The End of the Affair
The End of the Affair Some books are disconcertingly good. Why disconcertingly? It might be because, for the reader, they offer the kind of [...]
17
05, 2025
3
05, 2025
In Its Purest Form
Lolita: In Its Purest Form In a sense, all I want to say is ‘Read this book, it’s really brilliant’. As if it were [...]
25
04, 2025
The King Must Die
The King Must Die What is the skill which allows some writers to take the familiar and represent it in such a way that [...]
19
04, 2025
The Alchemist
DD69 - The Alchemist There is a vast literature devoted to the business of ‘finding yourself’. One way is to overcome some demanding tests, [...]
15
03, 2025
DD64 – Love in a Cold Climate
Love in a Cold Climate Why are some books compulsive, even when they seem so out of touch with one’s everyday concerns. Nancy Mitford’s [...]
8
03, 2025
At Play In the Fields of the Lord
At Play in the Fields of the Lord There is little more fascinating than discovering and meeting with people from another culture, especially if [...]
7
02, 2025
Journey to the East
DD60 – The Journey to the East I first came across Hermann Hesse’s short story, The Journey to the East, reading a book by [...]
29
12, 2024
Is Beauty natural
Is beauty natural? In 1833, two years into his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle, a 24-year-old Charles Darwin wrote to his sister Catherine, entreating her [...]
21
12, 2024
The End of Time
The End of Time Nearly a quarter of a century later, it is hard to recall all the excitement – and angst – that [...]
12
12, 2024
What Happened to Class
What Happened to Class? When I was growing up in the UK, class was an accepted feature of the social world. It wasn’t so [...]
