Edinburgh is bewitching at all times of year but arguably the most captivating time is before and during Christmas. From early December the area in Princes Gardens is turned into an enchanted frozen amphitheatre. The faerie wonderland buzzing with a German Christmas market and overflowing with handmade, wooden and delicate trinkets, along with carnival rides and a gigantic ice-rink.
This is undoubtably the highlight of what can be a murderously cold, dark and frozen part of the Scottish winter. Everything is shrouded in mist which can be quite atmospheric. Although it’s not long before the powdery flakes of the first snows turn to sludge underfoot.
A dizzying array of colour from the Ferris Wheel
Looking back on my time in Edinburgh, where I lived for several years, I found these photos and I was instantly back there, trudging through knee high snow in the dark and then coming upon this glittering, luminous wonderland.
I used to trudge to early shifts at work in outer Edinburgh and felt like a slowly defrosting million year old cave woman each morning.
Goods both old-fashioned and modern clambering for attention from passers-by. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
A view onto the carnival exhilaration from Princes st. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Abandoned, colourfully lit streets near the Royal Mile with shoppers hurrying home out of the cold. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
A view onto the Christmas markets from a restaurant on George st. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
December streets luminous and slick with sleet and rain. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Work weary Caledonians and tourists huddle together and have a wee dram, coffee or wine. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Goods both old-fashioned and modern clambering for attention from passers-by. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Goods both old-fashioned and modern clambering for attention from passers-by. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Salt lamps give off a cosy glow. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Despite the punishing, isolating and paralyzing cold, one thing would never fail to pep me up. Going to the Christmas markets, and seeing the hub-bub and Christmas spectacle. It was the very definition of hygge or cosiness, which I covered in another article at length. It heartened me and gladdened my soul.
There was nothing at the markets or carnival I wanted or needed, it was just a lovely place to mill about and spend some time and perhaps enjoy some hot spiced gluwein, hot ginger ale or a fortifying and smoky dram of whiskey. Custom Christmas gingerbread with ‘I love you’ written in icing- sugar in German, French and Scots were a favourite gift. Romantic by nature, the Christmas markets and the ice rink were a place to indulge in a tangible feeling of nostalgia and to hold your dear ones closer to you.
I would arrive home to my cold Edinburgh flat and feel instantly revived and reborn. The magic of the Christmas markets was never fully unveiled to me. There was an unassailable atmosphere and the feeling that despite the piercing ‘baltic’ winds, that I could cultivate and enjoy that feeling of cosiness and carry it in my heart until the first sprouts of spring arose again.
Looking down on the ice rink in Princes Gardens from Princes St.
Fancy and not so fancy goods on sale in the EdinburghChristmas markets. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
A staple event on the Edinburgh calendar, with an air of festive finality. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Goods both old-fashioned and modern clambering for attention from passers-by. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
Goods both old-fashioned and modern clambering for attention from passers-by. Copyright Content Catnip 2010
A sublime Persian horoscope crafted from lapis lazuli and gold leaf by hand for Prince Iskandar. The Prince was named after Alexander the Great and was the grandson of Tamerlane, the Turkman Mongol conqueror.
This horoscope shows the positions of the stars and planets in the sky at the moment of Iskandar’s birth on 25th April 1384. He died in 1415, only 4 years after the horoscope was made.
The manuscript is an exquisite work of art and an exemplary production of the royal kitabkhana ‘publishing house’ or ‘workshop’. It was created in 1411, and is extravagantly illustrated, not only on this beautiful fly leaf.
It includes the work of astronomers (among them Imad ad-Din Mahmud al-Kashi), illuminators, gilders, calligraphers and craftsmen, as well as specialists in paper-making. The manuscript was bought in Iran in 1794 by John H. Harrington, who had started his career as a clerk in the East India Company. After this it was bought by Sir Henry Wellcome in 1932 at Sotheby’s for £6.
Great Cycling Routes of Auckland: Part 3 North Western Cycleway, Onehunga Foreshore, Cornwall Park, St Heliers Loop
FYI Click on image to show map. On this Google map I created the bike path in Waterview cycle path isn’t showing yet because it was only created last month. Álthough it’s a pretty straight-forward bike path with little deviation from it. You should be able to work it out. Happy riding!
