Cafe Highlights: Afghanistan, Dear Me and beauty
Post categories: Cafe Highlights
|14:15 UK time, Wednesday, 7 December 2011
The conflict continues in Afghanistan; on Monday as the Book Café aired, we heard President Hamid Karzai imploring the West not to abandon his country to its fate when NATO troops pull out in 2014. We've become accustomed to hearing about the war and the losses sustained by British troops on an almost daily basis. IEDs are the most common cause of death yet we all think we know something of the risks the troops take in the course of their daily duties. Most of our information comes from the press and broadcast reports but sometimes FICTION can paint a more nuanced picture of life in extreme conditions. It obviously helps if the person writing about conflict has some experience of it. Patrick Bishop falls into that category - a former Daily Telegraph Foreign Correspondent, he's just written his second novel. It's called FOLLOW ME HOME - the phrase taken from a Rudyard Kipling poem. The plot concerns a small unit of troops on a mission to ambush a leading member of the Taliban. They get more than they bargained for when they are spotted and have to fend for themselves in hostile terrain. The fact they're also trailing two civilians in their wake makes the journey back to the relative safety of their base camp all the more urgent. We hear what it's like to walk for hours in the baking sun, have to fling a grenade, fire a gun, hear bullets whistle past and have to make split second decisions that could make the difference between life and death. The group are under huge stress of course and soon it shows with bickering and accusations made. Luckily, because there's a good deal of army jargon, there is a lexicon of acronyms and phrases at the front of the book. Thank heavens for that...I had no idea a Stag wasn't something with antlers and as for Terp? For anyone wanting to get some idea how the army operates in Afghanistan you could do worse than pick up this book. It's a ripping yarn and even if you don't normally read war stories, the pacing of the adventure and the vividly painted characters really bring home the troubles of a distant land.
The final item on this week's Book Café couldn't have been more different. DEAR ME is a compilation of letters written by actors, musicians, and writers who are passing on pearls of wisdom to their sixteen year old selves. Joe Galliano edited the book and was one of the contributors. He told me that the celebs (Alan Cumming/ J K Rowling/ Jodi Picoult/ Stephen King, etc) were very happy to be so upfront but there was an exception. Who would have thought that Paul McCartney was such a shrinking violet...arguably the best lyricist/ poet of the 20th century, if Macca can't come up with a tip or two for teendom, who can? I guess keeping it private is his prerogative; I can't imagine spilling the beans on my past insecurities and cock-ups. For the record, my favourite entry in the book came from an unexpected source, the editor of the uber-glam celebrity obsessed American magazine, VANITY FAIR. Graydon Carter's three-page-entry had so much wisdom and wit that I feel like printing it out and handing it to random teens (my own included!) His priorities range from the practical (keeping a spare 20 dollars in your wallet/carrying a handkerchief) - to the profound (relish time spent with your family and friends/ be comfortable with yourself). Not so sure about the merits of learning to juggle but I'd say on the basis of his list, he's the kind of man you'd cut your arm off to sit beside at dinner.
The Culture Café concerned itself with BEAUTY...a huge subject that bigger minds than mine have struggled to define. David Hume came close when he tried to explain that beauty really was in the eye of the beholder. My three guests had been exposed to a massive attack of beauty when they visited the newly refurbished Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Playwright Jo Clifford had reservations. She felt the choice of portraits on display was a let-down with some old favourites conspicuously absent. Anne Ellis our art expert agreed - both had been regular attendees of the gallery in days past. But Sandy Wood from the Dean Gallery admitted he'd been an infrequent visitor and really liked what the refurb had revealed - more light and space for starters! It all goes to show, you can't please all of the people all of the time. I loved the new layout personally but I was never a SNPG regular. The conversation soon took off in another direction; the purpose of the portrait. What was it for? Times change and tastes change - so do some portraits go past their sell by date? Should a portrait sum up the person or the era they were painted in? Possibly it's a blend of both. Answers on a postcard please to the Culture Café.
While we're on the subject of beauty...a BIG congratulations to one of our recent guests on the show. Martin Boyce, Glasgow based artist, bagged the Turner Prize. His installation has the critics swooning - one press commentator said the work was BEAUTIFUL, not a word he tended to use frequently. Check it out for yourself online...You might even stumble on a photo of the moment Martin found out he'd won - it's a study in shocked delight. Great news for him, great for Glasgow, great for Scotland.
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