Olivia Laing

Nuoruudessaan Olivia Laing kokeili uraa vaihtoehtolääketieteen harjoittajana. Yrittäessään vastata epätoivoisten ihmisten hätään hänen uskonsa mielen valtaanyli ruumiin koki kolauksen. Laingia jäivät kuitenkin askarruttamaan mielen suhde ruumiiseen, ruumiin nautintojen kumouksellisuus ja fyysisen kapinan vetovoima.Tutkiessaan ruumiin vapautta ja sen rajoja Laing innoittuu seksuaalipolitiikka-termin ja pähkähullun orgoniakkumulaattori-laitteen keksineen Wilhelm Reichin ajattelusta ja ammentaa mm. Susan Sontagin, Nina Simonen ja Malcom X:n kohtaloista. Heidän kauttaan hän tarkastelee voimia, joilla yksilöiden vapautta pyritään rajoittamaan, mutta myös juhlistaa tavallisten ihmisten voimaa vastustaa alistusta ja rakentaa parempaa maailmaa.

'Wonderful and necessary' ANNE ENRIGHT ~ 'Constantly surprising' GUARDIAN ~ 'Stunning' DEBORAH LEVY ~ 'Compulsively fascinating' NEW STATESMAN ~ 'Beautiful' HANYA YANAGIHARA ~ 'Daring and seductive NEW YORK TIMES ~ 'Profound, unclassifiable' GARTH GREENWELL ~ 'Exhilarating' INDEPENDENT ~ 'Continually unexpected' PETER CAREY ~ 'Triumphant' TELEGRAPH ~ 'Luminously wise' HELEN MACDONALD ~ 'Unusually brave' THE TIMES When Olivia Laing moved to New York City in her mid-thirties, she found herself inhabiting loneliness on a daily basis. Increasingly fascinated by this most shameful of experiences, she began to explore the lonely city by way of some of its most compelling artists, illuminating loneliness in a whole new light. The Lonely City is a celebration of that strange and lovely state, intrinsic to the very act of being alive. Hailed as 'a new kind of literature' when it was first published and selling over two hundred thousand copies, Olivia Laing's dazzling book has been beloved by readers all over the world. Now, in this tenth anniversary edition, Laing reflects in a new afterword on how our experience of loneliness has changed over the course of a difficult decade.

‘It is dangerous to want someone this much. He has always known it, from the very first night.’It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s Casanova. A young – and beautiful – apprentice is just what he needs.He sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova’s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Salò, Pasolini’s horrifying fable of fascism.But Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising tensions of Italy’s ‘Years of Lead’, he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn’t intend.The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema. It’s a fictional account of real things, and an investigation into the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power.

Art, power, desire, and illusion collide in a hypnotic new novel from Olivia Laing, set in the months leading up to the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1975. It is September 1974. Two men meet in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the illusionist responsible for realizing the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini's Casanova. A young apprentice is just what he needs. He brings Nicholas back to Rome and introduces him to the looking-glass world of Cinecitt , the studio where Casanova's Venice will be ingeniously assembled. In the spring, the lovers move together to the set of Sal , Pasolini's horrifying fable of fascism. But Nicholas has a secret, and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amid the rising tensions of Italy's "Years of Lead," he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn't intend. Olivia Laing's The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noir-ish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema. It is a fictional account of real things, and an investigation into the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power.

In 2020, Olivia Laing began to restore an eighteenth-century walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants. The work brought to light a crucial question for our age: Who gets to live in paradise, and how can we share it while there's still time? Moving between real and imagined gardens, from Milton's Paradise Lost to John Clare's enclosure elegies, from a wartime sanctuary in Italy to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.But the story of the garden doesn't always enact larger patterns of privilege and exclusion. It's also a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams. From the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the fertile vision of a common Eden propagated by William Morris, new modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of climate change. The result is a humming, glowing tapestry, a beautiful and exacting account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities of gardens: not as a place to hide from the world but as a site of encounter and discovery, bee-loud and pollen-laden.

