Villager by Tom Cox

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One of my resolutions for this year is to read my small pile of Tom Cox’s books!

This is a rich and at times confusing read – each chapter is almost a self-contained short story expect that they overlap, and you have to be paying attention to make the connection. That the moor speaks for itself is perfectly natural – one of Tom’s skills is to write fables with a realism – as I finished the book I ordered up Matt Deighton album Villager as the starting point and Will Twynham’s Album which imagines the lost work of RJ McKendree – “life” and “art” are in dynamic relationship.

A quote …

“None of us are exempt from that pain. You get a throb or an ache or an injury or an illness. Then you realise: ‘That’s absolutely part of me now, that pain. That is now an element of my unique voice, playing this familiar tune.’ So you move forward, because it’s the only choice, because getting back to the place before the pain turned up is an affront to nature...”