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In a time of distance : and other poems / Alexander McCall Smith ; with illustrations by Iain McIntosh.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Pantheon Books, 2022Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First United States edition; First American editionDescription: viii, 150 pages : illustrations ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593315989
  • 0593315987
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
In a time of distance. A washing line outside a Croft house -- Taste and memory -- In a time of distance. Journeys. Our journeys -- The train arriving at Platform Two -- Adelstrop revisited -- The language of pilots -- College of Hypnotherapy, next right -- Quality provisions for Ever -- Not Rus in Urbe but Suburbia in Rure -- A typology of angels -- Household gods -- Holy river -- Mustard field, Rajasthan -- Feel glorious -- Do not lean again -- Ne pas. A Scottish four seasons. Spring -- Summer -- Autumn -- Winter. Interlude: seven sonnets. Sixty talks to Eighteen -- Eighteen replies to Sixty -- Forty intervenes, remembers Horace -- Adventure and uncertainty -- It takes a village to raise a child -- King James VI of Scotland reflects on the loss of his only friend when young -- Love unforgotten. Of the animals. Primate cousins -- The gentleness of whales -- Elephants -- Kangaroos -- The dung beetle -- Tortoise -- Cheetah -- Polar bear -- Crocodile -- Lion -- Small, insignificant antelope -- Giraffe, zebra -- Our world, their world. Of love & longing. Love over Scotland -- On clouds over Mull: a love song -- Nocturnal blessing -- Love lost -- On looking at a child. Of books & reading. The goodness of books -- The book becomes -- Moveable type -- What the book is -- On the bedside table -- Remembering Muriel Spark -- Graham Greene -- A maker of beautiful books -- Library of Congress. Places. Greece -- The Oracle at Delphi -- Goodbye to the Ionian -- Scotland -- St. Kilda -- Dear one -- Scotland's claim -- Edinburgh -- A fragile beauty -- The seven hills of Edinburgh -- The Castle Rock -- Craiglockhart Hill, a century ago -- Arthur's seat and geology -- Imagined conversation on Blackford Hill -- Corstophine Hill -- On Calton Hill -- Braid Hills. Unrelated poems. Northland -- Wolves -- The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg -- From a Mumbai Hotel -- Fish, and the thoughts of fish -- Saving an Oak Tree -- Friendship.
Summary: "In these delightful poems, Alexander McCall Smith writes about his travels, from Africa to Greece, London to Dubai, and back home to Scotland. He shares his gentle, inimitably McCall Smith-esque observations on life, love, and beauty, reminding us how deeply satisfying it can be to take in the world around us with all our senses, and with all our mind and heart"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 821.92 M122 Available 33111010821367
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In a beautiful and transporting volume of poems, the beloved author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series takes us on a captivating journey from Africa to Greece, London to North America to Mumbai, and back home to Scotland, celebrating people, places, animals, and books.

What matters most in life? For Alexander McCall Smith, it is friendship, love, and travel--the themes found throughout his work that have made him a cherished writer the world over. This first collection of McCall Smith's poems reflects on these topics with all his characteristic wit and charm.

There are moments of sweeping insight and soaring feeling, and moments that will have you laughing along as they subtly shift your worldview. This inimitable writer shares his distinctively astute and good-natured observations on life, love, and beauty, reminding us of the deep satisfaction that can be found when we open ourselves up to the world with our whole heart, and watch as it takes on a kinder and gentler shape.

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Polygon Books, an imprint of Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, in 2020."--Title page verso.

In a time of distance. A washing line outside a Croft house -- Taste and memory -- In a time of distance. Journeys. Our journeys -- The train arriving at Platform Two -- Adelstrop revisited -- The language of pilots -- College of Hypnotherapy, next right -- Quality provisions for Ever -- Not Rus in Urbe but Suburbia in Rure -- A typology of angels -- Household gods -- Holy river -- Mustard field, Rajasthan -- Feel glorious -- Do not lean again -- Ne pas. A Scottish four seasons. Spring -- Summer -- Autumn -- Winter. Interlude: seven sonnets. Sixty talks to Eighteen -- Eighteen replies to Sixty -- Forty intervenes, remembers Horace -- Adventure and uncertainty -- It takes a village to raise a child -- King James VI of Scotland reflects on the loss of his only friend when young -- Love unforgotten. Of the animals. Primate cousins -- The gentleness of whales -- Elephants -- Kangaroos -- The dung beetle -- Tortoise -- Cheetah -- Polar bear -- Crocodile -- Lion -- Small, insignificant antelope -- Giraffe, zebra -- Our world, their world. Of love & longing. Love over Scotland -- On clouds over Mull: a love song -- Nocturnal blessing -- Love lost -- On looking at a child. Of books & reading. The goodness of books -- The book becomes -- Moveable type -- What the book is -- On the bedside table -- Remembering Muriel Spark -- Graham Greene -- A maker of beautiful books -- Library of Congress. Places. Greece -- The Oracle at Delphi -- Goodbye to the Ionian -- Scotland -- St. Kilda -- Dear one -- Scotland's claim -- Edinburgh -- A fragile beauty -- The seven hills of Edinburgh -- The Castle Rock -- Craiglockhart Hill, a century ago -- Arthur's seat and geology -- Imagined conversation on Blackford Hill -- Corstophine Hill -- On Calton Hill -- Braid Hills. Unrelated poems. Northland -- Wolves -- The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg -- From a Mumbai Hotel -- Fish, and the thoughts of fish -- Saving an Oak Tree -- Friendship.

"In these delightful poems, Alexander McCall Smith writes about his travels, from Africa to Greece, London to Dubai, and back home to Scotland. He shares his gentle, inimitably McCall Smith-esque observations on life, love, and beauty, reminding us how deeply satisfying it can be to take in the world around us with all our senses, and with all our mind and heart"-- Provided by publisher.

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