. All the placards and litter went on the bonfire - after notebook pages and free papers we ran out of things to burn. The soundsystem moved from dubstep to the beatles and T-Rex - has anything ever looked less threatening than a crowd swaying and singing Hey Jude?
As Edd Mustill says in his excellent blog, "An eight-hour kettle gives you plenty of time to think and talk, believe me". He's not kidding. Bits of information, rumours, ideas, spread through the crowd the whole time. Not long after the kettle began, everyone knew that the news was reporting "police are slowly dispersing the protestors" - totally untrue. They knew that as evening drew on an emergency counter-protest was being called for our release - and that the various police were telling different stories about why we were being held in the first place. Everyone knew, for example, that the police were livid about being humiliated at Millbank two weeks ago, and weren't taking any chances today. Some police said we were being held in one place so all the criminal damage (hah) would be focussed in one place instead of spread round the city - we heard that heavy-handed dispersal of a group in trafalgar square (policehorses vs children? Nice) had inspired a couple of broken windows. Some police suggested that the protest was being made as unpleasant as possible to dissuade the kids from doing it again - "if they're going to demonstrate, then we'll give them the real demonstration experience, cold, boring and miserable", a particularly arsey copper told me.
Fundamentally, this is what those young people took away with them. They took away the knowledge that in these situations, the police are agents of the enemy. They are willing to hurt you, they are willing to trick you, and they won't have any compassion. These kids will spread the word to their classmates when they return to school today about freezing cold, thirst, and being shoved about by lines of riot police. About parents who arived at about 6pm, after night fell, pleading for the release of their children. About kids whose parents didn't know who they were, and couldn't get home. These young people are the ones who will have gone home and told their parents that the tv reports are wrong, that the newspapers are lying. With any luck, they'll remember not to believe everything they read, everything they hear.
The idea of putting them off protest has backfired spectacularly. This insulting and inhumane treatment of children, this massive indefensible overreaction, has radicalized and educated a generation of ordinary London youth. Next time they'll be back, with thermoses full of soup, winter coats, and a lot to say. I'm delighted.
Jenny Bloom, vampyra1990[at]hotmail.com
CROSS POSTED TO MY BLOG AND FACEBOOK: http://vampyrasinkwell.livejournal.com
EDD MUSTILL: http://thegreatunrest.wordpress.com/2010/1
Want a more reliable, Murdoch-free news source? Try INDYMEDIA:
Best mainstream news coverage I've seen in THE GUARDIAN (text and video): http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/n
- Location:Bed, London
- Mood:
calm
Well hellooo again! It's half past ten on the last day of my summer break - back to uni in fifteen and a half hours! I'm kinda looking forward to getting back into the swing of it, especially since I have some interesting modules this year - but I can't deny that I've been really happy this last month, just plodding about doing this and that in my favourite city. I can't understand people who get bored in the holidays - much less people who are desperate for a job (other than for financial reasons, obv). Do they not enjoy their own company? Can they not feel the pleasure of going for a walk by the canal, sitting in bed all day with a book, meeting up with friends now and then but mostly just doing whatever little domestic things need doing and filling the days with whatever you fancy? I think I could do it forever.
Today's been one of those domestic days - after thoroughly tiring myself out over the last week I've spent this afternoon listening to one of Richard Hammond's audiobooks (eternally grateful to whoever runs the tumblr stream dedicated to Mindy as that's where I got the link) while I gave my room a thorough sort out. Dusted, sorted out possessions, cleared off the shelves and then (because if you're going to do something you may as well do it well) dry-polished the windows. They're unrecognisably nicer like that, though I'm sure I now have more muscles on my right arm than left. I only did the casements - while the scaffolding's still up I'll climb out one day and do the outer sash ones as well. Not today though!
RIGHT. Enough talking about my cleaning, I'll bore you all to tears. I've actually got several interesting things to say: starting with another request. I'll give cookies (real life actual cookies, not just virtual ones) to anyone who leaves me a message to say they're read this. I got a grand total of one response last time (Thanks Liz!) and although maybe my last blog wasn't too exciting it's still a bit weird not to know if anyone's reading it.
