First of all, apologies all round for the lack of posts of late. I have been in a bit of a blogging funk. However, I have now made a full recovery and am keen to recommence blogging activity!
So, this morning I was doing a bit of impromptu spring cleaning of a particular cupboard that I have been skillfully ignoring for maybe 4 years. It is full of novels, cartoon books and art books I haven't looked at forever. It was a revelation! I found so many gems and books dear to my heart that I got quite emotional and had to stop half way through and have a sit down. One of the best finds was a book of short stories by John Cheever. It is absolutely enormous at 892 pages and packed with 60 or so stories. If you have not read the works of John Cheever, you could do worse than spend a lazy weekend getting acquainted him.

In this fine book is one of my favourite short stories ever which was made into an equally fine movie staring Burt Lancaster called The Swimmer. This is how the story begins:
"It was one of those midsummer Sundays when everyone sits around saying, 'I drank too much last night'. You might have heard it whispered by the parishioners leaving church, heard it from the lips of the priest himself, struggling with his cassock in the vestiarium, heard it from the golf links and the tennis courts, heard it from the wildlife preserve where the leader of the Audubon group was suffering from a terrible hangover."
It is a mystery story (sort of) set in an upper class suburb of New York. Neddy Merrill, the protagonist, appears one day in the yard of a neighbour's/ friend's place which has a large pool. The friends have not seen him in some time and they exchange friendly chat. Ned swims the length of the pool and realises that it would be possible to swim back to his home using the pools of his friends. We then follow him through the back yards and swimming pools of this wealthy neighbourhood. The interactions with his neighbours and Ned's own reflections reveal more and more of Ned's past until finally he reaches his home and all is revealed.


Anyway, I know what I'll be doing this hot, humid, steamy weekend: taking it easy and reading my rediscovered John Cheever short stories!
Happy weekend all!
Images from here and here.