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Reader,
Some time in 2013, I met a triathlete. This year, I decided I’d explore triathlons as an option to the half marathons I once ran after someone suggested sports travel. I’m declaring this here as folks on Twitter may recall I discussed returning to Couch to 5K as a way to ease myself to 10K runs at some point so clearly running is in the water. I have started taking intense swimming lessons to improve my strokes and make me a better candidate for triathlons and at my second class, I was called by a name I haven’t been called in over 10 years.
It was someone who remembered me from high school.
I took the long way to speak about someone who sometimes sounds like he only just left high school in his nostalgia and school spirit - one Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o whose recent Guardian profile has the girls talking. On one hand, we have his son Mukoma calling the piece unethical, on the other we have folks (Kenyans, especially) opining on the sadness of the life of a ‘sick and lonely’ author they know next to nothing about. While I’m a known non-member of the Ngũgĩ Fan Club, a chat with a dear friend made me clarify what struck me about the reaction to the profile - folks are afraid of old age, of what may come to them, and this acted as a cypher. We don’t know the intricacies of the lives of people but we’re always ready to glean some lessons from what we see; this makes for interesting conversations. There’s something about being in public - reading, writing, thinking - that we’re all engaged in (as we tweet, blog, post etc) and that writers especially engage in that engenders parasocial relationships to an extent that can keep the (Twitter) timeline going for a hot minute. That was something to witness.
Speaking of engagement, Elizabeth Gilbert - author of Eat, Pray. Love - earlier this week cancelled her upcoming book set in Russia in a preemptive act of censorship that threw watchers for a loop. Ma’am, let the people do that! You didn’t start the war in Ukraine and anyone who pays even a little attention to publishing (admittedly, not the general public) knows books have a long cycle before they arrive in people’s hands. At the heart of this is the serious effort to cancel any and all things Russian for as long as Russia’s assault on Ukraine continues, resulting in such moments as a filmmaker being expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy for failing to support a motion to keep out Russian films. The book had received quite some 1-star reviews on Goodreads but this still feels like a strange capitulation and a dangerous precedent.
Meanwhile, I’m slowly easing myself back on to the reading horse. I’ve read more than one thing since we last spoke (more on that later), hybrid reading keeps saving me and extending myself grace (including sending books back) is proving to be a balm. In a way, I feel like I’m getting myself back; I even had it in me to make some cookies today with YB and my friend E. Installing the Kindle app on my laptop today may also prove to be a game changer (it has so many more features than the device or mobile devices) so I’ll report back.
If you haven’t signed up for this year’s Pride reading (it’s Happy Pride everyday here), here’s the poster . We’ll be reading Rain by Eloghosa Osunde - to sign up, go here.
Quick news/ things that may be of interest::
James Baldwin readalong, complete with Discord server, if that’s your thing
Help us name our kitten (pictures here) as we raise money for the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (KSPCA).:
Dracula Daily, which I mentioned in a past entry, continues apace. Jump on if you’re keen
Mengi Mengi Film Club screening this coming Saturday (24th)
If writing postcards is something you enjoy, check out this website I found out about via Rachel Syme. I sent my first postcard this week and I’ve already signed up for another. Related: you can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted gifts via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya
I have finished three books since I last wrote - hybrid reads of Chouette by Claire Oshetsky (narrated by Julia Whelan) and It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (narrated by Robert Fass) as well as finally finishing Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman - and my latest video is still the one from April (you can watch it here). To catch the videos I’m working on when they’re done, subscribe to the channel if you haven’t yet!
As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.
Enjoy the rest of the week and have a lovely time reading. Talk to you soon!