A.C. Grayling’s pieces on moral dilemmas in The Guardian (later collected into various books) always impressed me. Witty, erudite, elegant, they anatomised the modern ethical landscape, and presented solutions that were often informed by references to classical literature. Grayling has had his detractors as a so-called media don, but it always seemed to me that… Continue reading Feet of Clay (2)
I began writing this post before the news broke today that Johann Hari had been suspended by The Independent, so much of what I was going to write is redundant now – read the Guardian article for the details. I have been a fan of Johann Hari for some time. I liked his style, and… Continue reading Feet of Clay
OK, I’m 56, I’m unfit, and I’m overweight. So I had a choice to make at the end of last month – do I renew my gym membership again, or try something else? I’m not a great fan of the gym, as I’ve mentioned before, so I decided to save my money, and try a… Continue reading Fartlek with Laura
A typical exchange with the spotty youth manning, or teenagering, the supermarket checkout yesterday. After we paid and packed, I said “thanks” and he said “see you later.” Actually, what he said was more like “see yers later”, but that’s besides the point really. Now, unless I’ve missed a very subtle invitation from a boy… Continue reading See You Later, x
This is a first for me. I’m reviewing a book that I haven’t held in my hands – yes, it’s my first e-book. My friend Anthony Levings, the onlie begetter of Gylphi, the new publisher for arts and humanities, sent me an E-Pub version of this new volume of critical essays on David Mitchell, and… Continue reading David Mitchell: Critical Essays
One of the pleasures of the internet is making connections with people who share your interest. Martin Phipps, a Canadian, whose path I would not otherwise have crossed, is one such: our mutual interest in Anthony Burgess led to some exchanges via Facebook and the Burgess forums, and made me keen to read his novel… Continue reading Rue des Mensonges
I blogged before – blimey, nearly six years ago – about the use of “no problem” as an all-purpose response by people who serve you in shops, bars etc. There was a classic instance of it last night. We went for a pre-event meal to a branch of a well-known pizza chain, whose name begins… Continue reading No problem revisited
I found this story astonishing. In the year of my birth, about a mile from where I lived, a teenage girl was being sectioned under the mental health act for the crime of having a baby. That boy, a few months older than me, was adopted, and has never known his mother. I thought this… Continue reading In this day and age
An interesting example of how stories are distorted in the telling, and how ‘news’ is created. Yesterday, at my place of work, there was a power cut. It happened around lunch time. I went out of my office to see if it was just my room, or more general. It was quickly apparent that the… Continue reading Chinese Whispers
To the IABF once more for the latest in their literary event series. The subject this week was Nicholas Royle, together with Nicholas Royle. Royle mark 1 is an academic, the co-author of the very successful undergraduate text An Introduction to Literature Criticism and Theory, and the sole author of The Uncanny. He is also,… Continue reading Nick and Nick