Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder’s Reviews > John of John > Status Update

As he waited, it was as though the knowledge was already buried inside him. In that moment, as his father wept, he pulled on the rope, and the knowledge rose to the surface till he could glimpse it through the water, and then it was clear, and laid before him like a creel filled with ugly truths.

As he dried himself he marvelled at the landscape. He felt certain that if all this beauty existed, then it was no great leap of faith to believe there must also be a heaven. ... The land fell away before them, fifteen, twenty feet into the ocean. The sky was fleecy with clouds, but here and there were sunspots and the sun broke through on a slant, making shafts of sunlight that appeared like threads of golden warp.

Soundtrack They lay in separate beds and listened to the trance of Massive Attack, some Leonard Cohen, some Sinéad O’Connor (“John, I Love You.")

Soundtrack The band began with a folk rendition of the U2 back catalogue. The singer, a pretty girl with red curls, brought tears to every eye with her version of ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. As the crowd slid deeper into drink, the band matched their mood and by the time they played Chumbawamba, the entire place rushed the back of the bus and started bouncing.

“What is it you do on Harris?”
“I keep sheep, do some rewiring and building work. But mostly I work the clò.”
“Tweed? That’s been up and down these last few years."

[clò = Scottish Gaelic for cloth, specifically tweed]

Soundtrack
Inspiral Carpets This is How it Feels.