Tag: Roger Farr

2019 week thirty eight

Book Read
37. The End We Start From – Megan Hunter

Kilometres Ran
week thirty eight – 68.1

2019 to date: 1,885

This is Megan Hunter’s first novel (more of a novella but who cares) and I thought it was pretty good. I generally have a good time when poets turn out fiction (Nick Flynn and Meredith Quartermain come to mind). The End We Start From tells a dystopian story of a young couple who along with their newborn are displaced when London floods (I don’t recall being told why but I think rising seawaters). The story is told in first person by the unnamed new mother, and it reads a bit abrupt and sharp, as if we are reading her diary. Other character’s names are only initials; the newborn is Z and the father (I assume father) is simply R. Maybe Hunter had read Roger Farr’s IKMQ. I guess it’s possible. It’s a good first book that plays pretty well with a couple interesting ideas, though I could have done without all the baby stuff.

A couple hours after I got home from racing the Eastside 10K and then taking a 12 KM cool-down jog around Stanley Park I found out that immediately following the race the Lower Mainland Road Race Series handed out their annual awards and not only did I not know anything about the race series (run a minimum of four of the nine races), I had no idea that I had placed 5th in my age group having raced five of the series this year (St. Patrick’s Day 5KM, April Fool’s Half Marathon, Scotiabank Half Marathon, Summerfast 10K, Eastside 10K). I’m a bit sad that I missed the awards, but I did get my 5th Place award in the mail this week. Thanks Lower Mainland Road Race Series! I’m definitely going to keep this in mind for 2020.

week eight

Books Read:
16. Martin John — Anakana Schofield
17. IKMQ — Roger Farr
18. Transmitter and Receiver — Raoul Fernandes

Kilometres Ran:
this week — 52.17
to date — 236.98

I’m still not sure if I feel sorry for Martin John or not. The book was great, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion about how I feel about the protagonist, nor could I discern how Schofield wants me to feel about him — not that that really matters. It’s a great book that doesn’t need my endorsement, what with its Giller nomination and the volume of press it’s received. I met Roger soon after I started as the managing editor for The Capilano Review, and by proxy, CUE Books. Our chat that day in TCR’s office turned towards the latest firebombing of New Star Books (an occurrence that has been repeated a half dozen or so times since that conversation, unbelievably without any progress from the VPD). Roger made a joke that the bombing was due to his new manuscript. I still don’t know if he was joking. Regardless, I wanted to read IKMQ (not the manuscript in question; that’s still forthcoming I assume). If I had more ambition I’d like to do a textual analysis centred around the number 64 and its factors, which abound. IKMQ is a great little book, with not-so-subtle anarchistic themes throughout. I first heard Raoul read at a Real Vancouver Writers Series event and I’ve wanted to read his book ever since. I think it was a raffle prize at the event, but I’ve developed a bit of a reputation as the guy that buys RVWS raffle tickets but should just donate my money and not get my hopes up. I never win anything. Then I found a signed copy of Transmitter and Receiver at Russell Books in Victoria. Win!
week eight
I really don’t win anything at all ever. So I don’t really have my hopes up for the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon that I entered that’s coming up in May. I’ve no doubt I’ll finish, so I guess technically that means I’ll place, but win? The thought never even crossed my mind. I’m a member (sounds so prestigious) of Flying Blue so I’m often tempted by deals emailed to me from KLM and Air France. Then one day I received an email from Air France, one of the BMO Vancouver sponsors, inviting me to enter to win a “Platinum VIP” entry in the event, so I entered, and I won. I’m still not quite sure what that means, except that my entry fee is getting refunded and I get to crash some VIP tent at the finish line. Perhaps there will be beer. I did notice a distinct lack of beer sponsorship for the event. Seems like a miss to me. Sober February will be a distant memory by then, I’m sure.