As it’s World Book Day today we thought we’d share with you what the 4D Team are currently reading. Storytelling goes to the heart of what we do at 4D and the immersive spaces we create are ideal for setting the scene for a creative writing session. I’m sure lots of our immersive spaces are being used for exciting storytelling sessions today!
Let’s find out what keeps the 4D team occupied on the daily commute to the office:
Matilda -Roald Dahl (Louise – Account Manager)
My son Riley got given the Roald Dahl box set for Christmas so we’ve been working our way through all the classics. Riley loves Matilda and thinks it’s hilarious. Bruce Bogtrotter eating the giant cake has been his favourite bit so far. He fell asleep as I was reading to him the other night, I was enjoying myself so much I carried on reading without him!
Beyond A Joke – Inside the dark minds of stand-up comedians by Bruce Dessau (Gav – Teaching and Learning Associate)
I am reading Beyond a Joke as it feeds into my second love outside of work, comedy. Third if you include family of course. Watching it, reading about it, seeing comedy live, all these pursuits offer a great distraction from reality. This book examines the image of all comedians as being damaged and flawed in some way. I have met a few along the way with my other distraction, The Funny Looking Podcast and they have all come across as rather sweet and ordinary people.
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (Inés – Office Administrator)
I’ve just finished All The Pretty Horses and loved it so am on the lookout for a new one! Set in post-war America, All the Pretty Horses follows two teenage cowboys, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, who ride south into Mexico in search of new adventures. They meet a young and somewhat odd boy called Jimmy Blevins along the way, who turns their journey into something much darker than they could ever have expected. It’s slow, atmospheric and beautifully written, and McCarthy’s simple yet stunning descriptions of the Wild West’s sounds, light, and spaces make you feel like you’re right in the middle of it all – a bit like a 4D space I suppose! Granted, it’s a bit of an oldey, but the perfect book to delve into when it’s horrible and grey outside!
Inverting The Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson (Pete – Marketing and Communications)
Inverting The Pyramid is a discussion on the history of football tactics and makes me feel like a massive loser every time I read it on the tram! Football is something I’ve loved for as long as I remember and over the last couple of years I’ve really enjoyed finding out more of the history of the game. Inverting the Pyramid takes you right back to the start, explains how football developed and then how different people have interpreted the game. Thankfully the writing is excellent and there’s lots of fascinating characters explained in great detail to keep the book from becoming a total bore. It also fuels me for post match discussion in the pub!
If you’re a proper football geek like me you should also check out The Blizzard which is a quarterly magazine come book that is full of great articles from the world of soccer.
The Flying Scotsman: The Graeme Obree Story (Mark – Designer)
The Flying Scotsman is the autobiography of the twice cycling world hour record holder Graeme Obree. He’s a pretty inspiring guy. He basically turned the cycling world on it’s head when a relatively unknown rider from Scotland broke the world record on a bike he built in his kitchen, using parts from a washing machine! Not going to lie, it’s a brutally honest and bleak account on the dedication and lengths you have to goto to be a world beating sportsman.
There’s a really cool documentary on Youtube about his rivalry with Chris Boardman in the early 90’s here. Graeme’s currently working towards beating the World Human Powered Land Speed record at 47 years of age. Of course it’s on an unusually designed prone bike he’s building out of among other things pots & pans! You can follow his progress here.
