Review of ‘Penelope Lively: A Reading Life’, by Zoe Weldon
10th October 7.30pm Whitworth Art Gallery
£10/8 entry
I am afraid to admit that thus far, I have ignored the cultural and artistic imperative to visit the Whitworth Art Gallery and so, the visit held many firsts for me; my first time to the gallery, my first time writing a review and my first outing to a literature festival! However, despite these obstacles, I shall endeavour to do my best… Fingers crossed!
I have seen the Whitworth from afar and so the chance to enter has me wildly excited, (no exaggeration), for it must be one of the most impressive buildings on Oxford Road, certainly in comparison to the garish Curry Mile. Simply due to the location it is being held at, I previously concluded that Penelope Lively’s presentation on her ‘book infested life’ would be highbrow. I was right; it is. Feeling slightly out of place in a room filled with people of an ‘older’ persuasion, I am soon set at ease by the classic timeless tunes and soothing, easy listening music playing. In fact I have to stop myself from humming the melody to ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ – on second thought, perhaps I shouldn’t be so critical of my elders!
Talking to a lady on my right (who happens to be a retired lecturer), I am told that, “what makes Lively, such an incredible writer you see, is how long she has been writing for.” This, the lecturer goes on to explain, means Lively is not subjected to those whims of fashion that modern writers fall victim to. I feel partly, perhaps, that Lively’s early childhood (she lived in Egypt till the age of thirteen) is what has allowed her writing to address so many universal themes, for having experience of such a different culture means she has a clearer observation of our own.
In the soft yellow light, helped by the fervent applause that echoes round the room, Ms Lively looks much at ease. She appears warm and extremely friendly, smiling as she tells us how reading has influenced her throughout life and confesses to being ‘book addicted’, as any writer should be. This self-confessed addiction is no throw away comment. In the next hour, she mentions such authors as Henry James, Jack Kerouac, Wahl, Golding and Henry James (to name just a few), and I am sure these names do not even touch the surface of a rounded and eclectic reading taste. Different periods of her life, she says, are characterised and categorised by the books she reads, for the texts serve as nostalgia; every time she reads them, one revisits the moment in which a page was first turned. Ms Lively’s intention is not to list all the books she has enjoyed or has been influenced by. A fact, which I am glad of. Instead, Lively talks about the way in which books create an identity. She explains that looking at one’s bookshelf, can map out one’s life. The paperbacks, hardbacks, books never returned and books forgotten make up one’s library, that is personal to them only. Lively’s personal library, for instance, ‘tells me where I’ve been in every sense’ and her choice of reading is what directs her life. She questions whether had she not read a certain book or made a different choice, if her novels would have turned out differently. The protagonist in Treasures of Time (1979), for example is an archaeologist, based on how she imagined life would have been had she consummated her passion in the given subject.
Ms Lively touches upon the subject of Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect, which is the subject of her newest book How it all Began. It concerns the random events that make up a person’s life and in some way, create a sense of order. She draws a comparison between life events and serendipitous reading, (a word she reuses throughout the talk), establishing its importance in her literary makeup. Interestingly, Ms Lively mentions that upon visiting a school she told the listening children that all her ideas come from where she has been, what she has seen and what she has read. In reply, a child told her she should think for herself! Laughing she justifies to us that what you read becomes part of you, it becomes inseparable from the imagination. The ‘landscape’ or ‘climate’ of the mind is fuelled by books and is entirely idiosyncratic and serendipitous.
I thoroughly enjoy Penelope Lively’s talk. It is intermittent with laughter and murmurs of agreement from the audience. Her lively delivery is engaging and once home I am certainly going to buy her newest book on Amazon. If only I could have got it signed! And thus, with the woes of a struggling student I leave Ms Lively to start my own life library.
About me:
Zoe Weldon is a second year English Literature and Drama student at the University of Manchester. Debuting her first review, she hopes to a) become a writer/actor, and b) that, that first point doesn’t sound too pretentious.