The Garden Against Time is the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller from acclaimed writer Olivia Laing; a passionate, epic exploration of the power and possibilities of gardens.'What a wonderful book this is' – Nigel SlaterWhen Olivia Laing began to restore a walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants, the work drew them into an exhilarating investigation of paradise and its long association with gardens.Moving between the real and the imagined, from Milton’s Paradise Lost to a wartime sanctuary in Italy, to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.But the story of the garden can also be a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams, from the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the vision of a common Eden cultivated by William Morris. New modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of radical change.‘This book is what we need right now: paradise, regained’ – Philip Hoare‘Every generation gets one perfect book about gardens and this is ours’ – Julia Bell‘Prepare yourself to be enchanted’ – Jilly Cooper‘The most magical writing’ – Jeremy Lee‘I felt doubly alive after reading it’ – Celia Paul‘Quite literally unputdownable’ – Jinny Blom‘A book for thinking gardeners everywhere’ – Mary Keen

"Misto samoti" - odin iz najvidomishikh tvoriv britanskoji pismennitsi Oliviji Leng, v jakomu majsterno pojednano zhanri memuariv, biografiji, mistetskoji i kulturnoji kritiki.Na pevnomu etapi svogo zhittja avtorka opinjajetsja u neosjazhnomu Nju-Jorku, de popri miljoni ljudej i postijnij rukh, jiji ne polishaje vidchuttja samotnosti.Tsja knizhka - podorozh kriz prostir osobistoji izoljatsiji ta jiji nespodivani aspekti, scho vidkrivajutsja cherez vzajemodiju z mistetstvom.Olivija Leng, doslidzhujuchi zhittja i tvorchist bagatokh mittsiv - "khronistiv mista samoti" - sered jakikh buli Edvard Gopper, Endi Vorgol, Genri Dardzher, Devid Vojnarovich ta inshi, shukaje i znakhodit vidpovidi schodo togo, jak samotnist poznachilasja na jikhnij tvorchosti ta jakij vpliv vona chinit na formuvannja ljudskogo dosvidu zagalom.Jiji opovid, jiji vpravi v shtutsi samoti prisvjacheni kozhnomu i kozhnij, khto khoch raz vidchuvav sebe samotnim u sviti.

Kun Olivia Laing päätyi tahtomattaan yksin New Yorkiin, hän yllättyi kipeistä tunteista, joita yksinäisyys nosti esiin. Lohtua ja sielunkumppanuutta hän löysi taiteesta ja taiteilijoista, joiden elämää yksinäisyyden ja vierauden kokemus suurkaupungissa oli koskettanut. Moni heistä oli homoseksuaali, ja seksuaalisesta normista poikkeaminen oli yksi tekijä vierauden tunteisiin ja syrjinnän kokemuksiin. Vähä vähältä Laing avaa myös omaa elämäänsä ja syitä, jotka vetivät häntä juuri tiettyjen taiteilijoiden luo.Yksinäisten kaupunki on sivistynyt, syvällinen ja koskettava moderni klassikko, joka saa näkemään urbaanin yksinäisyyden uudella tavalla ja vie lukijan analysoimaan omaa elämäänsä.

In 2020, Olivia Laing began to restore an eighteenth-century walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants. The work brought to light a crucial question for our age: Who gets to live in paradise, and how can we share it while there's still time? Moving between real and imagined gardens, from Milton's Paradise Lost to John Clare's enclosure elegies, from a wartime sanctuary in Italy to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.But the story of the garden doesn't always enact larger patterns of privilege and exclusion. It's also a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams. From the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the fertile vision of a common Eden propagated by William Morris, new modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of climate change. The result is a humming, glowing tapestry, a beautiful and exacting account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities of gardens: not as a place to hide from the world but as a site of encounter and discovery, bee-loud and pollen-laden.

