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Just Finished Reading: A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees by Yoshida Kenko [51pp] 

On plucking this out of the Penguin Classics boxset I thought: Oh... ANOTHER poetry booklet. What FUN! But I was, thankfully, wrong. This wasn’t poetry at all. It was instead the musing of a 14th century Japanese monk on Life, the Universe and Everything. It was, actually, rather interesting if a bit strange from time to time. 

One of the things that does surprise me reading this sort of thing was how often very different philosophies from very different cultures tend to come to broadly similar conclusions on the human condition that we all have to deal with. I suppose that it’s the fact that, despite culture or sometimes vast chasms of time we are all still human beings doing what humans do. That side of things changes very little in the grand scheme of things. 

Being of the time and place involved, the author does have a very hierarchical view of things. Those in the highest places, especially the Emperor himself, are exalted and deserve to be in those places because they are (obviously) superior beings. At the same time the poor and destitute are in THEIR place because of fundamental failings in character or through their behaviour in previous incarnations.  

Probably the strangest thing the author said was that everyone should aim to be dead before reaching 40 years of age. Personally, my post-40's where some of my very best years! There was much about how distracting women are (true) and how men have their heads turned all too easily (also true). Much also about friends and the pleasure of good conversation (couldn’t agree more), and, of course, the delight of sitting alone reading a good book! 

As you might expect there are several criticisms throughout the text on the pursuit of wealth, power and fame. What is the use of such things, the author maintains, when they stop you appreciating the beauty of a snowy landscape and forget to remark on it to an acquaintance.  

This was a booklet full of interesting cultural insights, gentle wisdom and a few funny stories. As an introduction both to Japanese culture and Buddhist philosophy it's pretty fair. Recommended. 

Translated from the Japanese by Meredith McKinney

Happy Birthday: William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12, entirely self written, studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the U.S.

Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in the Levittown portion of Hicksville on Long Island, where he began taking piano lessons at his mother's insistence. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, Joel took part in two short-lived bands, the Hassles and Attila, before signing a record deal with Family Productions and embarking on a solo career with his debut album, Cold Spring Harbor (1971). In 1972, Joel caught the attention of Columbia Records after a live radio performance of "Captain Jack" became popular in Philadelphia, prompting him to sign a new record deal with the company, through which he released his second album, Piano Man (1973). After Streetlife Serenade (1974) and Turnstiles (1976), Joel achieved his critical and commercial breakthrough with The Stranger (1977). It became Columbia's best-selling release, selling over 10 million copies and spawning the hit singles "Just the Way You Are", "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)", "Only the Good Die Young", and "She's Always a Woman", as well as the concert staples "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna"

Joel's 52nd Street (1978) was his first album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Glass Houses (1980) was an attempt to further establish him as a rock artist; it featured "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (Joel's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100), "You May Be Right", "Don't Ask Me Why", and "Sometimes a Fantasy". The Nylon Curtain (1982) stemmed from a desire to create more lyrically and melodically ambitious music. An Innocent Man (1983) served as an homage to genres of music that Joel had grown up with in the 1950s, such as rhythm and blues and doo-wop; it featured "Tell Her About It", "Uptown Girl", and "The Longest Time", three of his best-known songs. He also released studio albums 'The Bridge' (1986) and 'Storm Front' (1989). After River of Dreams (1993), Joel largely retired from producing studio material, although he went on to release Fantasies & Delusions (2001), featuring classical compositions composed by him and performed by British-Korean pianist Richard Hyung-ki Joo. Joel provided voiceover work in 1988 for the Disney animated film Oliver & Company, performing the song "Why Should I Worry?", and contributed to the soundtracks to several films, including Easy Money (1983), Ruthless People (1986), A League of Their Own, and Honeymoon in Vegas (both 1992). Joel returned to composing new music with the 2024 single "Turn the Lights Back On".

Just Finished Reading: Northerners – A History from the Ice Age to the Present Day by Brian Groom (FP: 2022) [336pp] 

Despite living over half of my life in the South (both East & West) I am, and will always be, a Northerner – not just at heart by bone deep. When I worked in London for 6 years it always felt special travelling north to visit my parents and go HOME. I always looked out for certain landmarks after we left Birmingham (at the halfway mark) and although I never had a tear in my eye it always felt different, special. 

Of course, the North IS different, as the author rightly points out. Not only because of its history but because of the basic geology. There is a real North-South divide in the very rocks under our feet. A real consequence of that is very real differences in farming between the two regions. Whereas in the South we see rolling fields of wheat, in the North we have much smaller farms and plenitudes of sheep. The North is also rich in things like coal and iron which is a major reason why the Industrial Revolution happened there. At first the industries around these resources huddled close but it wasn’t long before the demand, especially for coal, required its transport over distance hence the building of first an extensive canal system and then an expanding rail network that was later exported across the world. Industry and the pollution that followed defined the North in ways still remembered and still satirised to this day. It was indeed, at least for a long while, grim ‘Up North’. 

Written with a wide knowledge and a healthy dose of love this was a fun and informative read from beginning to end. I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Most English general history books tend to mention the North in passing (often focused just on the Industrial Revolution) so it was good to see the whole North as THE focus of a book. A fair bit of spice was added by an extension bibliography which I’ll be diving into in the coming months for recommendations – it'll certainly help me in my Ancestry endeavours. I was already aware that the author had another book out on the history of Manchester (already on my Wish List) but I’ve just discovered (during my search for a cover to post here) that he’s also produced a general people’s history of the entire British Isles too!  

This is definitely recommended for any Northerner out there curious about their region's proud history. More to come from this author (naturally) and from the North itself. I’m particularly looking forward to a history of Liverpool (the city of my birth) which is out in July.