Recipe 42: cocktail books

There’s another way of reading. A bit alternative. Cocktail reading.

In the same way as you mingle the ingredients for your favourite aperitif, you read two or more books at the same time, blending the flavours in a form of literary mixology. It’s an art, where contrasting and complementary themes, ideas, and imagery blend into a more complex whole.

Apple and cinnamon, rosewater and mint, coffee and myrrh. They play off each other and allow literary worlds to converse and challenge each other.

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As my initial recipe suggestion, why not try C.S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” with Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”? These novels are some of my favourite explorations of faith, truth, and the human condition.

“The Name of the Rose” delves into the realm of semiotics and medieval philosophy. Eco’s narrative is a literary journey, a murder-mystery in a Benedictine monastery. Mild spoiler: you’ll never guess what the killer is. It is a world navigated and narrated by male protagonists, who move through a monastic realm that is cerebral, almost sterile in its detachment from the mystical.

In contrast, Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces” is humane, infused with the presence of spirits and the palpable essence of the divine, exploring the inner landscapes of its predominantly female characters. This novel is not just about the gods but is imbued with their presence, their whims and otherworldliness interwoven into the fabric of the story.

When these two works are read in concert, a dialogue emerges between them - a literary conversation that spans the gamut from the intellectual to the spiritual. Eco’s text asks us to ponder the emptiness that can exist in the relentless pursuit of understanding when it is devoid of deeper, spiritual meaning.

Meanwhile, Lewis’s narrative, with its rich mythological underpinnings and emphasis on personal transformation, brings a warmth and humanity that fills the void left by Eco’s more austere approach. It offers a counterpoint that speaks to the heart, reminding us that knowledge alone is insufficient without the depth of human experience and the presence of the divine, however one might perceive it. You might say, it speaks of love.

These books are both great. Together, they are as refreshing as a gin and tonic. Cheers!

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