Eli Goldstone lives in London and is a graduate of the City University Creative Writing (Novels) MA. Her debut novel, Strange Heart Beating, is published by Granta Books this month, and you can read an excerpt here. Eli shares five things she’s reading, watching and thinking about right now.
I love dance. I find it absolutely the perfect form for absurdism. In this piece, actor Jonathon Young comes to terms with trauma and addiction. It is Beckettian in its use of staccato and repetitive language, which is heightened by Crystal Pite’s beautiful, weird choreography that others the bodies on stage. It’s also funny.
2. Oysters
I only made one New Year’s resolution for 2017 – to become a person who enjoys eating oysters. I recently moved to the seaside and started working front of house in a seafood cafe. On my day off last weekend my friend and I went there to eat. We drank Bloody Marys and slipped oysters down our necks. It was perfect, I loved it. And now I am a person who enjoys eating oysters! So you see, keeping one’s resolutions is fucking easy.
I rewatched this film the other day and I keep thinking about it. It’s so luxuriantly shot, melodramatic and sweet. An homage to seventies pulp but also an extremely humane depiction of love, selfishness, sex and sacrifice. Both performances from Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna are riveting.
4. The diseases trapped in ice
I can’t stop reading articles about all the ancient diseases that are hidden in the ice. Giant viruses emerging from the melting tundra. I find the cruelty of humans absolutely horrifying and anxiety making, but when I think about natural disasters I sleep like a baby.
5. The smell of clean laundry
I used to walk my dog around Hampstead in the evenings and the smell of laundry detergent would emanate from all the houses, along with the sound of tinkling pianos and wine glasses. It’s a domestic smell. I’m attempting to become more domestic. I don’t have a washing machine so I walk half a mile to a laundrette each week and I sit there for an hour collecting my thoughts. The closest I come to meditating is sitting in front of a tumble dryer with a dead magazine.
Photograph © Jamie Drew
