Watership Down
Watership Down Watership Down burst on the world in 1972 . It was like a bomb. Almost no-one knew of Richard Adams and yet [...]
2
06, 2023
26
05, 2023
Here and There – Egypt
Here and There – Egypt For the average young and ethnocentric Englishman, few places sounded more exotic than Egypt. This is the land of [...]
19
05, 2023
The Empty Raincoat
The Empty Raincoat The Age of Unreason first appeared in bookshops in 1989. The front cover illustration was of a frog with a placard [...]
27
04, 2023
Here and There – Travelling Alone
Here and There – Travelling Alone For most of the past sixty years, I have lived with a partner. I first married when I [...]
21
04, 2023
The Leopard
The Leopard Memorable novels are not just dramas. At one level they tell a story, of course, as they invite you into another world, [...]
7
04, 2023
The Mouse and His Child
DD7 – The Mouse and His Child If you were a parent in the 1960s, as I was, books about Frances would almost certainly [...]
10
03, 2023
The Changeover
The Changeover For many years, Penguin Books in Australia offered support for young readers through the Puffin Club. Especially popular were sessions in which [...]
24
02, 2023
Pale Fire
Pale Fire Sometimes I imagine Alice Liddell became Vladimir Nabokov when she grew up. As a child in ‘Wonderland’ she was able to shrink [...]
10
02, 2023
Bridge to Terabithia
Bridge to Terabithia Some books remain stuck in your memory, while others gently fade away. There is a moment at the beginning of Wind [...]
3
02, 2023
Here and There – Inside, Outside
Here and There – Inside, Outside At my primary school in London, I wore a (small!) blazer, green, with a badge on the pocket. [...]