Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Paul Lynch’s 2023 Booker Prize winning Prophet Song set in a dystopian Ireland.
Prophet Song was on my Booker wish list as was Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain which won the 2020 Booker.
Stuart is a fashion designer as is Tom Ford who directed an impressive screen version of Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man.
Which starred Colin Firth who recently co-starred in Supernova with Stanley Tucci, author of Taste
Tucci is married to a literary agent as was Julian Barnes who wrote about losing his wife in Levels of Life.
One of my favourite authors, Amy Bloom wrote about her own widowhood in In Love. She accompanied her beloved husband to Zurich for an assisted death.
Which is also the subject of palliative care nurse Steven Amsterdam’s novel, The Easy Way Out.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from an authoritarian, near future Ireland to a novel about assisted dying. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
Goodness. What a cleverly linked chain. I haven’t come across one of your favourite authors. So Amy Bloom’s on the list now too …
Thank you. I’ve been a fan of Bloom’s writing since my bookselling days. I hope you enjoy her writing as much as I do.
It’s on order already!
Job done!
A very clever chain! I loved Taste a s have his new book waiting to be read sometime soon.
Here’s mine for this month: https://portobellobookblog.com/2025/03/01/6degrees-of-separation-for-march-2025-from-prophet-song-by-paul-lynch-to-a-town-called-solace-by-mary-lawson/
Thank you. I had Stanley Tucci’s voice in my head all through Taste. Not a bad thing!
Great chain. I have avoided reading Prophet Song and Shuggie Bain because they both have tough themes. But I devoured Taste, pardon the pun!!
Thank you, and all puns welcome here! I’m not sure I’d want to read Prophet Song right now. It was hard enough a couple of years ago.
I know, things scary are scary in the West now, and reading literature thats too close to the bone doesn’t ease the spirits. Read Winton’s Dirt Music while on hols in Malaga this week. An old one of his, and its a tome. But it was a good choice for indepth reading while chilling. Great story writer.
Good storytelling can be a solace, can’t it. I hope you had a great time in Malaga.
First time visiting Malaga and I was impressed. Rich in culture. Visited the graves of Gerard Brenan and his wife Gamel Woolsey. I love his book South from Granada.
I read that after visiting the area and have sometimes thought of him walking long distances in his hobnailed boots when pulling on my own expensive modern walking boots!
What a clever chain. I have the Isherwood, Tucci and Barnes on my shelves to enjoy. I must also get around to reading some Amy Bloom – I do have a couple of hers too!
Thank you. I hope you get to the Bloom. She’s such a perceptive writer.
Oh, I really liked this very nicely twisted chain!
Thank you! Delighted to hear that.
I loved this chain, though I’ve only read Shuggie Bain. I’m interested in the Barnes. I don’t shy from grief books, particularly if they are written by great writers.
Thank you! Not easy reading, obviously, but I think grief memoirs can help both for comfort and understanding.
I love Taste – especially the audio version!!
Fun chain!
Oh, yes! Although I found it impossible to read Taste without his voice in my head.
Loved the Barnes/Tucci link especially, Susan. In Love sounds moving, and much like Hanne Ostravik’s Ti Amo.
Thank you! Spot on with that Bloom/Ostravik comparison, Mallika.
Love the link to the lovely Stanley Tucci!
I have a soft spot for Mr Tucci…
I mean, who doesn’t? 🙂
How appropriate: one might need information about assisted (or non-assisted) dying in a dystopia, and you’ve provided an efficient route between the two.
Thank you!