the chateau love nippy mm

so i was woken this morning by mm phoning, one of the canadians who had been staying here, she's playing a gig tonight in greenwich that i'm going to try and check out,

then i reach for the chateau by william maxwell, which i've been reading for at least two weeks now, and i finish it, lying in bed, balthazara comes in near the end and loves me in that unconditional cat way, lovely book. i found william maxwell (this is the third book of his that i've read) on the day that i bought austerlitz, the last novel that i had left to read by w g sebald. i bought maxwell's so long, see you tomorrow, as a way of opening a new writer as i was closing another. i liked the look of it, and he's published by the harvill press which is often the sign of a good writer, and he is a lovely writer. w g sebald's passing away still makes me sad, that he won't be writing any more books, but william maxwell's presence in the world is a comfort.

early on in this book i was travelling on the underground, and i happened to pick up a copy of the times. a small news item caught my eye and i ripped it out and used it as a book mark.

Briton Shot Dead

A British teacher was killed by gunmen in Pakistan in what police described as a targeted killing, possibly linked to Islamic terrorists. A C, 60, was giving a lesson when he was hit by four bullets. (full story page 5)

i remember being struck by this, partly because i'm a teacher, but also because of the last phrase... when he was hit by four bullets... i don't really know why but that gives me such a surreal image, like being hit by a truck when crossing a road, somehow it suggests to me that he went into the path of these bullets, which seem quite independant of any gun or person,

anyway, sad news that i carried around with me in my book for a few weeks,

oh and nippy is coming round, to do some vocals for K, this is great news, i haven't seen her for ages and now she's coming to my house.

x