"To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life."
—W Somerset Maugham
Hello there,
Thank you to Judith for sending in the quote for this week’s newsletter.
I’m an avid reader, and seeing as Chuck Palahniuk was kind enough to critique one of my stories recently, I decided to reread Fight Club. It’s hard to come to a book fresh when the film version is stuck in your mind (especially when you know the twist in the tale), but I’m still learning something from taking another pass at it.
My take on it is briefly outlined below, but the book isn’t for everyone, so if you prefer, you can skip down to the photos.
The style of this seminal book is somewhat brutal, echoing the brutality of the story, and as a writer, I can appreciate the techniques used to convey a range of strong emotions. There’s hopelessness, confusion, anger, jealousy, despair, rage and a bleak view of humanity.
The one thing I’d forgotten is that the unnamed protagonist works for a corporation, delivering presentations, sitting in meetings and travelling from place to place in a way that makes you feel he has no anchor to reality.
In his job, he weighs the cost of recalling faulty cars against the cost of settlements for the grieving families of those killed or injured in accidents caused by those cars. Who is more brutal, the man who fights with a consenting adult, or the faceless corporations who measure our lives in dollars and cents?
Real-life violence is abhorrent, so it should feel disturbing to read a book like this, but Palahniuk goes further by exploring the idea of institutionalised violence. To me, that is so much more enlightening than the glamorised shenanigans endlessly rehashed by the Marvel franchise.
That’s enough Lit Crit (as we called it at school). On with the photos.
Featured Photos
This week has been a bit fraught. We arrived home to find our boiler had given up the ghost. We don't always appreciate something such as hot water until there isn't any. The old boiler had done its time, so I’ve been phoning various plumbers to get estimates and so on (cue the rubbing of chins and mutterings about a week next Thursday). I persisted, and as I write this, a chap called Russ is clanging pipes and firing up his torch to solder the joints. He’s been at it all day, but all being well, there will be hot water tonight.
The upshot of all this is that I had to dig out some photos from a few weeks ago, all taken on runs in the Devon lanes. The lady with the 100 on her back is Mrs C. It’s a Park Run milestone shirt, as mentioned in Accomplice to Murder.
The other chap in the distance is an unknown, but he was probably a farm worker. He was in the middle of nowhere, walking home I expect. He looked very tired, his face grimy, and he seemed amazed that while he was trudging the lanes out of necessity, we were running the same route for fun.
Three ways to enjoy the photos: a collage in the email, separate images in the substack app, an interactive gallery in the online post.
Writing News
Today only, 27 September, A Study in Stone is free on Amazon. Yes, you get the ebook for free when you sign up for the VIP Readers Club, but you might like to add it to your Amazon account:
Know a friend or family member who’d like a copy?
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The Blank Page Experiment - Hiatus
I can see that very few people are reading the story in that section, so I’m going to give it a rethink. It was a fun experiment, but it was quite a lot of work. I’m keen to deliver more value, but it has to be something that enough people actually want.
Watch this space.
I’ve been enjoying:
I love a good audio drama, and if you can access BBC Sounds, Central Intelligence is excellent. About the history and goings on in the CIA, it’s a gripping drama starring Kim Cattrall and Ed Harris who both have wonderful voices for this kind of tale.
Find it here: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jnhxbr
What’s Next?
Once the hot water is back on, I can settle back into my routine, and the next Devonshire Mystery will reach a climax. Dan is heading for a meeting with a suspected murderer, and DI Spiller is busy following procedure, as is his wont.
Will they catch the baddies? Will justice be done?
Spoiler alert!
Well, yes to both.
Signing Off
I hope you have a great weekend, and as the evenings draw in, curling up with a good book is increasingly appealing. I’ve published a discussion post so that we can share our favourite autumnal reads and make the VIP Readers Club more of a community - please post comments on that post:
Have a lovely weekend and happy reading.
Take care,
Mikey
The VIP Readers Club will always be free, but if you’d like extra exclusive content such as readings and Q&A sessions, please consider a paid membership. Thank you.