Six Degrees of Separation: from Trust to Groundskeeping

On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate W: Six Degrees of Separation

I wanted to read the starter book for this month’s chain, Trust, by Hernan Diaz. But for some reason, the library hasn’t yet satisfied my reservation of it. So I’m working with Diaz’s own comment about his book: ‘there are very, very few novels that deal with the process of accumulation of capital. This, to me, was baffling.’

I have to say it doesn’t baffle me. But I thought I’d go with a short book that looks at a world where capital was – for large swathes of the population – in very short supply. A bit like today. The War of the Poor by Eric Vuillard was an International Booker Prize finalist in 2021. This is a vigorous and pacily written appeal for social justice, using the various Peasants’ Revolt type struggles of the Middle Ages, sometimes rooted in religious fanaticism to make its points. His focus is the life and times of Thomas Müntzer, German preacher and theologian, for whom even the likes of Martin Luther were too Establishment.  

In a mere 60+ pages, he conjures the atmosphere of discontent of the peasantry with the oppression and poverty which was their lot. It was a fight that could not be won, and in vigorous, emotionally wrought poetic language, Vuillard tells the tale of what he sees as one of history’s great injustices.

From one political struggle to another. Red Milk by Sjón (translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb). This is the story of Gunnar Kampen, who grew up in Iceland a towards the end of WWII in a family fiercely opposed to Nazi oppression. The story depicts a happy enough conventional childhood which progresses towards his job in a bank. And yet … he comes into contact with Fascist ideas and ideals, and soon becomes a leader of Iceland’s under-the-radar Nazi movement. 

The book goes out of its way to portray Gunnar as a young Mr. Average, whose political proclivities are hard to spot in society at large, while pointing out those aspects of Iceland’s recent history that make it possible for Gunnar to entertain the views that he has. An unusual and compelling book, showing the mindset of a young man sucked into a belief system now regaining some political traction throughout Europe.

Gunnar is an unusual young man who presents as absolutely average. So does William, the young hero of A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe. The tragedy of Aberfan is one that no Brit of my generation or older is likely ever to forget. That 116 children and 28 adults, all from the town’s primary school should lose their lives when a colliery spoil heap collapsed and buried them was shocking, even from afar. For 19 year old William Lavery, just-graduated embalmer who volunteers to go and help prepare the dead for burial it was traumatising, and coloured his life thereafter. It wasn’t the first traumatic event in his life. The first was when he was a boy chorister in Cambridge – and actually, he had trauma to deal with before that too, as a boy of 8. This is the story of how his life unfolds, switching back and forth between the years, unpicking the various strands of his story that depict the damaged young man he becomes, and his eventual slow redemption. Beautifully and engagingly told, this story deals with big, unmanageable emotions, and is one of those books about which I can say ‘ I couldn’t put it down’.

I read another book about Aberfan, several years ago. Owen Sheers‘ The Green Hollow. He paints a scene of ordinary families getting ready for the day, ordinary children chattering their way to school, an ordinary teacher taking the register. A series of letters explain why the Coal Board is taking no action about the slag heaps . And then …. a rumble, a roar develops. That is all.

Then we switch immediately to the rescue. To the young medical student who finds himself unwittingly part of the rescue operation, to the miners, parents, journalists. 

Now the town is different. Life goes on. It has to. Children yearn to appear on ‘Strictly’ while every year commemorating what happened all that time go. Scars exist alongside hope. This is a moving, powerful, poetic account. It’s dignified, quiet and respectful, and a fine tribute to a town that’s had to deal with utter despair.

A book now about other towns which have irrevocably changed – because they’ve disappeared: Matthew Green‘s Shadowlands. Here is a totally immersive account of how certain villages and towns in England simply got wiped from the map. By placing his chosen locations in the context of their history, their geography and their climatic or political turbulence, he offers a surprisingly varied set of stories of obliteration, drowning, geological change, historical unrest.  Every story is placed in the context of that community’s place in history, and offers a rounded, absorbing and detailed account of why and how these communities disappeared. A moving and haunting set of stories.