North Western Cycleway, Onehunga Foreshore, Cornwall Park, St Heliers Loop
This is another epic journey which encapsulates a lot of the East, West and South of the city in one gigantic loop. This allows you to avoid traffic for the most part and stick to dedicated cycle lanes. But in the case where there is no cycle lanes, I recommend that you stick to the footpaths on the roads.
Type of bike you will need
For tackling the hills you will need a lightweight bike with different gears, a commuter bike with lots of gears or an ebike.
Level of difficulty
Moderate – there are some big hills in this route. Unless you are super athletic in which case it’s a piece of cake.
Distance
Over 60 km
Optimal weather
One of those perfect, windless and sunny Auckland days with a smattering fluffy clouds. Although this route is still great all year round, even in winter there is something beautiful to see here.
What to take with you
Take some water with you, wallet, sunnies, sunscreen, something warm in case the weather turns.
Great for
This is pretty intense to do on a normal bike and so I recommend this for ebike riders with battery assistance or for fit athletes with decent bikes. Otherwise you may want to do different parts of this route if you are sight-seeing or commuting around the place.
Route Description
Begin at any point you like on this route, about 85% of it is on dedicated cycle paths away from roads. The other 15% of it is on a normal road but I have endeavoured to find the quietest and quickest route. You will go past Tamaki Drive’s panoramic beachside, through the dedicated cycle ways alongside the freeway in Grafton Gully and the North Western Cycle way, up a couple of hefty hills along the way but for the most part it’s all flat and easy. You will go past the Zoo and Motat along the cycle path and then come to Unitec in Mt Albert, instead of continuing over the bridges towards the Waitakeres and North Western Cycleway you follow the alternate cycle path around and follow it through the campus of Unitec. This is a brand new cycle way that has just opened last month.
Once you reach the Unitec and after you traverse the rainbow part of the cycle path pictured, you follow it down and left past the petrol station until you reach the entrance for the Unitec cycle way.
The Waterview path connects to the South Western Motorway cyclepath and following along from there you will continue on through Mt Roskill. There is a cycle path going all the way to the peak if you are feeling ambitious otherwise you can continue on the mostly flat cycle path towards Onehunga foreshore. The foreshore is a new development with nicely paved cycle ways and manicured beaches. Annoyingly there is a massive freeway slicing through it, although there is little that can be done about that. On the north side of the Onehunga Foreshore precinct you have another bay where you can try your hand with acrobatic skiing tethered to a rope pully. It looks really fun, I would love to give it a go, not sure about more details including cost.
Foreshore cycle path in Onehunga
Despite how inviting the newly created beach in Onehunga appears, I don’t advise swimming in the water of Manukau Harbour because it has been known for water pollution in decades past. Although it’s a nice spot to stop, laze about and sunbath, have a BBQ or picnic.
After this you can continue on over the old Mangere Bridge which has become pedestrian only and always features old guys fishing. It’s a scenic and peaceful spot.
A view onto Manukau harbour while crossing Mangere Bridge
Crossing over Mangere Bridge and looking out to Manukau Harbour. Copyright Content Catnip 2017
At this point if you continue straight you will see a block of shops and cafes, at the far end you will glimpse Ruby Red cafe on Coronation rd which is the highlight among all of the cafes. I had the breakfast salad with mountains of bacon…yum!
Ruby Red in Mangere Bridge for brekkieRuby Red in Mangere Bridge for brekkie. FYI they shut at 3pm
Turn right after the bridge onto Kiwi Esplanade and enjoy a quiet meander through a beachside shared path on the bike towards Ambury Park.
Close to Albury Park you will find a nice bike path on Manukau Harbour. Copyright Content Catnip 2017
Then go back the way you came once you get to Ambury Park (it’s got gravel – if you have an MTB then you can go in there I imagine it’s really great).
After that you can cross the bridge again and head right this time towards a bike pathway that’s always completely devoid and people. This is a great place for some sprint cycling where you won’t be bothered by other people and a nice outlook onto Manukau Harbour. On one side you have wetlands and Manukau harbour and on the other some kind of industrial area – a bit of a contrast.
Along a quiet part of the bike path with the wetlands in front and an industrial area behind you
After this you will join the road again onto O’Rourke Street and then turn left into Mt Smart Road continuing along all the way on the footpath until you reach Moana Avenue which connects up to Campbell road and the entrance to Cornwall Park.