SO: This past week I've been to two birthday parties and three concerts. Both birthday parties were great fun - one for Cesia and one for Clare's Tim. Both were lots of fun though I have to admit Tim's scavenger-hunt-followed-by-origami-and-a-m
LORD OF THE RINGS III, with live score by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, was the first of this week's exciting 3-times-at-the-Albert-Hall adventure. Nobody can accuse me of not taking full advantage of living in London. The tickets were only £15 (if you don't mind standing/floorsitting on the very highest level of the building, which I don't) and being a big film-music fan I was pretty desperate to go. Emma and Cesia came too, though between rain and tube problems we none of us got there dry or on time. Where Sia put her stuff down actually left a puddle... The actual concert (is that the right word) was brilliant though, such wonderful music, a film I'd forgotten how much I liked in it's own right, and woooo the first violinist was good. Horribly, annoyingly good. *has exessive musician envy*.
The very next night: back to South Kensington for Classic FM Live. This time was the complete opposite - We had a posh box with velvet curtains, wine and nibbles. Got the tickets through a choir friend in exchange for charity bucket-shaking at the end, the second time we've done that. Inexplicably, they thank us as if they got the better end of the deal. Concert tickets and a free tshirt in exchange for fifteen minutes smiling at people? Deal. I went out for dinner with Emma afterwards - after much late-night wandering round the mostly-closed Knightsbridge we ended up in a pizza shop near Picadilly. Either way, lovely night. Errrr Liverpool P O this time I think.? So many orchestras, so little time. Also a wonderful south american pianist whose name I can't remember - she did a thoroughly entertaining improvised fantasy on the theme from Eastenders.
Last night's was the first time I think I've ever arrived at the RAH not out of breath from running late - I'd been in SK with Auntie Ros and Uncle David all afternoon, first at the V&A and then a lovely italian place for chickeny tomatoey pasta stuff - and my first red wine! I may as well have white through an IV, but as I've never hung around with anyone that drinks red I just hadn't got round to it. I had low expectations but it was quite nice - till I tried to finish off my glass after raspberry sorbet! Suddenly the contrast made my eyes fall out of my head. Ah well. Back to the concert and it was the Four Seasons and other classical bits in full 18th century costume by the Mozart Festiva Orchestra. Lots of fun, though I did wish the soprano soloist would stop huge obviously-fake grinning every time she stopped to take a breath or pause - baring your teeth at the audience doesn't make you look like you're enjoying yourself, and it doesn't look pretty. I almost fell asleep during the first half - it was very relaxing music and I'd had far, far too little sleep for several days, but luckily the mixture of coca-cola and livelier music in the second half perked me up. I then got home and stayed up half the night again, so I suppose dropping off in public places serves me right. What can I say? I just don't feel tired at night. I have to force myself to sleep through effort of will, which can hardly be better for me than just sleeping during the day.
----------------------------------------
That's it for updates on what I've been doing, now to the more abstract stuff. On the way home from said 18th century thing, sitting on the picadilly line rushing north-east under london, I caught a poem. It's only half formed, and hardly a prizewinner, but the fact remains that I looked for a poem and one appeared. They've not been doing that for a while, and I'm quite relieved that my muse is maybe returning. I haven't been actively trying to write and failing like I know some people do - it's just that I haven't been doing it. I don't really write my poems as such, I sort of catch them like the BFG catches dreams - it's like the bits are all there, flying around, and I just have to catch all the bits and fit them together. Little phrases and ideas tumble into my head and I scribble them down (in my head, or my diary) and muddle them round till they feel right. This is quite hard to do with rigidly structured poetry which is my prefered type - maybe this is why things haven't been happening recently. Last night's is a bit of contemplative free verse, wheras my last completed work was a full villanelle, the strictest form I think I'd dare use.
