The Rhythms of Life

Life here is taking on rhythms curiously distinct from what we’d normally regard as commonplace. These revolve around the necessity of feeding the kids sufficiently to keep them going through whatever activities they are about to engage in, and sorting out the various conflicts that emerge between them. It looks as if we’ll be taking them up to Genting for a couple of days, but we haven’t booked the hotel yet. We’ll be looking into this later today. We’re also packing a present for Mum which we need to send soon.

It’s not easy to find a time to listen undisturbed to music, but I’m getting a fair amount of reading done. I’ve made good progress in The Ring and the Book, finding things falling into place whist reading Book 3. The trick is to get the essentials of the somewhat convoluted storyline sorted out. Since each book of the poem worries away at the same events from particular angles and perspectives you find yourself lost if those events, which have an overlapping quality, are not sufficiently differentiated. I’m now halfway through Book 4 and finding whole stretches of verse transparently powerful – something that had seemed beyond me in previous attempts. It’s remarkable how worrying away at a text can help you begin to make it give up its secrets. It’s a matter, I suppose, of understanding that it’s rare a writer actually invokes obscurity for its own sake.

That’s something I find myself having to keep in mind whilst reading Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, which came to me highly recommended. I’m due to finish this later today and, although I can say I’ve enjoyed it overall, I have found it harder work than I anticipated. There are moments when I’ve felt I could have done with a little less of the purple about the prose, and a little more clarity as to what exactly is supposed to be going on.

In the meantime, a few more pictures from yesterday above, to prove just how exhausting a school holiday can be.