#4// gangsters, zombies + awesome culture links

All the Amazing Links

Dear Reader,
Have you noticed there is nothing much to talk these days? Today remains the same as yesterday. The next day follows, but feels the same as this day. Nothing happens. Or rather, nothing NEW happens! Today’s newsletter is about surprises that you might enjoy even if they might be not-my-thing things. So there’s the gangsters of Ireland and zombies in historical Korea. Oh, and this edition of the newsletter is packed with links. Hope this makes your weekend stroll through the internet easier and nicer.
 

A book I keep thinking about

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerny (2015)

Come forth miscreants and misfits and tangle yourself in a murder mayhem set in the dingy regions of Cork in Ireland. The Glorious Heresies won the Women’s prize in 2016 — well deserved indeed. I remember tearing through the book when I read it. It was so good, stony good! Maureen returns to Cork after forty years in exile to find that her son is the most feared gangster of Cork. Also she accidentally kills an intruder. Jimmy, her gangster son, with the help of his friend, Tony, clears the murder scene and body. But this initiates a series of events whereby several hapless characters find themselves trapped.

This novel is set deep in the underbelly of Ireland. There are gangs, prostitutes, murders, the church, an alcoholic and abusive father and his drug dealer teenage son. It is gritty, crime filled, sweaty and kept me in its spell even though I do not care much for underdog gangster stories in fiction. There’s black comedy and the unjust societal structure poking through the pages. Filthy, sweary, wicked and dark, The Glorious Heresies is a shining light in the category of stories of the underworld.

Read

I’ve got the most excellent gift for you. Here are the best bookish and literary newsletters that are an asset to your inbox. These are my favourites. I’ve focused on newsletters that are solo-run-and-sent because what’s not to love in a personal bookish letter? If you have a personal favourite not included in the list, write to me, please?

Talking about books, in April I had recommended two cosy, golden Japanese mysteries (especially if you love an Agatha Christie + Sherlock Holmes remix) for ultimate, zero anxiety crime binges. I received so many messages that the books could not be sourced. Good news! — The Honjin Murders is available now in limited stock and The Inugami Curse is open for preorders. Read about why I thought Yokomizo is a fantastic writer or simply skip that and grab a copy — you won’t be sorry. I read an interview with the grandson of Seishi Yokomizo (Five books) this week and found it an eyeopener. He recommends five classic Japanese mysteries, should you want more after the Yokomizo sprint, and also about the changing political and social climates in Japan that might’ve inspired the stories. My eyes nearly fell out reading about Yokomizo being permitted to write only 30 minutes a day because he had caught tuberculosis. He spent the rest of the time plotting in his head. The truly great writers don’t give up, do they? Mental note — work with your circumstances.
 

Watch

A zombie horror political drama on Netflix. Life in a pandemic throws unexpected tastes and leanings. I couldn’t understand why someone like me who gravitates towards romantic feel-good dramas would find solace in the living dead. But then I read there’s a whole psychology towards preferring films and shows as these. It actually makes you feel better! So I wrote about how Kingdom on Netflix might save us (not literally) this pandemic. Watch it for flaming arrows, disgruntled dead men and very cool headgears.

This poem

Here’s a Sarah Teasdale poem ‘May’ for the end of the month.
The wind is tossing the lilacs,
The new leaves laugh in the sun,
And the petals fall on the orchard wall,
But for me the spring is done.
 
Beneath the apple blossoms
I go a wintry way,
For love that smiled in April
Is false to me in May.
 

Amazing links

J. K. Rowling’s new book for children, THE ICKABOG, published by the chapter each day on her website, has been my go-to read for breaks. It also makes me think I should read more children’s stories. Why are they always so delightful? I am thinking about the Chouxville pastries that can make a grown man cry. Also what is this Ickabog?
Also fun drawing competitions for kids everyday. The artworks would belong to the publisher, so read the fine print if you are particular about all that.

This profile of Schitt Creek star Catherine o’ Hara (Vanity Fair)
“I don’t see trying to top this. How greedy can one person be?”

I read twice - Matt Ortille’s grief about being unable to see his cancer stricken mother which makes him plan a future trip through the lens of a travel novel (Condé Nast Traveller)
"It’s fan fiction, essentially. I picture a fantasy life of future travel where we go dune bashing in Dubai, where I bring her tea in Kyoto, and where she doesn’t have cancer… I daydream about spending money I don’t have and gifting my mother a view of the Kamogawa River and the Higashiyama Mountains. There’s a safe kind of hope here, in fiction. Through writing, I imagine these other possibilities, a Good Timeline."
 
Chef Thomas Zacharia on how to stock your Indian pantry (Scroll)

The Joy of Looking at the Lives of Strangers by Brian Keith Jackson (The New York Times)
“I suppose I’ve taken strangers for granted, forever sheltered and depending on the familiar and the need for a proper introduction. But now I see them as hope for the future, the desire for the new, to travel, an opportunity to step outside of my isolation, or at least outside the house...During this time with its scourge of unknowns, I’m delighted to find comfort with these strangers and the imagination they inspire, even if our only connection may be a like.”
PS: Scroll and find more ‘Joy of’ series
 
Artists seek donations for Amphan affected in Bengal (Condé Nast Traveller)

Graphic story - A grandmother who ‘reads her weight in books’ runs out of them during the lockdown. (The New York Times)

See:
Italian Expat Photographer Documents Brooklynites on Their Stoops During Pandemic (Brownstoner)
“The stoops allow for socialization — at a 6-foot distance — and some kind of community building. The stoop is a hybrid of public and private, of inside and outside. People are there talking, sharing a bottle of wine, playing with their kids, working with their laptops, exercising, reading, studying, talking on their phone, chatting with their neighbors, having Easter day lunch, playing the guitar while a daughter dances”
  
I’ve loved Daniel Rueda and Anna Devís’ work, so this compilation on interacting with architecture and fun spaces was a treat (My Modern Met)
 
Pictures of empty streets from Paris to Florida (Condé Nast Traveler)

Booklists:
2020 summer book preview (Lithub)
60 Queer and Feminist books coming out in Summer 2020 (Autostraddle)

(This newsletter may contain affiliate links which might earn me a very small commission at no extra cost to you)

I am immensely enjoying putting together these letters. And happy to have established some personal connections too. It is a completely new experience. I am still trying to figure out what day (and time) works best for you; which is why emails are dropping on different days in your inbox. Or, if at all there should be one day dedicated to sending out the newsletter. The work that happens behind-the-scenes is more than I imagined. So a big salute to those who consistently write incredible newsletters.

Thank you for the positive encouragement you’ve shown to this new venture, both on social media or via private emails/messages. Some of you sent me feedback — much appreciated. I am constantly trying to evolve into a better form. If you have any feedback but are unsure to tell me, send it over in an email; I take the negatives in the right spirit.
 
I hope your weekend is better than the last one. And you may find some time for yourself to read or listen to music or simply have a cup of coffee in absolute silence. As for me, I need to find more zombies and blood.
 

Until next time,
Resh x


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