running is flying intermittently

by Alain Bremond-Torrent

30 days before xmas in the shoes of Brémond in London post-breakup.

Now alone, Brémond is wondering where he belongs as a foreigner in a big city. Having to adapt to his life in a new flat and a new job that are both uninspiring, he has to change. He starts writing on his phone to uplift his days, using humour to get through the xmas season on his own.
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A messy flat, a retail shop in Covent Garden, Catie, Leo, a second hand guitar, some samosas, some croissants, a pink shirt, a multitude of red double deckers, some cheese, some greasy dumplings, slices of rye bread, a saxophone accident, a Chinese take away, Santa Claus, Anaïs, a concert in a gallery, a film festival, a recording studio, some balloons on a dance floor, the streets of Hackney, a pub in Camden, some tinned sardines, some pigeons, a karaoke, a French café called ‘La Bouche’, some grapefruits, some jazzy ties and cigarettes, a broken phone screen.

204 pages, ebook

Published November 25, 2018

About the author

Writer, living in London, born in the South of France, currently developing CATEMPLATIONS, a fictional book series based on reality, in English and in the voice of a Frenchman.

Reviews

[Gilda Babuscio]

bremond takes you on his buses rides in London, makes you smell the city, hear voices, Travel with him in his memory and emotions. Tears and laughters.

Animated objects, like “lampposts who start their night shift” populate his narrative and will make you grin, while you skip with him on your right foot on the wet crowded streets on a job hunt;

He s honest, straightforward , has barely filters. He’s one of us, who works toward a dream, a dream of making a living doing something you love, while facing the cruel reality of having to pay the rent at the end of the month.

Reality as you have never thought of it, mitigated and sweetened through dreamlike descriptions and powerful images.

A must read.

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book Bremond's favourite cafe, signed. Lovely concept, very charming, good read.

[Mark Horan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different kind of book and refreshing to read.

[Selina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be a nice palette cleanser after a challenging read or if you're interested in an ethnographic-diary style short read.

Maybe I picked this up at the wrong time, but I kept losing focus while reading and found the overly-frequent "puns" a bit too goofy. I wish it was either half as long or written over a longer period of time, then edited down. There really wasn't any resolution by the end and not enough happened to really enjoy the journey.

There were some good little quips including:
- "Having a haircut is like cleaning the bedroom of your thoughts"
- "La vie est un long fleuve tranquille et je jouis de me bigner dedans. If you learn this line, say it next time you go to France to someone local with your accent and you will make someone happy."
- “Sundays are like confetti floating in the air in slow motion, in the evening they reach the ground and you hope a bit of wind could blow on them so they could fly a bit longer.”