Here's an Australian novel by Campbell Mattinson, We Were Not Men, that took 30 years to write. It tells the story of twins Eden and Jon Hardacre who are orphaned at around nine years of age and grow up under the care of their grandmother, Bobbie.
After the death of their parents in a car crash and recovery from their own injuries the boys throw themselves into swimming and become champions for their ages. The Rio Olympics beckon. This book seems to be inspired by a true story and maybe it is as Mattinson is a journalist and the story's genesis was an article he wrote in the 1990s.
Campbell Mattinson is a vivid writer and there are some wonderful passages in this story describing the boys relationship. I particularly found the descriptions of swimming to be most effective. I enjoyed the arc of the story and overall it was a satisfying read.
The dialogue did not work for me so much. The character of Bobbie seems to express not much more than aphorisms throughout the story and this tended to be the case with the other characters. I can only think this was a deliberate decision on the part of the author and the editors, but I wanted more from the characters in their dialogue.
With the Olympics on currently and the Australian women swimmers going so well the timing of my reading of this book was fortuitous.
Recommended for anyone really. Until next time, peace and love.
Here's an unusual book which was lent to me by a friend, Peter. I say unusual in that it's not one I would normally think to read. Always go with a recommendation it seems.
It tells the tale of Ted Simon's travels on a 500cc Triumph motorcycle starting in 1973 through to 1977. Written on his return to the UK it is very much a time capsule story. It coincides with the dismantling of the European colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas, the OPEC oil crisis and the height of the Cold War.
Ted journeys through African countries in civil war, Rhodesia(!) and apartheid South Africa. Brazil is still under the control of the generals and Chile is a mass of bloodshed. Cambodia and Vietnam have to be avoided due to war, but Afghanistan is quiet and peaceful. It certainly brings home just how much the world and geopolitics have changed.
Ted Simon writes in an an engaging style and like all good travel books it's about the people Ted meets along the journey that makes the story interesting. He bares all on the page including the odd sexual encounter and bouts of what would probably diagnosed these days as depression . At all times he is empathetic with those he meets, even when he is held captive as a spy in Brazil for weeks on end. I found him to be a broad minded and progressive thinker for a man of his times.
I looked Ted Simon up on the web. He appears to be still alive at the age of 90 and living in the UK somewhere. He started out as a chemical engineer and then switched to journalism in the early 70's before becoming an organic farmer in California for a long time. He wrote a few other books and reprised his world journey in the early 2000's at the age of 70. That might be an interesting book to read for the contrast, although the world is much different from then now.
Highly recommended for those who like books. Until next time, peace and love.
Welcome back to the Lounge. I have been enjoying some new releases here and I thought you might like to hear them too. First up is the tremendously talented Aldous Harding with her new single; Old Peel. It comes with a typically quirky video in which you don't get to see much of Aldous until the final scene. This song is a total earworm so be careful.
If you like that then you might enjoy this brief live performance by Aldous and her band for KEXP from a year or so back. There is a short interview in the middle too - she's a strange cat for sure.
Courtney Barnett continues to evolve as a songwriter and here's her new single; Rae Street. Clearly she has been listening a lot to her mate Kurt Vile.
The new Goon Sax vinyl landed at the Lounge today so we'll give them a run too. They've gone big time with producer John Parish (he did Aldous too). It's a change of direction and here's their new single Desire.
That's it from the Lounge for now. Until next time, peace and love.
A bit of a break from the Lounge for various reasons. This post is well overdue as I finished this book quite a while back now. It's the official biography of Robert Wyatt, a classic English eccentric character. A man not of these times.
Robert formed and played drums in Soft Machine, a jazz tinged, proggy art rock group in the mid 60's, most associated with the Canterbury scene. Soft Machine toured the States twice with Hendrix and gigged at the UFO Club in London with The Pink Floyd as they were known back then. Greatness seemed inevitable, but it was not to be. After being kicked out of his own band in the early 70's he briefly formed Matching Mole and then, after a life changing accident which left him a paraplegic, he settled into a brilliant solo career.
Robert's upbringing was anything but conventional, his mother was a journalist who raised him as a single parent for a time before she married Robert's stepfather who had defied the English class system by attending Oxford and Cambridge, despite his working class background. Robert wasn't terribly interested in school and his summers were often spent in Portugal or on the Greek islands staying with a family friends, one of whom was poet Robert Graves.
Robert struggled with being a band leader and became rather carried away with the rock and roll lifestyle, which included drinking bouts with that icon of moderation, Keith Moon. In 1973, while very drunk at a party he fell from an apartment balcony. The accident was a catalyst for Robert to reset his life and music and while in hospital he composed his 'first proper' solo record, Rocky Bottom, produced by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, as they were known by then. An album which usually features in greatest album of all time lists. Here's one of my favourite tracks from that record, the simply brilliant 'Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road'.
For the next 40 years or so he recorded with the likes of Eno, Phil Manzanera, David Gilmour and later Bjork. Commercial success mostly stayed at a distance until 1980 when the Elvis Costello penned Shipbuilding single became a hit. After that he faded back out of sight to record the occasional and always acclaimed album. Always broke and fighting off depression and alcoholism he performed live only once after his accident; being crippled with anxiety when facing an audience.
After finally kicking the grog and getting treatment for depression he released some of his finest work in the early 2000's before retiring from music altogether after his final album Comicopera was released in 2007.
The Robert Wyatt story is actually a story of two people, Robert and his partner of 50 years Alfreda Benge who gave up a promising film career to be with and care for Robert. Alfie as she is known, managed the business side, painted the album art and eventually took over lyric writing duties. A true partnership.
Here's another great song. It's a cover of the Chic (yes them) song 'At Last I am Free'. Warning, it's not disco.
The book is a thoroughly enjoyable read with Robert and Alfie helpful subjects, as are his numerous collaborators over the years. As books go it's a conventional sort of read, but it's hard to tell the story of someone's life in anything other than a linear progression from birth. What shines through in this book is Robert' singular and unconventional artistic spirit. He is now considered something of a national treasure in England these days and seems to be enjoying his retirement.
Have a listen To Robert Wyatt if you haven't already. Until next time, peace and love.