Cornwall Park is spectacular in an English Rose, manicured kind of way. If you love European gardens and massive landscaped lawns, this is your paradise. Also you can find loads of mature tall gum trees (which reminds me of Australia) and yet another volcano peak in One Tree Hill which offers 360 degree views from its apex across all of Auckland.
The old homesteads at Cornwall Park
The monolith at the top is a visible iconic part of the landscape in Auckland and able to be seen throughout most of southern, eastern and western suburbs. This park is massive and you could literally spend all day in here, it has the same sort of comforting, peaceful aura as the big London gardens like Hyde Park. It’s a lovely green oasis. You will find many sheep, cows and random animals here along with a great Planetarium for nightly star-gazing and a BBQ area.
The dedicated bike path goes to Cornwall Park.Here are some ewes and their lambs frolicking in the spring sun in Cornwall Park Copyright Content Catnip 2014
By now you are possibly exhausted and so let me recommend you a place to go and rest and have some awesome food. Cornwall Park Bistro offers exquisite food and wine and they also do terrific iced coffee for a much needed caffeine and sugar jolt. They do a fine breakfast/brunch as well with a superb range of rotating dishes in a French/Mediterranean style. It’s a bit pricey here so if you are after something more economical I recommend trying out the Cornwall Park Cafe which is just around the corner – this sister restaurant is more casual and cheaper. I like the food here and service but it’s always packed with young mums and families and there is a massive queue to get in. I would generally avoid it for this reason.
The menu at Cornwall Park bistro pricey but totally worth it. Copyright Content Catnip 2017
Fried green tomatoes goats cheese espuma, olive crumbs and herbs from Cornwall Park Bistro. Copyright Content Catnip 2017
After you have finished in Cornwall Park follow the dedicated bike path along Green Lane West and Green Lane East until you get to Remuera Road where you turn down Upland road (a quiet suburban road) this will speed you all the way downhill and past the panoramic and beautiful Orakei Basin until you end up at a roundabout where you take a right along the dedicated bike path until you get to Orakei Bay Village. I have written about all of the treasures you will find there before. Now you have reached you destination. What an epic ride, you deserve a medal for that.
Dusk over Orakei Basin Copyright Content Catnip 2017
Bike hire
In terms of bike hire, you will want a bike that is comfortable and light and designed for hills and long distances. I’ve only tried one bike hire place before I actually bought my bike and that was Adventure Capital. Although they mostly hire out MTB which are not really suitable for these kinds of long distance pavement only rides. They are super friendly though and reasonably priced so I recommend them.
Looking back towards the city from Orakei at the end of the ride
Buying an ebike
I would like to recommend Electrify in Freeman’s Bay for this. I went to a few other bike places in Auckland and found them to be a bit vulture-like in their sales enthusiasm which put me off. Michael the Owner of Electrify is really nice and an honest guy – not overtly salesy in his approach. The bikes he stocks are all high quality. I got myself an entry-level model ebike – the Magnum Ui5 which is a popular ebike that’s designed in Germany and made in China. I paid $2,400 for it because I got a discount due to the deal I had with my electricity provider. This bike is excellent, I have cycled every single day for the past year and not had a problem. Other than that time a 4WD crashed into me, or the time I came off it after too many wines.
If you would like a bike that’s more top end, Michael sells more fancy German bikes with Bosch engines in them for a couple of grand more. See the range here.
* FYI This is not a paid endorsement for anything on this post. I simply have gotten great customer service and value for money from these people when purchasing or hiring bikes and so I want to share the love.
Happy riding and please let me know any feedback about this route…I have done this because nobody else has bothered to do it in NZ so far…it’s all a little bit sketchy when it comes to cycling here and with massive route maps. So I thought I would give it a go.
St Heliers to Te Atatu South via Auckland Zoo and back: Athletic Sprint and Scenic Route
All of the cycling routes here generally take place on paved and separated cycling paths that are away from the road. In all cases I have endeavoured to only include the safest routes possible with minimal direct contact with the traffic. Mainly this is because Auckland drivers are pretty bad and it’s not a good idea to share the road with them. I even cycle on the footpath to avoid the traffic, even though this is technically not legal. I don’t care though I would rather not suffer injury.
