Parallel reading on my Kindle
My Kindle has changed the way I read non-fiction. I can now take more than one book away with me when I’m away training.
I was reading London Calling by Barry Miles. This chronicles the creative pull of London for bohemians in the second half of the twentieth century.
An old friend suggested I read Patti Smith’s Just Kids, her memoir of her time with Robert Mapplethorpe. 5 seconds later I was reading it on my Kindle.
Bohemia: NYC and London
Just Kids: the pull of New York for Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe.
London Calling: the pull of London, my old home town, for counter-culture and underground artists, musicians and writers from around the world.
Bohemia. Art. Struggle. Both books looked at exciting eras of cultural and political upheaval.
Parallel reading 1962-1978
When I reached 1962 in each book I decided to be aware of the year and switch between the two books. I was in London for 5 pages then in New York. I couldn’t wait to see how they related to each other.
Patti, Warhol, CBGBs, Punk, William Burroughs were featured in both. I noticed that in both places the early seventies were really the sixties: for example the drugs, challenging the authorities politically and artistically.
The end x 2
But then the come-down from finishing two poetic, optimistic and uplifting books. I’m looking for some more parallel reading challenges.
I have just started an inspirational book about overcoming creative blocks: Uncertainty – Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance by Jonathan Fields. But I’m looking for a companion. Any suggestions?