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This Bright Field
As a young would-be priest, William Taylor spent seven years exploring Spitalfields in the East End of London.
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 24, 2000
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September 17, 2015
I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a strange mixture - I suppose a lot of travel books are also quite autobiographical, but how many of them are set in one specific parish of one city, and written across many years? And also, how often is a 'travel' book written by an aspiring priest? That the writer becomes a priest is curious enough in itself for me, as I struggle to understand what sort of a role or job it is, let alone why someone might want to do it. A priest isn't really an employee, and I'm yet to see a job description or set of terms that makes much sense to me, but somehow even in a secular age, the Church of England's parochial system remains and these people really do exist! It seems so at odds with everything else about London - its pace, its rule of law, its rationalism - that it is strange to think of these people carrying on, each in their parish, saying mass, visiting the sick, popping into the local school, conducting the occasional funeral...increasingly irrelevant yet somehow still there.
Anyway, priestly musings aside (this book is about the writer's pre-priestly life afterall), I found the book to be a treasure trove of information and insights about Spitalfields and the various communities that make it their home, all very well observed. I liked the way the writer's own journey and encounters broke up the history and geography - it made for a very readable book, with a nice amount of emotion and humour running through it.
The overarching theme is the looming re-development of the Spitalfields market (this book spans the decade leading up to this), and what this will mean for the various people of the parish. The book explores many different aspects of these coming changes, from a variety of viewpoints, though ultimately it's not hard to see where the writer's sympathies (rightly I think) lie. The book gives a fascinating deep dive into this one particular area and development story/debate, whilst having so much relevance to what is happening in communities all over London as developers everywhere take advantage of soaring land and house prices, often with little regard for existing residents and/or maintaining any meaningful amount of social mix.
Overall, I felt both educated and entertained by this book - satisfying to feel a nice combination of the two!
And, on reflection, it did help me see why the parish priest might still belong - unlikely a role as it is, why shouldn't there be someone who knows and loves their own little patch of London, who doesn't justify their existence by bottom line or even social services rendered, but who just is, there, thinking, asking questions, being different?
Anyway, priestly musings aside (this book is about the writer's pre-priestly life afterall), I found the book to be a treasure trove of information and insights about Spitalfields and the various communities that make it their home, all very well observed. I liked the way the writer's own journey and encounters broke up the history and geography - it made for a very readable book, with a nice amount of emotion and humour running through it.
The overarching theme is the looming re-development of the Spitalfields market (this book spans the decade leading up to this), and what this will mean for the various people of the parish. The book explores many different aspects of these coming changes, from a variety of viewpoints, though ultimately it's not hard to see where the writer's sympathies (rightly I think) lie. The book gives a fascinating deep dive into this one particular area and development story/debate, whilst having so much relevance to what is happening in communities all over London as developers everywhere take advantage of soaring land and house prices, often with little regard for existing residents and/or maintaining any meaningful amount of social mix.
Overall, I felt both educated and entertained by this book - satisfying to feel a nice combination of the two!
And, on reflection, it did help me see why the parish priest might still belong - unlikely a role as it is, why shouldn't there be someone who knows and loves their own little patch of London, who doesn't justify their existence by bottom line or even social services rendered, but who just is, there, thinking, asking questions, being different?
Displaying 1 of 1 review