I've just returned from a week spent with my family, during which I enjoyed what might be the most rewarding seasonal reading experience I've ever had. Even when you are the one dishing up Christmas dinner (as I was this year) there is a lot of free time over the holiday period, and reading is a tempting way to fill it. Unfortunately, not all books are suited to the fragmented reading experience you inevitably have when the house is full of people; and although there's always the option of locking yourself away in your bedroom, that seems more than a touch curmudgeonly at Christmas.
A book with a gripping plot can prove too distracting - my weakness for crime novels has in previous years resulted in a sort of temporary deafness, where I am impervious to all attempts to engage me in conversation. I find that I have the opposite problem with non-fiction. One year I spent a good few days reading and re-reading the same chapter of a history of the Middle East, completely incapable of absorbing it until I was back in my own home. The option of filling the time with one of those books that only seems to appear in Christmas stockings - like Schott's Miscellany - is too sad to contemplate.
The perfect solution was presented in the shape of Eric Karpeles's , a guide to the painters and paintings referred to in (I prefer the earlier translation of the title to In Search of Lost Time, which sounds like something to do with Valley of the Dinosaurs). Marcel Proust's novel is a brilliant portrait of a young man developing into a writer, a sort of symphony of experiences and impressions that avoids earnestness by mixing the vulgar and prosaic with the sublime. Painting fascinated Proust, and there are (according to Eric Karpeles) over 300 references to pictures in the novel. Not all of these can be illustrated, because they are fictitious. The character and work of the painter Elstir is drawn from a number of artists including Moreau, Degas, Turner, Monet and Whistler, and the narrator's evolving relationship with this imagined artist is typical of Proust's use of art in the book. Sometimes the image is referenced straightforwardly; sometimes the allusion is playful or ironic. Each of the 200 or so illustrations in Paintings in Proust is accompanied by the relevant extract from the novel with a few lines by Karpeles to place it in the context of the narrative as a whole. In David Carrier questions the lack of analysis of how each painting relates to the text, suggesting that Karpeles's is "an oddly mechanical" response. This seems unfair, not only does the introductory essay makes it clear that Karpeles is alive to Proust's nuanced use of imagery, I actually welcome the chance to see the pictures without their being overlaid with interpretation. The New York Times website has a of three of the paintings from the book if you'd like a taster.
It was a very happy Christmas then that saw me dipping into passages from Remembrance of Things Past - both able to enjoy my book and the company of those around me. Did anyone else have a particularly enjoyable read over the holidays?
It's been announced that poet is to read at Obama's inauguration as president in January.
Elizabeth Alexander reads two poems from American Blue, Ars Poetica #92: Marcus Garvey on Elocution and Ars Poetica #100: I Believe
It's only the fourth time that verse has been included in the ceremony - the previous politicians to make this choice were John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton (twice). Jimmy Carter's inaugural gala featured a poem written by , but for some reason nobody's talking about it (I'm not sure of the difference between the ceremony and the gala). Every second blog I've looked at has made the rather obvious remark that there was no poetry featured in George W Bush's inauguration; although in the Guardian does at least go on to give Bush credit for quoting Robert Frost in his speech.
On top of his election success Obama has secured impressive spots in both the US and UK book charts with his two autobiographies, one of which is still at number three; not bad going when you consider the popular appeal of cookery and celebrity rants at this time of year. Will a presidential endorsement push Elizabeth Alexander into the bestseller chart? Anything is possible in this hopeful new age, but I'd be surprised. Top of the poetry bestseller chart is Leonard Cohen's Book of Longing, and it only makes it to 418 on the general book list.
Anything that encourages people to read poetry seems positive - it now seems like such a niche art form, albeit it one that has passionate advocates. I was unfamiliar with Elizabeth Alexander's work before this, but she seems like a good choice for a wider readership. blog describes her as follows, "...like Obama himself, she is a thinker. Her poems indicate someone inward-looking and nuanced. Someone thoughtful." A book of her selected poems is available from Bloodaxe in the UK, entitled American Blue.
George Packer takes the opposite approach in the , saying of Obama's inauguration, "Such grandeur would seem to call for poetry. But in fact the opposite is true...For many decades American poetry has been a private activity, written by few people and read by few people, lacking the language, rhythm, emotion, and thought that could move large numbers of people in large public settings." I think that this is a bizarre conclusion; poetry often seems most powerful when read aloud, when the sounds are given the chance to enchant people. It falls flat only when the poem is an empty piece of bombast - and this seems like the last thing Elizabeth Arnold would produce.
This week we've gathered together some of our favourite items from 2008 for a 'best of' show - from Andrew Graham-Dixon on Marcel Duchamp to Mark Kermode on the UK's smallest cinema, it's a diverse mix. Do you have a favourite item from this year - perhaps our piece on the anniversary of Local Hero, the Raconteurs performing in the studio or our interview with Steve McQueen? Let us know what's grabbed your attention.
This week Mark Kermode goes behind the scenes in Sydney as the director of Australia finishes his multi-million dollar epic. What do you think of previous films: Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge? Are you entranced by his visual imagination, absorbed by the pace and warmth of his films, or does his work leave you cold?
PoetÌýMick Imlah was recently diagnosed with motor neurone disease and after twenty years of silence he has published The Lost Leader.
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Having already won the Forward Prize for his new collection, Imlah has also been nominated for the T.S Eliot prize. In this week's programme poets Andrew Motion and James Fenton, praise Imlah's spikey, funny, honest poetry which deals with ScotlandÌýand Scottishness.
Get a taste of Imlah's new collection with our web exclusives. The first performance is an extract from 'Domestic'. Imlah explores the personality of the Highland Terrier using it as a metaphor for noble Scottish characteristics. The second poem 'Past Caring' is read by and it follows the thoughts of someone as they empty the flat of an alcoholic friend.
Tell us what you think of Imlah's comment on Scotland, and what would you write about where you come from?
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