Six Degrees of Separation ~ Life of M

Rachel Cusk
"Life of M" - 2026

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Life of M (Goodreads) to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is "Life of M" by Rachel Cusk. As so often, I haven't read the starter book. But I recently read a book with an actress and I rather read books about normal people, about the girl or the guy next door.

This is the description of the novel:

"From the critically-acclaimed author of the Outline trilogy, an irresistible novel of fame, power, beauty and truth -- and a blazing renovation of the form

A little while ago, I told the actor M that I was thinking of writing her autobiography. She liked the idea. She's a good sport. Would you just make it up? she said.

M is a film star, and one of the most recognisable faces of our time.

With such fame, her life has the appearance of freedom: people are instantly obliging, spaces are altered to accommodate her, time can be rearranged. For her, it seems, the rules of reality have melted away.

Now M has agreed to let a stranger write her biography. Their project will sprawl and expand: to the olive groves and holiday beaches where M spends her days; across hotel rooms, bourgeois facades, film sets; through endless modern cities. It is hard not to feel ugly next to M, hard not to feel insignificant. But what truths - about the very experience of living - might this proximity allow the writer to briefly capture? And what in the end will M make of their work?

In Life of M, Rachel Cusk has again fashioned a new kind of literature. A novel stripped of artifice, it takes our emptiness and fills it with grace."

The last three months I found there was a word in the title which is repeated in quite a few books. I had Year, Land and Island. This was another title that I could use in this way, so we will go with Life this time.

Brecht, Bertolt "Life of Galileo" (German: Das Leben des Galilei) - 1938

An epic play about the life of Galileo Galilei, his discoveries, his conflicts with the Catholic Church, his conflicts with himself and the rest of the world. 

Bryson, Bill "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" - 2006

I don't know what I love most about Bill Bryson, his humour certainly is a big contender for number one. But it's not just that, he is a brilliant writer, I think even if he would write a cook book or a technical instruction, it would sound great.

Anyway, in this book we go back to his roots, meet his family, meet little William - or Billy - Bryson, his friends, his foes, his adventures as a young boy, his adventures as an older boy.

Clarke, Marcus "For the Term of His Natural Life" - 1870-72

This novel was recommended to me by one of my Australian friends, it describes the life of a convict from when he first gets condemned through the voyage to the new continent and the rest of his life. The story is very gripping and the author has a great way of describing the life of these poor creatures.

I am still looking for a book I read ages ago about someone who belonged to the first convicts who were released and settled on the land while the aborigines were not in the area and then had to face them when they returned. If anyone has a suggestion as to the title of that one, I’d be very grateful.

Naipaul, V.S. "Half A Life" - 2001

This novel takes place in a lot of different parts of this world, India, Africa, Europe.

A privileged son leaves his home and goes abroad to live a poor life. An interesting take on life in different settings. 

Pamuk, Orhan "The New Life" (Turkish: Yeni Hyat) - 1994

In this novel, the protagonist reads a book. Sounds familiar?

Now, even reading a brilliant book doesn't mean it will change your entire life. But in this case, it does. Osman is a student in Istanbul. He gives up his studies, leaves his family and friend behind and goes on a long journey through Turkey with no destiny or motive.

Solschenizyn, Alexander "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (Russian: Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha) - 1962

We always hear about the Gulag, the prisoners who sent to Siberia and have to work there etc. But we never really know what is going on there, what the work is like, how the prisoners are kept.

Unless we read about the one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, starting the instant he opens his eyes in the morning until he closes them again in the evening.

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So, what's the connection between the starter book and the last one except for the word "life" in the title? In both cases the life is very different from ours (and from each other), like in all the others. No life is the same.

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Spell the Month in Books ~ October 2026

Reviews from the Stacks

I found this on one of the blogs I follow, Books are the New Black who found it at One Book More. It was originally created by Reviews from the Stacks, and the idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles.

October: First Names – First Names of Authors

Since we choose our own topics at the moment, it is always a little harder. I did get this inspiration from some other bloggers last month. I believe we all copy from each other.

I am happy to have found quite a few foreign authors and hope I can inspire some of my blog friends to read them.

OCTOBER

O

Pamuk, Orhan "The Red-Haired Woman" (Turkish: Kırmızı Saçlı Kadın) - 2016

This author always finds a new way to portray his country, the people who live there, the uniqueness of a place between East and West.