Type of bike you will need
For tackling the hills you will need a lightweight bike with different gears, a commuter bike with lots of gears or an ebike.
Level of difficulty
Moderate – there are some big hills in this route. Unless you are super athletic in which case it’s a piece of cake.
Optimal weather
One of those perfect, windless and sunny Auckland days with a smattering fluffy clouds. Although this route is still great all year round, even in winter there is something beautiful to see here.
What to take with you
Take some water with you, wallet, sunnies, sunscreen, something warm in case the weather turns.
Great for
Commuters, weekend visitors, people training for big cycling events. It’s a longer route and so it can be used for training.
St Heliers Bay Bistro one of the best restaurants in Auckland is at the start of the route. Copyright Content Catnip 2017Sunrise over Achilles Point in St Heliers Auckland. Copyright A Dennis 2014
Route Description
This is a long-haul route that isn’t as scenic as the beach-side route I have previously mentioned. However makes up for this in terms of sheer distance and also some pleasant surprises in terms of nice green parts. This route snakes alongside Tamaki Drive (the scenic bit), Grafton Gully Cycleway (alongside the freeway) and North Western Motorway is great for commuting into the city or if you work or study in any of these areas Grey Lynn, Ponsonby Westmere, Pt Chevalier, Mt Albert, Te Atatu or the Waitakeres. The route is completely sealed off from the road and allows you to relax somewhat, tune out and simply enjoy the journey or the workout.
Along the way you will pass by Auckland Zoo where you can have a pit stop, park the bike and walk around. Definitely worth it if you are going on a day trip with the family. They have adorable animals including red pandas and orangutans. If you have kids they will enjoy this. I liked the exhibits and I’ve been there a few times. There is dedicated cycle ways through Western Springs Park leading to the Zoo. Of course, if you couldn’t care less about the Zoo then you don’t need to go there.
From there you head towards Te Atatu and go off the bike path when you hit Te Atatu creek. There is a lengthy park there with a dedicated shared bike and pedestrian pathway that snakes alongside the creek. It’s peaceful and pretty quiet during the day. On the weekends there are a lot of families there, in terms of the nature, it’s quite pretty.
At the end of the route in Te Atatu south you will find some pubs and cafes here. Although in terms of quality of the food and the customer service, these places leave much to be desired. I wouldn’t stop there unless you’re really desperate for water or a coffee.
As someone without a car, this route allowed me to see and explore some of these outer suburbs in the north west and west. I would never have known about these otherwise. The cycleway is mostly new and safe and is well lit at all times of day and night. I’ve only ever felt safe and happy on this path and it’s exceptional for a workout. One way is 28km so return is almost 60km – a decent epic ride!
Red pandas at Auckland Zoo, a good halfway stop on the North Western cycle way path. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Along the North western cyclepath which snakes alongside wetlands, homes and the freeway. Ideal for power cycles and muscle-building. Also ideal ifor commuting if you work or study somewhere in Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Albert and the Waitakeres. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Along the North western cyclepath which snakes alongside wetlands, homes and the freeway. Ideal for power cycles and muscle-building. Also ideal ifor commuting f you work or study somewhere in Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Albert and the Waitakeres. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Along the North western cyclepath which snakes alongside wetlands, homes and the freeway. Ideal for power cycles and muscle-building. Also ideal ifor commuting f you work or study somewhere in Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Albert and the Waitakeres. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Before I got my ebike I was using a basic commuter with no gears – it nearly killed me. Here we are (with me on the old bike) on the beach in Okahu Bay facing towards Devonport. Copyright A.Dennis 2014
Bike hire
In terms of bike hire, you will want a bike that is comfortable and light and designed for hills and long distances. I’ve only tried one bike hire place before I actually bought my bike and that was Adventure Capital. Although they mostly hire out MTB which are not really suitable for these kinds of long distance pavement only rides. They are super friendly though and reasonably priced so I recommend them.
