Co-editor Alfie here! We’ve started reaching out to some of our favourite people and asking if they’d like to do a “Read The Room Recommends” takeover. Our first guest writer is Liam Knights who I befriended during a Screen Yorkshire diversity programme I attended over the summer. We connected over our mutual funky mental health, neurodivergence and daft sense of humour which resulted in us making a film about an actor samosa, somehow gaining us an interview on the radio about it.
I asked Liam if he could introduce himself before delving into his recommendations for September and he wrote us a small essay. Liam seems to be up for providing the magazine with more small essays in the future which is ace.
I’ll stop talking now and give Liam the room…
ABOUT LIAM: Liam has led a very illustrious life thus far, has lots of stories which he probably shouldn’t tell here on an open platform, and is a very difficult person to describe. Having always felt somehow different from ‘normal’ people, alienated from mainstream society, and feeling that his insides don’t match the outside that everybody else sees (one friend described him as “having the body of a criminal, but the soul of a poet”), life has shaped him in strange ways – and the best way to describe him would be to say: Liam is just Liam.
Aged 32, and originally growing up in both Haworth and Keighley, West Yorkshire, he left home and school aged 16 (without sitting his GCSEs), and then spent the next 5 years sleeping on people's floors, on the streets, in squats and abandoned buildings… wherever he could find really. Oh yeah, and 5 months in a high security jail (due to an administrative error) when he was 19 for robbing a bingo hall – but that is too long a tale to tell here.
A few days after his 21st birthday (which he spent begging under a bridge in Bradford), he was helped off the streets and found work as a construction labourer. A couple of years later he went to help build a new library at the University of Leeds – and then from that, somehow managed to gain a place and complete an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology, and a Master of Science postgraduate degree in Security, Conflict and Justice (still without any GCSEs).
One day he hopes to work in warzones to help bring about peace – but for now he works in the library he built, reads too much, has inexplicably and accidentally found himself working in the Film and TV industry, and writes lots of short stories and extremely terrible poetry (alongside strange biographies about himself in the 3rd person – where he has to try really hard to not go off on a tangent of thousands of words, and to leave out a lot of his most interesting stories, as to not reveal himself as the reprobate that he truly is).
BOOKS: My favourite book of all time is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Whilst written as a children’s book, I first discovered it when somebody gave me a copy to take with me to Ghana when I was 24 (the cover is still stained orange with all the dust from the ground there). I feel that reading it as an adult gave me a whole different perspective than if I’d read it as a child – and my understanding of the story is that it is the author deciding whether to give up on life after his plane crashes in the desert, and the Little Prince character represents this.
The prince leaves his home, travels to different plants on his way to Earth, and is constantly befuddled by the spurious logic of ‘grown ups’ (something which I can heavily relate to). He doesn’t understand why they do all the silly things they do, and after becoming disillusioned, his main concern is to get back to his home to look after his ‘unique’ rose. After finding himself heartbroken when he sees a garden of identical roses, he is consoled by a fox who reminds him that, although similar in looks, his rose is in fact unique, because she is his and he is hers.
The author himself was in a similar plane crash in the desert years before writing the book and was heavily influenced by Arabic culture – from which stems one of the most powerful quotes in the book: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye”. Since reading this book for the first time in 2016, I’ve gone on to read it more times than I can count, collect different copies, and have the prince himself tattooed upon my wrist. I’d highly recommend this book, and if you’ve read this book already, I’d highly recommend a re-read (at whatever point in your life that you’re in), alongside a bit of study into the illustrious life of the author – who disappeared in mysterious circumstances, along with his plane, just a year after the book’s publication.
Another of my favourite books (which I really don’t have the space to write about here fully) is Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. I’ve also read this multiple times, and whilst it can be rather heavy both content-wise and in how it’s written (the translation by Norman Denny is the best I’ve found by far) – it is a profoundly powerful and beautiful book. I won’t go into the story because it’s so commonly known – but one of the reasons that it’s so powerful to me is that the day that I was helped from living off the streets, I was taken, by chance, to see the film version. I didn’t know it at the time (and I actually found it quite boring), but that would become quite a powerful moment in my life. There’s a quote from near the beginning of the book – when the bishop takes in the released convict Jean Valjean – which I keep in my wallet to remind myself of when I’m in moments of despair: “You have come from an unhappy place. But listen. There is more rejoicing in Heaven over the tears of one sinner who repents, than over the white robes of a hundred who are virtuous. If you leave your place of suffering with hatred in your heart, and anger against men, you will be deserving of our pity; but if you leave with goodwill, and gentleness and peace, you will have risen above any of us”. I’ll shut up about books now (I could just keep going if I don’t stop now – I love books) and will leave with just one more recommendation: The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde. It’s such a beautiful little story which shows the misguided value which society places upon material possessions over things of natural beauty – and it never fails to make me cry.
