After taking a break from Six Degrees in December, I’m back at the beginning of 2024 to take part in this fun meme again. I hope you have all had a good holiday season and are ready for another year of good reading and discussing all things books. One different way of looking at books is through this meme. If you don’t know how this meme works, please check host Kate’s blog – booksaremyfavouriteandbest.
The first rule is that Kate sets our starting book. And, of course, we start the year with a book I haven’t read, though I have heard plenty about it, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. GoodReads describes it as follows: “two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design”.
I don’t remember reading any books about video games, but I have read quite a few about friends. However, I am not going in that direction either because, quite serendipitously, my Californian friend shared in her letter this week the current “top ten checked out books in the NY public library system”. Number 2 was Zevin’s novel, but it was number 1 that caught my eye, as it’s a book I’ve read, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in chemistry (my review). How could I not make that my first link?
For my next link I’m going with an obvious option – this is for you MR! – and linking on a word in the title. The word is “chemistry”, and the book is Peter Carey’s The chemistry of tears (my review). I commenced my review of that book by saying that when I think of Peter Carey, I often also think of Margaret Atwood, because both have quite varied oeuvres. Both take risks, trying new forms, voices and genres.
So, you won’t be surprised that my next link is to Margaret Atwood, and to the last work of hers I reviewed. This was The Labrador fiasco (my review), a short story I read for Buried in Print’s annual MARM event. It’s a story-within-a-story told in the voice of a son visiting his aging parents. But, I’m not linking on these ideas.
My edition of The Labrador fiasco was a little book, a Bloomsbury Quid. The first Bloomsbury Quid I reviewed for this blog was Nadine Gordimer’s Harald, Claudia and their son Duncan (my review). I could, though, have linked on the fact that both Atwood’s book and Gordimer’s feature parents and a son, albeit Atwood’s book is about a positive relationship while in Gordimer’s the son has committed a violent crime.
This leads us to my next link which is also a story (this one a novel) about a parent dealing with a son who has committed a violent act, Margaret Merrilees’ The first week (my review). In Merrilees’ story there is just the mother dealing with the aftermath, but, interestingly, in both stories there is also a race element.
For my final link, I’m sticking with parents coping with a problematic child, but in this case it’s a daughter who has been having an affair with a much older married man and who now appears to have run away. The book is Joan London’s The good parents (my review) and it deals, not just with parenting, but with the many choices we make in our lives, and their impacts.
I realised by the time I got to the end of my links that all six feature parents and children. In Lessons in chemistry, the main relationship is between mother and daughter, and The chemistry of tears hangs on a special gift commissioned by a father for his consumptive son. The rest you know from my notes on the links. We have travelled widely this month, though it may not be obvious here – from the USA to England and Germany, then to Canada and South Africa, finally ending up in Australia.
Now, the usual: Have you read Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow? And, regardless, what would you link to?
Whispering Gums 
You’ve got some terrific books here. I often think about The First Week. It was a reminder that parents of children who do terrible things are victims too, something shown also in Amanda Lohrey’s The Labyrinth.
I like The Good Parents too, though not as much as The Golden Age (2014). I hope there will be another novel from London before long. It’s been a while.
And The Chemistry of Tears is the book that brought me back to Carey after a long break from reading his books. I read Parrot and Olivier in America in 2009 because it was shortlisted for something, but I read TCOT because I liked it:)
My chain is here: https://anzlitlovers.com/2024/01/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-to/
(I cheated, I’ve got seven books).
Thanks Lisa … I put a bit of work into this one because I realised that I’ve been tending recently to rely to much on the recent books I remember. I remember your liking that Carey.
You know what I do? I use image search in the WordPress media library using a word that emerges from the chain (e.g. in my post, ‘house’) and that usually brings up something useful!
Ha thanks Lisa … I often search my blog but of course that can bring up too much but I haven’t used image search for that purpose. I’ll add it to my strategy kitbag.
IMO it’s an interesting issue: how parents deal with children who have done BAD things. This is an excellent film on the subject
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crimes_That_Bind_(2020_film)
Oh that sounds interesting Guy as I agree it odd an interesting topic and one all parents – all those I know anyhow – hope doesn’t happen in their families.
The obvious first link to Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow would be Shakespeare’s Macbeth because the title is the first part of that famous soliloquy.
Marx Watanabe is a major character In Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow and could be linked to Ann Patchett’s character in Bel Canto, General Watanabe, or to Haruki Murakami’s protagonist, Toru Watanabe, in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Good ones Carolyn … I like to link to books I’ve read and reviewed so while I’ve read Macbeth and Bel canto I’ve not reviewed them here. I have reviewed Murakami’s book though so if I’d known the name connection it would have been interesting to follow through.
Your list of trending books was perfect though in the circumstances.
Video games suggest computers. I don’t generally play video games, but I make my living working with computers. So
Degree 1 will be Dealers of Lightning: XEROX PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age by Michael Hiltzik. Xerox never made much money off the computer-related innovations from the Palo Alto Research Center, but they had an enormous effect on the course of modern computing.
Degree 2 will be The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder, about the development of Data General’s MV/Eclipse line. The instruction set included that of the old DG Nova, and Xerox’s Alto workstation used that instruction set also.
Degree 3 will be Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything by Stephen Levy. The Apple team got a demo of the Alto that greatly influenced their work on the Mac.
Degree 4, since we are in Silicon Valley, will be Accidental Empires by Robert X. Cringely, about the development of personal computers. This I have not read, only browsed in bookstores.