Buying an ebike
I would like to recommend Electrify in Freeman’s Bay for this. I went to a few other bike places in Auckland and found them to be a bit vulture-like in their sales enthusiasm which put me off. Michael the Owner of Electrify is really nice and an honest guy – not overtly salesy in his approach. The bikes he stocks are all high quality. I got myself an entry-level model ebike – the Magnum Ui5 which is a popular ebike that’s designed in Germany and made in China. I paid $2,400 for it because I got a discount due to the deal I had with my electricity provider. I was initially skeptical of the ‘Made in China’ thing, however I need to now eat my words as I have commuted on this bike every single day for the past year and not had a problem. Other than that time a 4WD crashed into me, or the time I came off it after too many wines, and the times when the brake pads wore out. All the result of general wear and tear, or my own stupidity.
If you would like a bike that’s more top end, Michael sells more fancy German bikes with Bosch engines in them for a couple of grand more. See the range here.
* FYI This is not a paid endorsement for anything on this post. I simply have gotten great customer service and value for money from these people when purchasing or hiring bikes and so I want to share the love.
All of the cycling routes here generally take place on paved and separated cycling paths that are away from the road. In all cases I have endeavoured to only include the safest routes possible with minimal direct contact with the traffic. Mainly this is because Auckland drivers are pretty bad and it’s not a good idea to share the road with them. I even cycle on the footpath to avoid the traffic, even though this is technically not legal. I don’t care though as I am rather risk averse or injury averse.
Achilles Point, St Heliers to Point Erin Park, St Mary’s Bay: Easy, breezy, beachside meandering
Type of bike you will need
A cruiser, commuter bike, ebike or any general low gear bike will do. The only hill is in Achilles Point, the rest is flat.
Optimal weather
One of those perfect, windless and sunny Auckland days with a smattering fluffy clouds. Although this route is still great all year round, even in winter there is something beautiful to see here.
Distance
About 14 km one way, 30 km return.
What to take with you
Sunnies, wallet, sunscreen, something warm in case the weather turns.
Route difficulty
Easy.
Great for
Commuters, weekend visitors, University students living out east, athletic types in training. More hardcore cyclists in lycra tend to stick to the road.
Route Description
This is a classic route which moseys through some of the most picturesque and wealthiest suburbs in Auckland. You will begin in Achilles Point which is the only real hill on the trip, it can be tough but for the view it’s worth it. Heading off from there, you will get a bit of beachside suburban life when going through the suburbs of St Heliers, Kohimaramara, Mission Bay and Orakei. Also in these areas you will find ample pub, cafe and bar stops along the way. So along this part of the route is the best place for a leisurely brunch, coffee or perhaps a lazy beer in the sun. I highly recommend these places which consistently have exceptional food and service – St Heliers Bistro and Tigerlilly Dining. For a decent Fish and Chips, try Sea Cow in Mission Bay, a bit pricey but the quality is good. Additionally, I would avoid these places if possible – crappy service and the food is so-so – Cafe Kohi, Mission Bay Cafe, Portofino, Mehfil Indian in Mission Bay. All pretty average.
Tamaki drive cycle path in Orakei. Copyright A.Dennis 2014
Sunrise over Tamaki Drive cycle path Copyright A.Dennis 2014
After finishing with a great lunch, few beers or a coffee whatever your choice, head towards the city along the beach. You will pass the Orakei marina and Okahu Bay where you will see more awesome views, followed by another marina and more beach with the beautiful Rangitoto volcano always in the background. After this you will hit the city and a whole lot more cafes along the route along with Auckland Port and Auckland Ferry Terminal. Continue to weave your way through dense pedestrian traffic on this part of the bike path going into Wynyard Quarter where you will see loads of yachts and more restaurants and cafes. You will get to Silo Park and continue along the bike path in the direction of Auckland Bridge. There you will end up in Point Erin Park which is slightly after the bridge. It’s normally pretty quiet here and is the ideal place for a picnic or photo stop with epic views in all directions.
