November reading (and pining)

Last night I confessed to a friend that I didn't feel listened to... because I rarely told anyone how I truly felt. I'm excellent at getting people to open up to me, but my closest confidante for years was my psychologist. And now I don't have one. 

That may be about to change, as I seek the help I daydream about. So far I've been too scared to seek such an intimate emotional encounter anew. But I know I will reach out... eventually. I can see that time coming. 

This evening I listened to the author of 'The Golden Maze', Richard Fidler, discuss various refrains and riddles that echo in his head as he reflects on the city of Prague. I may hunt down this volume and be transported to a place that is simultaneously familiar and not: Czech Republic, on the other side of Eastern Europe to where I grew up, a place I have been amazed at and repulsed (or should I say alienated) by. In other words, a place worth revisiting. 

About two years ago I listened to the 'Saga Land' audiobook, a previous project of Fidler's and I was impressed by his capacity for research, and powers of empathy - except, of course, in relation to the feminist project. Fidler may be the least feminist of the authors I've read in recent years. Nevertheless, it's an accomplished Australian who takes the leap over to the European continent and tells me something new about its soul. (Reading is not endorsement of every part of the writer's psyche, after all.)

I'm also waiting on 'All who live on islands' by Rose Lu, a queer New Zealander of Chinese heritage who I hope will shed light on the subcultures one might become acquainted with in Australia's most culturally similar neighbour. 

While I wait, there's Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex'. It's not the easiest read, but it's offered some existentially themed insights so far, and I hope it will again.