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lauradi7dwA couple of months ago a knitting friend recommended a travel book in which the author went around to various places in the UK in search of yarn, I think. On the "Read it Now" shelf in the library was "The English Understand Wool" by Helen DeWitt. I didn't notice the author's name. I thought "That must be it," and checked it out. It wasn't the one. I am grateful to have picked it up, though. TEUW is amazing. Also short. It only took two Red Line rides to read it. I was having a hard time coming up with a way to describe it for this post, but found the NPR story about its popularity
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/21/1214529403/helen-dewitts-novella-the-english-understand-wool-hits-big
I had read HDW's "The Last Samurai," (as mentioned, it's unrelated to the Tom Cruise movie) not long after it was released. It is totally unlike the new one, and yet one can see that it is by the same author. The only precise overlap is that each young protagonist mentions playing "Straight no chaser" on the piano (the Thelonious Monk tune, not the a capella group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJs2eCqhTN0
Also, one can see how the author's life experiences might have informed TEUW a little.
https://helendewitt.com/bio
Speaking of an unrelated peripatetic youth, now I want to read something translated by Anton Hur, having looked him up because of his twitter thread about the South Korean military. My mind, it flits about.
https://antonhur.com/
I'm planning to start with "I want to die, but I want to eat Tteokbokki,"* as soon as I figure out how to use Libby, which I haven't done for a couple of years.
* If you, too, want to eat Tteokbokki, it's available in the freezer section at the local Trader Joe's. I like it with plain lowfat yogurt and vegetables. Presumably an abomination to actual fans.
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/21/1214529403/helen-dewitts-novella-the-english-understand-wool-hits-big
I had read HDW's "The Last Samurai," (as mentioned, it's unrelated to the Tom Cruise movie) not long after it was released. It is totally unlike the new one, and yet one can see that it is by the same author. The only precise overlap is that each young protagonist mentions playing "Straight no chaser" on the piano (the Thelonious Monk tune, not the a capella group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJs2eCqhTN0
Also, one can see how the author's life experiences might have informed TEUW a little.
https://helendewitt.com/bio
Speaking of an unrelated peripatetic youth, now I want to read something translated by Anton Hur, having looked him up because of his twitter thread about the South Korean military. My mind, it flits about.
https://antonhur.com/
I'm planning to start with "I want to die, but I want to eat Tteokbokki,"* as soon as I figure out how to use Libby, which I haven't done for a couple of years.
* If you, too, want to eat Tteokbokki, it's available in the freezer section at the local Trader Joe's. I like it with plain lowfat yogurt and vegetables. Presumably an abomination to actual fans.
no subject
Date: 2023-12-13 12:10 am (UTC)The Lopapeysa Sweater: A Journey North in Search of Iceland's Iconic Knitwear
https://a.co/d/5owmCgW
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Date: 2023-12-13 12:17 am (UTC)I think of you every day. Not sure that it helps, but now you know.