On Trying to Keep Still by Jenny Diski

On Trying to Keep Still by Jenny Diski

'Recently I retired to my estates, determined to devote myself as far as I could to spending what little life I have left quietly and privately; it seemed to me then that the greatest favour I could do for my mind was to leave it in total idleness...' Michel de Montaigne Jenny Diski's attempt to keep still and mentally idle resulted in a year in which she travelled to New Zealand, spent two months almost alone in a cottage in the country and visited the Sami people of Lapland. Montaigne was alarmed to discover that by staying still his mind 'bolted off like a runaway horse'; Diski, failing to keep still, finds much the same problem and like Montaigne keeps a record of her ramblings both mental and physical hoping as he did in time to make her mind ashamed of itself. Interspersed with ill- tempered descriptions of these trips are digressions on the subject of her sore foot; her childhood desire for 'a condition', thoughts about growing older, spiders, fundamentalism and the problems of keeping warm.

While much of the collection revolves around Diski's attempt to exercise her stupor to its fullest degree, there is nothing lazy about her writingCombining philosophy with travelogue and personal memoir - in particular, memories of her difficult childhood - On Trying to Keep Still is unflaggingly engaging. It is also very funny

Sophie Ratcliffe in the New Statesman

Sometimes, as though she can't help it, Diski slips very enjoyably into a travel-writer mode, but On Trying to Keep Still is really a voyage round the author's head. It's a brave and moving admission of a way of life that society isn't geared up to cope with, a poignant read illuminated by flashes of humour

The Herald

Diski epitomises the pleasure of travelling alone... She seeks a mental inertia yet her book proves that, even when idling, the mind is always at work, remembering, recording, revising

Mark Sanderson, Sunday Telegraph

More please

The Independent

Jenny Diski is the author of eight novels including ONLY HUMAN and two memoirs: Skating to Antarctica and Stranger on a Train. She lives in Cambridge

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780316725255
ISBN 10	0316725250
Title	On Trying to Keep Still
Author	Jenny Diski
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Little, Brown & Company
Year published	2006-04-06
Number of pages	320
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.