‘Akenfield did not bow to sentimental ideas of the countryside as idyll’
Ronald Blythe’s Akenfield, published in 1969, is a rich and perceptive portrait of life in an English village, told in the voices of the farmers and villagers themselves. Blythe, who had published fiction and a work of social history and had edited editions of Austen, Hardy and Hazlitt for the Pen…
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘When they were working, Old Han held the tongs, Young Han swung the sledgehammer, and Old Third worked the bellows to raise the heat.’
A short story by Mo Yan, translated by Nicky Harman.
‘Are you here to accept punishment on the mayor’s behalf ? This is a great opportunity. People burn incense for a chance like this.’
A short story by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas.
‘At school, the primroses were coming out. Brighton was eleven, and every day now there was something new emerging.’
A story by Georgina Parfitt.
‘In the blowy wet distance a yew, shivering.’
An excerpt from England’s Green by Zaffar Kunial.
An excerpt from Earthlings, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
