literature
1940 and the #1940Club
Hope I'm not jumping the gun here but the #1940Club starts next week and I've been gearing up and getting…
The Aspirational Dottiness of Old Age
Here's a treat for those who relish fiction with off-the-wall cognitive mayhem - The Hearing Trumpet Suddenly it seemed as…
Latest Book Discoveries
With so many books and so little time, it helps to have a little guidance. It also helps when two…
All for Nothing
Hands down, this is the best book I've read all year: All For Nothing by Walter Kempowski. It's the bitter…
Hemlock and After and Angus Wilson
‘Oh, I know all about goats,’ Sonia was saying. ‘People give them the same recommendation as the billeting officers did…
What ho! George Orwell and Cancel Culture
Few things in this war have been more morally disgusting than the present hunt after traitors and Quislings. At best…
The Book Chain: Six Degrees and the Invention of Sex
Long before the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, bookish teens had Iris Murdoch. As the poet Philip Larkin…
“Gervase, I’ve Lost a Toy Shop”
Always fun to find half-remembered books. One bonus of this decluttering lark is that you find so many of them.…
About Isms He was Never Wrong: George Orwell at the Café Royal
George Orwell had an interesting chance encounter with a blasé conspiracy theorist at the Café Royal in 1940. (See left). The young…
Much Ado About Deception and Delusion: Kate Atkinson’s Transcription and London 1940
The sandwich was no comfort, it was a pale limp thing a long way from the déjeuner sur l'herbe of her…
The Art of Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Two Sundays, two documentaries and two very satisfactory movie experiences. The first was Maiden at The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY.…
Choosing books by the cover
I once worked in a school where the librarian arranged the non-fiction by the color of the spine. It made…
To Kill a Mockingbird on Trial
I haven't read Go Set a Watchman and I'm not sure I will. I did read the first chapter in…
Explorers and Navigators
Science teacher Jonathan Heiles sent a link to all of us about the international public campaign to name the surface…
Paper Cuts: Josh at the Sewing Machine
The first day of alleged spring and another day disrupted by the rituals and routines of early dismissal. By mid…