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Andrew O’Hagan's Selections

I find myself deeply moved by Namanlagh, the debut poetry collection in a decade from the esteemed Tom Paulin. A exquisitely crafted reflection on sickness & recovery, partnership & writing, violence and forgotten pasts, it is a true masterpiece. There are subtle nods to Derek Mahon and Seamus Heaney, while numerous of the poems are filled with the feeling of mature artistry & unfinished business.

Autobiographies by politicians tend to be disappointing, frequently rants filled with excuses and retaliation, however Nicola Sturgeon’s Frankly rewrites the genre. She is a skilled author, to begin with, who knows how to explore self-doubt, ambivalence, regret, affection and compassion, openness to change, along with numerous of the things which truly define humanity. I look forward to what she writes next.

I discovered an unfamiliar author – previously unknown, though cherished of Norwegians over decades. This is the deceased Dag Solstad and I devoured his book Shyness and Dignity over two sessions. It narrates the tale about a literature teacher with a quarter-century career that suddenly breaks down while trying to deal with a broken umbrella. He is having a breakdown , the book charts it in an illuminating, straightforward manner, producing something beautiful.

I wish to provide more homemade treats for my companions. Soon, I plan to run a coffee morning from my dining table covered with homemade croissants, potato bread, sourdough bread & whimsical desserts. I’m hoping to receive guidance on this journey by Helen Goh’s Baking and the Meaning of Life.

Penny's Choice

Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions from Akshat Rathi came out in 2023. Every section details a success story within the economic shift from oil-dependent systems toward renewable energy and climate solutions, focusing on individuals who have made a huge difference. It includes abundant detail & information I was unaware of previously, despite my thorough research around the subject.

Although certain topics are contentious, like carbon capture and storage – and Bill Gates turned out to be less of a environmental champion as portrayed in the book, due to his fossil fuel investments – on the whole, the developments outlined give a tremendous amount of hope. They demonstrate how some nations collaborated in tandem with private enterprise and are already moving toward the right direction, as the new technology advance apace. The scientific explanations are superb, as well. I was unaware the way photovoltaic cells worked, for example.

An Acclaimed Writer's Favorites

Elaine Kraf’s Find Him! will be reprinted this fall, so it’s an ideal moment to explore it, or reread her luminous, paisley-printed The Princess of 72nd Street.

Down Below by Leonora Carrington is a classic. It’s not the direct model for my latest novel, Will There Ever Be Another You, but I recall perusing it outdoors during the pandemic and realizing: this is exactly what’s occurring within me. Moreover, it contains the closest approximation one might find to a diagram the divine anatomy.

Another major event – Airless Spaces from Shulamith Firestone was originally published in 1998, ten years after the author’s mental health condition and withdrawal from society. She stood as an influential leader, even then somewhat remote for activists in my age group, however these sketches, which deal with her hospitalisations, seem current, close, rebellious.

Another Reader's Perspective

Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter offers an understated & quiet complex narrative. It’s set during the harsh cold of 1962-63 and follows the experiences of two couples residing across from one another across a field in the West Country. Closed in by their environment, the protagonists – Eric & Irene, Rita and Bill – grapple with their history & present, heading towards an unravelling. It is a beautifully written novel that again marks out Miller as one of Britain’s finest writers on human nature.