So, July has been over for a little while, but I hope you all had a good month – mine was definitely a bit of a mixed bag but there have been some brilliant moments! I finally got to see Les Miserables, the London sensation – despite living here since I was a kid. There have been a few captioned performances before, but this was the first time I’ve seen it. I loved it, and it is still relevant to modern times. I tried reading Victor Hugo’s book ages ago but I gave up in the middle when there was this lengthy 20 page description of the Battle of Waterloo. I also got to see Julie Walters at the National Theatre in An Audience With – and it was accessible with Speech to Text captions on the stage. It was a wonderful moment, and she is every bit as hilarious and down to earth as I imagined.
I’ve read a few interesting books – and actually read the 50 Shades trilogy. I’m pretty sure it isn’t “high” fiction (whatever that is), but I wanted to make up my own mind. It isn’t going to be in my top ten books of all time and I did find Mr Grey’s attitude horrifyingly controlling. Everyone has an opinion about it, and I’m not sure what to say other than – well it isn’t well written, and by the third book I just wanted to throw it at the wall every time E.L. James described something the exact same way she had many many times, but it was just one of those guilty pleasure books. There are far better books out there – but who’s to say what people should and shouldn’t read? People can make their own minds up.
It was also an interesting month for me with non-fiction – I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s follow up to Eat, Pray, Love – Committed: A Love Story, and loved it. It takes a balanced and somewhat feminist and very modern look at love and commitment, and what it means to be married. Its worth a read, so is Eat, Pray, Love – in my opinion they are both essential reads. Not chick lit (I hate this term – its so dismissive!) like it always seems to be categorised as, because a lot of it is quite painful, but they made me think about things differently. Of course, I also read The Happiness Project, which made me determined to approach my life in a much more positive way.
My love affair with (him) had a wonderful element of romance to it, which I will always cherish. But it was not an infatuation, and here’s how I can tell: because I did not demand that he become my Great Emancipator or my Source of All Life, nor did I immediately vanish into that man’s chest cavity like a twisted, unrecognizable, parasitical homonculus. During our long period of courtship, I remained intact within my own personality, and I allowed myself to meet (him) for who he was. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed.
Cats and Chocolate 