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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Home thoughts from a broad: Tracey Thorn’s writing mirrors her singing: studied, understated, poised. Another Planet uses extracts from her childhood and adolescent diaries (“every triumph, every fight, under disco light”) to meditate on something very specific and finished: suburbia in England from roughly the late 1950s to the late 1990s. The claustrophobia, paranoia and competitiveness embodied in three television channels, the Ford Escort parked on the drive, a three-bed semi that’s nearly but not quite big enough for a growing family, Findus pancakes and halcyon prescriptions from Timothy Whites. It’s all gone now because the internet - a kid like Thorn today would simply use snapchat, insta and chat rooms to connect with others who feel the same mix of boredom and frustration at the limitations of being a girl and parental expectation in a place where excitement comprised her parents’ attendance at a ‘Caribbean night’ at the local golf club (“I don’t want to think about what that might have involved,” she observes tartly). Rather than lengthy saving up for day-long expeditions to Camden Lock and the King’s Road, or more prosaically, frequently disappointing trips to Hatfield, she’d simply go online and buy fast-fashion pseudo-punk gear from Boohoo.
If this sounds like an elongated sneer at lower middle class mores and the desires of people like Thorn’s parents to escape the grime and dangers of London in the immediate aftermath of 1945, it’s more loving, observational and understanding than that. The early passages are a little generic (others, such as Lindsey Hanley have written more comprehensively about suburban habits), but Another Planet takes flight in the second half which describes Audrey and Dennis and their reasons for coming to Brookmans Park, and how it trapped them. At the same time, as Thorn acknowledges, the suburbs played a huge part in the cultural explosions of the 60s, 70s and 80s, bringing forth talent such as Bowie, Siouxie and Boy George. Talent, it seems, needing conformity and safety to kick against.
I’m listening to Second Sight by the Marine Girls as I type and it encapsulates well what this is all about - small concerns, a fair amount of cosiness, but just enough of a dash of astringent to stop any danger of the saccharine or twee. I
If this sounds like an elongated sneer at lower middle class mores and the desires of people like Thorn’s parents to escape the grime and dangers of London in the immediate aftermath of 1945, it’s more loving, observational and understanding than that. The early passages are a little generic (others, such as Lindsey Hanley have written more comprehensively about suburban habits), but Another Planet takes flight in the second half which describes Audrey and Dennis and their reasons for coming to Brookmans Park, and how it trapped them. At the same time, as Thorn acknowledges, the suburbs played a huge part in the cultural explosions of the 60s, 70s and 80s, bringing forth talent such as Bowie, Siouxie and Boy George. Talent, it seems, needing conformity and safety to kick against.
I’m listening to Second Sight by the Marine Girls as I type and it encapsulates well what this is all about - small concerns, a fair amount of cosiness, but just enough of a dash of astringent to stop any danger of the saccharine or twee. I
Beautiful writing and so many part of this were my childhood/teenage years too.
Not a terribly interesting read - a fine writer but I think I need to read the first one which deals more with her music and less of her upbringing in the suburbs.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
A fascinating and intriguing insight into a 90s band member life in the suburbs, how touching and how wince inducing the sharpness of her love and hatred for that time in her life. How she talks about her parents with love and frustration that we all can connect with.... the youth of the day vs the youth of yesterday but now grown to see their own young haranguing them for similar reasons they may have done.
This is a changed yet still familiar world to some people, and possibly is why we have this disconnection today. This was so evocative and powerful, that it will stay with me and makes me think about “missing” in a different light.
This is a changed yet still familiar world to some people, and possibly is why we have this disconnection today. This was so evocative and powerful, that it will stay with me and makes me think about “missing” in a different light.
En tågbok. En Londonbok. En påskbok, p.g.a. gul bokrygg - plus ingår då i utmaningen #färggladahyllvärmare2021
Många har talat så varmt om "Tracey Thorns bok" och jag minns att jag fick syn på den här i Muswell Hill Bookshop, precis innan den tragiskt slog igen. Men det var den andra, eller snarare första, jag borde läst. Är inte alls förtjust i barndomsnostalgi, eftersom världen är så begränsad då.
Ramberättelsen är fin; att den vuxna TT tar tåget ut från norra London, där hon bor nu, tillbaka till den garden city där hennes föräldrar köpte hus på 70-talet. Tycker om de delar där hon reflekterar kring sitt eget föräldraskap, som ju delas med Ben. De träffades under universitetstiden i Hull, tidigt 80-tal. Om glimtarna verkar osammanhängande beror det på att boken började sitt liv som olika texter publicerade här och var i essäformat.
Knappast blir det mer intressant under tweenietristessen, med många utdrag ur Traceys dagbok i stil med "Åkte till St Albans. Köpte läppglans. Ville köpa en tröja, men hittade ingen." Universellt, hade även kunnat vara vi som hängde kring H&M i Halmstad eller var som helst. När det glimrar till handlar det om musik eller det litterära uppvaknandet, pretto som man var: Camus, Kafka... och, till min stora glädje, Orwells Keep the Aspidistra Flying .
En annan gång när Tracey "stepped off the train" och "walked down the street again", ungefär: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U56Ns66Qrb8
Många har talat så varmt om "Tracey Thorns bok" och jag minns att jag fick syn på den här i Muswell Hill Bookshop, precis innan den tragiskt slog igen. Men det var den andra, eller snarare första, jag borde läst. Är inte alls förtjust i barndomsnostalgi, eftersom världen är så begränsad då.
Ramberättelsen är fin; att den vuxna TT tar tåget ut från norra London, där hon bor nu, tillbaka till den garden city där hennes föräldrar köpte hus på 70-talet. Tycker om de delar där hon reflekterar kring sitt eget föräldraskap, som ju delas med Ben. De träffades under universitetstiden i Hull, tidigt 80-tal. Om glimtarna verkar osammanhängande beror det på att boken började sitt liv som olika texter publicerade här och var i essäformat.
Knappast blir det mer intressant under tweenietristessen, med många utdrag ur Traceys dagbok i stil med "Åkte till St Albans. Köpte läppglans. Ville köpa en tröja, men hittade ingen." Universellt, hade även kunnat vara vi som hängde kring H&M i Halmstad eller var som helst. När det glimrar till handlar det om musik eller det litterära uppvaknandet, pretto som man var: Camus, Kafka... och, till min stora glädje, Orwells Keep the Aspidistra Flying .
En annan gång när Tracey "stepped off the train" och "walked down the street again", ungefär: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U56Ns66Qrb8
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Tracey Thorn is one of my indie pop idols, and this book gives such an interesting view into her history and where she came from. Wonderful!
reflective
medium-paced