My Everest

I give up.

It's taken me a long time to admit it, but I've struggled on for far too long now.

About nine months ago, after a couple of months of commuting through to Edinburgh from Dundee, I decided it would be a good opportunity to get some reading done. I have about an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening every Monday to Friday, and so I thought I could use the time productively.

I'm usually more likely to watch a film or TV programme than read if I have some spare time. Although it is a completely different media, I can watch some films over and over. It’s a lean-back media where I can immerse myself in the story or reflect on the cinematography. When it comes to reading I tend to leave it for when I'm on holiday, as it can take me ages to read a book. However, I thought the concentrated time would compel me to focus more.

Spending my time reading on the train also tied in to another idea I had a while back, which was to read as many ‘modern classics’ as I could. I was happy to be selective enough, as I know I prefer certain styles and genres. I also included a few novels that possibly aren’t referred to as 'classics' by everyone, but I knew they were still well revered.

Over the last couple of years I have read:

• The Catcher in the Rye
• The Great Gatsby
• Lord of the Flies
• American Psycho
• Trainspotting
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• The Road
• The Beach
• Nineteen Eighty-Four

Looking at that list, with the exception of 'The Catcher in the Rye', you can see the influence of films, so I thought I should try and begin leaning more towards books without film adaptations*. This brings me back to my opening statement, and my latest reading material, Catch-22.

I have come to hate this book. Hate is a strong word, but I have been toiling with this book for the last six months or so. At first I thought that I was possibly too tired, and I was only able to manage a chapter or two at a time. I’m sure there are many people who would shake their head at me, and give me a look of disbelief. I’m sure there are many people who love this book, and see me as some form of blasphemist for my aversion to their masterpiece.

In six months I have managed a grand total of 135 pages. It has felt like nothing but hard work. I’ve found it so confusing, with a new character appearing every couple of pages and the writing style tying my brain in knots. Perhaps I missed the point. Maybe it is all meant to reflect the madness and absurdity of the environment and the story, but it does nothing but frustrate me further. I’ve not enjoyed it, and with that is my confession; I give up.

One day I may pick it up again, but I doubt it.

My Everest

*Catch-22 does have a 1970 film adaptation, but I had never come across it until writing this post.

Kitchen Stories

I watched Kitchen Stories last night, a subtly humorous Swedish film that plays on the idea of observational research being done by a impartial scientist. Although slightly surreal, the film actually made me think about some interesting points. There was a scene where the observer and subject are in a discussion about their situation where one of them says "How can you understand someone else just by watching them? You need to communicate..." which made me think a bit about selecting when it is right to observe, and when you need to speak to people to find out required information. Another similar point it illustrates is that it is almost impossible to impartially observe people, as just you being there will have an effect on their actions in some way.

The 11th Hour

In our current People and Design project we have been given the task of envisioning a future society in 2108. We also have to imagine a ritual that our society would partake in and then embody this through design.

We have had a series of lectures to get us thinking a lot about issues such as climate change, and how they will have a large effect on what the world will be like in a hundred years. My group have been doing a bit of research and we have set up a blog here to illustrate our process.

I've been doing a bit of my own research into the area, mainly by watching the two films An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour.

Both of them bring up some pretty astonishing facts and statistics, and I'd say a lot of them are quite disturbing. We have been asked to consider what we think the main drivers of the issues that will affect the future of earth. Even though the glaring issues are global warming, soil erosion, fossil fuel depletion, population growth, from watching these films it is plain to see that the problem is humankind, and our disillusionment that we are separate from nature.  

I am interested to look at the positive side, in the 11th Hour it says that this could be the generation to turn things round and make a difference. I've been looking at sustainable design and how it could have a great impact. Bruce Mau's book Massive Change presents some really interesting thinking, and provides possible solutions for the future.