Novels are not all about you, Natasha | The Guardian | Guardian UnlimitedLovely letter from Ian McEwan in reply to the review of his new book. His point is, as he says, one which you would hardly think needs to be made, but clearly it does. I’m always amused when people cite John of Gaunt’s… Continue reading Not all about you
More from Taylor Mali. Once again, he’s absolutely on the button with this demolition of vagueness in speech.Hat tip: anonymous.
Chez Topsyturvydom, we no longer have one of Mr Baird’s televisual apparatuses, so the wireless is our main mass medium. The DAB radio in the kitchen is habitually tuned to Radio 4, with Radio 2 providing the meal soundtrack, except on Tuesdays. At other times, we’ve recently tried theJazz. Although I can’t be doing with… Continue reading Radio Daze
I’ve read the Guardian, man and boy, for a very long time- but after reading today’s issue, I’m seriously considering a change. The front page – the front page! – of today’s issue is dominated by a photo of Coleen as Venus. The Weekend magazine’s main feature is a further portfolio of her in the… Continue reading Queen Coleen
I loved this. I was reminded of an old cartoon, showing a monk slumped over a manuscript weeping. Two other monks are watching, and one says “I see the copier’s broken down again!” Hat tip: Bibliobibuli
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Upstate New York buried in snowAs usual, Britain collapses into chaos because a few flakes of snow have fallen. I think we don’t bother having any contingency plans so that we can have heart warming “spirit of the blitz” stories on the evening news. The British legion club… Continue reading Now, this is what you call snow
According to the Clustr map, someone is clicking on Topsyturvydom all over the place, except Africa. Truly, the dark continent…
Humans blamed for climate change Who knew, eh? There was me, blaming the monkeys…
The novel by Elizabeth Gaskell used the North-South divide as its central conceit. Here’s a modern take on the phenomenon, now exacerbated by the metropolitan bias of the media. Somehow, you feel those BBC types wouldn’t be quite so discombobulated if their putative move was to, say, Brighton rather than Salford…
New Statesman – The last Mughal and a clash of civilisations This is fascinating, and demonstrates once more that we seem incapable of learning from history. By a melancholy coincidence, I was reading the excellent Philip Hensher novel The Mulberry Empire while the Afghan death toll was rising, and couldn’t help noticing the parallels there… Continue reading The last Mughal and a clash of civilisations