The Bridge in Wynyard Quarter in Auckland CBD. Looks lovely during the night and the day time too. Copyright A.Dennis 2014
The Bridge in Wynyard Quarter in Auckland CBD. Looks lovely during the night and the day time too
A view onto Devonport between Mission Bay and Okaku Bay on a stormy afternoon on Tamaki Drive cycling path Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Beautiful Orakei Basin at dusk. Go to Orakei Bay Village where great food and beverages await. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Stormy Skies on Okahu Bay from Tamaki Drive cycle path. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
A view onto Devonport in the distance from Okahu Bay along the Tamaki Drive cycling path. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Stand up paddle boarder during the winter on Okahu Bay. Copyright Content Catnip 2014
Bike hire
You can hire bikes from numerous bike hire places in the CBD. In the past when I first arrived I tried Adventure Capital, which isn’t far from the bike path itself on Wyndham Street. They were super helpful and threw in a helmet and lock for free for me, the hire price was reasonable. I would recommend them over hiring once you arrive on the route as then the price for hiring goes up significantly. They hire out wet weather gear and camping gear for people wanting to go bush for the weekend too. Also try Fergs Kayaks in Orakei – they also hire out kayaks, stand up paddle boards, rollerblades, tandem bikes and all sorts there. They also do lessons for people wanting to learn SUP.
Buying an ebike
I would like to recommend Electrify in Freeman’s Bay for this. I went to a few other bike places in Auckland and found them to be a bit vulture-like in their sales enthusiasm which put me off. Michael the Owner of Electrify is really nice and an honest guy – not overtly salesy in his approach. The bikes he stocks are all high quality. I got myself an entry-level model ebike – the Magnum Ui5 which is a popular ebike that’s designed in Germany and made in China. I paid $2,400 for it because I got a discount due to the deal I had with my electricity provider. I was initially skeptical of the ‘Made in China’ thing, however I need to now eat my words as I have commuted on this bike every single day for the past year and not had a problem. Other than that time a 4WD crashed into me, or the time I came off it after too many wines, and the times when the brake pads wore out. All the result of general wear and tear, or my own stupidity.
If you would like a bike that’s more top end, Michael sells more fancy German bikes with Bosch engines in them for a couple of grand more. See the range here.
* FYI This is not a paid endorsement for anything on this post. I simply have gotten great customer service and value for money from these people when purchasing or hiring bikes and so I want to share the love.
Happy riding and please let me know any feedback about this route…I have done this series because nobody else has bothered to do it in NZ so far…it’s all a little bit sketchy when it comes to cycling in Auckland on long, epic routes. So I thought I would give it a go.
Jon Kabat Zinn is a Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and is the founder of a stress reduction technique called MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), which is used in hospitals and medical centres throughout the world. He is a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and a life-long teacher and proponent of meditation as a pathway towards health, pain relief, anxiety, depression and other illnesses.
In this book, John Kabat-Zinn makes meditation and yoga (as meditation) a completely accessible and readily available resource that is available to anybody with little or no practice in it.
Full Catastrophe Living consists of actionable insights, techniques, methodologies and case studies that are taken from his experience and vast career.
He is an eloquent, engaging and almost poetic writer who manages to harness the esoteric worldliness of different philosophers and poets in a series of quotes. He then proceeds to translate the knowledge and Zen philosophy of Buddhism and mysticism for a western audience.
This should be on your reading list if you are on the path towards spiritual growth. Kabat-Zinn (like others of the Buddhist tradition) explain that spiritual growth is always an iterative process, and one doesn’t get to enlightenment through reading a couple of books, but rather from consistent practice and cultivating a zen mind, beginner mind. Through this you realise that at any given point in the journey you know nothing. Being humble is the first step towards accepting and greeting new knowledge.
This guide is full of insights and can be read by dipping into chapters rather than from cover to cover. There is enough comprehensive and actionable insights to help you through a rough patch, or conversely to guide you back to the shore during a particularly violent and devastating storm in your life.
For me this book came into my life when I thought the worst of a health diagnosis, and the jury was still out about what the outcome would be. This book helped me to steady myself and to deal with the news to come with courage and strength.
Full Catastrophe Living is a book by one the world’s masters of psychology and meditation. It’s highly engaging, and recommended for anybody who wants to cultivate inner strength, emotional resilience and self-awareness. In other words, everyone.
This should be in your library if you seek to become more loving to yourself and others and to understand your place within the vast cosmos. We are all paradoxically everything and nothing at all.
Another book from Scandinavia this time from debut novelist Fredrick Backman. Originally in Swedish, A Man Called Ove is a universally appealing narrative about a curmudgeonly old man who seems to encounter infuriating people and annoying situations at every turn, when all he wants is to be left in peace. Since being published, A Man Called Ove has been translated into dozens of languages and has since been adapted into a Swedish feel-good film.
