In a bid to make ourselves read more, and so you can see some of the literature that inspires our travels, and our London adventures, we’ve decided to do a monthly recap on what we’ve been reading. Here’s March’s for you!
Tim
Freud, Dali & The Metamorphasis of Narcissus
By The Freud Museum
We recently went to the Freud Museum in North London(which is in fact his former residence, after fleeing to London from Nazi Occupied Austria in 1938), and alongside the permanent exhibition about Freuds work and life was a temporary exhibition of the piece titled ‘The Metamorphosis of Narcissus’ by the Catalonian surrealist master Salvador Dalí. Dalí was an enormous fan and admirer of Freud’s psychoanalytical work, Freud however was sceptical of Dalí and described surrealists as absolute cranks. In July 1938 they were introduced in London, and following that meeting this book examines Freuds thought on Dalí and how his fanaticism and other personality traits allowed his work to come about. It’s a fascinating and angle angle to take when discussing a work of art, particularly when the link is between two such hugely profound minds in their fields.
Jess
The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
By Jennet Conant
This is a fabulous story about British spies who shaped American policy during WWII, told by the bestselling author of 109 East Palace.When dashing young RAF pilot Roald Dahl (yes, THAT Roald Dahl) took up his post at the British Embassy in 1942, his assignment was to use his good looks, wit, and charm to gain access to the most powerful figures in American political life. He and his co-conspirators David Ogilvy, Ivar Bryce, and Ian Fleming (that Ian Fleming) called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins in some Sherlock Holmes stories. It’s a fabulous book that makes me want to go to Washington in the 1940s, and must have taken so much research to get some of those stories that I can’t think about how much work it took!
What are we reading now?
Tim: How to be Human: The Manual by Ruby Wax
Jess: The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry
What are you reading? Is there anything you’ve read that you think we should read next? What’s on your bookshelf waiting to be picked up? Let us know in the comments below!
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