Month: January 2026

Leopard Changes Spots

I can’t let go of The Leopard. Encouraged by favourable reports from friends I am now a Netflix subscriber and have watched the first two episodes back-to-back.

Omnia Vincit Amor

Love conquers all; one of Virgil’s crispest and subject of much verse and prose. It could be the subtitle of many books by PG Wodehouse.

Published
Categorised as Art

A Proposal

When Don Calogero’s arrival was announced at exactly half-past four the Prince had not yet finished his toilet; he sent a message asking the Mayor to wait a minute in his study and went on placidly embellishing himself. He plastered his hair with Lemo-liscioy Atkinson’s‘ Lime Juice and Glycerine’, a dense whitish lotion which arrived… Continue reading A Proposal

Published
Categorised as Literature

Pictures in a Picture

Serendipitously, fifteen letters so it fits on a Scrabble board, Apollo Magazine carried an article (by David Weir) about The Leopard yesterday.

Il Gattopardo

“ Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.” The daily recital of the Rosary was over. For half an hour the steady voice of the Prince had recalled the Glorious and the Sorrowful Mysteries; for half an hour other voices had interwoven a lilting hum from which, now and again, would chime some unlikely word;… Continue reading Il Gattopardo

Moscow Underground

I would not have bought this book. It is a Christmas present. Why not? I have never heard of Catherine Merridale and never read anything by Simon Sebag Montefiori. I know people who bought his Jerusalem: a Biography but none who finished it ; more than eight hundred pages and more than twenty-five hours as… Continue reading Moscow Underground

Published
Categorised as Literature

Cathedral

These are the pieces for a simple board game for two players. Not the sort of TV game like Traitors, a spectator game that goes on for weeks, or Diplomacy; another long, brutal game that takes ages too and may end in tears.