The Oriental Museum of Durham University is currently staging an exhibition of items and photographs loaned jointly by the Mayors of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan. WARNING: There is disturbing material including photographs in this blog. BUT WE MUST REMEMBER.

The Oriental Museum of Durham University is currently staging an exhibition of items and photographs loaned jointly by the Mayors of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan. WARNING: There is disturbing material including photographs in this blog. BUT WE MUST REMEMBER. From the webpage on the exhibition Seeing an exhibition like the one currently on at … More The Oriental Museum of Durham University is currently staging an exhibition of items and photographs loaned jointly by the Mayors of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan. WARNING: There is disturbing material including photographs in this blog. BUT WE MUST REMEMBER.

Is my ‘Mobile phone’ the default answer to this prompt? Let’s not choose that, travel light and be truly mobile!

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time? When I worked as an advisor on anxiety and depression in primary health care, people of all ages would claim that they would never go anywhere without their mobile (and I suppose the same may be said of cell phones in the … More Is my ‘Mobile phone’ the default answer to this prompt? Let’s not choose that, travel light and be truly mobile!

BOOKER 2023: Lesley Hamlyn, confronts the character Willie near the end of the novel and says to him that he has “never written about a homosexual affair in any of your books. You’ve never even alluded to it in all your stories, not even once. … And I think you never will. Why risk drawing the beam of that particular light onto yourself”. This is a blog on Tan Twan Eng (2023) ‘The House of Doors’. 

BOOKER 2023: The female protagonist of The House of Doors, Lesley Hamlyn, confronts the character Willie, representing William Somerset Maughan, near the end of the novel and says to him that he has “never written about a homosexual affair in any of your books. You’ve never even alluded to it in all your stories, not … More BOOKER 2023: Lesley Hamlyn, confronts the character Willie near the end of the novel and says to him that he has “never written about a homosexual affair in any of your books. You’ve never even alluded to it in all your stories, not even once. … And I think you never will. Why risk drawing the beam of that particular light onto yourself”. This is a blog on Tan Twan Eng (2023) ‘The House of Doors’. 

To encourage others to know the desire and feel the will to change

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world? I am never confident that writing of any kind changes things except in rare cases to change the ways writing itself is practiced. Nevertheless it’s clear that often very unambitious writing can often feel that it has the intention to … More To encourage others to know the desire and feel the will to change

If there were alternative universes in which to live and describe your life, they would be, and indeed are, MULTIPLE.

Describe your life in an alternate universe. Human beings get horribly stuck in the notion of binary options when they think of themselves, yet the great thought experiments concerning the identity of things all have a clear message: Schrodinger’s cat is not either alive nor dead but on a continuum of potential states of being … More If there were alternative universes in which to live and describe your life, they would be, and indeed are, MULTIPLE.

Use value, exchange value and the sale of social appearances

What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it? This is a question you just have to undermine since its presumption is that there is a common starting point for people who answer it, but that is far from the truth, even if we take the fact the cost of … More Use value, exchange value and the sale of social appearances

Honour and the triumph of Western capitalism over ethics and the value of life in ‘An Honourable Exit’. A reflection on Éric Vuillard [trans. by Mark Polizotti] (2023) An Honourable Exit Info: @EricVuillard .

Honour and the triumph of Western capitalism over ethics and the value of life in An Honourable Exit. A reflection on Éric Vuillard [trans. by Mark Polizotti] (2023) An Honourable Exit London, Picador. @EricVuillard This book followed Vuillard’s novel of historical analysis based on the life of Thomas Munzer and the socio-political complexities of religious wars, The … More Honour and the triumph of Western capitalism over ethics and the value of life in ‘An Honourable Exit’. A reflection on Éric Vuillard [trans. by Mark Polizotti] (2023) An Honourable Exit Info: @EricVuillard .

BOOKER 2023 LONGLIST: This blog examines ‘A Spell of Good Things’ by Ayò̦bámi Adébáyò̦

BOOKER 2023 LONG LIST (Ought TO WIN): ‘During the first month of his apprenticeship, Aunty Caro taught him how to measure and cut. … But when the last day of the month arrived and his parents did not pay his apprenticeship fee, she called him aside and explained that she could not continue training him. … More BOOKER 2023 LONGLIST: This blog examines ‘A Spell of Good Things’ by Ayò̦bámi Adébáyò̦

Are joy and the habitual really compatible?

Describe one habit that brings you joy. A habit, when it isn’t an item of clothing, is usually an action or sequence of actions that is repeated subconsciously because it has been overlearned. Repeated and without variation such sequences are thought to be stored in the cerebellum and are easily accessible without much consciousness that … More Are joy and the habitual really compatible?

Curiouser and curiouser! Being Alice in search of inverted worlds in lieu of Wonderland

What are you curious about? At the beginning of Chapter 2 of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, we read: ‘”Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot to speak good English); …..’. We forget, at our peril, that, whatever his commitment to nonsense and queer adventures, the eminent … More Curiouser and curiouser! Being Alice in search of inverted worlds in lieu of Wonderland

‘Like grapes that bold leaves recess / Infinitely’. Don’t think this poem works but ….

The feelings surprise sometimes: feeding of self-sorrow, yes – but yielding to thoughts that lie beside you, hide within vines Like grapes that bold leaves recess Infinitely. Will I cry In that hurt voice of mine or Lost in your pain try to soar Above it all; only then To write love with blunted pen.