If you fancy a laugh-out-loud feel-good comedy in the form of a book – you will love this. Ove is the crotchety old guy that everybody knows and that some of us love to hate. Inevitably by reading the book though, you grow to love Ove. He is mean and nasty on the surface, but underneath he has a heart of gold.
He is one of those stubborn old guys you encounter in electronics shops, yelling out things and talking down to teenage sales assistants. He’s the guy shaking his fist at the clouds and muttering unintelligible swear words under his breath.
Ove is 59, but he behaves like an 80 year old, he is set in his ways, relentlessly orderly and neat and he can’t stand stupid people. He is a hardworking, working class man who has been let down by the system time and time again and so has cultivated a hard and icy exterior that hides emotional and soft regions within. As a young man, his world is turned from grey into technicolour when he meets Sonja and who is a vivid ray of sunlight to his endless pessimism.
This book by Fredrick Backman has wry, hilarious dialogue, vibrant neighbourhood characters and a fable-like quality to the back story, taking us into Ove’s life as a younger man. Ove is an everyman. Almost a symbol of what real men of a certain age become as they get long in the tooth and set in their ways. I could recognise in turn my father, my boyfriend and my brother in elements of Ove. This book will charm the pants off you and make you love life and love the grumpy old bastard that you know. He’s an Ove too.
If you enjoyed the book, there is a new film version which is supposedly good, check it out!
Book Two of the Min Kemp (My Struggle) in the series of six autobiographical volumes is possibly the least adventurous of his stories although still no less compelling and compulsively readable as the other ones.
If you are unfamiliar with Karl Ove Knausgaard then you must have been living under a rock. He has been celebrated as the Marcel Proust of the modern era, a self-enquiring, navel-gazing and obsessively self-centred writer who writes about his own perspective on the world and his own memories of his seemingly average life. But he’s a fucking genius at writing about it, so he manages to pull it off.
Karl Ove became a cult-like figure in his native Norway with the release of his six volume autobiographical series between 2009 and 2011, collectively called Min Kemp or My Struggle. Finally I thought, a Scandi literary phenomenon that wasn’t anything to do with crime, blood, gore and all of those tired recycled tropes of the crime genre. Finally something subtle, cerebral and poetic that I could sink my teeth into. And to answer your question – yes it did live up to those expectations and yes it does live up to the hype.
What is compelling about Karl Ove is his brutal honesty. In his other books he traversed areas that were no-go zones, sacred subjects for most people writing in the first person about their own lives. In the first of the series, he wrote about his alcoholic father dying and being discovered in a ridiculously embarrassing state. At another time he examined his own dick and found it wanting in girth and length.
The memories and micro-stories in his books are embarrassing and viscerally unnerving because he speaks to a shadow part of all of us that has dealt with these vivid feelings of shame, inadequacy, embarrassment, arrogance, anger, lust that assail all of us at some point in our lives. All of it is mashed up into one glorious and messy stream of consciousness narrative.
In this way he is the Proust or the Robert Bolano of our era. He pulls no punches in portraying others as being assholes, but likewise we also get to see him viewing himself as being equally faulty and equally prone to being an asshole. At the same time though we need to recall that it’s he who is calling the shots here, Karl Ove who is telling the story. Even though the entire thing could be artifice, we can’t help but being drawn into this seemingly true and compelling way of looking at the world.
Zadie Smith called his work as addictive as crack for a reason. It’s possibly just as destructive on your health too because it’s hefty volumes will mean you’re so busy reading about him arguing with his wife or despairing over his crying children or sulking in the corner that you actually don’t do shit that you need to do in your own life. For this reason it could be the equivalent of putting yourself on a diet Krispy Kreme donuts for a few months while you wallow in these books.
In this second volume ‘A Man In Love’ Karl Ove dissects his marriage in painfully exacting detail. Through the cascade of endless cigarettes smoked on his rooftop balcony, he ponders life, psychotic neighbours, screaming and demanding toddlers, being emasculated by fatherhood, competitive peers, his deceased father, his emotionally insecure wife and various other nebulous topics.
His relationship with his wife Linda is given primary importance. Karl Ove admitted later that he has completely sold his soul for his books, by revealing everything about his wife in raw unflinching detail. Really he offered her the deepest disrespect and disregard by revealing her inner and outer workings in such raw and vivid detail. I would have dumped his ass like a hot potato, and Linda did eventually, to her credit.
