Eleanor, 20 , Philosophy and Linguistics Student in Edinburgh , shared with me her favourtie film books and music from the lock-down period.
Soundtrack in Isolation: Sza ~ Ctrl New Radicals ~ Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too Someone Great ~ LCD Soundsystem
Ladybird
Admittedly a film i should have watched far earlier than i did, greta gerwig’s ‘ladybird’ perfectly sums up the feeling of being a 17 and aching for adulthood and yet, at the same time, being so far away from the concept. it’s funny and honest and raw and incredibly moving, with the relationships between characters so beautifully portrayed – the mother-daughter one in particular standing out. watch if you are part of the 1% of the population who, like me, left it this late.
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Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
What do you do when a book is so beautiful that you never ever want it to end? i was confronted by this question when reading the last few pages of Louis de Bernieres’ 1994 novel, ‘captain corelli’s mandolin’. set (mainly) on the greek island of Kephallonia before & during the second world war, this book flits between multiple perspectives in the way it flits between joy and heartbreak, love and hate, and playfulness and anger. i have never read a book about war so full of light, and would recommend that anyone, regardless of their usual taste in books, gives it a read.
3 days into moving into a new house with strangers, a nationwide lockdown was announced - and with it, all the plans i’d had to move home went up in smoke. but i’ve been forged by that same fire. these past few months have been the first time in forever that i’ve truly allowed myself to stop and listen to my body, and pay attention to what i really wanted instead of doing what i felt was expected of me. i’ve started playing the piano again (every single day !), shaved all my hair off and dyed it blue, applied for an interruption of studies, and have just been truly gentle with myself throughout all of it. i could not feel more different from the person i was this time last year – someone constantly on the go, never stopping to listen to themself. so if i could offer up one thing, it would be to slow down, listen to yourself and have compassion for what you hear. you will grow from what you allow yourself to go through, and you will feel lighter for it. (that or my hair weighed a lot more than i thought it did).
