Many decades ago, when I was but a slender yoof, I read a short article in a magazine that has remained at the back of my mind ever since. Atop the piece was a small circle, the size of a button badge, with a single 5 letter word - 2 't's, 2'o's and an i. The text promised that, if you cut out the circle, added a spot of glue, stuck it to an appropriately sized badge, and wore it constantly, your levels of productivity and success would soar. Because, as everyone knows, to achieve anything in life you really need to get a round tooit.
I never did cut that badge out, so, forty years or so later, I remain encumbered with a long, long list of "one day I must get around to" items. This includes several books lurking on my shelves, mocking me, teasing me to pick them up and have a go. In most cases they sit there, unread, not because they are particularly challenging reads, but on grounds of physical size.
Reading has always been a passion, and I rarely venture out without a book of some sort about my person. There's always chances to read just a wee bit more, on a bus, train or tram, waiting for someone, in a cafe or pub, taking the sun on a park bench, anywhere I have five minutes to spare. I've read books on my phone before now, but find the small screen a bit hard going on the old eyes nowadays, so that means either my ebook reader, or a good old fashioned bit of tree pulp. But 700 plus page volumes don't fit readily in the pocket, weigh down a bag.
New tactics are called for, new year resolution made. I will get into some of those bigger books by keeping them at home, where I do most of my reading, but also starting a series of smaller books for taking about with me, ideally something I'm already familiar with and will be easy to pick up in small doses and irregular intervals.
My 1st January starting point for the home-based volumes were the Muriel Spark omnibuses I bought back in the eighties. There were two of them, each containing five novels, each close to 700 pages, and they provided the bulk of my reading through January and into mid February. And very enjoyable they were. I'd only read a couple of Sparks before - Jean Brodie, of course, and The Mandelbaum Gate - but confess my main memory of the author was through watching Maggie Smith in her Prime. The sparse, direct prose, the memorable characters, innovative plots and the occasional nod towards the surreal all drew me in.
What I hadn't realised is that this is a Spark year. The centenary of her birth has been marked in various ways, including a BBC documentary fronted by Kirsty Wark, and an exhibition of her letters, notebooks and other artifacts in the National Library, only a mile or so from where I sit typing. So my timing was fortuitous, and entirely coincidental, giving added value to my reading, something I'd have missed out on if I'd actually got around to it years ago.
My choice of carry-around-with-me books was an easy one. It was a long time since I'd read all five volumes of Douglas Adams' Hitch Hiker's Guide trilogy, while the sixth episode, not by Adams, sat calling me to add it to my knowledge of the Universe. Six books as slender as the teenage me, and perfect for pockets. Characters I already knew and loved, daftness, philosophy, improbability and so many memories.
What I hadn't realised is that this is Hitch Hiker's year. Forty years since the original incarnations of Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, Trillian and Marvin exploded on to Radio 4. And to mark the occasion a new radio series, featuring many of the original actors, started last week, this time based on the non-Douglas book, And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer. Very promising it seems too, based on listening to the first episode, full of very stupid throwaway lines, and the voice of Stephen Hawking.
That I should start two series of books, both of which were to be marked by significant anniversaries, does seem a bit too coincidental. Or maybe just highly improbable - which, if you know your Hitch Hiker's Guide, could not be more highly appropriate.
"All mystical experience is coincidence; and vice versa, of course." - Tom Stoppard
Think I'll forget about the tooit and stick with serendipity.
PS The above is 100% true. If you notice any factual inaccuracies that's entirely the fault of reality.
