Friends, a word of explanation. An eye problem had to be sorted out. (Some pharmaceutical company somewhere had a sense of humour, calling their eyedrops a compound name beginning with ‘Cyclop’ ….)
So, whilst I convalesce, I have the use of one good eye. I can type a few lines quite comfortably, but I realised yesterday that sitting at my laptop for any longer, only strains the good eye. (I tried to set up a new spreadsheet – but I won’t try that again this month: I just got myself a headache which lasted much of today.)
Frustrating as it is, I can’t do anything research-related for a few weeks. I have new headphones and a new Audible subscription to help pass the time.
I recommend Poor Things, by Alasdair Gray – a great discovery. There’s a film out now, too, but I don’t thinking I’ll be watching anything on the big screen in the immediate future. (Ironically, the title – which reminded me of an early 20th century London charitable organisation that I encountered in my research a year or so ago – has nothing whatsoever to do with that organisation, but I had worked that out before I bought the Audible book.) I loved the fact that much of it is set in Glasgow, and also the way the reader’s expectations are confounded at the end.
I’m on a third book now. After that, maybe I’ll see if I can find Walter Scott or James Hogg …
‘Reading’ a commercial audio book is wholly absorbing, but it makes me realise how hard it must be for a partially-sighted reader to skim a book. A recording is linear – there is no ‘Find’ function as in an e-text, and neither can you flick through, hoping to find something you spotted first time round. If chapter headings are meaningful, at least that gives the reader an indication of the book’s structure.
I wanted to post an explanation as to why there will be less activity on this blog in February, so there it is. I’m taking care of my sight, as an investment for the future. Watch this space!
Karen McAulay, Musicologist 