Degree 5 will be A Business and Its Beliefs by Thomas Watson, Jr., at the time head of IBM. Accidental Empires has a chapter titled “All IBM Stories Are True”; and many thought of Apple as the anti-IBM. (And probably did so before Ridley Scott’s Super Bowl ad.)
Degree 6 will be The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brooks, setting out the lessons he learned in overseeing the development of the IBM System/360 line. The development was in progress at the time Watson delivered the lectures that became A Business and Its Beliefs, but nobody outside IBM knew that.
Fascinating chain George with some history I hadn’t know. As someone who started her computing life with, I think, the first Macintosh you could buy in Australia, Insanely great intrigues me. I’m a librarian and I wanted a user friendly tool not something I had to learn and then need to remember a lot, before I could use it! That was 1985.
You would probably enjoy Insanely Great, then. I shouldn’t think it would be hard to come by, but then it appears that the Washington, DC, public library doesn’t carry it.
We didn’t know that Super Bowl ad for some reason, so you sent us on a little journey of discovery and a history of its genesis. What a clever ad given the year. We were living in Northern Virginia at the time and I read 1984 that year.
It occurred to me later that you might enjoy https://folklore.org , which is a collection of stories about the original Mac.
Oh thanks George, I’ll check that out. Mr Gms might like it too.
I’ve just had a quick look, George, I think I’m going to be entertained (and maybe educated.)
ST will be very happy with you, George – I mean, no-one usually takes the trouble to create his/her own links ! (‘specially me, alas ..)
Ah but George nearly always does MR … usually after you’ve commented, given the time difference … and they always offer a whole new take!
You know, my love, that you and I have completely different ideas about how to make the links. Which is just as well, seeing as how if you used my approach I’d be able to jump in with jackboots and argue !! [grin]
Your .. erhmm .. mental library (?) is so enormous that you are never going to sit there scratching yore li’l head.
Phew, I’m glad as I’d not want to meet an MR in jackboots! Seriously though, that’s the fun of this meme, seeing how differently we all think and approach the challenge.
I might have a go .. no I won’t: I don’t have a sufficiently wide reading background.
You should … you’ve read a lot. Doesn’t have to be wide … could be all crime if you wanted.
Thank you – a cameo appearance for The First Week is a lovely surprise – especially in such illustrious company! Cheers what is turning out to be a long wait for my next novel to make it into print.
Oh Margaret, I am so glad you saw this. I really want to give some books I read a little while ago a little air. I enjoyed The first week so much. I enjoyed your second novel too, so look forward to seeing your next one! Whenever!
Thanks so much for the encouragement! Not just for me either, but for the whole Australian writing scene. What you do is great.
Thanks Margaret … it’s so great when something enjoyable has value too.
Hi Sue, I have read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I did like it, and I am influenced by my two grandsons. One is already studying Computer Science at Melbourne, and the other one won a scholarship to RMIT to study a similar course. They are both into coding. So, my first three books are linked to coding. Enigma by Robert Harris, (saw the film this week), The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunn and The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The other three are about friendships Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie, Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, and The Bee Sting by Pau Murray.
Lovely to hear from you Meg, I was just thinking about you the other day. Are you still playing (too much) croquet!
Love your links … going coding was a great idea. How nice to have both grandsons in Melbourne. You must be loving that.
Yes Sue, still enjoying my croquet and play 3-4 days a week. And I am loving having 2 grandsons in Melbourne. Their parents have bought them a flat close by to me, and I have gone shopping with them, fun all round. They will both have to work and study, so hopefully they will find some time to spend with me. I am sure if I offer a meal every now and then I am on a winner!
Haha I reckon a meal for students will always be a winner.
Glad you are enjoying the croquet so much.
Very clever first link there! Nice chain. Am keen to read that particular Carey
Thanks Cathy It’s a good Carey.
After watching the TV series of Lessons in Chemistry, I’m sorry I didn’t read the book first. I avoided it because it sounded like some mushy romance novel, but it seems from the TV series that it is much, much more.
I nearly didn’t watch the series Davida because I’d read the book, and thought ”well, I know that”. But we watched it over the holidays and I thought it did a good job, even though the ending was a bit different. Brie Larson did a good Elizabeth.
Lessons in Chemistry, what a worthy jump. I thought of the friendship factor as well.
This is a fun activity.
Happy New Year.
Link: Here is my post: #6Degrees
Hi Anne … I visited your 6 Degrees, and I think I wrote on Kate’s blog that I liked it very much, but the commenting options on your blog just don’t work for WordPress bloggers like me. I can’t make it work without having to accept Disqus and I don’t want to be part of another “service”. Can you provide an option for WP users to comment?
PS You should be able to comment here with a link to your blog on your name. That would invite people to visit you.
It is fun isn’t it, Anne.
I think you would like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Some thought there was too much computer talk but most of it was in the context of building a business/advancing the story which seemed relevant. I also enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry (even the parts that were over the top) and I hear the miniseries is good too.
The First Week sounds very interesting. I will check if it was published in the US.
Thanks Staircase With (love your name!). Had heard that criticism re too much computer talk but it wouldn’t scare me. And I agree re Lessons in chemistry. Not perfect but enjoyable, as was the series which I finally decided to watch.
I hope The first week is available but it was a small publisher so I fear it may not be.
Hah. I like the link between the book that was #2 making you think of #1.
And it’s a treat to see one of the other Quid books in the works.
Thanks Marcie … it was fun having that link.
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Fun links as usual! I have read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It’s pretty good and one of the videogames they make in it is a Shakespeare game that actually becomes a big seller. Can’t imagine that happening in real life, but you never know!
It’s nice to think it would though isn’t it, Stefanie! We can always dream.