Well, June happened fast! And not just in the -the days just went by and I didn't notice- sort of way, more the -wow, a lot happened there, and I've barely managed to keep up- sort of way :). Not that that was a bad thing, just seems to have left me feeling almost a bit dazed.
In some ways this has been a much more "normal" summer month compared to the last several years. Periods of beautiful sunny weather interspersed with cooler days and rain. Which is actually a lot better for how things grow here. I should probably cut the grass, but it seems very happy and it feels bad to just get rid of all the beautiful wild flowers :).
This (the sunny - rainy see-saw weather) was also true when we went up north to Rørvik! The week and a half we spent there in some ways feels scarcely believable now, event though it was only three weeks ago! Norwegian fjords come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but living literally a stone's throw away from such beauty is something I can't imagine ever getting used to :).
There was a lot of time spent catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a long time. And being together over a stretch meant we got to catch up in a way that quick weekend trips and meetings can never really replicate. It was also fun to be able to lend a hand in the preparations for the confirmation which was the nominal reason for our visit :).
Not long after we were back, it was our turn to be hosts :). Chats and walks, again, a nice way to spend time catching up with a visiting friend. Particularly when said friend is about to head off to Japan for an as yet undetermined number of years!
And finally last weekend we volunteered to help at a children's camp for some seventy odd 7-10 year olds! I mean, I'm not exactly in bad shape or anything, but keeping up with that many highly energetic kids just getting started with their summer holidays definitely made me feel old :D.
I guess when you write it down like that it doesn't sound like a lot, but with work alongside bringing its ups and downs, I guess a little bit of peace and quiet wouldn't be the worst thing :). And to be honest, I have been disappearing into books from time to time as a bit of a getaway.
I feel like I have to mention that My Sweet Orange Tree got an absolutely phenomenal reception at the book club! Different people found different aspects of the story as well as the storytelling itself fascinating, but mainly people seemed touched by just the simplicity yet depth in an emotional journey which wasn't weighed down by points being made.
Most of this month though, I spent working my way through Hyperion. Once I'd finished it, I was left wondering, did I like it? But there doesn't appear to be a straightforward answer to that. Did I enjoy reading the book? In parts certainly, although not always. Did I find the writing and storytelling interesting? Also a resounding yes. Did I find the world(s) fascinating? Absolutely. In fact that was probably one of the parts of the book I enjoyed the most, the discreet world building from multiple perspectives.
You sense a but coming don't you? So do I, but as I try to pin down quite what it is about Hyperion that leaves me unsettled, I'm having a hard time. Part of it, and there are likely to be spoilers ahead, may well be what the introduction dropped such a large and annoying spoiler about, that is the pilgrims, such as they are, don't actually reach their destination before the book ends. Although having read it, I can see how this book was more about the various trajectories and how they intersect than about the destination.
While the vastly different narrative styles, settings and characterizations in the six different "stories" were set out masterfully, I was left with a jumbled up sense of overlapping realities that, unlike in say some of Iain M Bank's works, didn't easily add up to a rich whole. Maybe one needs to read some more of the books in the series? Something I definitely find myself not wanting to commit to in the immediate future at least. So yes, an interesting experience.
This month's book club book was one I'd read before, but several years ago now. The last time I read The Bullet that Missed, it was part of a readthrough of all three then-published books of the Thursday Murder Club series. I decided seeing how a copy was available in the local library, it would be fun to read it in Norwegian this time!
I can't quite make up my mind if I found it less funny this time purely because I was actually comparing it to the first or second books, which I remember being very funny, or if my far from complete grasp of Norwegian meant I missed just enough to lose some of the humour. Luckily I didn't have any issues following the actual story :).
Now I've started with Remarkably Bright Creatures and while it's very early days, so far things look promising :). Which is something one might also say for the upcoming month or so. The summer holidays have begun, so the office is beginning to empty somewhat. Often this means I get the extra headspace to move forward with things I've been wanting to do but haven't really found time for. There's of course the risk of ending up doing things others would have done if they weren't on holiday :). Such is life.