MUSIC: So right now (and for the past few months) I’ve been rekindling my youth with one of the best bands of all time – Green Day. I feel it’s quite fitting though, given that this year is the 30-year anniversary of their breakthrough album Dookie, as well as the 20-year anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time, American Idiot. They’ve also just released their best album since 2009, and I’d say that they’re at their peak now – and watching their live shows really confirms this. They’re up there on stage, bouncing around with the same energy they’ve always had – but with what appears to be in a much happier state than previously. Now sober after years of substance issues, they seem to be genuinely happy. They don’t come across like a bunch of old guys trying to recapture their youth – they feel like Green Day at their best. I always related to them, and their music was a big part of me growing up. I think that this is because the majority of their songs and lyrics are about feeling estranged from the ‘norm’ and of not fitting in with mainstream society. Mental health is another topic which comes up frequently in their songs, and having had struggles with this my whole life, Green Day are a band which have always resonated heavily with me. I could write (and maybe will one day) an entire essay on Green Day – but I’ll stop myself and recommend some songs instead.
- “Minority” (2000)
- “Letterbomb” (2004)
- “Basketcase” (1994)
- “Good Riddance” (1997)
- “Jesus of Suburbia” (2004)
- “Give me Novacaine” (2004)
- “St Jimmy” (2004)
Ah, it’s too hard to pick favourites… Just listen to the American Idiot album in full. “Bobby Sox” is a favourite of mine from their new album Saviors.
FILM: My attention span is severely lacking in ability to watch films, and so I haven’t really watched a new film for a few years now – except for the recently released Kneecap film by the West Belfast punk/rap group of the same name. At first appearance they seem a bit crass – and I guess they are – but they are also huge proponents for the right to speak the Irish language in the North of the country. Something which was only formally recognised and passed into legislation in 2022. It’s the first Irish-language film to premiere at the Sundance Festival, and I’d highly recommend it if you’re looking for a laugh and also to learn more about the history of the rights of the Irish people.
My favourite film I’d recommend though is A Knight’s Tale, starring the late Heath Ledger. Firstly, it’s an amazing film with an amazing (1970s) soundtrack – but beneath it is the powerful message about changing who you are, your stars, and your destiny. Without ruining the story, it tells the tale of a young squire to a recently deceased knight, who takes on the knight’s identity to compete in jousting competitions. He then must live a lie because only those born of noble blood can compete – and his whole life becomes him wanting to be his true self, whilst finding himself trapped in the lie as not to be exposed and punished. And I shall say no more. But I highly recommend it, and it’s a film guaranteed to make me cry whenever I watch it.
TV: I’m not a big TV watcher either (I love books too much), and I usually just end up watching old documentaries about random things on the iPlayer archive. There are two really powerful documentary series on there though which I would highly recommend: Once Upon a Time in Iraq and Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland. Both are five-part series about the history of the Iraq invasion onwards and of the Irish Troubles, respectively – and are probably the best documentary series that I’ve seen for a long time.
My all-time favourite TV show, however, is Brassic. After having been told for years that “you remind me of Vinnie in Brassic,” I eventually relented a couple of years back and gave it a watch – and within ten minutes I understood why. It’s a show that’s hard to describe really. It’s a comedy, but kind of a drama too. It’s unique, I guess, and that’s what makes it so good. It can be heartwarming - and heartbreaking - in the same episode. It’s also the most realistic depiction of Bipolar (as I’ve experienced it) that I’ve seen in any form of media. It shows the ups and the downs – but without being too far-fetched or playing it up.
Whilst I’d heavily recommend it, and however much I love it, having Bipolar myself makes it particularly hard-hitting. Some of the little nuances that people without the condition wouldn’t understand really resonate with me, and it’s almost validating to see that (however horrible it is to say this) somebody else goes through the same. I do have to stop watching at times though because some of the hardest hitting things are sentences I’ve said myself, thoughts I’ve had, or situations I’ve been in. It’s like somebody found my notebook and made a TV show out of it. But still, I highly recommend it, and major respect to Joe Gilgun (the lead actor, show creator, producer, etc.) for baring his soul like he has. He’s made an amazing show, and through doing so has deeply impacted myself – as I’m sure he has for many others.
LGBTQ+ MOMENT: This was quite difficult for me to come up with. Because whilst not really identifying as anything, the closest thing that other people might label me as is Asexual. So, to me, the sexuality of a person is irrelevant and doesn’t define their whole character. So, after a hard think, one moment did come to me. It’s Brassic again. One of the main characters is an Irish Traveller called Ash. He’s the ‘hard’ one – taking part in bare knuckle boxing matches for example – but is openly gay. This is only really brought up in one episode because it is a plot point (as being gay in the Irish Traveller community is seen to be frowned on), but the rest of the time it’s just an accepted part of his personality. I think that’s why it’s my favourite LGBTQ+ moment - because it’s not really used as a plot device, or as the main aspect of his character. It’s just for the whole show it's a part of who he is, and he’s fully accepted by his friends. So, it’s representation, which I know is important - and from an unlikely source – but it doesn’t use his sexuality as a defining characteristic, and I think that is just beautiful.
FASHION: Ok, so this one is really hard. I dress for practicality, and so am often in camo trousers (they’re cheap and have lots of pockets). My only real fashion choice (and it’s getting to be the right time of year for it) are overcoats with big collars that you can turn up to the wind. I’ve got way too many – but each one is a different length, thickness, and they get me from the start of autumn right through the depths of winter. I even had to use one to wrap myself up warm whilst sleeping in the doorway of Inverness Library on a cold and windy February night a few years back, after the ’24 hour’ bus station there turned out to be a car park. But that is a very long story and I’ve probably already spoken way too much. But get a coat with big collars – they’re cool, and can be lifesavers if you ever find yourself in the kinds of weird situations I often find myself in.
Words: Liam Knights
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