It’s that time of the year again (insert eye rolls and an echo of “again, again, again…”): I’m too busy to do much writing. Since I have been reading a lot and do want to keep you updated, I’d hereby like to present you with my list of unfinished blogposts. Want to know what they are about? Read on!
Firstly, I’m working on my next lecture series. This year, it’s about Paul Lynch Booker-Prize winning novel Prophet Song. It’s about an Irish woman who has to take care of her family after a far-right organisation takes over the government and makes living more and more dangerous. I’m currently exploring the themes and writing style, and I’m working on a lecture about dystopian fiction and an analysis of the characters.
Next, since I was reading Prophet Song and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a major source of inspiration to Lynch, I’m typing up a list of speculative fiction that mirror real-life problems such as climate change, pandemics, and an authoritarian government. While this may seem quite bleak, I like to think of it as a hopeful list, because all of these novels show just how resilient we human beings are, for even though things might look like the end of times, we’ll always find a way to move on and transform ourselves and the world into something better.
Here’s one I’ve been working on for quite some time, but I want it to be perfect, which it will never be, so it’s been on the back burner for a couple of months. While reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, a so-called feminist novel about a female chemist in the 1950s who decides to smash the patriarchy, I kept being bothered about how unrealistic it is because the protagonist is perfect; she’s exceptionally intelligent (and so are her dog and daughter), she’s very assertive, and every page mentions just how beautiful she is – talk of unrealistic ideals. Anyway, I am still working on a lengthy analysis of modern feminism based on that book.
Two weeks ago, a Dutch publishing house gifted me a novel about a woman in her thirties who is happily married but still thinks about her first love. I need to read this one and then write about it. I wonder what it’s about, and how it will affect me. One might say this would not be that hard to do, because I should just get it, start at the first page and read the book. However, I visited friends last week and forgot the book there. They kindly sent it to me, but I wasn’t at home when it was delivered and now it’s somewhere in storage and I have to cycle there but I don’t know when I have the time and it’s all going to take so much longer. Urgh.
Come to think of, urgh is exactly how I’m feeling. I am tired and there are so many things I still have to do so much so in fact that I have to go to work on my days off as well which means I am overwhelmed which means I can’t sleep and I can’t find the time to write and that bothers me so I’m frustrated too and I don’t know how to stop this vicious circle of feeling disappointed in myself and being tired and wondering when I will finally have the time to write again.
I hope to see you soon.
Which of these posts are you most looking forward to? When did you last feel overwhelmed? What do you do if you experience similar feelings? Please (oh, please) let me know in the comments! Also, don’t forget to follow me for more bookish posts!
The Open Book 