Almost Paradise: Ali Bacon finds something missing on her desert island
Ginger Torch Lily - totally tropical |
I’m lucky to be just back from a Caribbean
holiday where we were greeted more than once with the words ‘welcome to paradise!’
and it was easy to see the comparison: exotic plants, colourful birds, and the
kind of warmth I always associate with the big greenhouses we visited as kids
in our local park – except this was everywhere and 24/7 - a joy after a cold
December. Add fresh pineapple, melon, papaya and spiced rum punch more or less
on tap and you can guess we were happy.
Our friend the 'breakfast bird' |
But paradise? I began to get picky. As we were deposited from
our courtesy bus on to a pretty but rather busy beach, I muttered to my
companion that I had imagined paradise to be a lot less populated. Then there
was the night-time noise. I expect I would eventually have got used to the chirruping
crickets and squeaky tree-frogs but when
these were joined by the crash of rain on our homely tin roof I was reaching
for the ear-plugs.
Yes, I really was being picky because the scenery was
gorgeous and there was always something new to see and taste. Then, in our
second week, we found the real paradise in the shape of Sandy Island
– a perfect spot, uninhabited and just a
twenty minute boat ride away. The palm-fringed beach was ours for the day, the
water perfect for swimming as waves crashed scenically over a protective reef. With
the rest of our small beach party I stripped off, swam, then lay out my towel
for a rest and a read.
But alas, in the packing of sunscreen, flipflops, towel and Deet,
my Kindle had been left behind. Yes, I had NO BOOK!
Sandy Island - almost Paradise |
Of course there are worse places (hospital wards, dentists’
waiting rooms?) to be stuck without a book, and I coped for the few hours
either side of our barbecue tuna lunch. It just reminded me how important books
are in good times as well as bad and how that radio show has it the wrong way
round. I could probably manage with a couple of discs but even allowing for the
Bible and Shakespeare, I’d need a lot more than one book!
Maybe for next time I’ll think about what my Desert Island
Books would be. To be going on with, here’s what I did read on the rest of our
lovely trip.
Capital Stories – just 4 short stories from Edinburgh writers. What a great idea to publish
a bite-sized anthology with a city focus. (Reviewed here.)
A Message from the Other Side by Moira Forsyth – one of my favourite
writers comes up trumps again. (Reviewed here)
Bendiction by Kent Harulf –a downbeat premise but another
stunningly beautiful account of small-town America .
The Truth About Melody Brown by Lisa Jewell – my book club
read for January was an excellent story with a likeable
and misused heroine, though something in the timeline got me irritated.
Odd Child Out by Gilly Macmillan – my first read by this Bristol thriller writer
took a while to get going but had me well and truly hooked by the harrowing
conclusion. I’ll be looking at more from Gilly.
https://alibacon.com
Comments
But this raises a chilling question -- when and if we get to Paradise, will there be books?
I'd always assumed there would be. Would have to be. But... but...
After all, novel-reading has often been thought to be trivial and sinful. Reading books that lead to free-thinking and forbidden knowledge likewise.
So maybe there are no books in Heaven? Maybe not even the Bible, since it has caused more than enough upset.
Are all the libraries in Hell? In which case...