#SheToo

'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy

As long-term readers of this blog know, I struggle with The Classics.  I'm sure I'm not the only one, just as I'm sure everyone has their own reason for avoiding Austen, distancing from Dickens, or backing away from the Brontës.  

I myself have been hiding from Hardy ever since we did 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' at school.  I don't remember much about the experience, but since then have always associated Hardy with impenetrable, long-winded prose and depressing plots.  But a recent encounter with 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' may have changed all that.  Well, the first bit anyway. 

The Great Indoors

 'Bunker: Building for the End Times' by Dr. Bradley Garrett

Some books are lucky enough to be published at just the right moment.  'Bunker: Building for the End Times' by Bradley Garrett, released near the start of the Covid-19 global pandemic, is just such a book.

Apocalypse Now?

At the height of the Cold War, US citizens were told to prepare for nuclear attack, ensuring they could first survive then rebuild.  Though the threat faded, the general sense of dread remained, and many people continue to believe an extinction-level event is just around the corner.  Some expect disease, some climate disaster, others an attack from abroad, but all 'preppers' stockpile and plan in order to survive the inevitable collapse of society and state.  Somewhere to go and a way to get there are essential.  In 'Bunker', Dr. Garrett explores both the prepper subculture and the modern-day bunkers that preppers hope to survive in.  From the buried tubular descendents of Anderson Shelters, to converted 1960s government installations, repurposed military vehicles to luxury, inverted tower blocks, it seems everyone thinks they know how to survive the end of the world.

It's All in the Mind, You Know

'I'm a Joke and So are You: Reflections on Humour and Humanity' by Robin Ince

Stand up comedy has blossomed in recent decades.  There seems to be a stand-up for every sense of humour, be it silly, surreal, relatable or satirical.  But is there a particular psychology that links these performers and makes certain people predestined for this strange, diverse and nomadic profession?  This is the question explored by comedian and presenter Robin Ince in 'I'm a Joke and So are You'.