Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July The question is open. Each year I set out to read at least some of the books. Here is the list for this year, which I will update as I progress through my reading and responses: 2026 Booker Longlist … More Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July
As I read Jem Calder’s celebrated novel ‘I Want You to Be Happy’, Ella Fitzgerald’s best-known lyric sung through as if it has lived with me forever. This is really a blog on that novel. To be honest, I was reading Jem Calder’s novel because is aid I would because he is appearing at the Edinburgh … More As I read Jem Calder’s celebrated novel ‘I Want You to Be Happy’, Ella Fitzgerald’s best-known lyric sung through as if it has lived with me forever. This is really a blog on that novel.
Since nothing is certain, we aren’t likely, any of us to get hold of truth and keep hold of it. The sands shift and what looks a solid foothold in the mountainside crumbles when asked to bear the weight of a person already in doubt of it, falling more from lack of any faith that … More I think I will choose as ‘a quote that perfectly describes my life’ Robert Browning’s ‘Feeling for foot-hold through a blank profound, …’
Which outdated technology do you miss the most, and why? Some reaons for missing a technology that still required a person to drive and regulate its process: the case of the hand loom and cottage industry in literature. A blog on extracts from George Eliot’s ‘Silas Marner’ and Douglas Stuart’s ‘John of John’. My collage … More Some reaons for missing a technology that still required a person to drive and regulate its process: the case of the hand loom and cottage industry in literature. A blog on extracts from George Eliot’s ‘Silas Marner’ and Douglas Stuart’s ‘John of John’.
Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a … More Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a story where conversations with the original are ‘an encounter … across the span of two-and-a-half millennia’. Part Three of an examination of three versions of ‘The Oresteia’ before Simon Stone’s brilliant version: the ‘Girl Who Closed Her Case’ in ‘The Oresteia’ of Zinnie Harris, ‘This Restless House’.
Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a … More Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a story where conversations with the original are ‘an encounter … across the span of two-and-a-half millennia’. Part Two of an examination of three versions of ‘The Oresteia’ before Simon Stone’s brilliant version: the Family Romancing of White Power in ‘The Oresteia’ of Eugene O’Neill, ‘Mourning Becomes Electra’.
Cassandra’s Song as ‘Wif of purchase’. Let’s think about what the Online Etymology Dictionary has to say about the noun ‘purchase’ before we turn to play with the ideas in second hand Browningesque verse, in the voice of a thing of Agamemnon’s purchase, the best he ever made – not paying a thing for ‘it’. … More Cassandra’s Song as ‘Wif of purchase’.
Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a … More Changing the ending? The issue is not with ‘books’, so to speak, but with stories, where changed endings are only one form of a work, which must exist through history as ‘translations, versions, or adaptations of works’ that involve ‘a conversation with an earlier writer’. Let’s choose, then, as so many have already done, a story where conversations with the original are ‘an encounter … across the span of two-and-a-half millennia’. Part One of an examination of three versions of ‘The Oresteia’ before Simon Stone’s brilliant version: the Psychopolitical Orestes and Sartre.
Regardless of the fact that ‘reason’ may mean different things to different people, the point is to wonder whether it is a process we apply to ‘all things’, or just those things to which reason is pre-determined to apply. Richard Hooker, for instance, in defence of the English church and state status quo post reformation … More Regardless of the fact that ‘reason’ may mean different things to different people, the point is to wonder whether it is a process we apply to ‘all things’, or just those things to which reason is pre-determined to apply. Richard Hooker, for instance, in defence of the English church and state status quo post reformation says: “They that seek a reason of all things, do utterly overthrow reason”.
As always, the title is the only way the answer to this prompt will get expressed. The rest becomes a test case and example of what that title’ means in practice. The aim is to extend my learning to state how I prepare to use time in that process – by planned theatre or arts … More Obviously, for me, most of screen time is taken up by WordPress, and sister app Jetpack (on my mobile): ‘feeling bad’ is often its subject because it is about using my time for registering or reflecting, consolidating, and furthering personal learning.
For some travel will always be made to include hard work and uncertainties If you test an AI searcher like Co-Pilot on the origins of the word ‘travel’ these days, you get something like this (what I got today): The validity of some of those sources used by the AI tool can be queried but … More The ease of modern ‘travel’ can hardly be inspired. Only when ‘travel’ equates to ‘travail’ (hard labour and unforeseen difficulty) does it require that input of strong breath from without.
I promised myself to try to understand, not blame. It’s an impossible promise if applied solely to your relationships with those who fly into and out of your life. Practice it then with the characters of those in public art. Why not start with Odysseus? This blog responds to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey (seen at … More I promised myself to try to understand, not blame. It’s an impossible promise if applied solely to your relationships with those who fly into and out of your life. Practice it then with the characters of those in public art. Why not start with Odysseus? This blog responds to Christopher Nolan ‘The Odyssey ‘.
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