But he also combines history and present. He explains what is going on in present day Turkey in his own way. And he uses a lot of symbolism that is easy to understand. Just brilliant.

And then there is always a way where he brings us closer to Eastern culture.

C

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The Labyrinth of the Spirits" (Spanish: El laberinto de los espíritus) - 2016

The fourth book in the series of the Cemetery of Forgotten books. It was just as exciting as the first three that had originally been called a trilogy but - luckily - the author decided to turn it into a tetralogy. 
We have learned a lot about the family Sempere and the authors they read, their friends and their lives, esp. the lives of the people in Catalonia during the Franco regime.

T

Mann, Thomas "The Magic Mountain" (German: Der Zauberberg) - 1924

This author is a very famous German Nobel Laureate and he has written a lot of books worth reading. Even the title of this one sounds enchanting. Who wouldn't want to step into it, even if it means you have to go through 1,100 pages to get to the end? I think this book deserves five stars just for the brilliant title which is as magical in the original as well as the translated title.

A very philosophical novel. 

O

Grjasnowa, Olga "All Russians Love Birch Trees" (German: Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt) - 2012 

The protagonist is a young woman not unlike the author. She grew up in Azerbaijan and speaks several languages. So does Masha, our main character. She lives in Frankfurt with her boyfriend. After a tragedy, she goes to Israel where she tries to settle. Her home could be everywhere, yet, she finds it is nowhere.

B

Bryson, Bill "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail" - 1998

Same as in all his other travel books, the author writes one of the funniest accounts of a mega-hike. The story itself is hilarious, Bill Bryson manages to describe everything in such a funny way that you cannot avoid laughing.

E

Forster, E. M. (Edward Morgan) "A Passage to India" - 1924

This novel takes us both to a different time and a different area, India in die 1920s. Of course, the protagonists are British who live in the time of the Indian independence movement but the main character is a young Indian who gets into trouble just through the carelessness of the English. The book talks about friendship, colonialism, the wish of all human beings to be independent.

R

Schami, Rafik "The Dark Side of Love" (German: Die dunkle Seite der Liebe) - 2004

The author once said you cannot understand the history and present of the Arabs without the prohibition of love. And with this book he has shown us a great example and hopefully helps us to understand each other better.

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Happy Reading!

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Happy October!

Happy October to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch
"Bryggen in Bergen im Herbst"
"Bryggen in Bergen im Herbst"

Frank says to this picture:

"Zum Herbst gehören auch Regentage und so haben wir für den Oktober ein Aquarell aus der regenreichsten Stadt Europas Bergen ausgesucht. "

"Rainy days also belong to autumn, so for October we have chosen a watercolour of Europe's rainiest city Bergen." 

Absolutely beautiful. and so Scandinavian. I have never been to Norway but we have been to Sweden several times. So I thought, I share another picture of a beautiful Swedish city: Göteborg.

Read more on their website here. *

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September was calmer than the months before with more friendly events like birthday parties, concerts, and a theatre play.

* * * 

My favourite book last month was "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les Biens de ce monde) by Irène Némirovsky, written in 1942.

* * *

German proverb this month:
Den Teufel an die Wand malen

Literal translation: to paint the devil onto the wall.

Meaning: pessimistic. Fearing the worst, portraying a situation in an overly pessimistic light, or conjuring up a disaster through negative thoughts.

We often say: Mal den Teufel nicht an die Wand! Don't paint the devil onto the wall! if we want to tell people not to see things too negatively. Don't predict anything bad, it might happen.

* * *

* You can also have a look under my labels Artist: Frank Koebsch and Artist: Hanka Koebsch where you can find all my posts about the two artists. 

🍁 I wish you all a very Happy October! 🍁

Ghosh, Amitav "The Hungry Tide"

Ghosh, Amitav "The Hungry Tide" - 2004

I have read a few books by Amitav Ghosh (see here) and loved them all. So, I was looking forward to this one. It is also great, just not as great as the others.

Maybe there was too much biology in the book to my liking. 

I did like the history of the settlers in the Bay of Bengals and all the problems they encountered. And of the hospital that was started by an immigrant. I could have done without the whole dolpin story.

But that won't keep me from reading another book by Amitav Ghosh. If you have a favourite, please, let me know.

I also loved that they had a map in the book. However, it only shows the real life places, I would have loved an indication as to where the fictitious ones were.