Over the summer I had a go at writing a story for the first time in a long while. After spending most of my summer going through the TGS archives I had some very entertaining dreams, including some fabulous adventurey ones inspired by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.6){kind=small}
suzie_shooter 's mummy- and zombie-filled adventure AUs. One of which set me off with an idea I thought I'd try to write. Didn't work. All the things that were funny, or sweet, or interesting in the original idea got lost as I tried to write it - I also found the process of writing down every detail of plot - all the events, thoughts, character details, backstory, scene-setting, painfully slow and dull. I guess I've never enjoyed writing for other people - anyone who read any of the fragments of stories I've written over the years (there's literally a box full, but you'll have to pry them from my cold dead hands) would first have me sectioned, but then be utterly confused, because my style's so incomprehensible. In stories never intended for anyone else's eyes, I haven't bothered to write down things that don't need to be written. I know the details of places, the motivations of characters, who they are and why they are and what they are doing - all the stuff that fills a novel, I've dispatched with. There are sketch maps of buildingd instead of descriptions - because I know already what the furniture and decor looks like, how the characters respond to the place - all I need is a map to refer back to so that I know what I've put where. My notebooks are more a vague map of where each specific daydream has gone, a memory-aid rather than a story, so I guess the adventures that absorbed me for years really are destined to remain my own. I'm quite glad.
As to the TGS thing - I still think it was a good idea. The basic premise could go several distinct ways, and I wish I could write them. I think I'll post a brief description on the discussion page as a litter of bunnies-for-adoption. I hope someone takes them.
All that unplanned contemplating on the nature of writing's put me in an interesting frame of mind, so I think I'll go now. Might even take another look at that half-written poem. It's kind of on that theme anyway (loosely). Should probably fit some sleep in before uni too.
Any thoughts on any of that are welcome - and the bribe stands.
Jenny-Henflower. xxx
- Location:Bed, London UK
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:Comptine d'un Autre Été l'Après Midi - Yann Tiersen
So - after the wildly busy couple of weeks of coming back to london straight into the heart of the Protest the Pope campaign (more on that later, possibly) I've been relaxing, taking it easy and catching up on all the missed sleep and laziness.I've done a nice bit of reading too - mainly brought on by the sudden realization that if I get back to uni people will ask me what I've been doing with my summer. And I shall tell them - cowboy festival, folk festival, back and forth to london twice for choir-related shennanigans - and spent the rest of the time reading. And they (being Literature students and tutors) will ignore the rest and say reading what. And I shall open and close my mouth like a fish, because I joined the TGS comm at the beginning of the summer and have spent my whole holiday going through it's archive. Not quite what you tell a lit tutor...
So - I've been trying to read some published and peer-reviewed things I can use to legitimate my summer on LJ.
Hurrah!
Last year I tried to keep records of everything I finished for the 50-book challenge. Ended up miserably 4 off the total, partially because I wasn't counting fanfic or original unpublished stuff (fictionpress etc) even though at the time I was reading at least one novel-length unpublished piece a week and numerous shorter ones, and partially because as a first year lit student I read an awful lot of odd chapters of things, but less whole books. Also I have a really terrible habit of leaving books half read with vague plans of finishing them and not getting round to it - my room's literally full of them. Either way - I'm doing it again. I've just got my new Dodo Diary (the booklist is kept traditionally on the Appendix page), and I think this year I'll post it on here aswell. Partially because it might inspire discussion and I find that the /lit/ list on 4chan moves too quickly and /books/ too slow, and partially so I'll get cross with myself if I don't complete it. I'll also post last year's, for posterity, I think.
Guess that's all for now folks. Do me a favour - if you're reading this leave a comment, even if it just says *hi*... I'm new to this journalling business and I'd really like to know if anyone's going to actually read it before I spend hours typing into the ether...
Jen x
This Year's 50-Book Challenge (Started 5th September - the day my previous one ran out!)
1 - Bring out the Banners - Geoffrey Trease Begin as you mean to go on - a kids' book about two young women getting involved in the suffragette movement, Kids book maybe, but there's a scene where one of them is force-fed in prision which is quite difficult to read... it's really well written. And naturally, there's a happy ending - wouldn't you know it, women eventually get the vote!
2 - Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer Reread. Harmless fun.
3 - A Taste of Honey - Shelagh Delaney Love reading plays. This one makes me hoot with laughter, and cry, and both and once now and then. It took twice as long to read as it should have because I kept pausing to quote bits to my FB friends.
4.....???
Last Year's FiftyBookChallenge (failed, just... excuses already made) Started 5th september 2008, the day I moved to London.
