Who Are Ya? (Kevin Day)
For the last ten months, I’ve been having something of an existential crisis. Mainly because, with the ol’ COVID and all that, football stadiums have largely been closed to subhuman scum like me. Not that I went much anymore, anyway.
The last football match I went to was at the end of February 2020 in the away end at the Valley to watch Charlton-Luton. Taking my then three-year-old son into approximately three thousand Luton fans probably wasn’t the best idea, and we left as Charlton went 1-0 up. By the time we were outside the stadium, I heard the cheers of Luton’s equaliser…They went on to lose 3-1.
But I digress. “Have I Got News For You” gagman and Crystal Palace fan Kevin Day takes a look at each of the ninety-one (at the time of writing) teams that make up the English Football League (or whatever you want to call it these days) from a club history and dreaded ‘identity’ perspective.
It’s probably difficult to condense what a club is all about in three or four short pages each, and based on Day’s own personal experience (or comedy friends’ experience), the level of detail or interest varies from club-to-club, much as your own personal interest in each chapter will vary from club-to-club.
Obviously, I want to rush to the Villa, Luton and Gillingham chapters; and simply have no interest in the Man U, Liverpool or Rochdale chapters. What he says about your club will probably irk you as to what outsiders think, as you will be irked by the Palace chapter. What it gives though is a short, easy guide to some of the clubs you never think about, not since the pools stopped, anyway.
You might learn a little something about Burton Albion or Carlisle United that you never knew before, as well as an anecdote from a famous comedian fan, if one exists. You don’t know what you don’t know, but what you do know is that just under 99% of this will be of no interest to you.
- Days to read: 19
- Days per book: 14.4
Ten Nights’ Dreams (Natsume Soseki)
In my quest to read all Soseki’s works – translated, at least – I picked up the short and (not so sweet) “Ten Nights’ Dreams”, a collection of shorts that essentially do what they say on the tin, in that they’re ten short stories that could pass as dreams.
Some probably were dreams, though others are perhaps more fable-like tales that have passed through lore. Maybe the ones that start “This is the dream I dreamed” are the dreams, or is that too obvious? The shortness of them, however, do suggest that they do have that short-lived dream quality.
Some are thought-provoking into moments of wonder, while others are so short that you feel you might have to read it again to take it in.
Written in the early Twentieth Century, this fit both is time and theme between Lafcadio Hearn’s “Kwaidan” and Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “Rashomon” in their ghost stories and moral messages. No need to be read as a collection, but simply picked-up and read at random when you have a spare five minutes, and then another ten to muse.
- Days to read: 7
- Days per book: 14.3
Japan Through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics (Ed.: Barbara Holthus; Isaac Gagne; Wolfram Manzenreiter; Franz Waldenberger)
Ah. This is probably a tricky one. So, those Olympic Games we’ve been talking about…
A collection of short essays obviously written pre-COVID from academics at the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, this takes a look at how the planning, hosting and aftermath of the Olympic Games will impact on Japan as a whole, and not just in simple economic and legacy terms. This looks at other areas you wouldn’t naturally consider, but will have a large importance in the hosting of the frequently-referenced megaevent.
Japan’s summer heat, Japanese attitudes towards disability and sexuality, newly introduced sports, as well as urban redevelopment, advertising and mascots are all covered from the perspective of the Games happening as scheduled in the summer of 2020. However, even now in 2021, with the Games still in doubt, none of what is written is now redundant. In fact, it feels even more necessary to consider.
With the Olympics costing so much to bid for, prepare for, host and manage its long-term impact, the fact that so much money has been spent on something that may not occur or provide any sort of return at all will make dissenting voices even louder. Everything is now uncertain, and the pool of funds on which to draw upon is now significantly reduced.
Comparisons are frequently made to Tokyo’s previous Olympics in 1964 and how these were to show Japan’s rising from the ashes after the Second World War. What these Olympics will now represent, if anything, remains to be seen, but some of the issues raised here could be magnified whatever the outcome.
Intentionally balanced between an academic text and a more accessible read, this is nicely written in short chapters or one-pagers to make it easily digestible. This does not dive too deep into academic terminology to lose the more casual reader, nor gets too deep into particular issues. Much like the Olympics themselves, breadth rather than depth is the focus here, and I think the book is better for it.
- Days to read: 13
- Days per book: 14.3
Contemporary Hungarians (Atilla Varga)
Everybody knows everybody’s favourite Hungarian is an old, dead one. So, it’s about time that you picked some new ones to like, and journalist Atilla Varga is helping us to chose a new favourite.
This is far from an American-style ‘rich list’ or ‘people of the year’ collection to incite adoration/envy, but interviews and life stories of some very ordinary people who have achieved some sort of noteworthy footnote in the world and deserve wider exposure. In the same way that documentaries about ordinary people are more interesting than those about the rich and famous, it’s better to read about something you’re unaware of than being retold a story you already know.
Some actually ‘famous’ Hungarians make an appearance, such as animation director Ferenc Rofusz, who won the short animation Oscar in 1980; and Istvan Jonyer, who had a Japanese table tennis paddle named after him. But as their achievements are far from contemporary, they now take more of a role of ordinary citizens.
There are watchmakers, wine makers, footballers’ mothers, acrobats and Japanese samurai to learn about, all with their own unique interpretation of what meat to eat with sour cream and paprika.
The interviews can be a little confusingly written at times, switching between life story and interview throughout, with the subjects seeming to be, at times, quoted as speaking about themselves in the third person. Maybe Varga is using some artistic license, or I was tired, but the writing was a little clumsy for me in places. But in short chapters, like magazine articles, these are easy to polish off as you learn something about the origins of honey.
- Days to read: 14
- Days per book: 14.3
These four books are perhaps a good summation of me as a person.
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