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Ness
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
What happens when the land comes to life? Somewhere on a salt-and-shingle island, inside a concrete-and-iron structure called The Green Chapel, a figure called The Armourer is leading a black mass. He plans to detonate a thermonuclear missile. But something is coming to stop him. Five more-than-human figures - or forms, or forces - are traversing the landscape, moving steadily towards a point where they will converge and become Ness. Ness is the land awakened. Ness is lichen skin and willow-bower bones, condensing mist, tidal drift and deep time. Ness has hagstones for eyes and Ness speaks only in birds, firecrests in the day and swifts after dusk. Ness has come to take this island back.
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review
Bookwomble
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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Pickpick

I had a whole big thing in my head to write about this book, but it was too much. Suffice to say, it's a fantastically layered prose poem which resonates with many historical and contemporary themes, nuclear war, geopolitics and environmental apocalypse being the most obvious. I'm putting it next to Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" on my top podium for Best Books of the Year (So Far).

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Bookwomble
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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"Our congregation numbers the gulls"

These gulls were congregating because, being proper Northern gulls, they were after a bit of me pasty! ?

quietlycuriouskate West Country crows are partial to a falafel wrap, but mostly make do with a corner of peanut butter and marmite sarnie. 😊 3y
Bookwomble @kathedron Aah! I'd be pinching your PB and marmite butties, too 😄 Have you tried the marmite flavoured PB? It's lovely 😋 ... Seaside birds have to make do with pie and chips like the rest of us round here! 3y
21 likes2 comments
blurb
Bookwomble
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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A rather grey Wednesday, though thankfully absent of woe. I ran some ironing to my parents and picked up another load of washing, as their washing machine has broken. Ordinary and simple errands, though I'm grateful that they're still here for me to do them.
During the round, I took time for a bookshop visit, and the cover for Ness seems to fit the colour and feel of the day. I'm personally less grey-feeling than this post might suggest 💛

TrishB Great pic too👍🏻 3y
Bookwomble @TrishB Than you 😊 3y
bibliothecarivs I'm looking forward to reading Ness. 3y
25 likes3 comments
review
Twocougs
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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Pickpick

How to describe this...Ness was a nuclear component testing area in the UK during the Cold War. However, it‘s not about that but it is. Beautifully written with superb drawings. A pretty intense 81 pages. Maybe this is more about the power of nature. What I will say, read this lovely piece of poetry and prose.

GlassAsDiamonds Oohhh I loved this one!!! It‘s SO weird but so amazing!! 😊😊😊😊 (and apparently Macfarlane is confirmed for the Jaipur Literature Festival next year too!!! 😱♥️😱) 5y
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review
laurieluna
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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Pickpick

A quick, intense read, in MacFarlane's usual, hypnotic style. A modern prose-poem for our time.

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Mitch
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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Spent the morning walking the Ness - an odd spit of land that was until recently a secret military testing area. Followed by dropping in on a talk with the author and illustrator of a new book set in the area. Serendipity!

MrBook Niiice! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 5y
Crazeedi Looks like a great day Mitch! 5y
Mitch @Crazeedi @MrBook It was a good day. Long blustery walk in beside the North Sea followed by book chat! A good Saturday! 5y
Crazeedi @Mitch you are fortunate to have beautiful vistas to enjoy!❤ 5y
73 likes4 comments
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GlassAsDiamonds
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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1). Ness - strange but amazing
2). Didn‘t have one... 🤔🤔🤔
3). Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, carrots and celery sticks.
4). Kitty health monitoring, seeing Hobbs & Shaw about which I am conflicted even though I‘m a fan of the series (He killed Han!😱 Shaw is *not* a hero people) and buying some plants for the balcony. ♥️
5). Two! Turns out I have not forgotten all of my Mandarin! 😊😊😊