A 'Book of the Year' for The Independent, The Finanical Times, The Irish Times and The New YorkerShortlisted for the 2024 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing'What a wonderful book this is. I loved the enchanting and beautifully written story but also the fascinating and thoughtful excursions along the way.' – Nigel Slater‘A garden contains secrets, we all know that: buried elements that might put on strange growth or germinate in unexpected places. The garden that I chose had walls, but like every garden it was interconnected, wide open to the world . . .’In 2020, Olivia Laing began to restore a walled garden in Suffolk, an overgrown Eden of unusual plants. The work drew them into an exhilarating investigation of paradise and its long association with gardens.Moving between real and imagined gardens, from Milton’s Paradise Lost to John Clare’s enclosure elegies, from a wartime sanctuary in Italy to a grotesque aristocratic pleasure ground funded by slavery, Laing interrogates the sometimes shocking cost of making paradise on earth.But the story of the garden doesn’t always enact larger patterns of privilege and exclusion. It’s also a place of rebel outposts and communal dreams. From the improbable queer utopia conjured by Derek Jarman on the beach at Dungeness to the fertile vision of a common Eden propagated by William Morris. New modes of living can and have been attempted amidst the flower beds, experiments that could prove vital in the coming era of climate change.The Garden Against Time is a beautiful and exacting account of the abundant pleasures and possibilities of gardens: not as a place to hide from the world but as a site of encounter and discovery, bee-loud and pollen-laden.

As Chosen By… is a photographic series by Kate Friend shot exclusively on medium format film. In these portraits, her ‘sitters’ are flowers or plants, each one selected by a recognisable public figure or creative who is then recast through their botanical alter ego. Friend’s approach to the making of this series is a rigorous one: a single flower and vessel, chosen by an individual, is shot in natural light at their home, studio or garden. Each photograph is as much a portrait of a place as it is a portrait of a person and a flower. The coloured background for each image is selected by Friend, with the choice driven both by the aesthetic of the chosen flower and by a deeper intuitive sense of her sitter’s character. Although the methodology is concise and consistent, the resulting variety of images is testament to the array of unique personalities included in the project. Lavishly illustrated throughout, including many behind-the-scenes images taken by Friend throughout her process, the book features an introduction by writer Olivia Laing and an in-depth essay by Garden Museum Director Christopher Woodward. Sitters include: Anjelica Huston, Sir Paul Smith, Kulapat Yantrasast, Piet Oudolf, Luciano Giubbilei, Ai Weiwei, Claudia Schiffer, Tom Stuart-Smith, Yinka Ilori, Simone Rocha, Tania Compton, Georgie Hopton, Olivia Laing, Sue Stuart-Smith, Jamie Compton, Fernando Caruncho, Amanda Feilding, Ron Finley, Maggi Hambling, Polly Nicholson, Olivia Harrison, Dan Pearson, Penny Rimbaud, Margot Henderson, Duncan Grant, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Bethan Wood, Isabella Tree, Juergen Teller, Charlie McCormick, Molly Goddard, Jeremy Lee, Margaret Howell, Alys Fowler, John Pawson, Amanda Harlech.

V tridtsat s lishnim let pereekhav v Nju-Jork po prichine romanticheskikh otnoshenij, Olivija Leng v itoge okazalas odna v ogromnom chuzhom gorode. Etot naipostydnejshij zhiznennyj opyt zavorazhival ee vsjo silnee, i ona prinjalas issledovat odinokij gorod cherez iskusstvo. Razbiraja sluchai Edvarda Khoppera, Endi Uorkhola, Klausa Nomi, Genri Dardzhera i Devida Vojnarovicha, proslavlennaja esseistka i kritik izuchaet uprazhnenija v iskusstve odinochestva, razbiraet ego obrazy i sotsialno-psikhologicheskuju prirodu otchuzhdenija. Chelovechnyj, derzkij i gluboko proniknovennyj "Odinokij gorod" - kniga o prostranstvakh mezhdu ljudmi, o veschakh, kotorye soedinjajut ljudej, o seksualnosti, nravstvennosti i chudodejstvennykh vozmozhnostjakh iskusstva. Eto issledovanie nevedomogo i charujuschego sostojanija, otorvannogo ot obshirnogo materika chelovecheskogo zhiznennogo opyta, no glubinno prisuschego zhizni kak takovoj.