From the back cover:

"From the author of the international bestseller The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide is a novel of adventure and romance set in the exotic Sundarbans -- treacherous islands in the Bay of Bengal where isolated inhabitants live in fear of drowning tides and man-eating tigers. A headstrong young American arrives in this lush landscape to study a rare species of river dolphin. She enlists the aid of a local fisherman and a translator, and soon their fates on the waterways will be determined by the forces of nature and human folly."

The 1949 Club

This book challenge takes place twice a year and concentrates on one year and one year only. I call it "Read the Year Club". This time, 1949 was picked. For more information, see Simon @ Stuck in a Book and Kaggsy @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings (here is Karen's invite with more suggestions, and here is Simon's). If you are looking for inspiration, there are a few books from that year that I read already:

Böll, Heinrich "The Silent Angel" (GE: Der Engel schwieg) - 1949/50

Buck, Pearl S. "Kinfolk" - 1949

Camus, Albert "The Just Assassins" (aka The Just) (F: Les Justes) - 1949

Kästner, Erich "Lisa and Lottie" (aka The Parent Trap) (GE: Das doppelte Lottchen) - 1949

Miller, Arthur "Death of a Salesman" - 1949

Orwell, George "Nineteen Eighty Four" - 1949

If you need more ideas, there are other books that I found but have not read:

Beauvoir, Simone de "The Second Sex" (Le Deuxième Sexe)

Blyton, Enid "The Secret Seven" and "Five Get into Trouble"

Christie, Agatha "Crooked House"

Mahfouz, Naguib "The Beginning and the End" (داية ونهاية/Bidaya wa Nihaya)

Miller, Henry "Sexus"

Moberg, Vilhelm "The Emigrates" (Utvandrarna)

This challenge takes place from 12 to 18 October 2026.

I have chosen the book by Naguib Mahfouz.

See my other reads for this challenge here.

Buddy read ~ The Accursed

As already announced in my Hello September post, Lisa @Capitvated Reader and myself are planning a buddy read for October:

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Accursed" - 2013.

Here is Lisa's detailed description including questions:

And this is the book description:

"This eerie tale of psychological horror sees the real inhabitants of turn-of-the-century Princeton fall under the influence of a supernatural power. New Jersey, 1905: soon-to-be commander-in-chief Woodrow Wilson is president of Princeton University. On a nearby farm, Socialist author Upton Sinclair, enjoying the success of his novel 'The Jungle', has taken up residence with his family. This is a quiet, bookish community - elite, intellectual and indisputably privileged. But when a savage lynching in a nearby town is hushed up, a horrifying chain of events is initiated - until it becomes apparent that the families of Princeton have been beset by a powerful curse. The Devil has come to this little town and not a soul will be spared. 'The Accursed' marks new territory for the masterful Joyce Carol Oates - narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling fantastical elements to stunning effect."

Our schedule is as follows (more details in Lisa's post).

Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8)  Author's note, Prologue, + Part 1 The curse descends on the Slade    wedding; Woodrow Wilson's strain
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16) Part 2 Historical cameos; the eerie Bog Kingdom; social satire
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24) Part 3 Hysteria spreads; moral decay of the Princeton elite
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31) Part 4 to End Climax, resolution, and unpacking the narrator’s reliability

And this is for the audio book:
Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8) Book 1 (Chapters 1–4)
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16) Book 2 & Book 3
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24) Book 4 & Book 5
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31) Book 6 to End

We also will write  a new post every Friday in October (Oct 9, 16, 23, and 30) with discussion prompts, character trackers, and space to share your thoughts.

Looking forward to sharing this with you.

Book Quotes

  

"Think not of the books you’ve bought as a 'to be read' pile. Instead, think of your bookcase as a wine cellar. You collect books to be read at the right time, the right place, and the right mood." Luc van Donkersgoed

I don't drink wine but I love the comparison. Nobody looks at someone who has a huge wine cellar and thinks it's useless to have them all. But buy more than two books and you have a problem.

"Nothing scares away bad dreams faster than the rustle of printed paper." Cornelia Funke

Totally true. Books can be so calming.

"The kindred joy of having discovered someone who read the same book was immediate, a friend whose mind had resided once in the same fictional world." Madeline Martin, The Secret Book Society

I think that is the secret of our blogging society. We are all readers and that's why we get on so well.

Find more book quotes here.