This blog is in a state of suspended animation
I am much more active on twitter (@mark_haddon) and on instagram (@mjphaddon)
this is rather wonderful and wholly unexpected and not just in the sense that what francis spufford writes is always unexpected, but in the sense that you don't bank on this much enjoyment from a collection of linked short stories all bound together by the economics of soviet central planning during the khrushchev era (with extensive notes and appendices). It's history! says the dust jacket, It's fiction! It's a comedy of ideas! except that it's not in the least bit zany despite it's glorious refusal to recognise genre boundaries. it's rich and serious and deeply moving in parts. also you really do come out the other end understanding quite a lot about the disastrous economics of the soviet union in the 1960s.
trawling through some old artwork the other day i came across this little graphic from 20 or so years ago when i was doing lots of illustrations for magazines and children's books. i had forgotten it completely and consequently forgotten that curious was only part of a long ongoing obsession with dead dogs...
two more illustrations that won't get used in the red house, now that i've ditched illustrations altogether
the fine picture of the nazi ogre being beheaded was drawn (to order) by my son
a wordle thereof to celebrate finishing a full draft of the red house
from which, i realise, you can tell pretty much nothing except that it's neither crime, erotica or sci-if
sad song nocturnal
sometimes you need to do something with the iphone to compensate for 7 hours of doodle jump
i saw her do a solo piano recital at the jacqueline du pre music room the other night. absolutely breath-taking. all contemporary stuff. adès, ligeti, howard skempton, cornelius cardew, charles ives (a piece written in 1905, but sounding like 2005, so i'm calling it contemporary). some really simple pieces that could be played by someone doing grade 4, and some pieces which require superhuman virtuosity. but it's not just her sheer skill, nor the quality of her interpretations, it's also the way she introduces and discusses the music, a real warmth and enthusiasm and approachability.
she ended the concert with an arrangement of astor piazzolla's libertango (a bigger, louder, wilder, more complex version than on the record play). then, as an encore, she played a tiny piece by george crumb which involved plucking and strumming and damping the strings inside the body of the piano. i had an actual tear in my eye at the end of it.