I wrote only a fortnight ago about – not towns and villages – but forests which have disappeared. Guy Shrubsole‘s The Lost Rainforests of Britain. You can read my review here.

For my last book, I’ve chosen a story where our young hero is a groundsman at an American college, in a small team responsible for its trees and woodlands: Groundskeeping, by Lee Cole. A love story set in 2016-17 at a time when Trump and his ideas were in the ascendant, although he hadn’t yet been elected President. Owen’s from a working class Kentucky family, earning a wage as a groundsman at a college, while still trying to further his education and career as a creative writer. Alma came as a young child from Bosnia, and this refugee family has made good – very good. It’s this tension between their two backgrounds when they catapult into a relationship that informs the whole book, and is painstakingly examined throughout. I turned the pages willingly enough, but felt 400+ pages was far too long to sustain the plot, and was mildly irritated by Owen’s self-absorption throughout.

I seem to have travelled quite a long way from my starting point. Let’s see what we can all make of next month’s: the 1970s self-help classic, Gail Sheehy‘s Passages.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

56 thoughts on “Six Degrees of Separation: from Trust to Groundskeeping”

  2. I’m just reading “ A terrible Kindness” and totally agree. It’s a lovely book that you really can’t put down and I would thoroughly recommend it.
    Another which I’ve just finished is “ Still Life” by Sarah Winman. You’ve maybe read it, but I would recommend it if you haven’t. It’s full of unforgettable characters, chance meetings and life long friendships in Florence and London.
    Joyce x

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    1. Oh Joyce, you’re absolutely right about the Winman. I especially loved it because I went as an au pair to Florence just after the floods, so it brought back an era for me. I’m glad we’re ‘on the same page’, reading-wise! x

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    1. Yes, I recommend it. We tend to think of the hard right as being a bunch of thugs, because of the way they present themselves at street protests. But it’s not quite like that, apparently …

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  6. I particularly like your first link which does seem sadly appropriate for our times. Adding Red Milk to my list. I very much enjoyed Moonstone but haven’t got around to anything else by Sjón.

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  8. And yes, we read very different books… 😏 Guy Shrubsole‘s The Lost Rainforests of Britain sounds the most tempting to me, I will give it a look,

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  9. I’ve heard good things about A Terrible Kindness from quite a few people. It has 4.40 average rating on Goodreads, which is quite impressive. Trust is already on my TBR and I will hopefully get to it soon. Will you still read it, even if you didn’t get it on time?

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  10. I remember loving Sjon’s The Blue Fox some years ago, a short novella, but I’d like to read more by him. I’m a fan of Owen Sheers, but hadn’t encountered his, nor Wroe’s, Aberfan books – both going onto my list. The Shrubsole is one I’d love to read too (already on my list!).

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  11. Margaret, a fascinating selection of books and I love the idea of starting with one book and finding connecting ones! It works brilliantly. I’ve just finished A Terrible Kindness and your review was spot on! One I’m recommending to family and friends. I would be interested in reading The Green Hollow now to learn more about the town and its people.

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    1. I wholeheartedly recommend the Sheers, which was commissioned by the BBC as a film-poem, but reads well as a book too. Yes, Six Degrees of Separation is a great challenge which I’ve been part of for about two years now. I’d be interested in your take on it.

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    1. I agree it did end just a little bit too much ‘and they all lived happily ever after’. But I felt it was pretty much the only flaw in an extremely competent and thoughtful read.

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  14. I also found A Terrible Kindness a beautiful, moving book and I thought the Aberfan sections were handled very sensitively. I haven’t read any of the others in your chain, but Shadowlands sounds very intriguing.

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  16. That was an excellent and serious opening link Margaret. It reminded me of Kate Jennings who wrote Moral Hazard, and her comment that there are very few business novels. It would have been a good first link for me.

