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Irish Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
This summer I'm taking a Maga approach to reading: self-serving and isolationist
July means one certain thing. Summer reading lists are upon us – magazine and newspaper editors sit around and, with some effort, dash together a 20-or-so long list of the books you should bring on holiday. The lists usually look like some combination of the following: an obscure new novel, authored by a friend in need of a favour; the second book of the most recently zeitgeisty novelist – quality of these vary; something from the 'smart thinking' or popular science category (designed to make you feel clever, actually makes you dumber); a history tome so dense and unfriendly it is hard to imagine any normal person wanting to read it, let alone on a beach; a blandly feminist pamphlet titled something glib such as Women Are Powerful; a crime thriller, ordained to be on every popular reading list by some unknown force of the universe. The publishing houses are happy, the featured writers too. Meanwhile, the newspaper believes it has paid a service to its reader – but of course it has done the opposite. Because it is abjectly implausible that even five of the books on these lists will stand any kind of longevity test, let alone all 20 (how many books are there are in total from, say, 2002 that have had lasting impact on the culture?). The summer reading list necessarily emphasises the new. This comes at the cost of recommending the quality. And so the likelihood that these lists are stuffed with duds and wastes-of-times is so strong it is approaching inevitability. READ MORE In a bid to avoid gutting but predictable disappointment, this summer – with the exception of the books I am lucky enough to read for work – I have committed myself to the act of rereading. Why risk something untested when I know for sure that most of Hemingway 's are pretty good? I will have a good time with Cormac McCarthy , I always do. If you're an Austen fan, check out Pride and Prejudice again, you'll love it. This is an obvious and dishonourably parochial instinct. There is a whole world out there I am cutting off from myself: what about the great Malay playwrights (I assume there are some); or Danish masters of genre fiction (Danes, enlighten me); or Afrikaans poets; or the next VS Naipaul surely hovering somewhere on the horizon waiting to be plucked from obscurity and rocketed to fame one summer reading list at a time? What secrets of the universe am I wilfully keeping from myself? Well, I'm contented with not knowing for now. This is the ultra-Maga approach to reading: self-serving, isolationist, retreating from all those cosmopolitan obligations somehow acquired over the years, harking after an imagined halcyon past when books were good (and jobs were American!). Hell, I might even buy a red hat. Or maybe we needn't be so cynical. The art of rereading is a romantic pursuit, too. The Italian writer Italo Calvino describes 'a classic' as a book that never finishes saying what it has to say. Twee, maybe. But it's a good test. Every reread of your favourite story will bring you something new. I am not the same person as I was at 24, mid-pandemic, reading The Secret History for the first time. I should try it again – there may be as many more secrets of the universe to discover in that activity as there will be in an attempt to develop a hinterland with those Danish genre-fiction writers. 'You can't step in the same river twice,' said some zany Presocratic philosopher a very long time ago. I suspect this is true of reading books too. Time for a hard-pivot to the doldrums of low culture (where I am, to be frank, more comfortable dwelling), because this is not a feature limited to the written word. I suppose it was on my fourth rewatch of Gossip Girl that I truly came to understand myself; the monorail episode of The Simpsons on the fifth go taught me something ineffable about humanity's unquenchable optimism; and that same tomato pasta I have been making for 15 years now is not boring, thank you very much, it's a paean to nostalgia and memory, or something like that. In search of a truly balanced life, I should teach myself how to do both. But for now, which is more important? Possessing the bravery to face the new, so we don't confine ourselves unnecessarily? It is perhaps too obvious to point out the virtue in that. But what of being too insecure to sit with the familiar? Could that be just as limiting? What's left of that instinct is a Sisyphean project of casting around the artistic realm trying to keep up with every trend and development, never satisfied because the work will never be done. And all the while there are expansive universes still undiscovered in whatever your favourite novel was when you were 26. I am not sure of the answer. Let me consult Gossip Girl, or Cormac McCarthy, just one more time.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The eye-watering amount of money Nicole Kidman could make from selling her 'dream journals'
Nicole Kidman has unknowingly triggered a bidding war among the world's top publishing houses after revealing she keeps a 'dream journal'. The Oscar-winning actress, 57, made the admission last week at the Cannes Film Festival, revealing she regularly wakes up at 3am to write down her dreams and thoughts. She was speaking at the renowned event, where she received the Kering Women in Motion Award when she let slip that she often jots down her midnight thoughts. 'I write stuff down a lot. I do it secretly – a 3am writing session for me. I wake up and write something, be it a dream or something circulating in my head and my life and my heart at that time,' she told the audience. 'It's a very ripe time for things to happen because you're in that slightly removed from reality state. Your dreams and your psyche are very present and very there.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Within hours of the admission, Nicole's team was reportedly flooded with offers from publishers around the world, all eager to acquire the rights to what could become one of the most sought-after celebrity books in recent history. 'The rights to Nicole's diary, her thoughts, musings and especially her dreams would break records,' an insider told Woman's Day magazine. 'This is a book that no one thought would ever happen because Nicole's always been against it... The fact she already has reams of material has set the cat among the pigeons.' They added they expected the world's leading publishing houses to present Nicole with their most attractive offers. 'Everyone wants a piece of this and the numbers will easily reach the $120 million mark,' they added. 'Nicole's been a target for publishing houses for decades. Now she's going to spark a global bidding war for something she's not even thought about selling.' Several other 'scrapbooks' have been published that collect the journal entries, thoughts and reflections of A-List celebrities, with late Queen star Freddie Mercury's set to be released later this year. The insider added Nicole's proposed book could provide a unique insight into the celebrated actress' innermost thoughts. She was speaking at the prestigious event where she received the Kering Women in Motion Award when she let slip that she often jots down her midnight musings in secret 'Nicole may have said in the past she has no interest in writing her own story, but she's also big enough to add that you never say never and with the right offer, it could be hard to turn down!' they said. 'It will be tough for publishers to take no for an answer as Nicole's dream diary could morph into a memoir, a novel or even a screenplay or short film.' As one of Australia's most renowned stars with one Oscar win and four Oscar nominations, a book collecting her innermost thoughts would be sure to generate significant interest. Earlier this month, Nicole came out in support of the Australian film and TV industry as it faces a threat from Donald Trump 's White House. The US President alarmed the international film and TV sector when he announced that Hollywood movies made outside of the US could face a 100 per cent tariff - Such a move could make a significant impact on the health of the local screen sector. While Trump's scheme is yet to unfold, The Last Anniversary star says that it is important for Australians to keep creating their own homegrown content. 'I was just glad that The Last Anniversary, which we made in Australia with Australians, has been a huge success,' Nicole told Confidential. Nicole was one of the producers of the Binge mystery series which has been wowing critics and fans since it dropped on Binge in March.