1 - The Liar by Stephen Fry The best of the bundle left in my room from whoever'd been there before. I like Fry. I think I prefered The Stars' Tennis Balls, but still good.
2 - A Mother Like Alex by Bernard Clark Biography of a woman who's adopted something like nine children with complex learning disabilities. I'm not normally one for a book sponsored by Sky Real Lives but it was such an interesting subject. Later I saw the documentary the book was written as a partner for - a genuinely inspirational woman and family.
3 - The Ruby In The Smoke - Phillip Pullman I adored His Dark Materials so thought I'd give his others a go. Not in the same league, but that would be bloody difficult. The Ruby was still a roaring good adventure. I'll read the other Sally Lockhart books when I see them in charity shops.
4 - Starter for Ten by David Nichols Loads of fun, frequent moments of *doh* whenever he did something daft... Also much University Challenge geekism, which is good. Why can't someone write a book about Only Connect?!
5 - The Secret Seven - Enid Blyton Didn't read any of these when I was little so I thought I'd see if I was missing anything. I genuinely can't remember anything about this book a year later - plot, characters, anything - so I can't have been missing all that much.
6 - The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris Wasn't sure of the premise of this - I liked the ending of Chocolat how it was thanks - but it was actually really enjoyable.
7 - War Nurse - Sue Reid Could say all the children's books are because of Uni, as a Children's Literature specialist. But no - uni's because of the children's books.I adore them, if dont properly. This one was ok, though not brill. I'd heard good things about the My Story series but this is the first I'd read.
8 - Little Women - Louise May Alcott Wordsworth Childrens' Classics are £1.99 from the all night bookshop in Soho. Can't help myself, even if everyone else goes in there at 2am for porn...
9 - The Savage - David Almond I've adored DA's other stuff (Skellig, one of the best books I know for children OR adults. I want to be Mina. <3 ) and this was well worth the read too, though completely different.
10 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard - JK Rowling Were a bit of fun. Bought off a homeless guy in Tottenham Court Road.
11 - The History Boys - Alan Bennett Was wonderful. I love reading plays. I intend to do much more of it this term. Was slightly cross at the film though - it only changed a few aspects but to me they were the most poignant, most interesting, most meaningful bits.
12 - The World's Wife - Carol Ann Duffy I love Carol Ann Duffy. TWW was absolutely excellent. A collection of poems written in the voices of women from history and folklore - often funny, sometimes biting and nearly always brilliant. Eurydice my favourite I think. Or Mrs Midas.
13 - Learning Without School - Ross Mountney A practical and theoretical guide to home educating. Which I probably plan to do in the not-too-distant future, so it was an interesting read. I have such strong beliefs about
education and child development that I can't comfortably envisage sending children to school, so this book was loose research into viable alternatives. Very helpful.
14 - To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee Interesting, though not sure I'd rave about it like a lot of people do. Maybe I'm missing something. </i>
15 - The Shunning - Beverly Lewis These are a family drama series set in an Amish community in america.Bit Catherine Cookson-y. Maybe not the greatest literary work of the century but great when you need to curl up
with a blanket, drink hot chocolate, and get absorbed into something. I actually sent off for the first of the series
when I found that no-one was fanficing Witness, which is one of my favourite films... then it turned out I really liked
BL so I got the rest. I stopped halfway through the series - next time I'm in the right mood I think I'll have to start from the beginning again!</i> 16 - The Covenant - Beverly Lewis
17 - The Betrayal - Beverly Lewis
18 - Twilight - Stephanie Meyer Started reading these while at Beth's flat over new year - How utterly lovelyto spend over a week mostly reading in edinburgh with one's close friends. They were lots of fun at the time but I
doubt I'll want to read them again, except Breaking Dawn which I reread last week and actually enjoyed almost as much as the first time.
19 - New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
20 - Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
21 - Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyer
22 - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson Brill, and beautiful, and gorgeous, and read in one Edinburgh day while it's owner was out (eternal gratitude to Rachel, Edinburgh book-owner extraordinaire). =D
23 - Mean Time - Carol Ann Duffy Again... I love CAD. Prayer is my favourite in here, but there are quite a few good ones again. Not as good as TWW though.