    I like too that there’s a sort of circularity from your last link about someone trying to work their way to a life they want (albeit not one of privilege and power so much!)

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    1. Well done – you spotted a circularity I hadn’t found: though of course I hadn’t read the starter book. Yes, my opening link is a serious one: but very readable – and short!

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  17. I’m not familiar with any of these but Shadowlands and Groundskeeping sound interesting. American universities (probably all universities except those in extremely urban areas) are obsessed with their grounds. In non-Covid times, prospective students visit and tour – during the pandemic, there were videos instead. However, it does seem very unlikely a relationship between grounds staff and an academic would proceed with approval.

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    1. In this case, they were at different institutions, and the groundsman was a student too, so I don’t think it was regarded as iffy. Yes, all the books I mentioned this month I also enjoyed.

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  19. This is a great Chain! I’m intrigued by The Lost Rainforests of Britain. Might have to check on this later. And I didn’t know there has been a nature reading challenge going on. Might have wanted to join in if I haven’t had too many! :))

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    1. Oh, if you took up every challenge, you’d never even have chance to read a page of anything would you? The Lost Rainforests is a book that will stay with me – highly recommended.

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  20. Those are some fantastic links, Margaret. I’m always amazed by the different chains other readers come up with. Red milk sounds terrible but terribly interesting. Same as Shadowlands, actually, they all sound like they’re worth reading.

    My Six Degrees of Separation took me from Trust to Book Love by Debbie Tung.

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    1. I actually enjoyed every single book I read this month, which isn’t always the case. Yes, even Red Milk! Your chain was very different from mine. I did comment – but who knows whether Mr. Google let me through!

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      1. That really doesn’t happen every month, wasn’t the case for me this time, either.
        And yes, Mr. Google accepted your post this time. Hallelujah. However, I had to go to Chrome again for this one …

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  21. I hadn’t hear about the Owen Sheers book but am adding to my list. I was a schoolgirl in a neighbouring valley when the Aberfan disaster happened – it could so easily have been in my town since we were surrounded by coal tips.

    Shadowlands sounds interesting and would make a good companion read to Islands of Abandonment which tracks places in the world where the main population has left. Chernobyl is one, Detroit another. Fascinating

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    1. Gosh. Aberfan must have had a very deep effect on you. Yes, I think you’d like the Sheers, especially in the circumstances. And I LOVED Island of Abandonment. Yes, the two books would make good companion volumes.

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  22. Since I’m desperately looking for short reads, those which can be finished between passing through airport security and arriving at the destination, your list yields some things which will join my kindle library shortly.

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  23. A very interesting thread. Library reservations in the audiobook world frequently mean waiting for months, but that aside, I love the way you chose to start with the quote as a solution. And, what a quote including ‘the process of accumulation of capital’. Does that mean the nuts and bolts of acquisition and all the instruments (shares, bonds, futures etc etc) used resulting in so many of the world’s population existing without much ‘capital’. I think choosing the opposite end of the spectrum with ‘The War of the Poor’ was excellent. Have you come across any novels that unpick the West’s contemporary love affair with the acquisition of capital? On a completely different issue Guy Shrubsole has recently tweeted about Dartmoor’s temperate rainforest and the invasion of the awful Rhododendron ponticum. If it’s not one thing it’s another. Sigh.

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  24. I really shouldn’t read your lists, because they always result in my reading pile growing even taller!
    Two that I must read on this list – A Terrible Kindness and Shadowlands, a topic I’m particularly interested in since my exploration of the towns in Sicily that were lost to earthquake. Matthew Green is an amazing guy – very knowledgeable and able to tell a good story. I went up the Monument in London with him a few years ago while he gave a talk about London history and the power of fire. He does some guided tours in London so worth looking out for him next time you’re down.

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    1. You’re full of excellent hints Debbie. I’ll definitely hunt down a Matthew Green tour – he doesn’t seem to have a website, but I’m on the case. I thought One Aldwych looked promising, but their tours start at £295.

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