In Karl Ove’s deft and skilled hands all kinds of tedious and commonplace subject matter becomes gem-like and crystallised by beauty.
Just like in A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust, in Min Kemp the minutia of everyday life is made magical and magnificent over several verbose volumes. Occasionally you will be bored by his melodrama in miniature but mostly you will be enthralled.
Boyhood Island is a no nonsense autobiographical tale of a boy called Karl Ove Knausgaard, aged 6-13 years old and his everyday adventures living and growing on the island of Tromøya, Norway in the late 70’s.
This is a strange and unusual novel in that it doesn’t follow traditional novelistic or storytelling conventions. It’s a meandering and slow burn type of thing that is experimental in prose and form.
The reason that Knausgaard’s books are so addictive and compelling is that they describe the common place and the everyday events of our lives in remarkable and sparkling detail, rendering them glimmering and compelling. In this way his themes and the long, ponderous and often uneventful days of his young life are rendered as something remarkable, and they are totally relatable. In most books a lot of things happen to propel the plot forward. A person dies, a personal trial or challenge is faced. Conversely in Knausgaard’s books you get the sense that there is no struggle except for the struggle inside, a struggle that’s largely imperceptible to the outside world – the struggle for self-discovery and the corporeal realities of living in your body. This is what makes his books noble and beautiful while also making them chaotic, messy and full of raging hormones.
The ability to write about mundane events in a straight-forward way and yet still have the book remain compelling is the mark of a true writer. Knausgaard is like a Scandanavian Proust in this way, illuminating the formerly inconsequential monotonies of all our lives with his writing. Despite the success of his five part series Min Kamp (my struggle in Norwegian), Knausgaard himself considers the books to be crappy and is ashamed of them.
Although that mirrors the fact that he spends a great deal of time in Boyhood Island talking about his fraught and tragic relationship with his father who would routinely ridicule him and humiliate him as a child and teen. This shame is writ large within the book and after reading it, the shame becomes a shared and dissolved horror that can be better channelled towards his own healing and recovery.
Karl Ove as an infant along with his older brother Yngve and father Kai Åge
I came late to the game with this one and started the five part series at book three. Although it shouldn’t matter where you begin, as each book is a self-contained world of stories. As the literary phenomenon du jour – Min Kamp has gained a massive cult following in the same way as W.G Sebald or Roberto Bolano’s books have gained a following. Despite the hullabaloo of these books I have taken the bait and also I now remain committed to them. And as Zadie Smith famously stated which is emblazoned on the back cover of the book, ‘I need the next book like crack cocaine’. Well yes I can relate to that.
By exposing himself like a piece of driftwood to the Scandanavian elements, Knausgaard’s body, mind and is soul laid bare in Boyhood Island for all to see. His tell-all expose of his childhood on the island of Tromøya is without artifice or pretence and so it has an almost revelatory, sacred quality. It’s as comforting and familiar to me as having a strong cup of tea on a stormy afternoon. It puts into words the ineffable about my own childhood and no doubt the childhoods of many other people. And so it’s actually a collective nostalgia for a time, place, frame of reference and understanding of the world that’s lost to humans as they become adults. The fact that as an adult, he’s a good looking sort with large saucer-like blue eyes and a sensitive looking face also helps in the imagination stakes.
If I went in that direction, simply writing down things I had experienced, using my own name, it was as if all concerns about style, form, literary devices, character, tone, distance, at once ceased to exist and the vestments of literature suddenly became unnecessary posturing: all I had to do was write. But it wasn’t only the freedom of this that now fuelled the writing, it was also the unprecedented nature of it, the fact that to a large degree what I was doing was forbidden. – Karl Ove Knausgaard
If you fancy a laugh-out-loud feel-good comedy in the form of a book – you will love this. Ove is the crotchety old guy that everybody knows and that some of us love to hate. Inevitably by reading the book though, you grow to love Ove. He is mean and nasty on the surface, but underneath he has a heart of gold.
Boyhood Island is a no nonsense autobiographical tale of a boy called Karl Ove Knausgaard, aged 6-13 years old and his everyday adventures living and growing on the island of Tromøya, Norway in the late 70’s.
Content Catnip 
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