and also reading ...

William Horwood, Skallagrigg. I'm only part way through.

Horwood is a master storyteller and he's written a piece of very serious fiction but in a sense this isn't fiction at all. He's takes reality, the kind some might prefer to hide from, he rips off its mask and thrusts it out. He gives you nowhere to hide.

This is a compelling and very beautiful story. It's about life and love and hope, but it's so many other things too, layered together. I don't know of a way to tell you more right now so I'll stop. I am going to challenge myself though, when it's done, to find a way to describe it.

I've cried here and I have to warn you, this book does not come with an escape plan.

If you haven't read Skallagrigg, don't be thinking of dying just yet because this is a book.

-- Edit: I've now finished and written a little more about it here --