June Updates
Hi guys!
I hope everyone is surviving summer — we had a bit of a break in the killer heatwave that hit the UK but seems like it's coming back this week.
June was a whirlwind of mostly applying to and interviewing for jobs (as my contract is ending) though with some respite here and there.
There is some very good news on the YouTube side of things: Molebeat decided to release their claim (kind of) on the GouSotsu video as I was going through the appeal process, so it lives to see another day! They’ve allowed it to remain visible, however it’s still been demonetised. I’ll take this result, but it’s obviously a shame. I don’t do YouTube for the money, but it’s always nice to get a bit of compensation for all the work that goes into my videos and it’s all the more reason I’m grateful to have supporters here on Patreon. I don’t take it for granted, particularly when there are such big gaps between videos these days.
Speaking of, I didn’t manage to put in any work on the video this month. I love writing so I think I’m subconsciously evading the eventual editing instead (which always feels like more of a slog for me). I think there’s something to be said there for long videos not being super sustainable for me as it’s obviously much easier to edit something that’s 10 or even 20 minutes, but that’s something to reflect on more for future projects. I also still don’t know how long this video will actually be so I need to just crack on and see.
Otherwise, this month I read two books. The first was On the Greenwich Line by Shady Lewis, originally written in Arabic but set in London where the author moved from Egypt. It’s not said explicitly but from what I assume the main character is largely based on the author and works, as he has, for a local authority supporting people living in temporary accommodation. This is very close to some of my professional experience so I was very curious to read the novel — there were definitely parts that felt extremely relatable and darkly funny in its commentary on how public sector services and systems function in England.
It’s quite a unique novel overall and almost absurdist in tone. I was initially unsure of what I thought of it but reading reviews helped me to appreciate all the ways it explores systemic oppression and the experiences and identities of racial minorities in the UK — the title is a reference to the Meridian line and all it symbolises. This contrast of how power has historically been and is presently wielded in Britain is really interesting. Worth a read.
The other book I read was Summer at Mount Asama by Masashi Matsuie — a Japanese novel I found by chance browsing Burley Fisher Books (a fave London bookshop). I feel like I’ve had quite a few dud reads recently and have become a bit weary of picking books I don’t know up from bookshops — which sucks because that’s also one of my favourite things to do! Fortunately however this was a successful find. It’s a longish novel about a young architect graduate who against odds manages to get a job at a famous architect he looks up to’s office despite the tiny staff and fact that they don’t usually hire. The novel follows the main character Sakanishi as he adjusts to the team and particularly over the course of the office’s annual trip to its summer house up in the Nagano mountains as they work on their entry to a competition to design the new Library of Modern Literature in Tokyo.
The novel really didn’t feel as long as it was and I found it really easy to read — the prose is very polished (particularly for a debut novel) and immersive and I loved the focus natural environments. I feel there’s a lot just below the surface here, though there’s an almost deliberate evasion of the internal world and the characters remain quite unknowable throughout. This is obviously deliberate and purposeful in some ways but it’s a pattern I’m noticing in the Japanese contemporary fiction I read that I don’t always fully gel with. There’s a twist at the end of this novel and I really wanted to understand more about why the characters had made the choices they had. This docked it from a 4/5 to more of a 3/5 for me but still recommended if you’d like a slow and relaxing summer read.
Finally, I also went to see the film Cactus Pears with some friends and really loved it. It follows a gay man who returns to the village he grew up in from Mumbai for his father’s funeral and the accompanying rituals. Very sparse and beautifully done, probably a bit slow for some but I found it fascinating, delicate and emotional to watch. It has really stuck with me and I very much recommend it!
See you guys next month!