#friyayintro

bromeliad Would it be 好星期五? 5y
bromeliad Oh oops, I was trying to say "happy Friday," not "it's Friday" 5y
RamsFan1963 @GlassAsDiamonds What did you think of Hobbs & Shaw? I was unimpressed, but I'm no big Fast & Furious fan either 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @RamsFan1963 yeah.... just saw it, also unimpressed. Parts were great but mostly it felt like it couldn‘t decide if it was going to be a dumb /buddy cop movie or an action movie. Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart were just irritatingly stupid and that whole “big bad” nonsense 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I‘m a fan of the franchise but this was not good. 😭😭😭 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @bromeliad 快乐星期五 ? (Kuàilè) ??? (wrote “Happy Christmas” in a bunch of cards one year, apparently happy stuck as well!!!! ????). 5y
21 likes5 comments
review
GlassAsDiamonds
Ness | Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood
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Pickpick

I have absolutely no idea what I just read. It‘s Robert Macfarlane‘s #CliFi Ness with spectacular illustrations by Stanley Donwood (and yes, I‘m going to try & squeak in my #Booked2019 #Spring reads in the next five days but hey, it‘s a challenge!). Ness is extremely hard to describe. Macfarlane uses words I‘ve never heard (the dictionary got a work out!) and poetic imagery that‘s somehow beautiful and atmospheric while being extremely creepy ⬇️

GlassAsDiamonds He‘s described the work as speculative climate fiction prose poetry inspired by a hag-stone which probably tells you all you need to know about the book. It‘s a strange, lovely, creepy wonderful book I suspect I‘ll need to read and re-read but I‘d recommend it to fans of Macfarlane, fans of clifi or dystopians and potentially nature lovers. As an aside, bryophytes are the family of mosses, liverworts and hornwort...which is useful to know 😉 5y
GlassAsDiamonds I‘d also like to add that @Litsy - I‘ve given up trying to add books or bothering to “suggest” them. Not a single book I‘ve ever listed that way since LibraryThing took over has managed to make its way into the Litsy database, including award winning books by highly notable albeit usually Indian authors that I‘ve added numerous times so, although I‘m frustrated, I see no point bothering with this one either. Untitled it shall remain. (edited) 5y
Cinfhen I‘m sorry, just chuckling at your rant and review!!! Hope all is well by you!!! 5y
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GlassAsDiamonds @Cinfhen 😊😊😊😊 It‘s a WEIRD book (and the adding books fail drives me INSANE 😡)! Things settling down so I‘m trying to force myself out of my stress hibernation and back into the world (Booked is working a treat for that!) 😊 How are you??? 5y
Cinfhen Life is returning to normal ( hubby contacted some still unknown virus) and was in the hospital for 5 days and was really sick for 3 weeks but now it seems to be behind us and we are getting ready to make our annual pilgrimage to US for the summer 🇺🇸 🥰can‘t wait!!!!!! 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Cinfhen oh ouch! Sorry to hear that, that sucks!!!! Glad he‘s feeling better! How does the medical system compare to the States (hopefully you won‘t need either too much though!!)? Ahhhh Summer Holidays! So Expat! 😜 Should be fabulous though, especially after that!!! Have a fantastic time! I shall live vicariously through your posts!!! 😊😊😊😊😊 5y
Litsy @GlassAsDiamonds Can you tell us more about what you mean ? Are you referring to the Add a Book to Litsy feature (https://www.litsy.com/web/addbook)? Everything should be working smoothly there, so if you can give us specifics (books you've added, when you added them), we'll be happy to look further into it. -Loranne 5y
GlassAsDiamonds @Litsy Hi Loranne. I‘m an App user. I‘m referring to the “Suggest a book” function at the bottom of the App search and the in-app “shake” help functions, both of which I‘ve used repeatedly to suggest books since the take over (both of which worked for this function before that) and neither of which seem to have worked since.... 5y
Litsy @GlassAsDiamonds Ah, yes. Are you on Android, by any chance? I'm not sure exactly where the Suggest a Book feature will go in our next update, but the goal is to replace it with Add a Book to Litsy. Suggest A Book isn't automated at all, but Add a Book is. Books added here: https://www.litsy.com/web/addbook should appear pretty shortly after you've added them. It'll open your browser, but should work just fine on mobile. 5y
Litsy @GlassAsDiamonds If I can be of any further help, you can reach me by email at litsy@librarything.com! -Loranne (edited) 5y
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