BIRDSONG IN THE TIME OF SILENCE.  

Steven Lovatt.

The time of silence is the Covid19 year(s) 2020.  Less traffic noise, more time to listen.  

The birds are singing and (birder) Lovatt recognises all their songs.  

He finishes his interesting bird book with poems, including The Woodpigeon's Nest by John Clare, and others. 

The one I will quote is by Chinese poet,  Wang Wei 699-759. 

...that was when an oriole sang clear and golden,

the tune familiar as a friend,

I listened, I smiled, I walked on. ...

 

 The Spare Room. 

by Helen  Garner, Australian author.

A small novel by this well known writer and typical of her honest and open approach to the characters. This time, a dying woman friend comes to stay.  A heart breaking story line and I waited for relief from  sorrow which came as I discovered their loving sharing friendship.

At last my ordered book from Libby arrived.  Steven Lovatt's Birdsong in a Time of Silence.  This book is set now, 2020, in confusing Lockdown days with the open chapter - The Strangest Spring.

 Watching people read.  This can be done silently, with a certain stealth.  

The reader is absorbed in his moment and I recall thinking, "I am the fire that he reads by".  

I am the hearth.  I inevitably record this time with my sketchpad. 

 Readers learn history as a by product of an entertaining book.

Authors have a lot of research to do before committing characters to a storyline.

 

 The Swallowed Man by Andrew Carey. 

 I finished reading this creative complicated fantasy of a man Geppetto swallowed by a giant sea creature,  His son is his creation Pinocchio.