24 - Antigone - Sophocles Was lots of fun. We had some wonderful discussions about it in my drama class (reading drama, christ not an acting class, I'd die). Must remember to read more greek plays.
25 - Secret Knowledge - David Hockney All about the dutch still life and interior painters of the seventeenth century. I wrote my term paper on them for my art theory module, so found this both valuable and fascinating.
26 - Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer Loved these when I was younger. Thought I'd give them a reread. 1st brill. 2nd really good. 3rd quite good. 4th ok. I've started the fifth three times and given up, it's rubbish. The first few are totally worth it though. I adore Foaly.
27 - Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer
28 - Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code - Eoin Colfer
29 - Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer
30 - The Summoning of Everyman (Anon) Was fab. Again - some really interesting discussions about thisone in Drama. I was half tempted to hire a theatre and release my interpretation of it as I had so much fun thinking it through. Fave thing I read for Uni this year, I think.
31 - Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee - Meera Syal Tried to read this years ago and didn't like it. Gave it another chance and loved it muchly, Guess I've grown into it now. MS has a lovely sense of gentle humour.
32 - Clever Girl - Tanya Glyde Was atrocious, like Angela Carter without any of the talent, flair, creativity, interest, humour or intellect. Feminist Literature in the worst possible way. "Ooh Look, I'm so feminist and edgy I
can be graphic about menstruation in my book, I've got a dubcon sex scene, I've made my main character completely narcisistic and unlikable, ooh, look how cool and edgy I am..."
33 - Sleep, Pale Sister - Joanne Harris A JH book about the preraphaelites?! Laudnam and murder and prostitution and PRERAPHS! <3<3<3Count me IN. Bloody amazing. I adored it.
34 - The Ancestor's Tale - Richard Dawkins Brilliantly interesting, and eloquent, as always.
35 - My Booky Wook - Russel Brand Desperately bad, no surprise there then. RB kept appearing as acharacter in RPF and I thought I'd find out who he was, and the book was one of those left in my room by the previous tenant.
36 - The Greatest Show On Earth - Richard Dawkins Nice to see RD back to science - his religion stuff is good but some of the science stuff is breathtaking.
37 - The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown Magnificently hard-boiled and just plain fun. =D
38 - A Killing Frost - R D Wingfield It's getting a bit weird Frost being a contemporary policeman, since I vividly remember in Hard Frost he says he was in the police in the Festival of Britain year, which was 1951... but still. I thought I'd read all the Frost books, so that was a nice surprise.
39 - Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine I loved this! Fairy tales are brilliant in all their forms.
40 - Charlotte's Web - E B White One of my favourite childhood books - Saw it in the library and couldn't resist. Also if I get books from the children's library they don't charge you if you're late, and I'm so dozy, library fines are probably my main expenditure after food and bus fares...
41 - Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys An interesting twist on an old story. Basically published fanfiction, which I wholeheartedly support =)
42 - Witches in Stitches - Kaye Umansky Couldn't believe I saw this in a charity shop near Emma's archway flat... I'd been looking for it for literally years. <3<3<3<3<3!
43 - For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair With Poker - Victoria Coren I have a bit of a crush on VC, and also am very interested in card games. So this book got a resounding 2/2 from the off. But then it was brill in itself, hilariously funny, bitingly clever (no surprise there then) and fascinating.
44 - On the Edge - Richard Hammond I was in saltburn on holiday for a week without internet. I was having withdrawl fromTGS... so I snapped these two up from a second hand shop/library respectively to make up for it, and had a great time...
45 - As You Do: Adventures with Evel, Oliver and the Vice President of Botswana - Richard Hammond
46 - The Haunted Hotel - Wilkie Collins Ooh, ghosties and hauntings and countesses in dramatic gowns! Much delight for a geek like myself.
- Location:Bed, London UK
- Mood: cheerful
- Music:Flossie Malavialle
I'm Jenny. I read all the time and occasionally write. I'm massively addicted to TGS. That is all I use LJ for.
I'm contactable on vampyra1990[at]hotmail[dot]com
- Location:london, UK / Hartlepool, UK
- Mood: cheerful
- Music:Top Gear police car challenge
