Findings by Kathleen Jamie

Another short review of a book that I have just finished.

A present from my uncle, Findings, by Kathleen Jamie is a selection of short essays. Kathleen is a poet and lecturer at St Andrews University, and the essays follow a rather particular style. They describe trips or observations, predominantly of the natural world, which then provide a prompt for more philosophical musings.

I suspect that there are probably quite a few books following this sort of template, looking for parallels I would suggest, Walden, Sweet Thames Run Softly by Robert Gibbing, or Richard Mabey.

Findings however is a consistently enjoyable and thoughtful book. My only caveat would be that as with the natural world, you do need to slow down your natural pace, and let yourself take it in, a chapter at a time, pausing for breath at times, reflecting, or quietly admiring a fine turn of phrase.

I will find space in my bookshelf, between Gibbing and Mabey, and look at things just a little differently from now on.

Random Quote- “When my mother fell ill, a doctor was called, and my mother always told me the same two things about the doctor - one, that he never sent a bill, and two, that he never entered the room. Not from snobbery or fear of contagion; it was how he made his diagnosis, how he gauged the severity of her disease.”
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