Dear Bibliotherapist...........

Dear Bibliotherapist,

As I walk to work in the morning and notice all the new buds on the trees, flowers blooming and spring smells wafting through the gas fumes, I’m turning my mind to getting away from it all – I long to escape! I am drawn to the minibreak brochures advertising last minute weekends away. Unfortunately, I’m completely broke. Can you recommend any literary escapes I could take instead?

Dear Would-be Escapee,

What you need is a minibreak for the mind. Something to read that would be just this, is the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. This is the work of a Persian Poet writing in the 12^th century AD. He was a Sufi mystic, and his philosophy can be summarised as one extolling the virtues of living your life in the present, enjoying it to the full, and revelling in love, and intoxication of all kinds. His imagery is gorgeous, and the poetry was translated freely but with great inspiration by Edward Fitzgerald. This Suffolk based gentleman of leisure  discovered the poem and translated it into English for the first time. Initially ignored,it was then was picked up by the poet and painter Rosetti and the poet Swinburne, who recognised its incredible power, and championed it to the public. It is now famous not only in the Middle East, but all around the world.

A Persian ruba'i is a two-line stanza with two parts (or hemistechs) per line, hence the word "Rubáiyát" (derived from the Arabic root word for "four"), meaning "quatrains". Omar Khayyam was a mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who wrote at least a thousand of these poems, and Fitzgerald translated only seventy five. There have been many subsequent translations into English, including one by Robert Graves, but Fitzgerald’s is still by far the most popular. You will be transported instantly into a twelfth century world of Persian mysticism, which many people have found incredibly refreshing and rejuvenating.

After this foray into poetry, you could venture into some short stories. Rather than suggesting stories from around the corner, since you are craving a vicarious adventure into another world or culture but can’t afford the air fare, you can save a bit of fossil fuel by reading the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories. This is a fine collection of writing by some more familiar writers from the Caribbean such as Jean Rhys, Sam Sevlon, V.S. Naipual, and E.A. Markham, but they are richly contrasted by contributions from French, Spanish, and Dutch writers like Alejo Carpentier, Rene Depestre, and Thea Doelwijt. The 52 stories represent more than a century's worth of 'pan-american' short fiction. You will be amazed at the diversity of culture and experience in the Caribbean, and you can store up the sunshine and the sound of the sea in these tales for the next few weeks, until summer is really with us.

While you wait for that, (could be a while – this is  England!), an excellent read to devour over a weekend, as you watch the rain outside, or swinging in a chair under a cherry tree if the sun is actually shining, is Rumer Godden’s Greengage Summer. This is an excellent coming of age novel about a family taking off to France for the summer in order to teach the children to be less selfish, by visiting the battlefields of world war I . On the way, however, the mother is bitten by a horsefly and becomes dangerously ill, so the family are forced to stay in a hotel for a protracted period. The story is narrated by thirteen year old Cecile, and largely describes the growing attraction between her fifteen year old sister and the mysterious Englishman, Eliott, who has taken the family under his wing. The writing is deliciously sensual, heady and captivating, and has you living out the adolescent experience in full breathless anticipation. After this you will feel truly as if you are returning from a holiday abroad, and you can have the satisfaction of having spent less than a tenner on the experience.

Ella Berthoud is a bibliotherapist at The School of Life.  Consultations can be arranged in person or remotely via telephone or skype.  To find out more, please click here.

Comments

[Karenpine]

Love these suggestions from Ella, and the way she describes books can really transport you into the writer's world.
Magical.
I had a bibliotherapy session with her a while back and she expanded my reading horizons enormously and introduced me to books and writers I wouldn't normally have picked up. Thanks Ella.